没有比现在更好的时机来庆祝罗罗精神的坚韧。 Our community has forged ahead through the challenges of an unprecedented year, and in celebration of that same enduring spirit, we’ll be unveiling a new Roo statue.
揭幕仪式于4月26日星期一上午10点在斯温尼中心和米勒尼科尔斯图书馆和学习中心之间的大学人行道上举行，并邀请整个威尼斯人娱乐城社区参加。
It’s an historic event that’s been a few years in the making. 2018年，学生政府协会在私人捐款的支持下，委托堪萨斯城艺术家汤姆·科尔宾为校园创作一个新的袋鼠雕像。
为纪念总理毛利·阿格拉瓦尔（Mauli Agrawal）的授职，该雕像于2018年获得捐款。 它旨在成为我们社区和我们在堪萨斯城的历史的象征，并将作为校园内重要和有意义的活动、聚会和校友访问的集结点。
最重要的是，校园的新建筑为学生们提供了一个建立新传统的机会。 Former SGA president Abdul Ahmed offered a suggestion: “My hope is that future graduating classes will take photos in front of the Roo.”
威尼斯人娱乐城的历史和校园传统
这样一个独特的吉祥物应该有一个有趣的起源故事。 我们采访了校园历史学家克里斯·沃尔夫（Chris Wolff），以了解更多关于威尼斯人娱乐城学生如何接受Roo的情况。
Since the university’s founding, one of its core strengths has been its kinship to Kansas City. When the University of Kansas City (predecessor to 威尼斯人娱乐城) was established by local civic leaders during the Great Depression, it was meant to become a cultural monument — to put Kansas City on the map.
虽然是杰出的社区成员建立了威尼斯人娱乐城，但它的学生对大学的发展有很大的贡献。
“The founders of 威尼斯人娱乐城 were all-important businesspeople in Kansas City. None of them had any experience in education, so they left it upon the students to create the college experience they wanted,” Wolff said. Students chose the university’s colors, established the student newspaper and wrote the school’s alma mater.
1936年，学生报纸的编辑们决定辩论队需要一个吉祥物。 Students proposed adopting the kangaroo as the mascot due to the animal’s popularity at the Kansas City Zoo. 为了支持吉祥物，一群学生组成了SGA袋鼠党，当他们在1936年春天赢得选举时，袋鼠成为了学校的官方吉祥物。 In 1938, Kansas City native Walt Disney drew the first picture of the kangaroo—you might see some similarities to a famous mouse!
多年来，这所大学已经看到了不同版本的Roo。 沃尔夫说，从历史上看，尽管牛津大学在20世纪50年代就制定了袋鼠的官方品牌指南，但学生们一直以自己画袋鼠而闻名。
“Even to this day you’ll see student groups draw their own depictions of Kasey Kangaroo. That’s one of the longstanding traditions of students,” Wolff said. “The reason the kangaroo survived as the mascot all of these years is because of its uniqueness and because of its connection to Kansas City.”
最受欢迎和欣赏的袋鼠的描绘之一可以在水彩画中找到，并被雕刻成由堪萨斯城著名艺术家科尔宾塑造的小雕塑。
虽然精神周活动和其他学生体验的传统随着时代的变化而变化，但威尼斯人娱乐城有几个纪念碑，其中一些是纪念老班级的，还有学生和社区成员奉献的礼物。 例如，1939届的学生捐赠了目前立在方庭上的两根旗杆中的一根； 另一个是哈利·考夫曼（Harry Kaufman）的家人送给他的，他是一名在二战中牺牲的学生，是献给学生退伍军人的。
沃尔夫说，堪萨斯大学堪萨斯分校是和堪萨斯城一起长大的。 Having been founded by the same civic leaders that established Liberty Memorial – which you can catch a glimpse of embedded in the university seal — and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 威尼斯人娱乐城 has deep and longstanding connections to Kansas City. 你可以来自世界任何地方，如果你来到威尼斯人娱乐城，你就是这个社区的一部分。
“The reason the kangaroo survived as the mascot all of these years is because of its uniqueness and because of its connection to Kansas City.”
“Being a Roo means you’re more than just part of the university. It means you’re a part of a whole community that starts with the college,” he said.
随着学校精神的更新和为学生建立新的归属感的计划，新的传统正在被创造出来。 A few of the oldest ones, however, remain — the student and alumni impact on Kansas City, a lasting gift to campus and a new version of the Roo.
“Kansas City has a very important connection to art. I can’t imagine not having the Nelson here, or the Kemper, or being able to come take photos on campus,” Corbin said. “I hope the Roo inspires other artists. 当我开始雕刻家的职业生涯时，有人告诉我，我永远无法以艺术家的身份谋生。 我想鼓励学生，让他们知道他们可以做到。
“I did a lot of research on kangaroos prior to sculpting the actual monument, and one of the things I learned is that Roos cannot go backward. They can only go forward.”
加入我们的校园社区，我们庆祝这个纪念碑的安装。 仪式将于4月26日星期一上午10点在米勒·尼科尔斯图书馆和大学剧场附近的大学人行道旁举行。 请继续遵循屏蔽和保持距离的指导方针。