As Wildcats, we already know that Kansas State University is a great place to be. And it's always exciting to see the university recognized for its quality on a national level. 

Once again, K-State has been included in the The Princeton Review's annual best colleges rankings. For The Best 387 Colleges: 2022 Edition, the organization surveyed 154,000 students from across the country and also looked back at past ranking lists.

For this milestone 30th edition of the guide, The Princeton Review curated a unique resource: 26 “Great Lists.” The “Great Lists” identify the colleges in the book with the most impressive history of appearances on the company’s annual “Best of” ranking lists throughout the years. The colleges named on the “Great Lists” are those with truly stellar records of student satisfaction.

Three schools made 10 different lists: K-State, along with the U.S. Military Academy (West Point, New York) and Wabash College (Crawfordsville, Indiana). 

• Great Career Services
• Great Health Services
• Great-Run Colleges
• Most Loved Colleges
• Great Athletic Facilities
• Great Intramural Sports
• Great College Dorms
• Great Quality of Life
• Happy Students
• Great Town-Gown Relations

It's not just The Princeton Review that is recognizing K-State for excellence — here are several other recent rankings of note:

• The annual survey by Forbes magazine, "America's Best Employers by State List," rates K-State among the Top 3 employers in the state and lists K-State as the best university employer in the Sunflower State. READ MORE
• K-State is among the Top 30 campuses in six regions recognized for its institutional support and commitment to LGBTQ inclusion in policy, programming and practice. READ MORE
• K-State's College of Agriculture has again been recognized as a Top 10 college by Niche.com in its annual "Best Colleges for Agricultural Sciences" ranking. READ MORE

Want more information on how K-State is doing? Be sure to tune into the 2021 State of the University Address on Friday, Sept. 17, 3:30 p.m. CT.

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This year marks the passage of two decades since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. 

It's impossible to forget what it was like to watch as the World Trade Center towers crumbled on live television, and the days of fear and grief that followed. The United States would never be the same, but through these moments of incredible darkness, a light of hope still shined. A spirit of kindness, compassion and courage reminded us all that we were not alone, and that together, we would get through this terrible tragedy and rise again.

In commemoration of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the K-State Alumni Association shares this retrospective of K-State coverage of these events, from the pages of K-Stater magazine and the Royal Purple yearbook.

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When he was young, Chris Jadwin ’02 remembers asking for the same thing every year at Christmas: a set of “Construx” plastic building toys from Fisher-Price. 

“I liked building stuff when I was little,” he said. 

As it turns out, Jadwin still likes “building stuff” — as a project executive for commercial construction company Swinerton, he now oversees a growing portfolio of building projects covering a variety of industries, including healthcare, office buildings, higher education, entertainment and, more recently, amusement parks.

In October 2018, Swinerton began working on a project for LEGOLAND California, an amusement park based on the widely popular toy brand known for its colorful plastic interlocking bricks — a true dream come true for a kid who grew up dreaming of building his own creations.

Jadwin said Swinerton was approached by Merlin Entertainments — a U.K. company owning a series of LEGOLAND parks, including sites in Florida, Tokyo and London — to assist with a new area at the California park that would be based on the LEGO film franchise, including The LEGO MOVIE (2014) and The LEGO MOVIE 2: The Second Part (2019).

One of the biggest projects for the park is a “flying theater” similar in style to Disney World’s “Soarin’” ride.

The new LEGOLAND ride, called “Emmett’s Flying Adventure,” has three tiers which each have their own gondolas. The ride is inspired by LEGO movie character Emmett (voiced in the films by Chris Pratt) and his famous triple-decker sofa. After park visitors enter the ride, they’re seated in the gondolas, which then rotate 180 degrees and extend beyond a ledge, facing a 100-foot concave screen.

The 4D ride moves up and down and side to side, and includes audio/visual features, physical effects like spraying water and even scents like marshmallows.

“You’re completely immersed, so when the screen comes on, it actually feels like you’re on the ride,” Jadwin said. “It offers a lot more range of movement. You’re ‘free-falling’ to a degree. It’s pretty interactive.”

Construction began in March 2019, and due to the global pandemic, the grand opening took place on May 27, 2021. Beforehand, Swinerton constructed a themed barricade wall to protect the construction site while also giving park visitors a peek at what was coming.

“It’s caused a lot of excitement,” Jadwin said.

Want to read more of this story? A full profile on Chris Jadwin will appear in the upcoming winter 2021 issue of K-Stater magazine, exclusively for K-State Alumni Association members.

Not yet a member? Be sure to join by Oct. 22 to make sure you get this issue!

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LEGOLAND photo courtesy of LEGOLAND Press Room
Profile photo courtesy of Chris Jadwin

There's a crispness in the fall air, and you can feel the excitement as you start walking towards Bill Snyder Family Stadium. You can already hear the K-State Marching Band warming up the crowd, and you know as soon as you step inside the stadium that you'll be surrounded by a sea of purple. 

