Jayhawk Welcome Center
About the

Welcome to your new Home on the Hill.
As a home for the KU community, the Jayhawk Welcome Center powerfully tells our story, illustrating the incomparable KU experience and what it truly means to be a Jayhawk.
About the

Welcome to your new Home on the Hill.
As a home for the KU community, the Jayhawk Welcome Center powerfully tells our story, illustrating the incomparable KU experience and what it truly means to be a Jayhawk.
About the

Welcome to your new Home on the Hill.
As a home for the KU community, the Jayhawk Welcome Center powerfully tells our story, illustrating the incomparable KU experience and what it truly means to be a Jayhawk.
Interested in event space?
The Jayhawk Welcome Center includes expansive views of campus, including David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, the Campanile, and the iconic flags atop Fraser Hall. Please fill out and submit the inquiry form below and we will be in touch.
The Jayhawk Welcome
The Jayhawk Welcome
As visitors enter the lobby, they are greeted by a two-story LED display with a personalized welcome message for each Jayhawk. Expansive videos and images capture iconic KU settings and traditions.
The Jayhawk Experience
The Jayhawk Experience
View 360-degree videos that transport visitors to classrooms, libraries, labs and other campus facilities. Explore beyond campus to learn more about the adventures that await in Lawrence and the region.
The Jayhawk Network
The Jayhawk Network
Guests can select from a variety of alumni success stories that speak to the KU spirit, career pathways and connections that link past and present Jayhawks. Also explore the vast Jayhawk Network on an interactive map to see where Jayhawks flock.
Leadership & Legacy
Leadership & Legacy
Learn about notable Jayhawks and their achievements—and the ways in which KU shaped their lives and successes.
Origins & Traditions
Origins & Traditions
Learn about KU's origins, rich history and traditions through artifacts and digital touch screens that tell our spirited story. Here we celebrate what it means to be a Jayhawk.
Research & Innovation
Research & Innovation
Large vertical touch screens allow visitors to learn about KU discoveries, research excellence and innovations that drive economic growth, health and prosperity in Kansas and beyond.
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Frequently Asked Questions
The University of Kansas and the KU Alumni Association have ushered in a new era of student recruitment with the construction of a Jayhawk Welcome Center at the entrance to the historic Jayhawk Boulevard corridor of the Lawrence campus.
Funded entirely through private gifts, the $21 million, 30,000-square-foot structure connects to the Adams Alumni Center, headquarters of the KU Alumni Association, at 1266 Oread Ave. As the new starting point for all campus visits by prospective students and their families, the Jayhawk Welcome Center houses approximately 20 members of the KU Admissions staff. The project also includes the renovation of the Adams Center, which opened in 1983.
“The Jayhawk Welcome Center is a real game-changer for our university,” Chancellor Douglas Girod said. “It is a meeting place for every member of our community, including alumni, current students and, most importantly, prospective students who are visiting our campus and deciding whether to attend the University of Kansas.
“This new facility is crucial to our university given the headwinds we’re facing in higher education. Across the nation, we are seeing fewer high school graduates, and that trend will continue for the next decade. That puts a lot of pressure on enrollment, which is why the Jayhawk Welcome Center is so important to our university and our mission.”
The project emerged in discussions among University leaders about the daunting enrollment challenges that confront KU and all of higher education. A shrinking population of high school graduates and the increasing cost burden on families already have affected enrollments nationally, and the pandemic only worsened the impact of these ongoing trends. KU must do all that it can to recruit top students in an increasingly competitive arena.
For many students, the campus visit is a critical factor in choosing a college, and it is one element of the admissions process that KU can control. In 2019 and 2020, students who visited campus enrolled at KU at twice the rate of those who do not visit.
There are rationale drivers of college choice (quality and affordability) and emotional drivers of college choice (fit and feel). The campus visit provides the best opportunity to address fit/feel issues. It’s a test drive. When students are asked why they selected a school, the most common replies address fit and feel: “It felt right.” “I could see myself going to school here.” “I was comfortable.”
The current KU Visitor Center no longer provides the ideal location or recruitment experience required in this new era of competition for students.
The location of the Adams Alumni Center—atop Mount Oread at the entrance to historic Jayhawk Boulevard—provides the perfect starting point for campus tours.
Fundraising for the project began more than six years ago, as KU leaders began to prepare for looming enrollment challenges.
The population of U.S. high school seniors will sharply decline in 2026, resulting from the steep reduction in births amid the Great Recession of 2008.
After the leadership gift of $14 million was secured in 2019, other donors enthusiastically stepped up to meet this pressing need.
We engaged 27 national board members, multiple KU partners, more than 100 students, and many of the donors who provided funds to make this project possible. Ultimately, we reached the consensus that the Welcome Center must capture the view from David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium to Fraser Hall, so the expansive glass front highlights the view—one of the best assets we have, particularly in our location at the entrance to the historic corridor of campus.
The building must appeal to future generations of Jayhawks. KU architecture students strongly advocated for a sleek, modern design and open spaces that could make full use of the latest digital technology to highlight KU stories and the Jayhawk experience.
The challenge with this project is preserving what Jayhawks love about the existing Alumni Center, while creating something attractive to the next generation of Jayhawks. The modern design incorporates the brick of the Center and the same limestone found on Snow, Budig Hall and Watson Library.
Essentially, we needed a design relevant for visitors from ages 18 to 80—a tall order. We hope that the experience inside the Welcome Center, emphasizing storytelling and large spaces for collaboration and celebration, will captivate future Jayhawks and alumni of all ages.
For media inquires contact:
Jennifer Jackson Sanner
Senior Vice President of Public Affairs
KU Alumni Association
Email: jjsanner@kualumni.org
Questions?
Questions about the Jayhawk Welcome Center? Email us at jwcevents@kualumni.org.