While in the camp, a place she said was restrictive and sometimes frightening, she and her husband applied to emigrate to the U.S. They first landed in Houston, Texas, before moving to Owensboro then Bowling Green.

Mo said it was scary coming to the U.S., a place where she didn’t have a job, couldn’t speak the language and had no connections, but she is grateful to be in America.

“I didn’t know anybody here,” Mo said. “But we’re thankful because we are here. We have a safe place.”

Mo is just one of the roughly 2,200 immigrants and refugees that arrive in the United States daily, according to the Population Reference Bureau. With that many new immigrants coming to America, each with their own unique situation and needs, the process is understandably complex.

According to resources provided by the U.S. government, there are multiple types of visas one must obtain that depends on a person’s “reason for travel.”

These include an immigrant visa, both family-based and employer-based, used for permanent residency in the United States, a visitor or business visa, a student visa, a transit visa, a business or professional visa for citizens of Canada and Mexico and a “Fiancé visa” to marry your U.S. citizen fiancé, and live in the U.S.

“When you arrive in the United States, you must show valid travel documents as part of the entry process,” the government website states. “The documents you need and whether your passport needs to be valid for six months after your travel dates depend on the country you are arriving from and your citizenship or status.”

Along with the other visas, there are also people who come to America who are considered refugees, like Tee Mo and her family. A refugee, for the purposes of the government, “are people who fled their homes for a variety of reasons, including persecution (or the fear of persecution) and war, to find protection elsewhere.”

“The refugees’ entry process into the U.S. involves many government agencies as part of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, which explains the resettlement and a refugee’s arrival,” the website states.

The key difference between an immigrant and a refugee is their departure from their home country. An immigrant leaves freely for a variety of reasons including the hope for a better life while a refugee is forced to leave based on persecution, natural disasters, war or a “well founded” fear of such things happening if they returned to their home country, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Regardless of a person’s reason for immigrating to the United States, the process is time-consuming. Mo said her entire process of coming to the U.S. took roughly 10 years, but she knew of some that stayed at the camp for 15 to 30 years waiting to immigrate to another country.

Boundless Immigration, a corporation aimed at making the process less stressful, faster and more affordable, states that while the length can vary depending on external factors as well as the type of visa one is requesting, the entire process can take up to three years.

In addition to the multiple visas available to immigrants, there are also Green Cards that offer more flexibility to individuals and grant them the same rights as natural-born U.S. citizens. The main difference between the two is “that US visas allow the bearer to enter the country and stay for a certain period of time for a specific purpose, while a Green Card is a permit for immigrants that grants permanent residency in the United States,” according to Handy Visas.

Unlike visas, a Green Card can only be applied for after entering the U.S.

“About a million people a year receive Green Cards, designating them as new permanent residents of the United States,” the U.S. immigration website states. “Many of those people arrive in the U.S. through an immigrant visa.”

As with most things, immigration has been a political issue for decades. Illegal immigration, coming into the country without going through the process, is seen by Americans as a national security issue, according to the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations. This has led some politicians to focus on deportation and an increase in border security and others to making the process easier and quicker.

At the state level, legislatures vary widely on their tactics and stances towards immigration. California allows undocumented immigrants to apply for driver’s licenses while Arizona allows police to question anyone suspected of being in the country illegally.

“The federal government is generally responsible for enforcing immigration laws, but it delegates some immigration-related duties to state and local law enforcement,” the U.S. CFR states.

The differences in policy from state to state make the immigration process difficult and complicated, but can be navigated.

According to Jeff Meisel, Bowling Green city manager, the city has thrived as immigrants come into Bowling Green and establish businesses that invigorate the community.

Dan Ridenour, mayor of Muncie, Indiana, echoed Mo’s remarks that it “takes a lot of courage” and requires strength of character for a person to leave their home country and start anew.

“It’s overwhelming,” Jeff Meisel, Bowling Green city manager, said in an interview with Ball State University. “Think about all the challenges assimilating to that new environment, that new culture.”

Just as each person is unique, so are their reasons for immigrating to the U.S. Some come willingly in search of a better life, both for themselves and their children, others are forced to flee from their countries for fear of violence or death, like Tee Mo or any of the various Bosnian immigrants.

The 2020 census records roughly 45 million people who are foreign born in the U.S. These people do not cluster in one area but rather spread to every corner of the nation.

According to the same census, the Commonwealth of Kentucky has over 180,000 foreign-born individuals. Perhaps surprisingly, the city of Bowling Green, with 9,162 foreign born people, seems to be high on their list of nice places to settle down.

