The Epsilon Theta Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma, a historically African American fraternity, holds the event each year to raise awareness of those facing homelessness. This year it also collected donations to be sent to local shelters.

Yhon Bazira, sophomore Phi Beta Sigma Director of Social Action and event coordinator, introduced multiple guest speakers to share personal stories and inform attendees of resources in Bowling Green.

Carlos Bailey, Bowling Green city commissioner, highlighted various causes of homelessness and called for the youth of Bowling Green to make a collective effort to solve the issue.

“We live in a world where many people are just one unexpected event from being homeless,” Bailey said. ”Whether it’s volunteering, raising awareness, donating to charities or simply offering a kind word and dignity to someone who is struggling, you can make a difference.”

Amelia Kolb, Assistant Director of Student Activities, shared her perspective of seeing students on campus who struggle to find a consistent shelter while studying at the university.

“WKU receives an influx of calls for students who have no home to return to [during breaks],” Kolb said. “Staff works to the best of their ability to ensure these students are housed. However, limited resources can often make this a challenge.”

Local organizations gave out business cards and resources for students to volunteer and find more information on the cause.

Beth Wheeler,  House On the Hill co-chair, emphasized the importance of stable housing.

“It’s been proven that having stable, reliable, attainable housing is a key to thriving as a human being,” Wheeler said. “When people get into a shelter that they feel safe in at night, they are dramatically more likely to reach out for other services they may need.”

Wheeler also shared long-term plans for her to help resolve the housing issue in Bowling Green.

“We are working on getting funding through grants and private donors to purchase 14.3 acres here in Warren County, where we will build a hundred single-family affordable housing homes,” Wheeler said. “We really want to build not just houses but community for people.”

The Phi Beta Sigma fraternity accepted student donations of things like canned goods, non perishables, and hygiene products that will be sent to local shelters.

“This is my second year coming here and I came back because it’s for a good cause, I want to give back to the community in any way I can,” said Kamari Mozee, a sophomore dental hygiene major who brought canned goods.

After all the speakers and activities took place, Phi Beta Sigma members and many other students spent the rest of the night sleeping in their tents until 7 a.m.

Javeon Manning, a senior sports management major and the President of Phi Beta Sigma was pleased to see how far the event has come since its introduction in Fall 2021. He’s hopeful that the event can grow much larger in the future.

“Homelessness can happen to anybody, so by any means, we’re going to do what’s necessary to decrease the issue in Bowling Green,” Manning said, “We’re at the age where we can still develop and learn, so it’s always good to pick up on what we can do to help people while we’re here.”

News Reporter Larkin Ivory can be reached at larkin.ivory045@topper.wku.edu. 

The SGA Pink Walk, created and hosted by SGA Vice President Donte Reed, aimed to spread awareness about breast cancer and raise money for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. The walk was presented in collaboration with SGA, WKU Panhellenic, WKU Interfraternity Council and the WKU National Pan-Hellenic Council. 

“Knowing it exists is not enough” was Reed’s motto for this event.

“You never know who it’s impacted here on the Hill,” Reed said. “We’re going to try to do as much as we can to spread the word about early treatments and resources that are available.”

Students gathered at the Big Red Statue in the Downing Student Union to walk across Centennial Mall and to the South Lawn. There, SGA provided everyone in attendance with burgers, snacks and drinks.

“It’s just such a great event,” said Daren Denney, husband to breast cancer survivor Michelle Denney. “It’s a good student turnout here tonight and it’s just such a great opportunity for people to get information.”

Speakers Michelle Denney, Robbin Taylor and Tate Sine spoke on their experiences with breast cancer and how it has impacted their lives. Denney and Taylor are breast cancer survivors, and Sine’s mother battled breast cancer.

“Attitude is everything,” Michelle Denney said. “No matter if you’re diagnosed with a medical disease, if you’re going to take a test or you have to speak and you’re scared to death; attitude is everything.”

Tonya Sine, mother of Tate Sine, spoke at last year’s Pink Walk after being diagnosed with breast cancer in September 2021. This year, her son shared her story to attendants.

