Just prior to the United States’ entry into World War II, Chad R. Patton, a high school graduate from rural Chase County, Kansas, who wanted to become an educator, enrolled in what was then Kansas State Teachers College in Emporia. Military service, classroom assignments and farm work delayed his graduation. But when he earned his degree in 1958, it cemented his family’s remarkable multi-generational connection to today’s Emporia State University.
Patton, who died in 2005, is the patriarch of the ESU Alumni Association's 2024 Hornet Heritage Family, which will be honored during ESU Family Day on Sept. 21. The connective tissue that bonds the Pattons with ESU includes multiple degrees, prowess on Hornet athletics teams, an induction in the HPER Hall of Honor and a past administrative role in the university’s admissions department.
All told, 19 Patton family members across four generations have attended ESU. Seventeen have earned at least one degree – 15 bachelors, seven master’s and one education specialist. Current Hornet April Patton is on track to become her family’s 18th ESU graduate when she receives a Bachelor of Science in Education in 2025.
“It all goes back to my dad,” said Larry Patton, dean emeritus of Humanities and Fine Arts at Butler Community College who holds three ESU degrees and worked five years as ESU’s associate director of admissions. His father “was a depression kid and grew up on the farm,” and his grandfather had taught in one-room schoolhouses more than a century ago. Education mattered to the Pattons. Proximity, affordability and the reputation as a premier university for future educators led the family patriarch to ESU.
“In the state of Kansas, if you're going to be a teacher, you pretty much were headed to Emporia State,” Larry Patton said. “Emporia State had all these teachers out there in high school who were telling kids, ‘Hey, Emporia State is a great place to go.’”
Each of Chad Patton’s children — Larry Patton, C. Rick Patton, B. Tad Patton, Janice Patton Weber and Jane Patton Brewer — either attended ESU or earned at least one ESU degree. Two of their spouses are ESU graduates. Six of the grandchildren are ESU degree-holders. And a majority of the family’s current 17 ESU degrees have led to careers as educators.
In sports, Larry Patton played basketball under legendary Hornets coach Ron Slaymaker, and Tad Patton, who ran on the track and cross country teams, was inducted into the HPER Hall of Honor in 2019. The Pattons’ ESU connections even include this twist: When an aspiring ESU student received her admissions acceptance letter more than three decades ago, it featured Larry Patton’s signature.
“When he signed that, he had no idea I was going to be his future sister-in-law,” said Jolene Grove Patton, who is married to Rick Patton. “That's kind of funny.”
Today, it’s common for Patton family reunions to feature reminiscences about this deeply engrained generational connection to ESU.
“We all have had very positive experiences at Emporia State,” Larry Patton said. “And it's interesting because everybody has different stories.”
About Emporia State University
Emporia State University is proud of Hornet family legacies like the Patton’s and has recently announced $1000 Legacy Scholarships for Hornets with a parent, stepparent or grandparent who graduated from Emporia State. With these four-year renewable scholarships, new Hornets can claim their family legacy and carry on the tradition at Emporia State!
Emporia State University offers a range of academic programs through its institute and seven schools: Applied Health Sciences, Business & Technology, Humanities & Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary Studies, Library and Information Management & Library and Archives, Science & Mathematics and Visual and Performing Arts, along with The Teachers College.
For more information on how to build your future at Emporia State University, please visit www.emporia.edu.