Dominique Gumirakiza, associate professor of agricultural economics at Western Kentucky University, who volunteers his time helping Rwandan immigrants in the city, said there were multiple reasons this city appealed to the Rwandan community, including the city’s proximity to the interstate and the numerous job options available.

Gumirakiza said the Rwandan community in the city has grown from ten to roughly 50 families.

Most Rwandan immigrants do not speak English or rather speak it as their second language, Gumirakiza said. Most speak Kinyarwanda, their native tongue, so he and his wife spend around eight to ten hours a week helping translate documents, schedule doctors appointments and connect them to resources.

The city government also offers no shortage of resources to the immigrant and refugee community.

Leyda Becker, the International Communities Liaison for the city, said her position was initially assigned to a police officer but after “extensive information gathering” made it a full-time position serving all city departments.

“[T]he role was meant to be city services to assist all city governmental departments,” Becker said. “And that’s why it was created.”

Becker said it is not uncommon for her office to have between 800 and 1,000 “contacts” in the span of a month from people needing assistance for things like how to reach the police or utilities department or when to put out their trash for pickup.

The liaison’s department also offers a variety of programs both for the immigrants and educational opportunities for the people of Bowling Green, like Language Access Services which “ensures that limited English proficient constituents have equal access” to written or spoken materials through interpretations.

The city also has the Academy for New Americans that aims to “empower New Americans to understand and participate in city government.”

In addition to the in-person events the liaison offers, she also hosts a weekly show on “La Nuestra,” a Spanish radio program, about city services and important city information.

Bowling Green is also home to the International Center of Kentucky, a refugee resettlement agency started by Marty Deputy in 1981. To date, the Center has assisted in the resettlement of over 10,000 refugees.

Meisel said that while the government and the Center do a lot of helpful things, it is individuals, the schools, the churches and neighborhoods that play a big part in making Bowling Green feel like home.

Tee Mo now has a job working at Christ Fellowship Church by the Parker-Bennett-Curry Elementary school where she, among other things, helps refugees and immigrants with things like transportation, English and schooling.

Mo said the first year in a new country is typically the most difficult due to the language barrier and the transportation, so she is glad to be able to help.

“[The] first year in America was difficult for my family,” Mo said. “We didn’t have job[s], we also did not have enough food to eat for three months […] So, difficult not only for our family but also [for] families [who are] like our family.”

In the end, the immigration process can be daunting. It takes a copious amount of time and energy and it can be quite scary moving to a foreign country, but Mo said she is grateful to live in Bowling Green.

“We support each other,” Meisel said. “We’re here to serve them.”

Administration reporter Michael Crimmins can be reached at michael.crimmins416@topper.wku.edu.

According to Jace Lux, university spokesperson, Helbiz, the parent company of Wheels, informed the administration last week that they would stop providing services to campus. This is in spite of the required 30 days notice outlined in the contract.

“You probably noticed the bikes are gone, which was really a surprise to us,” Lux said. “From the university’s perspective it was going well. It was really disappointing, I think we had found a transit solution there that was beneficial to a lot of people.”

Despite the contract requirements, Lux said there is no “ceasing operations early” fee that the company will have to pay.

He said Helbiz only cited operational concerns in their notice to the university. Lux said the university tried to compromise with the company but was turned down.

“As a compromise we asked ‘can you at least keep the presence on campus until after commencement when most students are gone?’ and they informed us that operational costs would prohibit that,” Lux said.

Helbiz could not be reached for comment prior to publication despite the Herald’s multiple attempts.

Matthew Muse, a sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering, said he used the bicycles heavily during his fall 2022 semester.

“Last semester, Fall 2022, I had a very busy schedule and used the electric scooter quite a bit,” Muse said. “First, I used the scooters for fun before quickly realizing how useful they actually were to get to class on time or get down the hill for a club meeting. I found myself using them about three times a week several times a day.”

He said he recently bought a bicycle to more easily get around campus, but he believes they are still a useful tool for students.

“I think the scooters were very useful for kids who lived further down the hill,” Muse said. “I believe many will be sad to see them go. I won’t miss them as I have my own form of transportation now, but there was a time when I relied heavily on them.”

Lux said this departure not only affects WKU but the city of Bowling Green as well.

“It wasn’t just a WKU initiative, it was a Bowling Green initiative too,” Lux said.

