NKU Magazine Fall/Winter 2018-19

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THE OPIOID CRISIS Addiction has our state in a death grip, but NKU is fighting to reclaim our future.

MEET THIS YEAR’S ALUMNI AWARDS WINNERS // P A G E 1 2

MICHAEL WILSON PUTTING PICTURES TO MUSIC

NATE JONES MLB PITCHER BRINGS HOME THE GOLD

// P A G E 2 4

// P A G E 3 5

Support NKU! Look for this giving icon throughout the magazine for ways to support the NKU departments and programs you care about, or visit nku.edu/givenow. Thank you!

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Incoming NKU freshmen wield their phone flashlights to illuminate BB&T Arena at new student convocation, a celebration of their new college experience. To see future campus events (and maybe light up BB&T Arena yourself at a Nelly concert) check out NKU 360 on page 8.

PHOTO CREDIT DAVE BUSHLE

CONTENTS FALL/WINTER 2018-19

nkumagazine FA L L / W I N T ER 2018-19 V O L . 4 // NO . 1

EDITOR RODNEY WILSON ’00 ART DIRECTOR DIONNE LAYCOCK ’90 ASSISTANT EDITOR JAYNA MORRIS PHOTOGRAPHER SCOTT BESELER PUBLISHER ERIC GENTRY Vice President of University Advancement GINA RITTINGER ’02 Assistant Vice President of Marketing & Communications JULIE DIALS Assistant Vice President of Development & Alumni Relations CONTRIBUTORS KELSEY BUNGENSTOCK ’16 DAVE BUSHLE LIZZIE KIBLER ’16 BRYAN MCELDOWNEY JEFFREY PUGH J. ATLEY SMEDLEY ’18

FEATURES PAGE

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FIGHTING FOR OUR LIVES

CIRCLES OF LIGHT

NORSING AROUND

The opioid epidemic has our nation in its grip, and Kentucky’s overdose rate recently hit an all-time high.

It’s an all-hands-on-deck crisis, and NKU is answering the call with campus-wide initiatives to confront attacks on our population health.

With a camera that’s photographed musicians from B.B. King to The Replacements, Michael Wilson made a career of matching pictures to music. But the Norwood native (and former French horn aficionado) needed NKU to show him the way.

NKU took us out to the ballgame with a special night at the Cincinnati Reds, and alumni members gathered for fun, festivities and philanthropy at events throughout the year.

Relive the excitement, and see what you missed—we’ve got you covered with a gallery of things we’ve been up to.

DEPARTMENTS PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 4

NORSE NOW 32

AROUND CAMPUS 5

MYSTERY PHOTO 36

AROUND THE HORNS 6 NKU 360º 8 NKU News 10 NKU Athletics 14

Norse basketball season is in full effect, and we have the 2018-19 men's and women's schedules for you on page 15.

ALUMNI BOARD OF DIRECTORS EXECUTIVE TEAM MICHAEL MCKEOWN ’85 President MARIA REYNOLDS ’87, ’18 President-elect WADE WILLIAMS ‘97, ’01 Vice President JESSICA JOHNSTON ’99 Past President AMY ARBINO WYLIE ’92 Director of Alumni Programs & Councils CORRESPONDENCE NKU MAGAZINE OFFICE OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS AC 701 1 Nunn Dr. Highland Heights, KY 41099 PHONE (859) 572-5586 WEB NKU.EDU/MAGAZINE EMAIL NKUMAGAZINE@NKU.EDU NKU MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED BY THE OFFICE OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS AT NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY FOR ITS GRADUATES, DONORS AND FRIENDS. © 2018.

NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. COMMENTS, QUESTIONS, CONCERNS? WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! EMAIL US AT NKUMAGAZINE@NKU.EDU.

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DID YOU KNOW The "Success by Design" framework-development process started with a series of TalkShops, both on campus and out in the community, that were followed by the launch of online surveys and Whiteboard Wednesdays, all designed to determine NKU’s changing role in the northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati region.

The goal of the proceedings is twofold. First, NKU wants to identify the hopes and aspirations of those served by higher education, namely future and present students, as well as the region at large. Once identified, the strategic process will design programs, services and learning experiences that address students’ hopes and the needs of the community.

“Success by Design” is an accelerated framework process meant to maximize momentum as the university winds down its five-year “Fuel the Flame” strategic framework.

