KU students honor speech-language-hearing lecturer with 2026 HOPE Award
LAWRENCE — University of Kansas students have recognized a multi-term lecturer of speech-language-hearing with the 2026 HOPE Award — Honor for the Outstanding Progressive Educator.
Courtney Summers from the Department of Speech-Language-Hearing was presented with the award Oct. 24 during halftime of the Homecoming football game between KU and Baylor.
The HOPE Award was established by the Class of 1959 and is given to a faculty member who greatly affects students’ lives and exemplifies Jayhawk values in the classroom through exceptional teaching strategies. Today, the award remains the only honor given to faculty through the Student Alumni Ambassadors.
“I was incredibly humbled to even be nominated for the HOPE Award, and it's a great honor to be this year’s recipient,” Summers said. “ I care deeply about my students, their success both in and outside the classroom, and about this university. To be recognized by our students is more meaningful than I can adequately express.”
Students who nominated Summers noted how she adapts her courses and tries new methods so that they truly understand the material.
Her teaching responsibilities span introductory courses to graduate level. As an instructor, Summers’ primary interests include active learning practices, alternative grading and designing authentic assignments.
The SPLH 571 final is a presentation students make to departmental clinical faculty on a case study client they’ve worked with during the semester. This takes students through every step of the process, from understanding the client’s referral to carrying out an assessment to writing a treatment plan. One student nominator called it “by far the most helpful final that I’ve ever taken.”
Nominators also praised Summers for the personal investment she makes in her students, including mentoring students throughout their undergraduate experience.
“She makes me feel as though I am more than just a student in her class, but a person and a future SLP (speech-language pathologist),” one student wrote. According to another, through Summers “I have learned who I want to be as an SLP.”
Summers also is a pediatric speech-language pathologist who has worked in a variety of clinical settings, including early intervention, private practice and pediatric outpatient hospitals.
Summers is a graduate of KU’s undergraduate and clinical doctoral programs in speech-language-hearing.