Telia Butler, Downtown Development Coordinator for the city of Bowling Green, said the city and WKU were told of the departure at the same time. She also said they entered into the same agreement as the university and “supported the WKU ask to remain on campus until the semester’s end.”

“The only reason they stated [for leaving] was due to operational costs after restructuring the company when Wheels [was] sold to Helbiz,” Butler said.

Butler said the city “would be open to another partnership with WKU and similar vendors” in the future as it was “deemed a success” by both WKU and Bowling Green.

“We thought it was going very well and liked this extra amenity to better connect Downtown … to the university,” Butler said.

Lux said he hopes WKU will have another transit partner for the upcoming semester but the university wants to make sure the new partner is “committed to staying.”

“The university will pursue other options,” Lux said. “I can’t give a timeline on that because we want to make sure it’s a quality option. We’d love to have something in place by the fall semester.”

“It was something pretty popular with our students, well utilized. The suddenness of it was not the way we envisioned that transpiring,” Lux added.

While the agenda includes many of the same items that were presented in April’s committee meeting, there are two athletic contracts that were not presented in April.

According to the Executive Committee’s report, the contract extension of Tyson Helton, head coach of the men’s football team, through Dec. 31, 2026 will be discussed and voted on by the Regents. 

“[Helton’s] term of employment is amended to add an additional season to the existing term of employment following each season the football program wins seven or more games,” the report states. “The revised normal expiration date is now December 31, 2023.”

In addition to amending the expiration date, the addendum also revises the “liquidated damages upon termination without cause,” which lays out how much money the coach or the university has to pay in the event of early termination.

The report states that Helton’s base salary and bonus will be unaffected by the addendum.

The other athletic employment contract featured in the Executive Committee’s report concerns Steve Lutz who replaced Rick Stansbury as the men’s basketball head coach in March.

The contract states Lutz will receive $650,000, plus performance incentives. According to the contract, Lutz officially began in this position on March 22 and his employment runs through June 30, 2027.

The contract also includes incentives provided to Lutz including a car, four VIP football season tickets, six Red Towel men’s basketball tickets, 12 “reserved seat men’s basketball season tickets,” and states he will receive half of “all gross ticket revenue that exceeds $900,000.”

In the incentives portion it also states there are possible monetary gains based on the team’s academic performance, tournament appearances and season championships. 

Jace Lux, university spokesperson, said the two contracts were not presented at the committee meeting because they were not finalized until recently.

“The details of the contracts were still being finalized at the time of the last committee meetings,” Lux said. “Therefore, the contracts were not yet available to present to the Regents.”

The Academic Affairs and the Finance and Budget reports include the same certificate programs and program suspensions discussed during the April meeting. 

There is also a closed session scheduled to “discuss proposed or pending litigation against or on behalf of the University.”

The next committee meeting is scheduled for June 2. The annual Board of Regents retreat is scheduled for Aug. 10 and the third quarterly meeting is Aug. 11.

Administration reporter Michael Crimmins can be reached at michael.crimmins416@topper.wku.edu.

Out of more than 32,000 applicants, both from within the United States as well as internationally, roughly 1,000 people were winners of the online ticket lottery conducted by the park service. 

Approximately 500 people wait to go into Rafinesque Hall, an open space nearly half a mile inside the cave, to hear Teddy Abrams, the musical director and composer with the Louisville orchestra, Yo-Yo Ma and many others perform a musical and theatrical piece. 

Abrams composed the piece “Mammoth” specifically for the cave after going to the cave and taking every tour offered, he said.

“This is not the place where you just go play a piece of music you like from the past,” Abrams said. “First and foremost let the cave tell its story through this performance.”

According to Abrams, “Mammoth” is broken up into roughly three parts that all come together to tell the story of the cave. The piece begins with the natural history of the cave’s forming before moving into the human history and ending with the “spirituality of the cave.”

The performance featured 15 instruments, including water tanks and harps, trombones, flutes, cellos and various percussion instruments, as well as members from the Louisville Chamber Choir who sang along with the musical performance. 

“This event is really celebrating Mammoth Cave,”  Molly Schroer, public information officer for Mammoth Cave, said. “They are putting together a performance that is all centered around the cave. They have immersed themselves […] as much as they can.”

After the roughly two hour performance, the crowd lining the edges of the hall gave a rousing round of applause as Abrams, Yo-Yo Ma and all the performers took their bows. 

Henry Royse, mayor of Glasgow, said he was awestruck by the display of talent.

“The creativity in this room is amazing,” Royse said. “I was taken aback.” 

