On Thursday the Algerian men’s soccer team exited the 2026 World Cup after losing to Switzerland 2-0 in Vancouver, Canada. The friendship that grew between the team and its host city, Lawrence, has been one of the most viral and heartwarming stories of the tournament.  

For more than a year, representatives from KU met weekly with local and regional organizations as part of the Lawrence/Douglas County Unified Command to prepare for the World Cup. In addition to KU Athletics making the soccer facilities at Rock Chalk Park available, several other offices and departments went the extra mile:

Thank you to all who welcomed the team and their fans and helped ensure that KU and the Lawrence community shone brightly in the international spotlight.

Student journalist Naomi Sui Pang interviews a man during half time of the Algeria vs. Switzerland game. Photo credit: Patricia Gaston.

Throughout the World Cup, KU journalism and mass communications students are providing on-the-ground reporting from Lawrence for KCUR, Kansas City’s NPR station. The coverage is part of a class taught by Patricia Gaston, Lacy C. Haynes Professor of Journalism.  

Recent coverage includes:

Beginning July 10, the KU IT Security Office will gradually require retired faculty and staff to use Duo multifactor authentication (MFA) to log into KU systems, such as email and HR/Pay.

Multifactor authentication at KU protects accounts from unauthorized access by requiring users to confirm their identity with their KU Online ID, password and a device they own.

The rollout of Duo to retired KU employees is expected to take about a month as accounts are added to Duo MFA in waves. Once an account is added to Duo, users will be prompted to enroll when logging into a system behind KU’s Single Sign-On page.

KU faculty and staff have been using Duo MFA since 2019, and students have used it since 2024.

Retirees received more information about the rollout, including instructions on what they can do to prepare, in an email sent on July 2. More information can also be found on the KU IT website or by contacting the IT Security Office at itsec@ku.edu.

Viewed as the heart, memory and stabilizing force of the Center for Teaching Excellence, Judith Eddy is being recognized as a June 2026 Employee of the Month.  

Eddy, an education program manager who started her career at KU in 1992, has been with the CTE since its founding in 1998. During that time, she has managed the logistics of hundreds of events, administered countless faculty grants and awards, and guided the center through four leadership transitions.

Each year Eddy plans, coordinates and executes CTE’s three major events: the Teaching Summit, Celebration of Teaching and Course Design Institute. Additionally, she coordinates key stakeholder groups and manages the center’s day-to-day organizational and administrative functions.  

“She is the hub of the CTE,” her nominator wrote and went on to note that Eddy’s institutional knowledge, operational excellence and deeply human approach to her work set her apart.

Known for his reliability and rising to the challenge, Joel Sauerwein, functional systems analyst in Student Lifecycle Technology, is a June 2026 Employee of the Month. 

First joining the university in 2016, Sauerwein supports the graduate Slate system, which houses recruitment and admissions processes for graduate and KU Medical Center programs. A member of the Enrollment Management Student Lifecycle Technology team, he implements new features that support innovation, compliance and reporting requirements, as well as provides user support and documentation for Slate.  

Not only does Sauerwein maintain the everyday functionality of Slate, but he also participates in the development of big-picture projects and institutional priorities like making annual updates to the graduate application, KUMC application, and developing systems processes for Jayhawk Flex, KU’s competency-based education model.  

“He continually embodies the idea of doing more with less, taking on new responsibilities, keeping essential day-to-day tasks moving to completion, and contributing to new initiatives without hesitation,” his nominator said.

Read more about Eddy and Sauerwein’s work on the Employee of the Month Winners website.

Eligible faculty members have until 5 p.m. Aug. 24 to enroll in the 2026-27 Faculty Academic Year Pay Reserve for Summer Disbursement program. Those who participated last year must re-enroll to participate in the coming academic year.    

The program reserves a portion of after-tax pay from every full pay period during the academic year and then evenly disburses those funds to the participating faculty member during the summer. All academic year faculty and unclassified academic staff who are hired for the upcoming academic year are eligible for the program.

Eligible faculty members can enroll at HR AY Reserve. More information is available on the Human Resources website.

Jayhawks Give a Flock provides students with the opportunity to shape campus culture, support their peers and take an active role in preventing sexual violence at KU.   

On Aug. 16 and Aug. 22, the Sexual Assault Prevention & Education Center will train all incoming first-year students to be empowered and informed bystanders. By becoming a flock facilitator, faculty and staff can help shape a safer, stronger KU.  

Visit SAPEC’s facilitator website for information about training and expectations. Sign up to be a facilitator by Aug. 3.

KU Dining oversees vending machine fulfillment throughout the Lawrence campus. For vending machines that need to be replenished or for other issues, email KU Dining at kudining@ku.edu. KU Dining will send concerns to the vending contractor.     

Drinking water on the KU Lawrence campus is safe and meets state and federal water quality standards, a report from the KU Department of Environment, Health & Safety found.   

The 2025 Drinking Water Quality Consumer Confidence Report shares the results from KU EHS and City of Lawrence’s analyses of drinking water samples collected from the Lawrence campus and the City of Lawrence water treatment plants during 2025. The full report can be read online.    

This spring during the University Research Awards ceremony, Chancellor Doug Girod celebrated some of KU's most outstanding researchers and their impact.

Xiaoqing Wu, associate research professor in the Department of Molecular Biosciences, received the Steven F. Warren Research Achievement Award. In the video above, Wu describes her research that studies cancer cells and tests thousands of potential drug compounds, which leads to new inhibitors that slow tumor growth. 

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