“To be here and witness this is very heartwarming,” Tonya Sine said.

Although breast cancer is predominantly found in women, there was much talk about how men are still susceptible. 1 in 8 women and 1 in 726 men will be diagnosed with Breast Cancer at some point in their lives according to the American Cancer Society.

In addition to the walk and guest speakers, there was also a raffle at the event for the chance to win various prizes. It cost $6 to enter, which will go to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Additional photos from the SGA Pink Walk can be found here and a video can be found here.

News Reporter Bradlee Reed-Whalen can be reached at bradlee.reedwhalen539@topper.wku.edu.

“As a freshman and sophomore, I remember going and seeing the shows and thinking of these people that were pretty much just my peers as sort of celebrities,” Slayden said. “Then once I noticed that I had a decent body of work that I could show off and was proud of, I just kind of decided that I would love to do a show and sort of start getting my name out there more.”

It was this feeling that led to the creation of the “IN THE EYE OF” exhibit, which features Slayden’s art as well as the work of Ethan Justice, Lance Burdette and Kyra Embra. The walls and three podiums in the gallery are filled with Slayden’s art. Comments left on notecards by both the artists and observers also line the gallery’s walls.

The exhibit boasts a variety of types of art including a charcoal piece of a cow skull, several collages, a human figure made of tape, a head sculpt, a welded sculpture, pottery and more. 

“All the pieces vaguely revolve around identity and how your physical body and self interacts with the conceptual self that you have in your mind,” Slayden said. “ All of the people in the show have an understanding and appreciation for work that isn’t solely graceful traditional art.”

“IN THE EYE OF,” the name of the exhibit, comes from the phrase, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” Slayden said.

“I just kind of cut out the parts that made it a phrase that made sense. It was interesting because not all the work is necessarily beautiful in a traditional sense,” Slayden said. “Also I draw eyes a lot, so there’s a lot of eyes in the work. It was a play on that too.”

Burdette’s piece “Abstract” features a textured and impressionistic man holding his chest that appears to be bleeding. The note next to it reads the lyrics of “Abstract (Psychopomp)” by Hozier.

“The texture is divine I can feel the heart bleeding,” reads a comment left next to the painting.

The interactive element is one many people have chosen to participate in. The notecards are scattered across the walls filled with thoughts of observers. “The Divine Transsexual” by Embry has two notes left floating adjacent to the pieces. “Beautiful,” reads one note. “Love this,” reads another.

“Mimesis” is the exhibition’s largest piece, hanging in the center of the largest wall of the gallery. It is a collage made by Slayden about the “creation and deconstruction of oneself.” Of Slayden’s work in the gallery, “Mimesis” is the most meaningful to him.

“I started with an oil painting, a self-portrait,” Slayden said. “Then immediately, once it was done, I cut it into pieces. Then I put it on a new thing and took more of my old artwork combined with different magazines and comic books and destroyed them and put them into different pieces. And then, once again, put them back together to create a new piece and then added more back on top of that.”

Slayden said he hoped those who visit the gallery interact with the work he and the other artists created. 

“I just want people to interact with art,” Slayden said. “I like to think, hopefully, people come away thinking. Just thinking about whatever. Thinking about themselves, about other people, or just thinking about coming back to more shows.” 

“IN THE EYE OF” is on display in the Cube Gallery, found at FAC 436, for the remainder of the week from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

News Reporter Malone Farmer can be reached at james.farmer674@topper.wku.edu.

In the second installment of the WKU Presidential Speaker Series, Genova was invited to speak on campus to the public. Genova’s keynote speech, “How We Remember and Why We Forget”, expounded on her life’s research into human’s ability to remember, to forget and what can be done to protect memories, according to a WKU press release.

Genova said her goal was to show that forgetting things, like the location of phones or glasses that get placed down, is “actually a part of being human.”

“Memory is fascinating,” Genova said. “It’s essential to so much of who we are and what we do; from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to sleep, and even then, the mechanisms behind memory are fast at work.”

