When the Maryville College Class of 1960 gathered for its 35th reunion in 1995, alumni wanted to give back to their alma mater but many couldn’t make significant financial gifts. Instead, the alumni presented a proposal to the college’s president: An event through which graduates could contribute to the improvement of the college with their time and talent. Two years later, KT Week was born. 

The “KT” in KT Week honors Kin Takahashi, a Maryville student who graduated in 1895. According to Maryville’s founding story, Takahashi rallied a group of students to help build Bartlett Hall—which still stands today—to hold a gym and an auditorium. In mid-June 1997, 43 Maryville students and alumni gathered in Takahashi’s name for the first time, providing similar service to the college through activities ranging from painting to planting. 

“[Kin Takahashi’s service] was our first example of a student or an alumnus really taking that spirit of service to heart. That’s something that’s instilled in our students and now our alumni,” says Jennifer Phillips Triplett, a 2007 Maryville alumna and the college’s Director of Alumni Affairs. “We want to continue that spirit, and we’ve been able to do that with Kin Takahashi as our guide.” 

Within a few years of its founding, KT Week grew to more than 100 participants who would return to Maryville each summer to stay in the college’s residence halls and take care of campus projects that were often overlooked because of tight finances. Later, as Maryville staff were able to handle the labor-intensive projects that once were hallmarks of KT Week, the event was shortened from five days to three and renamed KT Days, as it’s known today.