News

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.

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.

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.

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 is hosting a reception for two art exhibits that are part of Emporia First Friday on Sept. 6. The reception will be from 5 to 8 p.m. in the Bruder Lobby of King Hall on the Emporia State campus. Bruder Lobby is between the two exhibition spaces — Norman R. Eppink Art Gallery and the Gilson Memorial Gallery.

Emporia State University’s baseball field will soon proudly bear the name Turnbull Field in honor of long-time Hornet baseball fan and ESU supporter Mike Turnbull. The name is in recognition of a $650,000 lead gift from the Turnbull Foundation in support of $1.3 million in improvements to the Hornet baseball facility. This project will support renovations for baseball at Emporia State’s Trusler Sports Complex, most notably funding new turf for the baseball infield and outfield.

The community is invited to join Emporia State students, faculty and staff for a joyous, uplifting musical experience at the Annual Music Gala Benefit Concert at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 14.

Emporia State Athletics is on the move, and this season there will be more opportunities than ever before for fans to follow the Hornets. Emporia State has partnered with Emporia’s Radio Stations, Inc., to create the Hornet Sports Network (HSN) to bring live play-by-play coverage to Hornet fans across northeast Kansas, the Kansas City Metro area and the world.

Emporia State University and the Kansas Department of Transportation are teaming up to help every fan get home safe after athletic and other events on campus that include alcohol.

Emporia State’s King Lake is now in a watch for blue-green algae after follow-up water sampling by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The watch means that a harmful algae bloom may be present.