Jayhawk Homecoming Lecture for Community Impact

Celebrating Jayhawks who are impacting communities and changing the world.

Launching in October 2026, the Jayhawk Homecoming Lecture for Community Impact is a new Office of Community Impact initiative that expands KU’s annual Homecoming traditions. The lecture welcomes accomplished University of Kansas alumni back to campus to share how their scholarship, leadership, creative practice, and community-engaged work are making a meaningful difference with the communities they serve.

This year’s lecture is co-sponsored by the University of Kansas Office of Community Impact, Department of Applied Behavioral Science, Center for Community Health and Development, and KU Alumni. The annual event honors alumni whose work embodies the core principles of community engagement: collaboration, reciprocity, mutual benefit, sustained community-university partnership, and lasting community impact.

Each year, students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members will have the opportunity to learn from a KU graduate whose work shows what is possible when knowledge moves collaboratively between universities and communities. Featured alumni will represent the many forms of community impact from research, public scholarship, and creative practice to advocacy, entrepreneurship, health, education, and community-based leadership.

The lecture reflects KU’s commitment to community engagement as an essential part of the university’s mission. By connecting campus and community, the Jayhawk Homecoming Lecture for Community Impact recognizes alumni who are not only carrying KU’s values into the world but also creating new knowledge, building enduring relationships, and igniting new possibilities alongside the communities they serve.

Dr. Kaston D. Anderson, Jr., associate professor at Michigan State University, and an alumnus of the joint Master of Public Health and Behavioral Psychology program in KU’s Department of Applied Behavioral Science, will launch the annual series as its inaugural invited lecturer. Presented in conjunction with the department’s proseminar, the lecture is free and open to the public.