Abrams said this idea began as a joke between him and Yo-Yo Ma on a podcast but slowly started becoming a reality as Ma was working on “Our Common Nature,” a “celebration of the ways nature can reinvigorate the human experiment, reuniting us in pursuit of a common future,” and was eager to perform in Mammoth Cave.

“At first it was kind of a joke like ‘we should take the whole orchestra to Mammoth Cave,’” Abrams said. “Then we started saying ‘wait, maybe we should take the whole orchestra to Mammoth Cave’ and the idea kept growing and growing and growing.”  

Composing the music was very time intensive, Abrams said, requiring many months of research and many days and weeks of sleepless nights.

“The research alone was a good seven to eight months of work,” Abrams said. “Then the actual composition I started in November and for six weeks I did that anywhere from 10 to 20 hours a day. There were many days I just didn’t sleep.”

Abrams said he is overwhelmed to hear his music played by such notable people and is happy to now be forever a part of the cave’s over 5,000 year long story.

“If you’re not completely overwhelmed with awe and appreciation and understanding of how beautiful that is I wouldn’t know what to say,” Abrams said. “It’s human to recognize that.”

This event would not have been possible, Abrams said, without the cooperation of Mammoth Cave National Park, who accepted Abrams request to perform in the cave last year without knowing the famous cellist would be coming, Schroer said. 

Once they knew Abrams would be performing in the cave, Schroer said, the team at Mammoth Cave assembled to determine if there were issues with the cave or with the wildlife within.

“Looking at the resource protection, making sure none of these activities are going to harm the cave or overly impact our visitor services throughout this week has been a top priority for us.”

Schroer said music is not unusual in the cave. Mammoth Cave hosts the annual “Cave Sing” and tour guides used to sing while giving tours.

“It’s a musical experience, but nothing quite on this scale,” Schror added.

“Music in the cave has happened for hundreds of years,” Schoer said. “The cave is just a great spot for sounds. You go down there and you want to sing […] so it’s the perfect spot for this type of activity.”

With everything this size comes all sorts of logistics and unique challenges. This production was no exception. 

The orchestra began moving their instruments into the cave Sunday night, Schroer said. 

To accommodate for the cave’s cooler temperatures and higher humidity, Abrams said a lot of the stringed instruments were replaced with carbon fiber ones, including Yo-Yo Ma’s Cello.

“This falls into the category of the million details we’ve had to deal with,” Abrams said. “What we’ve done is found secondary instruments, some of them are carbon fiber, for the musicians to play. [Yo-Yo Ma] is playing with carbon fiber, it’s not the best idea to take $25 million Stradivarius into the cave.”

While Abrams composed the music and the theatrical performance, Zach Winokur was the director of the production who orchestrated the whole thing. He said every day presented a new challenge.

Winokur said this show sought to “bring people back to a baby” with the complete darkness and, at times, deep silence that the cave provided. 

Matthew Stone served as the executive producer. He echoed Winokur’s words, saying everything was designed to bring people in, even the beginning procession that started outside the cave.

“That procession we are really treating as the beginning of the performance,” Stone said. “As soon as they make that departure, and as soon as they enter the cave, all of our performers will be lined up down the sides. There’s no distinction between audience and performers for that procession.” 

“It’s not a concert at all, it’s truly an experience,” Stone added.

Stone said one of the main things that he, and the roughly twenty people on the production team, focused on was the subtlety to “let the cave be the cave.”

“Our job really was letting the cave do what the cave does,” Stone said. “We didn’t want to come in and overwhelm it with technology or intrude upon [the] experience most people have in the cave […] it’s been an interesting process. When in doubt, always let the cave shine through and let it be what it needs to be, what it wants to be,” Stone said. 

The subtlety is something Mary Ellen Stebbins, the lighting designer, said she went out of her way to get right so as to “not remove anyone from the experience.” She also said the lights provided a range of colors and intensities that help to tell the story.

“This project has two big overriding principles that we’re trying to do,” Stebbins said. “One is…we want people to have an experience that focuses on the space and doesn’t take you out of that by distracting you…and the second is that it’s a musical and theatrical event so we’re telling a story so we want to show you were to look and we want to show you how to feel.”

While limiting the entire production to only the power available, including audio, was daunting, Stebbins said the cave was “super friendly” to light and takes it well.

“The cave takes light super well, there’s no light in here so just one tiny piece of light has a big impact,” Stebbins said. “Highlighting the way the rocks move and change, and the unevenness, creates a natural, lovely thing to see.”

