Western Kentucky University

Western Kentucky University (WKU) is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier.

WKU has a student body of over 21,000 students. Its main campus is in the midst of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of construction and renovation. Since 1997, dormitories have been renovated, new academic and athletic buildings have been finished, with more construction under way. The university also has placed a premium on creating a park-like atmosphere, with parking lots on the interior of the 200 acre campus replaced with green spaces, trees and central landscaping known as Centennial Mall.

The main campus sits atop the highest point in south-central Kentucky, a hill with a commanding view of the Barren River valley. The campus flows from the top of College Heights, also known as The Hill, down its north, south and west faces. WKU also operates satellite campuses in Bowling Green (WKU South Campus Academic Wing) and regionally in Glasgow, Elizabethtown/Fort Knox and Owensboro.

History


The roots of Western Kentucky University go back to 1875 with the founding of the privately owned Glasgow Normal School in Glasgow, Kentucky. This institution moved to Bowling Green in 1885 and became the Southern Normal School and Business College. The student body and building were transferred to the Western Kentucky State Normal School, when it was created by an act of the Kentucky General Assembly in 1906. The owner of the Southern Normal School, Henry Hardin Cherry, became the first president of the new school. Classes began on January 22, 1906. The school moved to its present location in 1911 on property that had been purchased in 1909 when the Pleasant J. Potter College closed.

In 1922, the school was authorized by the state to grant four-year degrees and was renamed as Western Kentucky State Normal School and Teachers College. The first four-year degrees were awarded in 1924. In 1927, the school merged with Ogden College, which occupied an adjacent campus. The name changed again in 1930 to Western Kentucky State Teachers College. The school was authorized to offer the Master of Arts degree in 1931. Another name change took place in 1948, when the school became simply Western Kentucky State College.

WKSC merged with the Bowling Green College of Commerce, formerly the Bowling Green Business University, in 1963. Bowling Green Business University had originally been a part of the Southern Normal School and had been sold off by Henry Hardin Cherry when Southern Normal School was transferred to the state. The structure of the institution changed at this time, dividing into separate colleges. Bowling Green College of Commerce maintained its identity in this way. The Graduate School also became a constituent college. In 1965, three additional colleges were created. In 1966, Western Kentucky State College became Western Kentucky University.

Academics


WKU is divided into the following undergraduate colleges:


 * The College of Education and Behavioral Sciences
 * The Gordon Ford College of Business
 * Ogden College of Science And Engineering
 * Potter College of Arts and Letters
 * University College
 * College of Health and Human Services

An academic range of eighty majors and seventy minors are offered, toward the following degrees:


 * Bachelor of Engineering
 * Bachelor of Arts
 * Bachelor of Fine Arts
 * Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies
 * Bachelor of Science
 * Bachelor of Science in Nursing
 * Bachelor of Music
 * Bachelor of Social Work

WKU also offers fifteen associate degree programs and five certificate programs.

The Graduate School is now the Office of Graduate Studies and Research, which offers:


 * Master of Accountancy
 * Master of Arts
 * Master of Arts in Education
 * Master of Business Administration
 * Master of Science
 * Master of Science in Nursing
 * Master of Social Work
 * Master of Public Administration
 * Master of Health Administration
 * Master of Public Health
 * Doctor of Education
 * Doctor of Nursing
 * Doctor of Physical Therapy

WKU's Journalism and Photojournalism programs rank among the best in the country. The photojournalism department has won numerous awards. As of 2007, more than 25 alumni of WKU's photo and print journalism programs have been honored with the Pulitzer Prize. The school's twice-weekly newspaper, the College Heights Herald,regularly wins awards placing it among the top college newspapers in the nation, and even competes against commercial newspapers in the state's Associated Press competition.

Western Kentucky University’s forensics (speech and debate) team is consistently ranked as one of the best teams in the country. The team has won the American Forensic Association (AFA) and National Forensic Association (NFA) national championships multiple times since 2003. It has also won the International Forensic Association’s (IFA) international championship every year it has attended. The team remains the only team in the nation ever to win the AFA, NFA, IFA, and NFA debate championship in the same year, a feat it has accomplished multiple times. The team hosts several tournaments for junior high and senior high students each fall, as well as a large speech and debate summer camp each July.



WKU is also home to the largest American master's degree program in folklore; it is contained within the Department of Folk Studies and Anthropology. It is unique among American folklore programs for its public folklore program and is one of the few schools in Kentucky to offer a focus in historic preservation.

In the fall of 2009, WKU began its bachelor's degree program in popular culture studies, being only the second university in America to offer such a program (the other being Bowling Green State University). Also in the fall of 2009, an independent Doctor of Education (EdD) program in educational leadership began at WKU.