NKU Magazine will be busy at work telling stories about the students and faculty members as NKU explores its future, as well as sharing the successes of alumni from the university’s yesteryears, both in the print edition and online exclusives. Don’t miss a single story! Follow us on Twitter (@nkumagazine) to stay in the loop as NKU helps the region succeed— by design.

Have a question? Email us at nkumagazine@nku.edu.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT Dear NKU alumni and friends: Since our arrival at Northern Kentucky University in July 2018, Nita and I have been warmly and graciously welcomed into the community. Thank you.

I have enjoyed getting to know our talented faculty and staff, and seeing the impact they have on our students’ lives. It’s been a joy meeting these wonderful students, as well our alumni who proudly carry the Norse spirit throughout the region and country. And I’ve worked hard to connect with community leaders, business partners and K-12 educators in an effort to understand this university’s role in serving Greater Cincinnati and northern Kentucky.

It is clear that our alumni and friends in the community understand the importance of NKU’s commitment to serving students. They live and work in every corner of the Commonwealth and around the globe. The passionate, can-do attitude of this region—one of the things that really brought me here—is evident in the actions and pursuits of our alumni and community.

We hope that you will always feel at home at NKU, no matter if you’re a present or future student, an alumni member or a citizen of this region. You are all part of our future.

Now more than ever, it is important to look to that future—our next 50 years. We ended our year-long 50th anniversary celebration this fall and embarked on a journey to develop a new strategic framework focused on our core mission of serving students.

We call this important work “Success by Design” because it is guided by two fundamental principles:

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understanding the hopes and aspirations of who we serve—our students and the northern Kentucky/ Greater Cincinnati region—and designing programs, services and learning experiences that will help our students and the region thrive. We are committed to providing greater access to an NKU education. We want to ensure that more students earn highly valued degrees, credentials and certificates, and we want to see all NKU graduates prepared for career success and be engaged members of the community.

We are engaging the entire NKU community— faculty, staff, alumni, friends, donors and, most importantly, our students—in this work. We all play critical roles in building NKU’s future. To keep you updated on what’s happening throughout the process, we’ve launched the nku.edu/successbydesign website.

Over the next several months, we will focus on discovering what works and what doesn’t, what we need to try out and scale up, and what’s next for NKU. I hope you take some time to share your thoughts as we embark on this journey together.

I am proud of what we have accomplished so far together and look forward to what lies ahead.

Thank you for all that you do to support NKU and our students.

Sincerely yours,

Ashish K. Vaidya President

[ AROU N D C A M P U S ] Campus Starbucks manager Brittany Doherty pours samples of a new Mango Dragonfruit refresher drink at the August re-opening of the redesigned NKU hotspot. After an undercaffeinated summer that found the cafe closed for renovations, Starbucks opened its doors to reveal a revamped layout, upgraded amenities and expanded menu. It's a frequent stop for our faculty, staff and guests, who consider the new digs a hit.

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In October, students participated in the annual Airbands event, a lip-sync performance showcase that is part of Fraternity & Sorority Life's Greek Week. Students could gain admission with a canned-food or hygiene product donation to FUEL NKU, which is getting a major upgrade thanks to an investment from Kroger. (Read more about that on the next page.)

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AROUND

THE HORNS NKU 360⁰

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H e a lt h I n n o vat i o n

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Safest Campus

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Giving Back

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A lu m n i Awa r d W i n n e r s

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A C L A S S A C T 14 [ PART NERS HIP ]

FOOD FOR THOUGHT A new partnership with Kroger will make it easier than ever to combat on-campus hunger.

In November, Northern Kentucky University and The Kroger Foundation announced a partnership to fight food insecurity on campus.

The first phase will expand the university’s food pantry, FUEL NKU, which provides food and essentials FUEL NKU will move to a to students in a compassionate and 2,300-square-foot suite in 2020. confidential environment.

“I’m proud to partner with Kroger to enhance FUEL NKU’s services,” says NKU President Ashish Vaidya. “Kroger has a long, rich history of taking care of the communities it serves, and this is truly a wonderful example of a public-private partnership to improve our students’ lives.”

FUEL NKU’s current location, a 300-square-foot former mailroom in the University Center, has limited offerings because of space constraints. With Kroger’s investment, the pantry will move to a 2,300-square-foot suite in the Albright Health Center.

FUEL NKU’s new suite in the Albright Health Center will allow for refrigerated and freezer storage for healthier food options as well as expanded areas for students to visit and relax after visiting the pantry.

The location will also have space to provide wrap-around services for students for case management services, including connections to campus and community resources.

Construction is expected to be completed by early 2020.