Chris Kincaid, lead audio engineer with the orchestra, said the cave provided interesting audio challenges as it did not have the “givens” a person expects in a usual concert hall. Despite these challenges, like the organic ceiling or the numerous incroppings of stone, Kincaid said “the hair on the back of my neck stood up” when he heard the instruments in the Hall.

In the end, Abrams, Winokur, Kincaid and Stebbins all agreed that despite the technical challenges of making such a performance possible, the goal was to tell the story of Mammoth Cave.

“This is a moment life has given us and we just have to feel that gratitude,” Abrams said. “Like many of the really spectacular places on the planet, no matter how much [you’ve] prepared for what it might be, once you go there you’re filled with genuine awe. Everytime you go in [the cave] you realize you’re in a sacred space.”

Administration reporter Michael Crimmins can be reached at michael.crimmins416@topper.wku.edu.

Note: Photography, video and audio recording by attendees were not allowed during the event. The Louisville Orchestra intends to release a recording at a later date.

The court order indicated that all parties agreed to the dismissal after the lawsuit was filed a year ago. The court order dismissing the case was entered on April 12 by Circuit Court Judge Chris Cohron, according to Bowling Green Daily News.

Matthew Brown, Wilkins’ attorney, said following the year-long length of the lawsuit pending, he and Wilkins decided it was best to dismiss. 

“The defendants all have filed motions to dismiss based on a variety of grounds to include sovereign immunity and other defenses,” Brown said. “We have responded to those motions and the court has had them under submission for quite a while under review and Ms. Wilkins and I have just determined to dismiss the suit at this time [to] sort of turn the page and move on to the next chapter. We still very much believe in her position.”

Brown said that cases similar to this one can go on for many years and Wilkins has decided to move on. 

The suit listed six defendants: Western Kentucky University; WKU President Timothy Caboni; Phillip Bale, chair of the WKU Board of Regents; David Brinkley, the elected staff regent and director of Educational Telecommunications at WKU; Susan Howarth, executive vice president for strategy, operations and finance; and Tony Glisson, retired director of human resources.

Andrea Anderson, the current general counsel for WKU, was added to the list of defendants through an amended complaint filed in November.

The suit alleged that Wilkins experienced discrimination on the basis of age and gender, retaliation for participation in protected activity, tortious interference with a contractual relationship, breach of contract and fraud. 

“We are pleased that Ms. Wilkins requested the dismissal of this suit,” Jace Lux, university spokesperson said via email. “Her request now puts the matter to rest.”

Gregg Hovious, WKU’s outside counsel from the Louisville law firm Middleton-Reutlinger, said on April 22, 2022 that the university intended to “Vigorously defend against Ms. Wilkins baseless claims” adding that her behavior became too unpredictable to “advance the interest of the university.”

WKU filed a formal response to the allegations on May 12, 2022 containing “a memorandum from the individual defendants in support of their motion to dismiss, a memorandum of law from WKU in support of its motion to dismiss and a general answer from the university in response to the plaintiff’s complaint.”

 These motions were responded to but pending for several months, leading to the decision to dismiss the lawsuit, Brown said. 

Wilkins was originally hired by Thomas Meredith, former president of WKU, as general counsel in 1994. 

Andrea Anderson was appointed general counsel in May 2020, when Caboni removed Wilkins from the position and named Wilkins the interim Title IX coordinator and special assistant to the president. 

Wilkins was terminated on Nov. 22, 2021, and the Title IX role was assigned to Anderson. Wilkins remained under contract until June 30, 2022.

Ena Demir now serves as the Title IX coordinator.

“As most of you know, WKU has not kept pace with our peer institutions as the part-time faculty compensation structure has remained stagnant for 13 years,” Fischer’s email stated. 

Unlike full-time faculty, who are appointed to serve a specific discipline or academic program and are compensated annually for that service, part-time faculty are contracted to teach courses on behalf of WKU on a semester-by-semester basis and are compensated at a specific rate based on the instructor’s education, teaching experience and specialized certifications and/or licensures.

According to the provost’s email, WKU has attracted and retained “highly qualified faculty” through competitive compensation, increasing faculty compensation by 3.5% over the prior two years as well as providing additional compensation “where needed to ensure all full-time faculty are compensated at 80% of the midpoint of their tier.” 

Included in his email is the “WKU part-time faculty compensation rates” that divides compensation into five grades all with their own qualifications including credit hours and college degrees. 