After receiving her Ph.D. in neuroscience from Harvard University, Genova became a bestselling author in both nonfiction and fiction. She was the pen behind novels “Still Alice,” “Left Neglected,” “Love Anthony,” “Inside the O’Briens” and “Every Note Played.” “Still Alice,” Genova’s first book, was adapted into a film in 2014 starring Julianne Moore, who won the 2015 Best Actress Oscar for her role in the film.

Genova said she didn’t start writing “Still Alice” until she was almost 34 years old.

“Prior to that, I’d never written any creative writing,” Genova said. “I took one English class my freshman year in college.”

Genova points her draw to fiction storytelling to her grandmother.

“My grandmother had Alzheimer’s,” Genova said, “And as the neuroscientist in my family, I did everything I could to understand it.”

Genova said she did everything she could to understand the condition, from reading research papers by scientists, clinicians and social workers. All of these viewpoints, she said, were from the outside looking in.

“While I learned a lot, what I didn’t learn was, ‘What does it feel like from the perspective of the person with it?’” Genova asked. “What does it feel like to be my grandmother?”

Genova said she realized fiction was a place where “you can walk in someone else’s shoes and experience what it’s like to be someone else.”

“In the absence of a cure, this is really what all of us want with our loved ones with Alzheimer’s: is to stay emotionally connected,” Genova said. 

Genova said writing “Still Alice” was terrifying and exciting. 

“That book, more than any other, has made an impact on the world and how people are able to understand and relate to a very scary neurological disease, and it’s helped make it a little less scary,” Genova said, “It’s also the book that then gave me permission to be a writer and to pursue a career that will continue to tell stories about people who tend to be ignored, feared and misunderstood for what’s going on inside their brains.”

Making neurological diseases like memory loss less scary was an emphasis for her keynote on campus, Genova said.

“The biggest takeaway I want folks to go home with tonight is that forgetting is a normal part of being human,” Genova said. “When they bump up against these moments in their day to day life, ‘Oh my god, I went to the grocery store to pick up milk, and I bought a bunch of things and I came up with no milk,’ or, ‘Oh my god, what’s wrong with me?’ There’s nothing wrong with you.”

Genova said she wants people to understand the clear distinction between everyday, normal forgetting and what might be something to be concerned about.

Though her keynote focused on, and her initial story pulled from, memory loss illnesses like Alzheimer’s, Genova’s other books dive into other mental conditions.

Her newest book, “More or Less Maddy,” is set to hit bookstores early 2025, and centers around a young woman with bipolar disorder.

“I hope that this book, like all of mine, become(s) a vehicle for open conversation and understanding, and that helps destigmatize and humanize this condition,” Genova said.

News Reporter Cameron Shaw can be reached at cameron.shaw555@topper.wku.edu.

“Hammer-In” is a free, family-friendly event full of a variety of activities including forge and basic forge skills demonstrations, tinsmithing demonstrations and an aluminum pour demonstration where attendees could pay to make their own pour.

There were also several vendors at “Hammer-In” who sold swords, knives and other hand-crafted metalwork from their organizations. Big T’s Bar-B-Cue Food Truck also had items for attendants to purchase.

Brent Bjorkman, the director of the Kentucky Museum and the Kentucky Folklife Program, began by introducing Camille Acosta, a folklife specialist, who presented the “Narrative Stage” portion of the event. Metalworking specialists and demonstrators answered several questions from Acosta in front of an audience to help others better understand their stories and experiences in metalworking.

The featured demonstrator of the event, Rob Robinson of Sand and Steel, President of the Appalachian Area Chapter of Blacksmiths, specializes in 18th century and historical ironworking. Robinson said that he had been blacksmithing for over 30 years and showed the audience how to make the Kentucky Double Bit Ax during his demonstration.

Acosta asked collaborators why they believed events like “Hammer-In” are important to have in the community.

“It’s a way to share what you’ve learned and to try to inspire other people to either pick up what you do or to inspire them to go find their own means of expression, whether it’s through ironwork, or fiber arts or clay,” Robinson said. “It’s just kind of giving back some of what you’ve learned and what you’ve been taught over the years.”

Acosta asked the panel what advice they would give to those just starting metalworking.

