Student experience and achievement

The University of Kansas Alpha chapter of Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society has initiated 95 new members. Election to Phi Beta Kappa recognizes a student’s high academic achievement while pursuing a broad and substantive liberal arts curriculum.

Rita Pham, a 2025 University of Kansas graduate with degrees in political science and East Asian languages & cultures, is the 2025 winner of the James Blackiston Memorial Graduate Fellowship from the KU chapter of Phi Kappa Phi.

Dozens of students studying theatre and dance at KU received applause and awards for outstanding achievement on stage and in the classroom during the Department of Theatre & Dance's 2025 Banquet.

Fourteen University of Kansas School of Law students received awards during the spring 2025 semester for distinguishing themselves in scholarship, leadership and service to the law school and the community.

Sixty-five University of Kansas School of Law students provided more than 2,500 hours of free legal services during the 2024-2025 academic year.

The University of Kansas has awarded 13 students with honors that recognize community engagement, leadership and academics. The University Awards, among the most prestigious awards presented at KU, were established to recognize students who embody service excellence, dedication or whose academic achievements are stellar.

A national civic engagement group has recognized Maddie Souser, a senior from Lansing, in the 2024 Student Voting Honor Roll, which recognizes students at participating campuses who have gone above and beyond to advance nonpartisan student voter registration, education and turnout efforts in their communities.

More than 130 undergraduate students participated in the 28th annual Undergraduate Research Symposium, which featured Jayhawks' original mentored scholarship as well as artists’ talks and creative displays from many disciplines.

Twenty students have been selected to receive the merit-based University of Kansas Madison and Lila Self Memorial Scholarship for the 2025-2026 academic year, awarded to outstanding Jayhawks who will be transitioning into their first year of a master’s or doctoral program at KU.

A pair of student employees who do vital work maintaining physical and digital collections and two KU Libraries Student Ambassadors were honored among their peers and supervisors at the annual Dean’s Award for Student Employee Excellence (DASEE) luncheon May 1 in Watson Library.