The fifth grade includes full-time faculty who teach a summer or winter term class or emeritus professors teaching part-time.

“I am grateful to our deans for their commitment to invest in improving salaries across the university and for acting now to address this serious issue in part-time faculty compensation,” the email states. “Please know that compensation continues to be a top priority for WKU.”

This pay increase was commended by James Barker, assistant professor of religious studies, in an email sent in response to Fischer’s email.

“First and foremost, I commend you and the wider administration for allotting this 30% increase in pay grades for our part-time faculty, who by and large are overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated,” Barker’s email said. “I give credit where credit is due, and this pay raise is much needed and long overdue.”

Barker also broadly questioned the universities compensation, stating that even though “full-time faculty are compensated at 80% of the midpoint of their tier” the university is ranked “dead last” in compensation compared to similar institutions in 2021.

“For example, if $60K is the midpoint of a faculty member’s tier (approximately the base salary of an Assistant Professor 1), then WKU might be paying that faculty member just $48K,” the email stated. “In other words, such a faculty member would need a 25% raise merely to attain average pay. I would hope that our institution could, at the very least, strive for mediocrity in this area.”

This comes after the Board of Regents, in its committee meeting on April 14, approved salary increases for 161 faculty and staff members, 34 of whom received a 10% raise or higher. 

Included in the increases were Tyson Jacob Summers, an assistant for men’s football, who received a 50% raise, going from $200,000 to $300,000, effective Jan. 1, 2023. While the provost said the two are unrelated, the sports area is a place where “WKU appears to excel at compensation,” Barker said.

“To take but one example, our recently resigned head basketball coach will reportedly earn $500K not to work at WKU for the next twelve months; that is more salary than I will have earned in nine combined years as a full-time faculty member at WKU,” Barker’s email read.

The Herald reached out to Fischer several times via email but he did not provide a response. 

“In conclusion, I once again commend you and the administration for your work on behalf of our highly valued part-time faculty,” Barker said in an email. “It is my hope that the administration will take seriously just how much work and re-prioritization is still needed for WKU truly to offer ‘competitive total compensation’ for all faculty.”

Administration reporter Michael Crimmins can be reached at michael.crimmins416@topper.wku.edu.

Kevin Williams, chemistry department chair, said in a Facebook post that Edwards was diagnosed shortly before passing away. Edwards was 40 years old.

Edwards joined the department in 2015 as a Instructor of Chemistry before being promoted to rank of Instructor II in 2020.

David Brown, dean of Ogden College of Science & Engineering, said she was “consistently among the most productive” instructors in the college.

“I personally recall her enthusiastic participation last summer in a series of meetings dedicated to maximizing the effectiveness of introductory courses in the sciences,” Brown said in an email. “She was excited to be involved and contributed great ideas.  Her dedication to students was exemplary, as was her willingness to serve.” 

Williams, who worked alongside Edwards for roughly eight years, said he will miss the positive outlook Edwards had even during the COVID-19 transition and her willingness to help out.

“She was part of a group of faculty in the department who would trek down to DSU for an impromptu lunch from time to time when we needed a break and some friendly conversation,” Williams said. “She was always willing to help out whenever there was a call for volunteers.”

Brennan Crain, a past student of Edwards during the 2020-2021 school year, said he didn’t know her for very long, but said he first came to know her as the lab coat-wearing professor around Snell Hall. 

Crain said he came to deeply appreciate her and her patience and intelligence as he got to know Edwards better.

“She was a tremendous help during the height of the pandemic,” Crain said. “She took what could have been difficult chemistry concepts to a developing student and found innovative ways to teach those concepts through means of [the] internet. I regret to hear of her passing and I hope she knew what an impact she had on students like me.”

Williams said she will be greatly missed in the department.

“Her enthusiasm and positive attitude will be greatly missed among her colleagues and friends in the department,” Williams said.

“We miss her already, but will not forget her contributions to WKU,” Brown added.

Administration reporter Michael Crimmins can be reached at michael.crimmins416@topper.wku.edu.

Melissa Bailey, WKUPD’s public information officer, said two reports have been filed by parents after they received calls from people claiming to be WKUPD officers Lieutenant Brown and Lieutenant Jackson.

Bailey confirmed that the department had no officers by those names. 

This type of scam is not new, Bailey said, but up until now had not been a problem at WKU.

“This type of scam has been going around for a while,” Bailey said. “People pose as police officers in other agencies […] This is the first time that I’m aware that this has happened here.”