In the rankings of "America's Best Colleges 2009," WKU is No. 10 among public master's universities in the South, up from No. 12 in the 2008 rankings. According to Forbes 2009 rankings of America's top 600 colleges, Western Kentucky University is ranked No. 434, making it the second highest ranked public college in the state of Kentucky.

Extended campuses are operated in Glasgow, Elizabethtown/Fort Knox and Owensboro. WKU also offers Distance Learning Degrees:

Honors College
The WKU Honors College became the first and only Honors College in the Commonwealth of Kentucky on July 1, 2007. The Honors College serves over 1,000 active Honors students with the 2009 incoming freshman class ACT/SAT average ranking among the top 6% in the nation.

The Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky
The Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky opened in the Fall of 2007. The project is based on the University of North Texas's Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science. The school accepts 60 juniors each year. As an incoming junior, students are given the opportunity to earn at least 60 college credit hours during their stint at the school. The Gatton Academy has been named as one of Newsweek's "public elite" American high schools and in 2011 was named among Newsweek's Top 5 High Schools.

Athletics


The men's athletic teams are known as the Hilltoppers and the women's teams as the Lady Toppers. Their mascot is known as Big Red. The mascot itself has become one of the most popular characters in collegiate sports, even appearing in a series of ESPN promotions. In most sports, WKU has been a member of the Sun Belt Conference since 1982. From 1948 to 1982, it was a member of the Ohio Valley Conference.

The WKU swim team consistently places in the top 5 in the Mid-Major National Rankings. In 2006 their men were undefeated in dual meets and were Sun Belt Conference Champions. The women won five consecutive championships from 2001–2005.In 2005, after 37 years as head coach, Coach Bill Powell became an assistant coach, and holds record for being the second winningest coach in men's swimming in NCAA dual meet history. The baseball team has enjoyed some success recently as well, winning the Sun Belt Conference tournament championship in 2009. In April 2010, the WKU baseball team defeated the University of Kentucky 24–8 in a game at Bowling Green Ballpark. The crowd of 6,183 set the record for largest crowd to ever attend a college baseball game in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Basketball


The men's basketball program, led by Former Kentucky Wesleyan head coach Ray Harper, has the 14th most victories in the history of the NCAA. The school has been to the NCAA Tournament 21 times; in addition, it has made one appearance in the NCAA Final Four, in 1971. WKU also made three appearances in the NIT Final Four while it was the premier post-season tournament. It is extremely competitive in the Sun Belt Conference, usually finishing near the top of the conference and regularly competing for the conference championship. In fact, in Street & Smith's publications, "100 Greatest Programs", WKU ranked #31. WKU also has the 3rd most conference titles in NCAA history with 41 trailing only the University of Kentucky and Kansas University, 6th in NCAA history with 40 twenty win seasons, 8th in NCAA history in winning percentage at 67.2%, and recorded the first 30 win season in NCAA history in the 1937–1938 season with a record of 30–3.

The men's basketball team defeated Middle Tennessee State in the 2008 Sun Belt Conference tournament championship game to get a bid into the 2008 NCAA Tournament. The Hilltoppers won their first-round contest against Drake University on a last-second three-pointer by Ty Rogers, and won their second round game against the University of San Diego, before losing by 2 points against UCLA in the Sweet 16. It was the Toppers' third appearance in the Sweet 16 but their first since 1993. In 2009, the men's basketball team defeated the University of Illinois in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to advance to the second round game against Gonzaga. Unfortunately, the Toppers were beaten by a last second shot, failing to advance to their second straight Sweet 16. In the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2012, the Toppers pulled off a stunning win against Mississippi Valley State, erasing a 16-point deficit with less than five minutes left and pulling off the 59–58 win while President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron looked on.

The women's basketball team is a storied program with a bright future ahead. The team has made three National Collegiate Athletic Association Final Four appearances. In 1992, coach Paul Sanderford's Lady Toppers advanced to the national championship game before bowing out to Stanford. The Lady Toppers are known for their post-season prowess, appearing in a post-season tournament in 19 of the last 20 seasons. Their last NCAA Tournament appearance was in 2008.

Michelle Heard is the new women's basketball coach at Western Kentucky. Coach Heard is a former WKU player who has spent the last five years as an assistant at the University of Louisville under former WKU assistant coach Jeff Walz. Previously, she coached Division II Kentucky State University for two years. In her five seasons in Louisville, the Cardinals have made three regional semifinals appearances and finished as national runner-up in 2009. She helped develop former Louisville guard and current WNBA star Angel McCoughtry.

