Fort Hays State University President Dr. Edward Hammond kicked off his annual media tour Monday morning with a news conference at the university.

The President’s tour includes stops in 17 Kansas communities and he will also make stops in McCook Nebraska and Kansas City and St. Charles Missouri between this Monday and Saturday, October 12th.

President Hammond said this year’s theme, “The Power of One” recognizes hard work the FHSU staff puts in at the university. “Collectively, this work makes a difference. It makes effective, lasting changes in our university and for our students, so that they can take their education out into the world and succeed in their own lives and careers.”

FHSU has been the fastest growing university in Kansas since the turn of the century and one of the fastest growing in the nation and the President attributes that to the “lowest tuition in the state and a high-tech, high-touch approach that fosters high-quality education.”

Chronicle of Higher Education, the nation’s leading source of news about colleges and universities, reported that FHSU was the third-fastest-growing university in the United States from 2001 to 2011.

Enrollment at the university grew from 5,626 in the fall of 2001 to 12,802 in the fall of 2011, an increase of 127.6 percent. On the 20th day head county this fall, the number of students enrolled at FHSU was 13,441.

President began the annual tour across Kansas in the fall of 1987.