Eleanor Davidson, a member of the Kentucky Forge Council since 2017, is an artist and fabricator based in Bowling Green. Davidson told Acosta failing is the best way to learn.

“A lot of trying involves failing, and that’s the best way to learn,” Davidson said. “Just do things over and over, and make mistakes and learn from those mistakes.”

After Acosta finished asking her questions, she let the audience ask the panel any questions they had. One audience member asked what “endgame” or goal these professionals had through pursuing metalworking.

Cassie Rebman, instructor of Sculpture and a studio technician at WKU, said her goal of becoming a collegiate instructor “stems from wanting to foster the type of empowerment” that she feels when working with these processes. She also said she wanted to help others facilitate their own empowerment in those processes as well.

“Even if someone doesn’t go into the trade, the life experience that they get of being able to build something can do so much for their sense of self-actualization and the way they interact with the world because, you know, there’s a whole world around us that we should be actively engaging in.”

“Hammer-In” was presented in partnership with the Kentucky Folklife Program and WKU’s League of Sculptors, sanctioned by the Appalachian Area Chapter of Blacksmiths, according to WKU News. 

Kristina Arnold, head professor of the WKU Department of Art and Design and advisor of WKU’s League of Sculptors, discussed in an interview with the Herald her involvement as a member of the Kentucky Forge Council, the area chapter of Blacksmiths founded in 2016. Arnold said her husband was one of the founders of the organization.

“They’re [The Kentucky Forge Council] really interested in making sure the next generation learns and are excited about talking with their hands and knowing how to make the things we use every day,” Arnold said.

Maria Boggess, sophomore sculpture major and League of Sculptors member, helped run a booth at the “Hammer-In” event where participants carved designs into sand blocks and took home their creations after aluminum was poured into them. Attendants had the choice of different priced molds, including two halves of a heart mold for best friends, a bowl-shaped mold and a regular rectangular mold.

“The idea is you’re scratching your design like a mirror to what your final will be into blocks of sand,” Boggess said. “We plan to be here next year and do a bunch of events throughout the year with the Kentucky College Council. We do things like this at our club meetings too, so there’s multiple opportunities throughout the year to do stuff like this.”

News Reporter Abigail Vickers can be contacted at abigail.vickers153@topper.wku.edu.

Photos: ‘Hammer-In’ metalworking celebration held at Kentucky Museum

According to the Kentucky Folklore Program website, “Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead is a Mexican/Mexican-American traditional holiday celebrated on the night of October 31st, and continuing through November 1st and November 2nd in which families remember their loved ones who have passed on with an altar, food, music, and togetherness.”

An ofrenda is a homemade offering or altar used to celebrate loved ones who have passed away. The folklore program’s website says, “The legend is that our loved ones who have passed return to these Ofrendas to celebrate life with the living.”

The Folklore program invites people to donate items for the ofrenda’s altar. These things, like pictures, sentimental items, fake foods and fake flowers, will be placed on the altar to display. A full list of items and how to donate them can be found on the program’s website.

The ofrenda was organized by folklore specialist Camille Acosta. Hailing from El Paso, Texas, Acosta is a WKU alumna with a master’s degree in folk studies.

She organized the ofrenda for the first time last year in the Pioneer Log Cabin. It was created out of Acosta feeling homesick.

“I was just missing home,” Acosta said.“I think you get these little moments of, ‘Man, I miss this. I miss the food, I miss the smells, I miss people.’ And I’ve always loved this tradition so deeply and there’s always been some semblance of an altar. Like in my home, or my grandparents’ home and things like that.”

Acosta’s father is an immigrant from Parral, Chihuahua, Mexico, who moved to El Paso, Texas. Her father ignited her love of folklore by raising Acosta and her brother with a connection to their Mexican heritage.

“My dad has always loved a scary story. My dad loves horror. He loves monsters. When me and my brother were younger he always used to tell us really terrifying stories. Just right before bed, here’s this terrifying story,” Acosta said to the Herald. “As I grew up, I started to realize I really love different cultures’ versions of horror and the way folklore transcends borders,”

One of Acosta’s aims with the ofrenda is to bring people together despite cultural differences.