Coach Heard also worked as an assistant at the University of Cincinnati and the University of Nebraska before her time at Kentucky State. She played four seasons for the Lady Toppers after being named the 1986 girls' high school player of the year in Kentucky.

Coach Heard replaced Mary Taylor Cowles, who was fired on March 8 after 10 seasons.



Football
The Hilltopper football team belonged to what was then known as the Gateway Football Conference until 2006. In 2002, WKU won the NCAA Division I FCS National Football championship. In 2006, the school voted to move the team to the Division I Bowl Subdivision (formerly I-A). After two years of provisional status, they began to compete in 2009 as a member of the Sun Belt Conference. An extensive rivalry with Eastern Kentucky University, known as the Battle of the Bluegrass, ended in 2008 as WKU moved into FBS football. The Hilltoppers' biggest Sun Belt rivals had been the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders, who are located less than two hours away from WKU, but the Blue Raiders will move to Conference USA in July 2013. The Hilltoppers are currently coached by former Louisville and Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino.

Student body profile
WKU had a total enrollment in the Fall Semester of 2011 of 21,048 students. Out of Fall 2011's enrollment figure of 21,048, 14,890 were full-time and 17,982 were undergraduates. WKU now has the second largest under-graduate population in the commonwealth of Kentucky, behind the University of Kentucky. Ethnic and racial minority enrollment was 19% at 4,032 students. About 3 of every five students are female.

48 of the 50 states were represented at WKU in the fall of 2011. Regarding students from around the globe, 61 foreign countries were represented at WKU in 2011.

The average high school grade point average for entering freshmen in 2011 was 3.18 and 30.3% had an ACT score of 24 or above.

Reference: WKU Fact Book 2011

Greek organizations
In 1961 the Western Kentucky University Board of Regents allowed national fraternities and sororities to form local chapters. Currently there are 31 active organizations with approximately 1500 members per year.

Active fraternities include: Alpha Gamma Rho, Alpha Phi Alpha, Alpha Tau Omega, Delta Tau Delta, FarmHouse, Iota Phi Theta, Kappa Alpha Order, Kappa Sigma, Kappa Alpha Psi, Lambda Chi Alpha, Omega Psi Phi, Phi Beta Sigma, Phi Delta Theta, Phi Gamma Delta, Pi Kappa Alpha, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Chi, Sigma Nu, Sigma Phi Epsilon.

Active sororities include: Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Alpha Omicron Pi, Alpha Xi Delta, Ceres, Chi Omega, Delta Sigma Theta, Kappa Delta, Omega Phi Alpha, Phi Mu, Sigma Gamma Rho, Sigma Kappa, Zeta Phi Beta.

Predating the national fraternities, there were local fraternities reaching back to the 1930s. The two leading men's social organizations were Phi Phi Kappa (also known as the Thirteeners), founded in 1939; and the Barons, founded the same year. When national Greek organizations were admitted to WKU, Phi Phi Kappa became Delta Tau Delta and the Barons became Alpha Tau Omega.

Media and publications



 * College Heights Herald, WKU's student-run newspaper since 1924
 * Talisman, WKU's yearbook
 * Rise Over Run Magazine, WKU's online magazine for independent culture
 * WKU SPIRIT, WKU's alumni magazine, published three times each year
 * WWHR, Revolution 91.7 – WKU's college radio station
 * WKU NewsChannel 12 – Student-run television newscast. On campus cable channel 12 on Wednesday's and Thursdays. Re-broadcast on PBS affiliate WKYU at 11:30 pm.
 * The Extra Point - Student-run television sportscast. This 30-minute show airs on campus cable channel 12 on Tuesdays when school is in session.  Airs live at 6 and re-airs at midnight.

WKU Student Publications (Herald and Talisman) moved into a state-of-the-art new facility, the Adams-Whitaker Student Publications Center, in December 2007. The $1.6 million complex was built through a partnership between alumni, who raised more than $1 million, and the university. The 6500 sqft building, across Normal Drive from the School of Journalism and Broadcasting, is named for Robert Adams and the late David B. Whitaker.