The two scammers, who Bailey said had students’ names, asked the parents for money over the phone so they would release the child. The reports Bailey received did not specify the amount they were asking for.

Bailey said the reports were filed around 7:30 p.m. by parents after they called to check on their children. WKUPD made a social media post shortly after to warn parents.

“Do not send money over the phone, especially to someone you do not know,” Bailey said. “You can always call the WKU Police Department and verify if there is an issue.”

Impersonating a police officer is a serious criminal offense, but Bailey said it is unlikely WKUPD will have luck finding them.

“Typically these are overseas phone scams in another country,” Bailey said. “Very, very difficult for us to track down where this would come from.”

Bailey hoped that people will be more aware of the scam and encourage people to call the department if there is an issue.

“Hopefully no one has fallen victim [to the scam], but if they have they can call the police department and file a report,” Bailey said.

Administration reporter Michael Crimmins can be reached at michael.crimmins416@topper.wku.edu.

The election results were announced at approximately 12:30 a.m. Wednesday morning in the senate chambers in Downing Student Union.

Sam Kurtz, the former administrative vice president, was elected student body president. Also, running with Kurtz on the executive ticket, Salvador León was named administrative vice president and Annalise Finch was elected as executive vice president. The ticket ran unopposed. 

“Hilltoppers, we are incredibly honored and humbled to have been elected as the next Student Government leaders for the student body of Western Kentucky University,” Sam Kurtz said via email. “Together, we can achieve great success and create a positive impact on this campus, this community, and the city of Bowling Green. We promise to listen to students’ concerns, represent their voices, lead with integrity, and promote transparency. KFL would also like to recognize the newly elected senate, as we are very excited to see the initiatives they bring forth. We are excited to get to work as your next Student Body President, Executive Vice President, and Administrative Vice President. Go Tops!”

Fourteen students were elected to be At-Large senators for the fall 2023 semester. 

They were: Sydney Denney, Maiah Cisco, Lyndsey Kelley, Griffin Plumb, Megan Farmer, Carly Wheat, Meghan Pierce, Joel Hornback, Layne Pea, Dylan Carmona, Ella Wooton, Ryan Dilts, Sophia Bryant, and Thomas Pabin.

Kayla Distler was elected as the College of Education & Behavioral Science senator.

Madison Payne was elected as the Ogden College of Science & Engineering senator.

Connor Ferguson was elected to be the senator for Gordon Ford College of Business .

Julia Duggins was elected as the College of Health & Human Services senator.

David Darnell was elected as the senator for the Potter College of Arts & Letters.

Tanner Blood was elected as a first generation senator.

Three individuals were elected as senior senators: Samatha Bodemann, Will Hemenover and Connor Flatt. Ethan Taylor, Anne-Marie Wright and Sarah Vincent were also elected as junior senators and Rush Robinson, Callison Padgett and Hannah Evans were elected sophomore senators.

The election results were read by Justin Goins, chief justice of the SGA Judicial Council.

Administrative reporter Michael Crimmins can be reached at michael.crimmins416@topper.wku.edu.

The meeting opened on a somber note with Regent Chair Philip Bale asking attendees to observe a 30 second moment of silence to think about “what is going on in the world,” referring to the recent shooting in Louisville.

Western Kentucky University unveiled the new renderings for the new building that will house the Gordon Ford College of Business.

“Today is a remarkable day for Western Kentucky University as we unveil plans for the new home of the Gordon Ford College of Business,” WKU President Timothy Caboni said. “ I’m really pleased and thankful to the state legislature and the governor for making this possible for our campus.”

The building will be three stories featuring copious seating areas, sales labs, classrooms, a trading room, where students can apply finance learning to the stock market, and a coffee shop, according to Janette Scott, a senior associate with Gensler, who designed the new building. The building will be roughly 113,000 square feet. 

The building will be topped with a copper dome that “highlights and compliments” Guthrie Bell Tower and the many cupolas around campus, Caboni said.

Caboni said they plan to celebrate the groundbreaking of this building on June 14. The entire building process will last two years ending with a ribbon cutting in the fall 2025.

GFCB Dean Christopher Shook said, as a first generation college graduate, he is “really grateful” to WKU, Gensler and the state, who provided the $74.4 million price tag.

“There was a little bit of disbelief at first,” Shook said. “Then as we started designing the building and Gisler started collecting all this information then it became really real. Then there was a growing sense of excitement…the students now are saying ‘why so late?’” 

