Crawford Community Center

The 1892 home of Juanita Strait, bequeathed to KU Endowment at her death in 2002, was refurbished as a community center for the scholarship halls that surround it and an office and apartment for the complex director.

Mrs. Strait, a longtime piano teacher, was the widow of Reginald Strait, a physical education professor, and she befriended many scholarship-hall students. 

Renovations included new plumbing, wiring, roof, siding, windows, and porches; and a patio and fountain. These are funded by a $300,000 gift from Tom and Jann Crawford Rudkin, KU alumni from Sunnyvale, CA, who lived in scholarship halls while students.

The center was named for Jann Rudkin’s mother, Wilna “Willie” Crawford, at its dedication April 21, 2007.