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[ NKU 360º ] The Health Innovation Center (HIC) was officially dedicated on Oct. 17, 2018.

UPCOMING

EVENTS OCTOBER-MARCH Check out the Norse basketball game schedule (see page 15 for more info).

JAN. 13 Jeff Dunham, BB&T Arena With a colorful cast of handcrafted sidekicks, the internationally acclaimed comic/ventriloquist Jeff Dunham is sure to entertain. For more info, visit thebbtarena.com.

JAN. 19 TRAXXAS Monster Truck Tour, BB&T Arena Witness the nation’s most competitive monster trucks as they invade Highland Heights and compete in races, wheelie contests and freestyle driving. Meet the drivers and see the trucks up close! For more info, visit thebbtarena.com.

FEB. 8-10 Homecoming and the NKU Alumni Awards Celebration See pages 12-13 for more information.

MARCH 15 Nelly, BB&T Arena Whether your favorite song is “Country Grammar,” “Hot in Herre” or the “Dilemma” duet, don’t miss your chance to see Grammy Award winner Nelly with special guest Juvenile. For more info, visit thebbtarena.com.

THROUGH APRIL Six@Six Lecture Series Rivalries, race, missing bodies and a big white whale (reinterpreted)—these topics and more will be covered in this year's Six@Six lectures. For more info, visit nku.edu/sixatsix.

THROUGH MAY Haile Digital Planetarium, NKU NKU’s Haile Digital Planetarium is open to the public every Monday at noon and Friday at 7:30 p.m. through May! For more info, visit nku.edu/ planetarium.

8 n k u m A G A Z I N E // a r o u n d t h e h o r n s

HEALTH INNOVATION

NKU’s Health Innovation Center (HIC) is the first new academic building constructed on campus since October 2011. The 95,000-square-foot facility, where students can learn, collaborate and practice for a health care career, was designed to address regional health care needs. The stateof-the-art technology and learning centers–including the St. Elizabeth Healthcare Simulation Center–make the HIC one of the largest and most comprehensive health professions buildings in the country.

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[ NKU 3 6 0 º ]

MILITARY TIMES RANKS NKU AMONG THE BEST Northern Kentucky University was once again recognized as a top university in the nation for military veterans, according to the Military Times 2019 College Ranking. This is the sixth straight year NKU has been included in the Military Times rankings, and it is the only institution in Greater Cincinnati to make the list. The university also received Military Friendly School Gold Status by Victory Media, the premier media entity for military personnel transitioning to civilian life.

SAFEST CAMPUS Northern Kentucky University is the third safest college campus nationally, according to a new ranking by the National Council for Home Safety and Security. The 2018 Safest College Campuses in America list placed NKU No. 3 out of 243 universities and colleges. “Providing a safe environment is a top priority for NKU,” said Dan Nadler, NKU vice president of student affairs. “We have outstanding officers in our University Police Department and strong partnerships with Highland Heights and Campbell County.

Everyone works together to extend this environment beyond our campus.”

THEATRE AND DANCE PRODUCTIONS From Brian Robertson’s “Cabaret” musical to our 19th Biennial Year End Series (YES) Festival to the new and creative productions that will debut in “DANCE ’19,” NKU’s Theatre and Dance productions offer something for everyone. For more info and to buy tickets, visit nku.edu/ sotatickets.

CENTER FOR INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP WORLD RANKING Northern Kentucky University’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) has been named among the best in the world at launching and supporting student-led startup companies. The CIE was selected as one of five finalists for the “Outstanding Contribution to Venture Creation” award at the 2018 Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers’ (GCEC) annual conference. This is the second top-five listing the CIE has received from the GCEC in recent years.

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[ NEWS ]

Support NKU scholarships by visiting nku.edu/givenow.

[PHILANT HROPY ]

GIVING BACK

For Kara and Wade Williams, supporting NKU comes naturally. // By Rodney Wilson (’00) FOR KARA (’01) AND WADE (’97, ’01) WILLIAMS, giving back to Northern Kentucky University was an easy choice.

“I went to the same school district my entire life,” says Kara, who holds a 2001 B.A. in speech communication. “College proved that I was going to make it outside of that one community, and it gave me a lot of confidence to do and see more.”

For Wade, NKU was a place to discover passions that fuel his career today. “Most of my family are blue-collar workers, and I was really the first of my immediate family to go to college,” he says. “I did well in political science and history, and that helped define an interest in how cities and communities operate.”