“There is that semblance of togetherness that transcends borders and hatred, or what have you. And I think that’s exactly what these cultural traditions do, right? This ofrenda specifically does. It invites people to talk about, you know, who is this picture of your grandpa?” Acosta said. “That’s what this specific ofrenda does for the college population. For Kentucky, the commonwealth, in general: just start a conversation.”

The community ofrenda will be open Wednesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Kentucky Museum until Saturday, November 2.

News Reporter Malone Farmer can be reached at james.farmer674@topper.wku.edu. 

Coming to WKU, some students seek the chance to explore these recreational opportunities, even if they don’t have any experience. Many found this chance through the WKU Outdoor Recreation and Adventure Center.

ORAC provided an outlet into the outdoors for students, hosting group recreation trips like camping and canoeing throughout the semester and working a gear shop, where items like kayaks and climbing tools could be rented. 

This September, ORAC was closed indefinitely due to the effects of COVID-19, lack of student engagement and budget cuts. 

Ashton Hoelscher, a senior recreation administration and environmental sustainability major, worked at ORAC since his freshman year. He expressed his disappointment with ORAC’s closure, sharing that the group trips gave a level of comfortability to those who had never done activities like rock climbing or kayaking before.

“When you go with other students that are like you, it can be really exciting,” Hoelscher said. “We get to meet new people, and you’re slowly learning and getting more comfortable outdoors or doing things that you could [learn to] do by yourself.”

Hoelscher explained that without ORAC, something he would have missed out on is seeing all the outdoor recreation opportunities that the Bowling Green area offers – with many of his current favorite spots being ones he discovered through ORAC.

“As someone that’s not from here, when I first moved here, I didn’t know, like, where’s the best place to hike, or where could I possibly even go kayaking,” Hoelscher said. “It’s really unfortunate that we have Mammoth Cave National Park within 30 minutes of us, but people may not know that without ORAC or may not feel comfortable enough to go on their own.”

Justin Cato, director of campus recreation and wellness, stated in the Herald article about ORAC’s closure that it was due to effects of COVID-19, low student engagement and budget cuts. While Hoelscher agreed with these reasons, he said a large part was also a general “lack of support overall” from the university.

“When it came to tabling events or Discover Fest or things like that, ORAC wasn’t a featured thing,” Hoelscher said. “We did our best to promote ourselves on Instagram or social media as much as we could, but there’s no added help, so then people didn’t know about us unless they already kind of did.”

Hoelscher also suggested a cause of low student engagement was scheduling issues with ORAC trips, for example, scheduling a trip on a holiday weekend or at the time of a WKU athletics game.

“It was also hard just to get people, student staff, to lead those trips, because they have other commitments […],” Hoelscher said. “That’s something that I think, since our calendar didn’t align to fill in the gaps of where there may not be events going on, it was like a battle we already lost.”

Since its start, ORAC was primarily managed by a program director. In Fall 2020, a graduate assistant position in ORAC was created, with Jacob Rex serving as the first, and only, graduate assistant (GA) there for two years. 10 days after Rex began as the GA, the ORAC program director at the time left.

This change left Rex, who was getting a WKU graduate degree in organizational leadership, to act as the interim ORAC coordinator. Rex explained, with no fault to the previous coordinator, “ORAC was suffering pretty terribly when I got there.”

“Programs were not running or filling,” Rex said. “Rentals weren’t happening. There was no formal training for students. The development opportunities were limited. They [student staff] didn’t even really have their own space to be in, like a physical space.”

From the Appalachian Area in Tennessee, Rex went to Middle Tennessee State University, where the outdoor program there “changed his life.” He has seen outdoor programs change others’ lives and believes having ORAC did that at WKU.

“My goal at ORAC was to bring that opportunity to Hilltoppers and Bowling Green, to give them technical skills and to bring students challenges in a way that they may not be challenged otherwise, in a way that supports them, gives them validation but also teaches them new skills,” Rex said. “My goal with ORAC, even though it was very small, was to provide unique social experiences for students in highlighting outdoor areas near and in Kentucky in general, to highlight those areas and to give students a place for genuine professional developments where they won’t get other places on campus.”

