Student Scholarship Spotlight: Rachel Teague

For Rachel Teague, a fundamental element of social work is being able to have honest conversations – looking at everyday issues through a critical lens. 

Teague, a Master of Social Work student at the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare, says young people want to have those conversations about topics she can help with. 

“I think that, especially working with college populations, or just young people in general, I think they are so hungry for someone to talk to them about sexual health, sexuality, sexual violence,” Teague said. “I think they're really looking for someone to have honest conversations with them. So having been able to provide that has been really meaningful.”

Teague, who received her Bachelor of Social Work from KU in 2011, currently works as a health educator at Health Education Resource Center, located in Watkins Memorial Health Center. She calls Lawrence home and has spent the past nine years developing and teaching consent education, sexual assault and abuse prevention and LGBTQ education. Teague also worked at Baker University, where she coordinated the gender-based violence response and prevention program. 

Teaching students about sexual violence prevention is rewarding for Teague, but she’s happy to be back in the classroom learning from others again. 

She chose social work initially so she could help people better understand the world, the information they’re consuming and how to think more critically. An MSW will help Teague continue on that path as she enhances her knowledge in the field. 

Teague is one of Social Welfare’s Do Good for Erin Langhofer Memorial Scholarship recipients for the 2025-2026 academic year. The scholarship was named after a two-time graduate of the School of Social Welfare, who had a bright future ahead of her as a practicing therapist in the Kansas City area, working with survivors of domestic violence, when she was killed in a random act of gun violence. 

Langhofer’s family established a scholarship fund at the School of Social Welfare to honor her memory. Teague said this was a special opportunity to receive a graduate degree scholarship. 

“I was familiar with her story, and I even have some folks who I know who used to work with Erin, so it just seemed meaningful. I just really appreciated that her family has decided to focus a scholarship on graduate studies,” Teague said. 

The Do Good for Erin Langhofer Scholarship will help Teague meet her goals. 

“The domestic violence and sexual violence advocacy field is a pretty small world. So I knew that I'd have connections to her through her work at Rose Brooks Center,” Teague said. “Knowing that she'd been a student here at KU and the MSW program meant a lot.”