One of the newest “KU Women of Distinction” is Erin Calhoun, a senior from Naperville, Illinois. The award comes from the Emily Taylor Center for Women & Gender Equity and is given to women who have made strides at the University or in the community.
Entering her senior year, Erin can be described as a beautiful and kind person. She is Pre-Med and majoring in Behavioral Neroscience.
How did you get involved in community service at KU?
“My first semester freshman year, I heard about the Center for Community Outreach (CCO) in Mary Klayder’s Creative Writing Honors seminar. The CCO is KU’s largest on-campus service organization, with 13 student-coordinated programs targeting volunteerism in areas such as education and mentoring or hunger and homelessness. I served as the CCO’s development director for a year and then managing director the next year. I learned and grew an enormous amount from these positions through problem solving with the incredible people around me.”
Why did you choose to get involved?
“I’ve always been interested in the ways that our generation interacts with each other and with our communities. I am fascinated by the changes in civic engagement and volunteering over the last 50 years or so. In today’s culture that’s obsessed with the impersonal avenues of virtual communication and social media, I am inspired by the fact that groups of people can come together and work to effect positive change despite their differences, and for no gain of their own.”
What is it like being a KU Woman of Distinction?
“[I was] honored as a “Woman Making a Difference Through Service” alongside three other women in that category: Shelby Webb, Ally Briggs and Laura Fagen. The Women of Distinction calendar is a great celebration of KU women’s contributions to campus and beyond. It was really humbling to be featured next to women who have been huge role models to me.”
What do you do in your free time?
“‘Free time,’ my two favorite words! My happy place has to be baking unnecessarily elaborate recipes while listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers or watching terribly cheesy crime shows. I talk to my mom, who, lucky for me, happens to be my best friend, every day on the phone. I have a hammock from Sunflower Outdoor that I like to string up and read the newspaper in while drinking copious amounts of tea. I lose many afternoons in the public library and in bookstores.”
Is there anyone special in your life?
“In regards to my love interests, I am dating a wonderful man named Jake. He is a recent KU School of Business graduate; we met and became good friends here in Lawrence a couple years ago. He is the funniest person I know; he’s extremely hard-working and intelligent, and he is always kind and supportive to everyone around him. I am also in a committed relationship with Sons of Anarchy and dark chocolate, if those are the types of love interests you’d like to hear about.”