Similar to Hoelscher, Rex thought more could have been done by WKU to help with preserving ORAC and what it brought to students.

“I felt that the effort that I put into that program was not validated,” Rex said. “I felt like I was plugging up holes in a sinking ship that the university was pouring a fire hydrant into on purpose.”

Without ORAC, Rex explained students will not only miss out on what he considers the best hiking, backpacking and kayaking in the region, but will really miss out on pivotal moments that could change the direction of their life.

“You [may] see how important maybe the outdoors are to you, but more as a leader, seeing what your role as a leader is, and seeing what it is you’re really made of,” Rex said. “I think outdoor activities are really characteristic, that it is a mirror to people, to who you are and who you could be.”

ORAC was part of Campus Recreation and Wellness, which includes other programs like WellU, Hilltopper Nutrition and the Health and Fitness Lab. Rex explained that he doesn’t blame the professional staff there for ORAC’s closure, and said they “did their best to shield us [GAs].” 

“I think it went out with a whimper, which I think was hard for me to swallow,” Rex said. “A program that I think touched a lot of students’ lives. A lot of the students that were on our program still, I still keep in contact with and a lot of our student staff, and the impact I saw that it had on the Hilltoppers’ culture in general. Just going out with so little care from the administration, I think, was kind of a gut punch.”

Rex graduated in 2022 and currently works at another university with a similar outdoor recreation program, what he described as one of the most successful in the nation. After he left, Sam Talbert was hired as the program coordinator, but left the position at the start of the Spring 2024 semester.

“Once I left, I knew it was a ticking time bomb for them to eventually shut it down,” Rex said.

Will Hemenover, a 2024 WKU graduate in biology and environmental science, worked at ORAC for a year and a half, and values his experience there, as he is now using some of the skills he learned at his job with the National Park Service.

During his last semester with ORAC in Spring 2024, Hemenover experienced the difficulties the center faced – which included the cancellation of all trips and the gear shop not opening until mid-March. While this was hurtful because ORAC was something he enjoyed, it was also difficult financially.

“It was heartbreaking to hear that once he [Talbert] left, the money was not really there, at least at the moment, to replace that supervisor role,” Hemenover said. “[…] that was just difficult, because that was an outlet that I enjoyed, but also that was a source of income for me as well. Just being a student, that was a little bit difficult, and being a person who’s graduating at that point, nowhere on campus is really looking to hire someone that’s on their way out.”

Without a program coordinator last semester, among other previous struggles, Hemenover said it was hard on the student staff to organize all events, and that many didn’t have the necessary training to hold events or recreational clinics. He also shared that more usage and collaboration with the WKU Challenge Course, a recreational area with ziplining, a rock wall and a ropes course that shut down in 2022, could have benefited ORAC.

“I always just thought that [the challenge course] was a missed opportunity, because there was a lot of opportunity for them, student workers, to get more hours to do that sort of thing,” Hemenover said. “Also, WKU organizations all the time would come out there and do that for group bonding or just an activity in the year.”

He agreed that low student participation played a part in ORAC’s closure, but that it was interconnected with the issues of budget and COVID-19. However, he said student involvement was still high with fall and spring break trips and the well-known “full moon float” canoeing trip at Shanty Hollow.

“I know that since COVID, having to shut those trips down was a big hit [to ORAC], because what I’ve heard from my other alumni, or have read before, is that a lot of trips were never left empty, or all spots were filled. I definitely think that was a factor in that case,” Hemenover said.

Like Hoelscher and Rex, Hemenover believes that ORAC offered the opportunity for students to get outside and learn about recreation to those who may never have that opportunity again.

“I think that overall, whether trips had high participation or not, getting to lead trips and where sometimes I had friends in the trip or where it’s just students that I didn’t know, it was a great way to meet people, and I know that it was for the trip participants as well,” Hemenover said. “The joy that people had going outdoors and getting to do this when maybe they had never even been on a kayak before […] not everyone has had that opportunity. And I think everyone deserves to have that opportunity, if they would like.”

