The idea behind We Are K-State came more than twenty-five years ago, when Pete Souza, a journalism alumnus and then the White House photographer for President Ronald Reagan, led an effort to photograph Kansas State from October 12 to 19, 1986. Twenty-eight alumni photographers and 15 students joined him in recording campus life that week, publishing their images in the book A Week at Kansas State. At the twenty-fifth anniversary reunion of the 1986 shoot, the photographers decided to do it again. They returned on October 7, 2012, when more than thirty alumni and student photographers collected visual stories of K-State and K-Staters during one autumn week. Their work is highlighted in this book, with more photos, stories and video on its companion web site, wearekstate.com.

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Women’s volleyball fans toss shredded newspapers into the air at the start of K-State’s game against Iowa State at Ahearn Fieldhouse. 2012 marked the team’s thirty-eighth season. (Photo by Allen Eyestone)

K-State was the second Big 12 university to add women’s rowing as a varsity sport. Erin Roeser takes a break during practice on Tuttle Creek Reservoir. (Photo by Justin Hayworth)

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With the entire campus connected by Wi-Fi, technology shows up in every classroom. Students follow a mass communications class in Umberger Hall. (Photo by Allen Eyestone)

Founded in 1863 as the country’s first operational land-grant university, Kansas State’s initial classes were held in a single building. Today K-State has campuses in Salina and Olathe in addition to its 3,000-acre Manhattan location, where fox squirrels scamper from tree to tree. A student walks to class north of Waters Hall. Andy Nelson

Freshman Daniel Staab glides on a plastic water slide in front of Haymaker Hall. Nine out of ten freshmen choose to live in organized group housing at K-State. (Photo by Jeff Tuttle)

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Danielle Kemper, from Gilbert, Arizona, was K-State’s alternate rider in horsemanship during the equestrian meet against Baylor at Timbercreek Stables in Manhattan. (Photo by Allen Eyestone)

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Students from more than one hundred countries attend K-State, including Xiaohuan Li, from Harbin, China. She hangs a lantern while setting up for the Mid-Autumn Festival in the Student Union. (Photo by Allen Eyestone)

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The Wildcats’ volleyball team finished the 2012 season 21–9. Lilla Porubek (11), Kuulei Kabalis (15), Alex Muff (9), Kaitlynn Pelger (17), and Kathleen Ludwig celebrate a winning point against Iowa State. (Photo by Allen Eyestone)

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The College of Veterinary Medicine celebrated its centenary in 2005. Vet student Julie Stanton monitors a transfusion for a dog being treated at the small animal clinic. (Photo by Allen Eyestone)

A record 24,378 students enrolled at K-State in fall 2012, filling classrooms. Steven Smethers, associate professor of journalism and digital media, leads a class in Umberger Hall. (Photo by Allen Eyestone)

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In their McCain classroom, vocal performance students Drew Hansen, left, and Donovan Woods, right, relax while rehearsing with Reginald Pittman, associate professor of music. (Photo by Allen Eyestone)

Freshmen Caroline Patelli, left, and Alex Ackley, right, watch graduate student Sarika Rajaleksmi Devi in a chemistry lab. (Photo by John La Barge)

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Naiqian Zhang, professor of biological and agricultural engineering, is adviser to the robotics team, which has won national championships in seven consecutive years. (Photo by John La Barge)

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T. G. Nagaraja, distinguished professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology, oversees a laboratory in the College of Veterinary Medicine. (Photo by John La Barge)

Kenyon Fryman and Amanda Smith practice with the Pershing Rifle Drill Team. Fryman is a civilian on the team and Smith is in the Army ROTC. (Photo by Scott Boyd)

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Manhattan, KS (Photo by Shelby Danielsen)

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Manhattan, KS (Photo by Emily DeShazer)

Manhattan, KS (Photo by Allen Eyestone)

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MANHATTAN, KS -- Konza Praire (Photo by Jeff Tuttle)

Varsity sports draw crowds clad in purple. At a volleyball game in Ahearn Fieldhouse, Patrick Marks, senior in geography, shakes his stomach in hopes of distracting the Iowa State server. (Photo by Steven Dearinger)

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As part of a celebration during homecoming week, fraternities and sororities practice for Pant the Chant in Memorial Stadium. (Photo by Hannah Hunsinger)

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Known as The Pub Crawl Band, about thirty members of the K-State Marching Band perform The Wabash Cannonball inside Kite’s Grille and Bar in Aggieville on the eve of the KU football game. (Photo by Cary Conover)