Academia

 * Herman Lee Donovan, president of Eastern Kentucky University and the University of Kentucky
 * James R. Ramsey, president of the University of Louisville.
 * Gary A. Ransdell, president of Western Kentucky University
 * Michael G. Scales, president of Nyack College and Alliance Theological Seminary

Business

 * Julian Goodman, former president of NBC
 * Chester Hurdle, President of Baltimore Ravens
 * Brad Kelley, businessman and (as of 2012) fourth-largest private landowner in the U.S. (attended; never graduated)
 * Larry C. Renfro, CEO of Optum and Executive Vice President at UnitedHealth Group

Film and television

 * K.C. Armstrong, former assistant producer of The Howard Stern Show
 * John Carpenter, film director
 * Clint Ford, voice actor
 * Charmaine Hunt, one of 18 contestants on the fifth season of NBC's "The Apprentice"
 * Matt Long, actor (Jack McCallister on WB's Jack & Bobby)
 * Charles Napier, actor
 * Michael Rosenbaum actor (Lex Luthor on WB's Smallville)
 * David Schramm, actor (Roy Biggins on NBC's Wings)
 * Jay Wilkison, actor (Riley Colson on soap opera One Life to Live)

History

 * Lowell H. Harrison, author, WKU university historian

Music

 * Michael Card, Contemporary Christian music artist
 * Steve Gorman, rock drummer, The Black Crowes
 * Larnelle Harris, gospel singer
 * The Hilltoppers, 1950s popular singing group composed of WKU students including Billy Vaughn
 * Bill Lloyd, country/pop/rock musician and composer, half of Foster & Lloyd with Radney Foster
 * The Muckrakers, rock and roll band
 * Nappy Roots, rap group
 * Chris Knight, country music singer/songwriter
 * Chris Carmichael
 * Brandon Harrod, musician and songwriter
 * Will Hoge, Nashville-based musician (attended, but did not graduate)
 * Stephen Cochran, Country music singer/songwriter and face of the US Veterans Affairs (VA) R&D Department
 * Tony Smith, Singer, Guitarist for Sleeper Agent
 * Cage The Elephant, Southern Folk-Punk fusion band

Politics

 * Cordell Hull, Secretary of State under FDR, Nobel Peace Prize winner
 * Vernie McGaha, member of the Kentucky State Senate from Russell County
 * Doug Moseley, former member of the Kentucky State Senate
 * Edwin L. Norris, fifth Governor of Montana
 * William Natcher, U.S. Representative
 * Dr. Janey Thornton Deputy Under Secretary of Agriculture in the Obama Administration

Science

 * Harry Barkus Gray American chemist
 * Terrence W. Wilcutt, United States astronaut

Sports

 * Joe Bugel, NFL coach
 * Darel Carrier, former ABA legend Kentucky Colonels
 * Romeo Crennel, NFL head coach, formerly with the Cleveland Browns, currently with the Kansas City Chiefs
 * Claire Donahue, Swimmer, Gold Medalist, 2012 Summer Olympic Games
 * Darryl Drake, NFL coach
 * Jeremy Evans, NBA player with the Utah Jazz and 2012 Slam Dunk Champion
 * Tellis Frank, former NBA player with the Miami Heat
 * Clarence Glover, former NBA player
 * Clem Haskins, former NBA player with Phoenix Suns, former NCAA basketball coach at WKU and the University of Minnesota
 * Courtney Lee, NBA player, Boston Celtics guard
 * Virgil Livers, former NFL player, Chicago Bears
 * ShaRae Mansfield, Former WNBA player, Western Kentucky University, Director of Women's Basketball Operations
 * Crystal Kelly, former WNBA player, now women's assistant basketball coach at Bellarmine University
 * Jeremi Johnson, former NFL player, Cincinnati Bengals
 * Jim McDaniels, former ABA and NBA player
 * Keith Paskett, former NFL player
 * Kenny Perry, professional golfer, PGA Tour and Champions Tour
 * Bobby Rainey, NFL player, running back for the Baltimore Ravens
 * Bobby Rascoe, former ABA & NBA player
 * Rod Smart, XFL player known as "He Hate Me"
 * Chris Turner, MLB player/catcher for the New York Yankees
 * Ken Waller, bodybuilder
 * Kicker Vencill, swimmer
 * Steve Crocker, Former SCM 50 Freestyle World Record Holder
 * Kannard Johnson, former NBA Player
 * Jack Turner, former NBA Player
 * Art Spoelstra, former NBA Player
 * Dee Gibson, former NBA Player
 * Greg Smith, former NBA Player
 * Don Ray, former NBA player

Other notables

 * Damon W. Cooper, U.S. Navy Vice Admiral and the first Chief of U.S. Naval Reserve.
 * Nancy Cox, Miss Kentucky 1990; Evening news anchor for WLEX-TV in Lexington, Kentucky
 * Larry Elmore, American fantasy artist
 * Duncan Hines, journalist, namesake of the bakery products company
 * Robert C. Snyder, professor of English at Louisiana Tech University from 1947 to 1989
 * Ann-Blair Thornton, Miss Kentucky 2011

Faculty

 * William L. Lane, New Testament theologian and professor of biblical studies
 * Garnie W. McGinty, Louisiana historian
 * Thomas Nicholson, drug policy expert