Elise Higgins
(second from right)
Honors, achievements and special recognition:
- President, KU Commission on the Status of Women (2008-2009)
- Community Affairs Director, Student Senate (2009-2010), Student Senator (2008-2010)
- Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Advisory Board Member
- Harry S. Nelson Scholarship Recipient for the Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies Department
- KU Honors Program member
- Commission on the Status of Women Treasurer, (2006-2007) and Outreach Coordinator, (2007-2008)
- University Senate Student Representative, (2008-2010)
How I became interested in my area of study/research/discipline:
I've always been interested in politics and feminism, but a combination of wonderful circumstances led me to friends and activists who encouraged me to pursue my passions and turn them into academic study and a career.
An honor, achievement or accomplishment that is most meaningful to me and why:
Being honored with a place on this calendar is incredibly meaningful to me. KU Women of Distinction have been my advisors, professors, friends and role models, and to share this honor with such brilliant and compassionate people is a privilege.
Someone who has been a role model for me:
Though I never had the good fortune of meeting her, Jana Mackey, a former KU student and activist, will always inspire me to live my beliefs and fight for what I believe in with tenacity and a sense of humor.
Someone who has been influential or had a significant impact on my life:
My family, extended and immediate, and my good friends have provided me with constant support and love. Their encouragement has motivated me to succeed, and I am so lucky to be their daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece, cousin and friend.
Most favorite college-related memory:
My favorite part of being at KU has been the time I've spent tabling and demonstrating for causes that I believe in on Wescoe Beach. There's no better place in Kansas for activists than that place, and I've met fantastic people and had all sorts of fun there.
An important life lesson I have learned:
My lesson is loosely based on a quotation from photojournalist James Nachtwey, and it is that we can never allow our compassion to be overtaken by our personal ambition-the work we have to do is too important be overshadowed by politics and resume building.
If I had a sister just entering college, I would want her to know...
I actually do have a sister entering college in a couple years, and another one in her third year at KU. I want for them to know that I love them, and to embrace all the new experiences, ideas and people they'll encounter in college.
A favorite quote or saying (and why it is meaningful to me):
My favorite quotation is from Alice Walker, and it's "Activism is the rent I pay for living on this planet." I am so privileged to have had a happy and safe childhood, an excellent education and a supportive network of people in my life. I am an activist in order to honor these unearned blessings.