The newsletter for the WKU community
June 8, 2022
WKU concrete canoe team finishes third overall in 2022 national competition
WKU engineering students placed third overall – the school’s best finish ever -- in the 35th annual American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) Concrete Canoe Competition+.

WKU’s Mon Row, named for “The Father of Bluegrass” Bill Monroe, placed in the top 10 in every category of the competition, held June 3-5 at Louisiana Tech University.

WKU finished first in enhanced focus area, third in final product, fifth in project proposal and seventh in oral presentation. In canoe races, WKU placed fourth in co-ed sprint, fourth in men’s sprint, fifth in women’s sprint, fifth in women’s slalom and eighth in men’s slalom.

The top five finishers in the 2022 ASCE Society-Wide Concrete Canoe Competition were California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; Universite Laval, Quebec City, Canada; WKU; Youngstown State University; and New York University–Tandon. Nineteen teams from across the country and around the world competed in the three-day event.

WKU students also finished 10th overall in the ASCE UESI Surveying Competition.
CLIMBING HIGHER
Folk Studies graduate Taylor Dooley Burden has received a prestigious Archie Green Fellowship, awarded by the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress, to support her project “The Occupational Lives of Religious Workers in Kentuckiana.” Learn More
WKU groups provide support at Special Olympics event
As athletes participated in Sunday’s opening ceremony for the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games, more than 20 WKU students, faculty and staff were at work behind the scenes in the event’s emergency operations center.
Spotlight: Dr. Scott Harris
For nearly 10 years, Dr. Scott Harris has served as the department chair for the Department of Music. However, beginning in July, he will end his term in this role and become a full-time faculty member. Starting July 1, the new department chairs for the Department of Music will be Dr. Liza Kelly and Dr. Zachary Lopes.
Regents to meet Friday
The WKU Board of Regents will hold a special budget approval meeting at 9 a.m. Friday in the Martin Regents Room of Jody Richards Hall, followed by committee meetings.
Gatton Academy graduate receives SMART Scholarship
The Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science graduate Robert Sego (’19, Central Hardin High School) has received the Department of Defense’s Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship.
June 2022 Staff Star Award Recipients
The WKU Staff Senate recognized the Christopher Ware Staff Star Award recipients during its meeting on June 1. The June 2022 recipients are Tonya Archey, Military Student Services, and Emily Wallace, Office of Research and Creative Activity. More: Submit a Staff Star nomination
Geology faculty member using images from space in research
Dr. Nahid Gani, Associate Professor of Geology in the Department of Earth, Environmental and Atmospheric Sciences, is making an impact on the knowledge of the Bengal Delta, a river delta in the Bengal region of South Asia that consists of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, by leveraging high-resolution Sentinel-1 satellite images using the Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) technique. This data is instrumental to understanding the effect of sea-level rise driven by global climate change.
Student gaining experience in hotel industry this summer
Blake Murphy, a WKU College of Health and Human Services senior majoring in Hospitality Management with a concentration in Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management, is gaining valuable experience this summer working as an operations manager at the Hyatt Place of Bowling Green.
Summer Dining Hours
WKU Restaurant Group reminds the campus community about summer dining hours. Fresh Food Company, Starbucks and Rising Roll are open through Aug. 5.
View from the Hill
WKU’s Pre-College Strings program hasn’t missed a beat in spite of the pandemic challenges presented over the past few years. After wrapping up the school year with a group recital recently, the program is now gearing up to be back in person for next month’s Summer String Institute, as WKU’s Amy Bingham shows us in this View from the Hill.
Athletics
June
8
Wednesday
SCATS

The Summer Camp for Academically Talented Middle School Students, hosted by The Center for Gifted Studies, will continue through June 17. For updates, follow The Center for Gifted Studies blog. Learn More
June
8
Wednesday
Exhibit Celebration

The Kentucky Museum will host a celebration of the Our Kentucky Home/Nuestra Hogar Kentucky: Hispanic/Latin American Visual Art in the Commonwealth exhibit from 5 to 8 tonight. Learn More
June
9
Thursday
Planetarium Show

Starry Tales for a Summer Night will be presented at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Hardin Planetarium. Showtimes are 7 p.m. Tuesday, 7 p.m. Thursday and 2 p.m. Sunday through June 16. Learn More
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