Grand seal to grace Institute entrance

By Andrea Albright

A $50,000 gift from the Dane G. Hansen Foundation to KU’s Dole Institute of Politics will finance a stunning state seal at the new structure’s entrance.

The gift, which brings total contributions from the Hansen Foundation to the Dole Institute to $825,000, will pay for a 14-foot replica of the Kansas state seal. The seal includes depictions of a farmer and plow, buffalo and prairie schooners, and it is capped with the state motto, “Ad astra per aspera” — Latin for “To the stars through difficulties.”

Once complete, the $10 million, 28,000-square-foot center will hold offices, meeting spaces and exhibits for programs to be developed by the Institute, as well as former Sen. Robert Dole’s archives.

The structure on KU’s West Campus is expected to be complete this spring. A dedication ceremony at the new center is planned to coincide with Dole’s 80th birthday on July 22.

The seal will be one of several distinctive architectural features of the Dole Institute. Others include a 29-foot stained-glass American flag, a 19-foot stone map of Kansas, a World Trade Center memorial and a 12-foot replica of the Capitol dome in Washington, D.C., accompanied by a multi-screen video “tour” of the legislative process, narrated by Dole.

The Dane G. Hansen Foundation of Logan is the largest single donor to the Dole Institute. The foundation supports projects and programs that enhance life in western Kansas.

Other project donors include Dallas alumni Forrest and Sally Hoglund, who recently donated $200,000 to support production of the stained-glass American flag.

Dole himself recently donated $50,000 in memory of Jo-Anne Coe, the first female secretary of the Senate and Dole’s longtime chief of staff. Dole’s donation, which comes on top of his earlier gifts exceeding $300,000, will underwrite part of the dome reproduction and legislative tour.

Last summer, Dole donated $100,000 in memory of his parents, Doran and Bina Dole, for the creation of the 20-foot-by-12-foot “Russell Window,” a stained-glass piece evoking the landscape surrounding Dole’s hometown of Russell.

For more information about the Dole Institute, visit www.doleinstitute.org.