KU Center for Community Outreach hosts annual Trunk-or-Treat event at the Dole Institute

November 24, 2025 - Features

by Julie Clover and Travis Lamb | Public Education Team

Trunk or Treat attendees, including human traffic cones, headed into the Dole Institute for more activities on October 29, 2025.

On October 29, skeletons, princesses, Jedis and their families were rewarded with brief sunshine and a dry evening at KU Center for Community Outreach’s (CCO) fourth annual Trunk-or-Treat event at the Dole Institute of Politics. KU’s CCO worked with multiple student groups across campus who hosted approximately 75 decorated trunks staffed by over 100 volunteers. Baby Jay flew in for the festivities and had a “fang-tastic” time with everyone as well! 

Baby Jay poses in their costume inside the Dole Institute of Politics.

Over 240 guests of all ages navigated multiple rows of trunks in the Dole Institute parking lot, gathering candy from various KU student organizations. Attendees also visited with City of Lawrence police officers as well as Lawrence Public Library staff at Dottie, the Library’s Bookmobile. Thank you to Kona Ice for their presence and donation as well! 

Children play outdoor games in the evening dusk while attending Trunk or Treat 2025. 

Members of the Dole Institute’s Student Advisory Board and archive students volunteered inside the Dole Institute, welcoming guests in the museum and facilitating activities, which included scavenger hunts, trivia questions, and a voting activity. Speaking of trivia: Did you know before his military service, while attending KU in 1943, Senator Bob Dole played for one of the legendary basketball coaches in the game? The coach…the legendary Forrest “Phog” Allen!

 

Dottie, the Lawrence Public Library’s Bookmobile, was at Trunk-or-Treat for guests of all ages to check out a book or pick up some candy.

 

Special thanks to the planning team of KU’s Center for Community Outreach, Lawrence Public Library, Kona Ice, City of Lawrence police department, and Baby Jay! 

75 trunks were volunteered from KU students and campus groups, with over 100 student volunteers.

About the Dole Institute
Inspired by the leadership legacies of Senators Bob and Elizabeth Dole, and the enduring civic contributions of the Greatest Generation, the Dole Institute of Politics strives to promote a new era of leadership that uses politics to bring people together through opportunities that emphasize bipartisan cooperation, public service, and civic education and engagement.