To the editor:

Legacies won’t stay in Kansas if they don’t ever come.

A recent editorial suggests that it’s unlikely that children of alumni attending Kansas schools from out of state will stay in Kansas and they should not be given the possibility of a partial waiver of out-of-state tuition. The writer’s argument is faulty in both its reasoning and its assumptions. The out-of-state children of alumni who do come could return to their “home” states after graduating, but they are much more likely to stay in Kansas than if they had never come here at all.

It also brings those alumni “home” more often and helps to develop a further bond between alumni and university that could potentially lead to greater gifts of money and estate from those legacy alumni. It is not “doing favors for alumni” who are potential donors to the university. This is about helping those for whom a partial tuition break would make a big difference.

These may seem like bold statements, but I am a legacy. I grew up in California and I chose to return to Kansas after living in Chicago for four years after graduating from Kansas University. I have set up a business here and am raising my family here. I shop here. I pay taxes here. I employ people here. My parents are much more involved with the university now that I have attended KU and stayed here in Lawrence. Don’t think of what may not happen, think of what may.

Dr. Justin R. Anderson,
Lawrence