Wade’s B.S. and master’s in public administration led to a director role at Duke, then positions in Northern Kentucky Tri-County Economic Development Corporation (Tri-ED) from 2011-18. “When an opportunity came along to work in my own community to build jobs for, in essence, my family, friends and neighbors,” he says, “that was a natural transition for me.” Wade recently accepted the vice president of business development position at REDI Cincinnati.

Kara made her way into the marketing world and, in 2013, struck out to form The Marketing Collective, a consulting firm comprised of experienced talent. “I knew there was a need for a northern Kentucky marketing group focused on supporting local business with 10 n k u m A G A Z I N E // a r o u n d t h e h o r n s

local talent,” she says. “We flawlessly bring creativity and execution together for our clients. I think I found a bit of a niche.”

The alumni couple is heavily involved with the university—Kara, a former student regent, serves on the NKU Foundation’s Executive Committee and as the community representative on the president’s Core Team for the "Success by Design" strategic planning process, while Wade holds the role of vice chair of the Alumni Board of Directors—and they’re as committed to supporting the university with their money as they are their time. “We have been donors since a couple of years after graduating,” says Kara. “We feel like, even if it’s a small amount, as an alum you should be giving every year.” Recently, they committed to a matching gift to the President’s Society campaign in celebration of NKU’s 50th anniversary.

“We are looking for $50,000 to then be matched by 50 individuals who each give $1,000 a year,” explains Kara. “They get into the habit of giving back to the university, and we expand the pool of donors who are actively contributing.”

When not working or volunteering, Kara and Wade like to travel with their daughters, Nora (5) and Brynlee (2), and Colby, the family golden retriever. But for a couple that met performing community service with the young professional association Legacy, the two most enjoy working together to better the region.

[ NEWS ]

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[ PEO P LE ]

Q&A WITH MIKE MCKEOWN

A chat with newly appointed Alumni Association President Mike McKeown.

(Mike McKeown graduated from NKU in 1985 with a B.S. in Marketing. He is currently a senior sales executive at Huff Realty.)

NKU: What was your experience as a student like?

MM: I felt that I was given the opportunity to succeed through the close-knit atmosphere at NKU. I made lifelong friendships that started at NKU and appreciate that my professors really took a personal interest in me.

NKU: How did your time at NKU prepare you for your career?

MM: My years at NKU helped me to develop many of the skills I use professionally today, such as networking and communication.

NKU: How did NKU shape you?

MM: Many of my closest friendships began on campus. I have maintained relationships with my past professors and continue to seek their guidance.

My involvement with this university has impacted my life in many ways, and for that I am grateful.

NKU: What are your plans for the Alumni Association?

MM: I hope to increase engagement with the university. Whether you are a current student or one of more than 65,000 alumni, campus offers a variety of options for your involvement. We are always excited for alumni to speak in classes or mentor students.

NKU: What else should people know about you?

MM: I have been married to Dr. Mary Russell, a neuroradiologist at St. Elizabeth Healthcare, for 17 years. We have four children: Michael (16), Katie (14), Megan (12) and James (11). When we are not working we spend our free time attending soccer, swimming, basketball or rowing events.

[ P E O P LE ]

MEET JASON JACKMAN

The NKU Foundation’s new president is ready to take the role to new heights. // By Kelsey Bungenstock (’16) Established in 1970 to manage privately donated gifts made to Northern Kentucky University, the NKU Foundation exists to empower the university and northern Kentucky area. This year, outgoing president Barry Kienzle will be replaced

by Jason Jackman, president and chief investment officer of Johnson Investment Counsel, Inc. “I couldn’t pass it up,” says Jackman, a member of the NKU Foundation’s Board of Directors’ Investment Committee since the mid-2000s. “NKU is a vital northern Kentucky institution providing an important economic development engine for the region.”

“I want to build upon the very strong foundation established by current leadership and continue to support NKU’s tremendous momentum,” he says. “There is so much positive momentum at NKU right now with our new president, Ashish Vaidya, the new Health Innovation Center, the College of Informatics, partnerships with St. Elizabeth Healthcare and the UK College of Medicine, and the success of NKU’s basketball program.”

Jackman and his wife, Amy, recently made a significant contribution to the foundation based on a shared belief in the power of education to change lives. They find this to be particularly true at NKU. “So many students that come to NKU are the first in their family to attend college,” Jackman states. “An NKU degree will open up tremendous opportunities and potentially change the trajectory of their lives.” He also emphasizes the importance of training graduates for much-needed jobs in regionally important industries such as technology and healthcare.

