Name: Spirit of Leadership 2026
Start: 2026-03-27T18:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-03-27T21:00:00-05:00
Location: 1300 Mid-Campus Drive N., Manhattan, KS, United States, Kansas 66506

Join us for our first-ever spring Spirit of Leadership. Reconnect with alumni and friends and help us celebrate the growth and transformation of the Staley School.
RSVP by Friday, March 13: https://bit.ly/staley-spirit
Get excited for these highlights
- Come as early as 5 p.m. to take a mini-tour of two new Staley School of Leadership locations: See Boyd Hall renovations, the new home for K-State University Honors Program students, and visit Hale Library to see the new home of Scholar Development and Undergraduate Research. We will depart for these locations from the Leadership Studies Building lobby.
- We will recognize Beth Ward ’93 as the 2026 Staley School Leader-In-Residence.
- Artist and former K-Stater Armando Minjarez will unveil and discuss his mural in the Leadership Studies Building.
- New photography will be on display throughout the building.
- Retiring photos, displayed since 2017, will be available at a live silent auction.
Accommodations
Unlike previous years, this event does not fall on a K-State football weekend, so we anticipate availability at many local hotels. Additionally, we have reserved a block of rooms at the Bluemont Hotel for Spirit of Leadership guests. Learn more on our website.
Parking on campus lots is free. Uber and Lyft are also available locally.

Make it a weekend in Manhattan
We're rounding up local events for you to consider while you're here. Learn more on our website.
Our agenda (tentative and subject to change)
- 5 p.m. Tour Boyd Hall and Hale Library, homes to the new Honors housing and SDUR
- 6 p.m. Check-in: Get your name tag, a drink, and find a seat in Town Hall.
- 6:30 p.m. Formal program
- 7:30-9 p.m. Reception
- Cocktails and heavy hors d’oeuvres
- Photography silent auction
- Tour the building to see new photography
- Chat with Armando about the mural
- Meet friends at the photobooth