For Wildcat fans, game day is always a great day. We recently asked K-Staters to share some of their favorite game day memories and traditions over the years, selecting two winners to receive an official 2021 K-State football poster. We loved hearing all your wonderful K-State game day stories! 

🏈 Adrienne Eisenhauer '16
My favorite K-State football memory was getting to be on the field when K-State beat Iowa State 38-35 in 2015. I was an undergraduate assistant with the fan experience and sales office my senior year, so I got to watch the touchdown that tied the game and the field goal that won it right in front of me. The energy in the stadium exploded when the touchdown that tied the game happened with less than a minute to go, and then again when Iowa State fumbled with less than 10 seconds left on the game clock and allowed us to hit the game-winning field goal as time expired. Getting to experience that as a game day worker, on the field, at my last K-State football game as a student is something I'll never forget.

🏈 Pam Louis-Walden '64
Game days in Wildcat Land are electric! Beautiful fall days are filled with the excitement of families and friends gathering, punctuated by the pounding rhythm of the band, while the familiar blending of purple shirts, vendors and the Wildcat himself dancing about, blur into the scene.

🏈 Rick Bartel '85
Family tailgating and rockin' to the Wabash Cannonball.

🏈 Kim Kummer '91
Senior Day, Nov. 11, 2000, when Kansas State beat Nebraska 29-28. The weather gave players and fans a reminder that the sun can shine or it can rain, sleet and snow all in the same game. The 'Cats were on fire, never giving up. The entuhusiasm in the stadium was electric. Snow angels on the field by the players to end the game. One of the most fun and loudest games I will always remember.

🏈 Mark McKibben '82
1989 — I got a Bubble Gum Packet at the game, it had Coach Snyder's Fleer Rookie card in it! It hangs on my office wall to this day.

🏈 Tim Kolling '93
We have had season tickets since we graduated in 1993 (with the exception of a few years when I coached my son's grade school football team and we played on Saturdays) and the thing that stands out to us is how wonderful K-State fans are at the games. Our kids have always had everyone be so friendly and interested in them from when they were toddlers all the way through their teens. Our fans are truly the best and that is our favorite memory and tradition!

🏈 Paul Bohannon '74
Playing in the Marching Band, both pregame and halftime shows. It was so much fun going to the games and playing the Wabash Cannonball. 

🏈 Edwin Schmeidler '92
My favorite K-State football memory is the victory over Nebraska in 2003. The Alumni Association scheduled some buses to this game, and I traveled with some friends on the bus to Lincoln. Our seats at the game unfortunately weren’t with most of the K-State fans who were sitting in the section designated for opposing teams fans. Our seats were in the upper section of the east end zone surrounded by Nebraska fans. I remember it being very loud, but once K-State started building a lead in the third quarter their fans got quieter and quieter. As K-State continued to increase their lead in the fourth quarter, their fans started leaving the game. By the time the game ended I would estimate that three fourths of their fans had left the game. In fact by the end of game the few K-State fans in our section were able to move down to the section designated for the K-State fans and celebrate the victory together. It was such a great feeling to attend this game in person and experience a K-State victory for the first time since 1968.

🏈 Roger Linder
My favorite memory is watching K-State beat Nebraska in 1998, 40-30, while stationed at Fort Drum, New York. Being with a group of K-Staters (and Cornhuskers) in the Ft. Drum Officers Club and going absolutely crazy when the game ended. What made it so satisfiying was the way the Cornhusker fans (including a former Husker football player) reacted to the result and our celebration. As we celebrated, watching the former Husker football player, with tears in his eyes, storm out.

🏈 Kirk Winter '91
KSU vs. Nebraska... Our first key victory over them in 50+ years. I was in attendance that night. Also I was all smiles that Monday following morning…I had my wisdom teeth pulled that Monday. Ouch!

🏈 Ralph Appelseth '84
Pregame: Hanging out in Cat Town watching other games with fans from both sides (of our game). Game: Ceremony of Allegiance, Wabash Cannonball.

🏈 Dava Walker '80
It may sound silly, but at the time I was attending there, soft drinks were purchased in large, plastic, more permanent cups. Each game day, they were decorated with the K-State logo, as well as the opposing team's. My personal favorite was the “Big Eight,” which I am happy to say I still have in my collection! Those cups are now 43-44 years old.

🏈 Melanie Rudy '94
Harley Day and Ft. Riley Day and the 1812 Overture (WITH the cannons!).

You don't have to be a manager or a CEO to be a leader. 

Leadership is about much more than simply "being in charge" or telling people what to do. Although the word "leadership" can sometimes feel intimidating, it doesn't have to be. There are plenty of ways you can practice everyday leadership in your own life. 

Sometimes leadership is noticing a problem in your workplace or home, taking ownership of the issue, and working towards a solution. Other times, leadership could involve seeing a need in your community and finding a way to meet it. 

We asked staff members from K-State's Staley School of Leadership Studies to share their own tips on how to be an everyday leader: