MANHATTAN — Kansas State University will spend March 5-7 visiting Reno County and Seward County as part of the second year of regional community visits across the state.

Through the presidential community visit initiative, K-State is engaging with people and communities across all 105 counties of Kansas. The Reno County and Seward County community visits will include several days of activities to listen to and learn from Kansans in the Hutchinson and Liberal regions.

K-State President Richard Linton and Connected ‘Cats students will lead several events, including community conversations, recruitment activities and events to highlight university partnerships and K-State Research and Extension relationships.

“We’re looking forward to finishing up our second year of community visits in Reno and Seward counties,” Linton said. “As the university for Kansans, it is important to visit with Kansans in the communities they call home so that we can learn how we can engage and build meaningful partnerships as a next-generation land-grant university.”

The Connected ‘Cats students for the Reno County portion of the visit include Kyser Meininger, senior in biology, Hutchinson, and Taylor Hedrick, senior in animal sciences and industry, Pretty Prairie.

The Connected ‘Cats students for the Seward County portion of the visit include Brady Kappelmann, sophomore in marketing, and Bryan Symons, senior in secondary education, both from Liberal.

The keystone events include two community open forums:

• Noon-1:15 p.m. Wednesday, March 6, at the Cosmosphere, Fee Family Learning Center, 1100 N. Plum St., Hutchinson. Those interested may RSVP for this community open forum at k-state.edu/reno-county.

• 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 6, at the Seward County Activity Center, 810 Stadium Ave., Liberal. Those interested may RSVP for the community open forums at k-state.edu/seward-county.

Both community open forums are free and open to all Kansans: community members, leaders, families, current and future students, and parents. The events also will include free K-State Call Hall ice cream.

Other events throughout the multiday visit will focus on topics such as economic development, student engagement and local food systems. View a schedule with full details for the March 5-7 community visit.

The K-State community visit initiative focuses on the people of Kansas and their communities. K-State is visiting multiple communities throughout the state to listen to and learn from the Kansans who live there. Learn more about the community visit initiative.

The community visits are an important part of the K-State 105 initiative, which is Kansas State University’s answer to the call for a comprehensive economic growth and advancement solution for Kansas. The initiative leverages the statewide K-State Research and Extension network to deliver the full breadth of the university’s collective knowledge and solution-driven innovation to every Kansan, right where they live and work. Additionally, K-State 105 forges the connections and partnerships that create access to additional expertise within other state institutions and agencies, nonprofits and corporations — all part of an effort to build additional capacities and strengths in each of the 105 counties in the state.