The new building, described by Caboni as an “Apple store with columns,” will provide students with a sense of belonging, Shook said, that Grise Hall did not have. Shook also said students admitted this year will likely be the first students to use the building which is something he points out when recruiting.

“It’s fun to see their eyes light up,” Shook said. “Have you ever had a building designed just for you?”

Shook and Caboni agree that this new building will increase enrollment as the building is a “nod to the old while looking to the future.”

“This facility will say to young people who are considering coming to WKU [that] this is a future-oriented business school that cares about applied learning and has created a facility that will support you during your time on the Hill.”

Scott said the new building along with providing the students a “borderless” space will use roughly 20% less in operational energy usage and a 35% decrease in water usage.

Caboni said he is overjoyed to finally unveil the new building and provide a “great place to conduct business.”

“In my opening press conference as president I got asked about this project and my comment was this ‘a great college of business deserves a great place to conduct business,’” Caboni said. “What we showed the Regents today and are sharing with the community is that we will have a space for the Gordon Ford College of Business that is extraordinary.”

“This has been a university priority for 20 years before I even arrived as president six years ago,” he added.

Grise Hall, which currently houses the GFCB, will be demolished in 2027 after a celebration commemorating its service to the campus, Caboni said, after the renovations in Cherry Hall are completed. He is unsure at this time what will go in the space.

“Grise has really outlived its useful life,” Caboni said. “I could say a lot of things about Grise Hall, but it’s going to serve at least one more purpose for us…We need a place for everyone who is in Cherry Hall today to relocate while we do that work.”

Caboni said the unveiling was not just of a building but rather an opportunity for growth both on campus and in the community.

“It will elevate our community, it will transform higher learning for our students and it will serve as a symbol for WKU for generations to come,” Caboni said.“It’s not just about a new building…it’s really about what this facility enables for our students and alumni.”

The Regents also discussed the option of refinancing the bonds taken out with the university renovated and constructed new buildings.

“We’ve been working with our financial adviser on refund opportunities and given that the Regents meet quarterly several months ago it seemed timely with the rapidly changing bond market environment…it seemed appropriate to bring this so we would be nimble and free to refund these bonds if the opportunities presented themselves,” Howarth said. 

In Oct. 2013, WKU issued “General Receipt Bonds” that generated over $36 million. The money was then used to construct the Honors College and International Center. According to Susan Howarth, Executive Vice President for Strategy, Operations and Finance, HCIC currently has an outstanding principle of $23 million maturing in 2033.

In June 2012, the university issued bonds again generating $35.8 million which was used for renovations on Downing Student Union. Howarth said DSU has an outstanding principle of $19 million.

These two action items gave Howarth the flexibility to “move appropriately” given the volatility of the market, she said. In order to refund the bonds the university must see a minimum 5% “net value savings.”

“A month ago there was a possibility of doing that on several of our bond series,” Howarth said. “Unfortunately with the changing situation in the financial markets that is no longer possible.”

Regent Milliken took issue with the language of the resolution saying it seemed like a one-time authorization rather than a year-long approval.

“I’d be more comfortable if it was in the resolution,” Milliken said.  

In the end, approval of action item three and four, both concerning refunding bonds, were postponed to the next Regents meeting scheduled for May 4.

Bryan Russell, Chief Facilities Officer, presented the Regents with the university’s “six year capital plan.”

“We are required as a university every two years to submit a…needs assessment of the university,” Russell said.

The list, broken up in two year increments, lists various renovation projects around campus in order of priority. At the top of the current ist is renovation of the Academic Complex followed by renovation of Potter College of Arts & Letters buildings.

Russell said this approval by the committee had no funds attached as it was merely a “needs assessment” of campus.

As discussed in the Board of Regents preview, six academic certificates, two graduate and four undergraduate certificates, were approved by the Academic Affairs Committee. The two program suspensions were also approved. 

Similarly, Russell also presented the “Asset Preservation Pool” to the committee saying it was still in the early stages of planning but that its goal was to use state provided funds to renovate and modernize facilities across campus.

To access this preservation pool the university must match 15% “from funds provided by each comprehensive institution,” according to Russell that 15% will be roughly $5 million.

Finally, Jennifer Breiwa Smith provided the Regents with a legislative update. She discussed a few bills that might affect WKU including a bill that makes hazing that causes harm to be a class D felony and resolution 38 that, among other things, could introduce the possibility of a new public institution in Southeastern Kentucky. 

Administration reporter Michael Crimmins can be reached at michael.crimmins416@topper.wku.edu.