It is the use of this opportunity that led students like Hemenover to further develop skills from ORAC, whether in their professional or personal life. Rex believes building this pathway may have been one of ORAC’s most important roles in the WKU community.

“WKU wants to focus on putting exceptional leaders into the world and exceptional alumni that change Appalachia and change Kentucky,” Rex said. “I think they just shot themselves in the foot by taking away one of the best pipelines to that kind of future.”

News Reporter Alexandria Anderson can be reached at alexandria.anderson337@topper.wku.edu. 

WKU has 31 all-gender restrooms across 22 academic and administrative buildings according to the WKU All Gender Bathroom Directory. In 2015, all-gender restrooms were only available in four academic buildings on campus, according to an August 2015 Herald article.

Additionally, at least eight residence halls currently include facilities explicitly labeled “all-gender restroom” or “all-gender bathroom” out of 15 available residence halls on campus, according to Katie Corbin, assistant director of marketing and communications for WKU Housing and Residence Life. These are not all open to the public. 

Private restrooms, family restrooms and guest restrooms are not considered all-gender restrooms.

“‘All gender’ makes it clear that trans and nonbinary people, as well as cis women and men, are able to use the facility,” said Genny Beemyn, researcher of trans-supportive campus policies. 

Gender-inclusive restrooms provide a solution for safety and comfortability concerns amongst the LGBTQ+ community, especially transgender and nonbinary people, Beemyn said.

“Many trans and nonbinary people experience violence in gendered restrooms and are often uncomfortable in such facilities because they feel unsafe,” Beemyn said. “As a result, many trans and nonbinary people go out of their way to find a gender-inclusive restroom or ‘hold it,’ despite the discomfort, to avoid being in a gendered restroom.”

For the fall 2024 Common App, 2.47% of college applicants identified as transgender or nonbinary, according to Beemyn’s research project.

Beemyn also tracks trans-supportive policies on college campuses across the country.

President of WKU Queer Student Union Daryl Action stressed the importance of all-gender restrooms on a college campus since college is a period of self-discovery.

Action, a junior and communications major, considers all-gender restrooms a “safe space” for students.

Students can find additional resources on campus through The Pride Center at pridecenter@wku.edu and in Downing Student Union room 2084.

News Reporter Kane Smith can be reached at kane.smith490@topper.wku.edu.

Hispanic Heritage Month, which occurs annually from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, is a way for many Americans with Central American roots to celebrate their home nations’ independence days.

Multiple HOLAS members told the Herald that Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates many diverse cultures, reiterating the idea that Latin American students can embrace multiple Hispanic cultural identities. 

Valery Garcia, senior president of HOLAS and social work and Spanish double-major, said Hispanic Heritage Month is a good way for people in the Hispanic community to connect back to the country their family was from and celebrate their heritage. 

Garcia is from the Dominican Republic and said the month was a good way to “celebrate her roots” since she is away from home.

As for those outside the Hispanic community, Garcia believes this month gives them the opportunity to learn something new and expand their knowledge.

“It’s a good way for them to learn about the Hispanic community because most of the people think that just because you know Spanish that you’re Mexican, but it’s good for them to know there’s more than just Mexico,” Garcia said. “There’s a whole bunch of different countries.”

Garcia said her favorite events during the month are the “All Around the World” event  and “Lotería Night.” When asked how Hispanic Heritage Month made her feel, Garcia had only positive things to say.

“It makes me feel happy, because I really enjoy seeing everyone celebrating, and I also enjoy celebrating my own heritage,” Garcia said.

Athziry Zetina, senior vice president of HOLAS and criminology and psychology double-major, said that Hispanic Heritage Month means “happiness and memories” to her. Zetina said she is “proudly” from Mexico.

“I think it is important for people to learn about other cultures in general and be able to educate themselves about other cultures that exist in the world,” Zetina said. “I think it made us more mindful, and it made us see more of what’s outside the box.”

Zetina said her favorite event during Hispanic Heritage Month is “Lotería Night.”

