News

For 45 years, the late John “Doc” Baxter cared for Emporia State University’s student-athletes and taught athletic training to generations of students. On Sept. 21, ESU will honor his remarkable legacy when it holds a ribbon-cutting and open house for the John “Doc” Baxter Athletic Training and Human Performance Lab. Located on campus in the HPER Building, the renovated lab will offer students in two academic programs a state-of-the-art, hands-on learning experience featuring an array of modern equipment that will help them acquire professional skills.

Just prior to the United States’ entry into World War II, Chad R. Patton, a high school graduate from rural Chase County, Kansas, who wanted to become an educator, enrolled in what was then Kansas State Teachers College in Emporia. Military service, classroom assignments and farm work delayed his graduation. But when he earned his degree in 1958, it cemented his family’s remarkable multi-generational connection to today’s Emporia State University.

The ESU Theatre Guild is staging a revival! An Ice Cream Social will be held on Sept. 22 to celebrate the revitalization of the Theatre Guild and will feature performances from the cast of the 50th Anniversary Homecoming Musical “She Loves Me.”

Emporia State University kicks off Homecoming 2024 by welcoming alumni, students and the Emporia community to participate in numerous exciting activities. Attendees will recall old memories and make some new ones as generations unite to celebrate their Hornet pride.

Students and educators from across Kansas will celebrate children’s literature during the 72nd annual William Allen White Children’s Book Awards on Saturday, Oct. 5, at Emporia State University. The events are free and open to the public.