The newsletter for the WKU community
March 21, 2023
President's Message: Welcome Back
Dear Colleagues,
 
I hope you enjoyed some time away from campus last week as WKU closed for three days of Spring Break. We continue our efforts to enhance work/life harmony for each member of our WKU Family. These additional days of paid time off create opportunities for prioritizing individual and family well-being. Paid time off, as well as the upcoming reduced-hour summer schedule, remain essential components of our overall compensation package.
 
As our students return from their break, it’s important that we reignite our efforts to support them as they finish the spring term. We know that many will struggle between now and the end of the semester. Please reinforce for them their capacity to succeed, to overcome and to persist with seven weeks to go. If they are dealing with non-academic issues, we must connect them with the tools and resources they need.
Provost's Message: Institutional Equity
Dear Colleagues,  
 
The office of Institutional Equity was established in January 2023 and is located in the Wetherby Administration Building (WAB) – third floor, Suite 317. The office of Institutional Equity is housed within Academic Affairs and encompasses the office of Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action/University ADA Services (EEO). 
CLIMBING HIGHER
WKU has been named a Gold Military Friendly® School by Victory Media for the second year in a row. WKU has proudly been named Military Friendly® School for the past 14 years. Learn More
Forensics Team wins Pi Kappa Delta national championship
The WKU Forensics Team won the combined team sweepstakes national championship at the 2023 Pi Kappa Delta National Comprehensive Tournament. WKU placed ahead of all 63 colleges and universities in attendance at one of the largest and most comprehensive live collegiate Speech and Debate competition held in the United States.
Spotlight: The Menagerie
The WKU Department of Theatre & Dance and the WKU Department of Music will celebrate the performing and visual arts with The Menagerie – An Opera Gala. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. March 31, 7:30 p.m. April 1 and 2 p.m. April 2 at Van Meter Hall. Tickets are $20; $16 for students and seniors (62+).
WKU senior awarded Rotary Global Grant Scholarship
WKU senior Molly Parker Robinson of Benton will use a $50,000 Rotary Foundation Global Grant Scholarship to pursue dual master’s degrees in the political economy of development. She will study human rights and humanitarian action at Sciences Po in Paris, France, and development management at London School of Economics in London, United Kingdom. Robinson, the daughter of Paul and Paula Robinson, will graduate with majors in international affairs and economics and a minor in nonprofit administration in May 2023. 
WKU student wins Hearst multimedia competition
Kennedy Gott, a December graduate of the WKU photojournalism program, has won the second multimedia competition of the 2022-2023 Hearst Journalism Awards Program.
Special Education programs earn national recognition
The Awards and Scholarship Committee of the American Council on Rural Special Education (ACRES) has selected WKU’s Special Education Undergraduate and Graduate Degree Programs for an Exemplary Program Award. WKU received the award for Excellence in Preservice and In-Service training March 10 during ACRES Annual Conference Awards and Scholarship Luncheon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
WKU partners with Waggener High School for College NoW
Dr. Sarah Hitchings, principal of Waggener High School, noticed that some students, including the best and brightest, weren’t seeing college as a possibility after high school. A solution was needed to support academically underserved students, prepare them for college, and help them overcome economic barriers. WHS partnered with the Prospect Goshen Rotary Club and WKU to create the College NoW program.
CHHS faculty members collaborate on clinical trial
WKU College of Health and Human Services faculty members Dr. Rachel Tinius, Dr. Maire Blankenship, and Dr. Heather Payne-Emerson are collaborating on a recently funded project through the Kentucky IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (KY INBRE). Beginning in May they will conduct a clinical trial for a mobile app intervention designed to improve lifestyle among pregnant and postpartum women.
WKU Folk Studies will wrap up anniversary series Thursday
WKU Folk Studies will wrap up the 50 Years of Folklore Graduate Studies at WKU speaker series with a talk by alumnus Dr. Peggy Bulger at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Kentucky Museum. In her talk, “Public Folklore in the USA: Born of Activism,” Dr. Bulger will discuss her experiences with activism throughout her career as a public folklorist.
Kentucky Museum to host Herstory@WKU on Saturday
The Kentucky Museum will host Herstory@WKU from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. Thirty WKU departments will present hands-on activities for girls in grades 1-8. The free event will include a costume contest, performances and more.
WKU faculty, staff, students invited to join KYNETIC series
WKU faculty, staff and students are invited to participate in the spring 2023 KYNETIC Translational Training Series. KYNETIC (Kentucky Network for Innovation & Commercialization) is a translational grant and education program that is open to all of Kentucky’s public higher education institutions. The training sessions begin Wednesday.
View from the Hill
Lost River Sessions, currently in production of its fifth season, continues to expand in popularity. In this View from the Hill, WKU’s Amy Bingham looks at how the live concert series has both artists and fans clamoring for more.
Staff Senate Nominations
The WKU Staff Senate is seeking nominations for staff members to serve. Deadline is 4:30 p.m. March 28. Election date is April 10.
Athletics
March
21
Tuesday
Photo Exhibit Opening

An opening reception for Shooting From the Hip, an exhibition by Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Scott Strazzante, will begin at 4 p.m. today in the Jody Richards Hall Gallery with a lecture at 7 p.m. in the JRH Auditorium. Learn More
March
23
Thursday
Genderations Lecture

Dr. Donielle Lovell will present Learning to Exhale as a Public Sociologist at 12:15 p.m. Thursday at the Honors College-International Center Multipurpose Room. Learn More
March
23
Thursday
Faculty Senate

The WKU Faculty Senate will meet at 3:45 p.m. Thursday via Zoom. Learn More
Western Kentucky University 
1906 College Heights Blvd. 
Bowling Green, KY 42101