“My favorite event of Hispanic Heritage Month is ‘Lotería Night’ from HOLAS because it reminds me of my childhood when I would sit at a big table with all my aunts and cousins playing Lotería together having fun and laughing,” Zetina said. “Being able to share those memories with other people holding this event makes me very happy.”

Zetina said she loves to show off her culture all the time by speaking her language, wearing Mexico’s soccer jersey, wearing Mexican earrings and more.

“I enjoy every single thing about this month,” Zetina said. “I am a person who is very proud of her heritage, and I love to show my culture to other people, but I personally show my culture any time, any minute outside of Hispanic Heritage Month.”

Michelle Ramos, junior secretary of HOLAS and nursing major, said she has participated in the organization’s Hispanic Heritage Month activities since her freshman year when she joined the organization. Ramos’ family is from Mexico, but she is a natural-born citizen of the United States.

“Since I’ve been here, every year they [HOLAS] either added onto the events they already had from past years or created new ones,” Ramos said. “Last year we did a cookout collab with FIJI [Phi Gamma Delta], and this year we started off with the ‘All Around the World’ event. It’s one of my favorites.”

Ramos said the “All Around the World” event was something that many people went to and one of her favorite things during the event was the line dancing.

“To me, it’s just a way to express our culture,” Ramos said. She said that each Latinx country has its own individual culture with different traditional dances, foods and activities they like to do.

“With HOLAS it’s a way to have it [Hispanic culture] exposed to the students, and to also the Bowling Green community,” Ramos said. “I want people to know that everyone is different, and just because one comes from a certain place doesn’t just mean they’re just from there. Yeah, some people, they can be from multiple countries from their parents’ sides, and there’s various cultures and languages that are involved with who they are.”

Ramos said Hispanic Heritage Month is a very “joyous” and “colorful” event that is “festive, bright and cheery” and inclusive to anyone who wants to come to celebrate and support.

Anastacia Álvarez, sophomore outreach coordinator of HOLAS and family consumer sciences and education double-major, said that Hispanic Heritage Month was important in preserving cultural identity. 

“I think it’s important just because I feel like sometimes with certain cultures, they get kind of erased, or like left behind or forgotten,” Álvarez said. “And so, I think having a whole month dedicated to the culture is a good way to kind of remind people and be like hey we’re here.”

Álvarez’s father, Fabián Álvarez, is the current advisor of HOLAS and helped start the organization a little over a decade ago. Álvarez said the organization used to go under a different name but had died out, and so her father brought it back with HOLAS.

When asked about what Hispanic Heritage Month meant to her, Álvarez said she was proud to get to show off her heritage, especially since she is multiracial.

“To me, it’s just being proud of who I am, and my culture and getting to show off because I don’t always get to display that part of me, especially since I’m very white-passing,” Álvarez said.

Calee Carroll, junior member of HOLAS and political science and legal studies major, said that having a community to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with has been a great part of her college experience. Carroll is Guatemalan and said before coming to Western, while she knew about Hispanic Heritage Month, she did not celebrate it on such a wide scale as she does now.

“I think over the past two years, it’s been really great to be a part of HOLAS and have it [Hispanic Heritage Month] just so widely celebrated, and especially because the university is generous enough to give us funding and to help us put on these celebrations,” Carroll said. “And I think as well, it just means a lot more now because where I’m from, I was one of the only Hispanic people in my graduating class in high school, and so now I have a community and have all these new people to celebrate with and kind of get to it on a more cultural level instead of just observation level.”

Carroll said she believed it was important for people to learn and participate in HOLAS’ Hispanic Heritage Month activities because a big part of Hispanic culture is emphasized in sharing.

“I think that we see that [sharing] through the languages, the food, letters of writing and of Scripture and all these different things,” Carroll said. “So, I mean, sharing our culture and sharing our community is something that I mean a lot of us really, really value, especially in a place like a college campus when there’s just so many more opportunities to let people get involved.”

HOLAS will conclude their Hispanic Heritage Month festivities with a celebration during the MSTU volleyball game against WKU. Hilltoppers can stay up-to-date on HOLAS events through the organization’s Instagram account.

News Reporter Abigail Vickers can be contacted at abigail.vickers153@topper.wku.edu.