Jackman plans to advocate for NKU’s vital role regionally, while working in Frankfort to minimize the impact pension reforms have on NKU’s budget and increasing Kentucky’s investment in the university. Real estate development is also on the agenda, in order to “foster and advance the community, economic development and revenue opportunities for the university and foundation.”

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[ NEWS ]

COME TOGETHER ALUMNI/HOMECOMING WEEKEND FEB. 8-10, 2019

OUTSTANDING ALUMNUS AWARD

[ ALU M N I ]

TOM MUNNINGHOFF, ESQ. (’76) Owner and Founder, Munninghoff, Lange & Co. This award is presented to an alumnus who has distinguished him/herself through professional accomplishments in their chosen field, who is an exemplary ambassador for the university and who has enhanced Northern Kentucky University or the community.

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD

[ A LU MN I ]

ALUMNI AWARD WINNERS Congratulations to this year’s Alumni Awards winners!

Each year, the NKU Alumni Association honors our alumni, faculty, staff and friends for their contributions to the university and the community. This year, the 2019 Alumni Awards Dinner and Celebration will kick off NKU’s homecoming festivities on Feb. 8.

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD

OUTSTANDING YOUNG ALUMNUS AWARD

DIANE STICKLEN-JORDAN (’74) Principal, Co-Owner, Consultant and Coach, HRC Consulting Services

BRADY JOLLY (’14) President and CEO, Jolly Enterprises

This award recognizes alumni who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and service to Northern Kentucky University through their time and talents.

This award goes to an alumnus who has graduated in the past 10 years and has enhanced Northern Kentucky University or the community, and who has distinguished him/herself through professional accomplishments.

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BARRY KIENZLE (’73) Sr. Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Paul Hemmer Company

This award recognizes alumni who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and service to Northern Kentucky University through their time and talents.

FACULTY/STAFF STRONGEST INFLUENCE AWARD ARNIE SLAUGHTER Assistant Vice President for Student Engagement and Dean of Students, Northern Kentucky University This award goes to a faculty or staff member whose teaching, counseling or advising has had a profound influence on the life and/or career of the nominating alumnus.

2019 ALUMNI WEEKEND AND HOMECOMING NKU’s Alumni Weekend and Homecoming is an annual tradition where alumni and friends come together to celebrate what we have done over the past 51 years and look to the future. The weekend begins with the Alumni Awards Dinner and Celebration.

FRIDAY, FEB. 8 2019 ALUMNI AWARDS DINNER AND CELEBRATION CAMPUS RECREATION CENTER 6 p.m.

Join us at the Campus Recreation Center at 6 p.m. for a cocktail reception with hors d’oeuvres and an open bar. Plated dinner with wine service will begin at 7 p.m., followed by the 8 p.m. award ceremony and after-party. Guests will receive a special alumni gift and ticket voucher for the men’s basketball game the following day.

SATURDAY, FEB. 9 NORTHERN TASTE PRESENTED BY THE NKU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BB&T ARENA—BRAXTON BEER GARDEN 5:30 p.m.

All alumni are invited to the official alumni gettogether before the game. Join us for Northern Taste where alumni will have the chance to enjoy samples from local restaurants around northern Kentucky and socialize with fellow alumni before the game tips off at 7 p.m.

SATURDAY, FEB. 9 NKU Men’s Basketball vs. Oakland BB&T Arena 7 p.m.

Alumni Weekend and Homecoming are great ways to stay connected to your alma mater, but we also want to know what is happening in your life year round! Have you switched jobs, passed a certification test or finished graduate school, started a business, written a book, won an award or had a baby? We want to know! Tell us the great things happening in your life at nku.edu/classnotes.

CUTTING EDGE

NKU's new financial aid program aims to make access easier for an increased number of students.

Effective the 2019-2020 academic year, Northern Kentucky University will launch a new financial aid strategy for select full-time first-year students.

Titled EDGE (Educational Discount to Graduate & Excel), the program will set tuition for eligible students from 12 U.S. states, as well as 12 international countries, at only $10,000 annually—$5,000 for fall and $5,000 for spring, excluding fees. Students who are eligible for the EDGE program may still receive additional institutional awards.

The EDGE program is designed to complement NKU’s existing commitment to recruiting and nurturing talent from across the region, increasing the university’s reach with broader access and affordability. Students from across the country and around the world now have another reason to put NKU on their short list.

STATES • Illinois • Indiana • Maryland • Michigan • Missouri • North Carolina

• Ohio • Pennsylvania • Tennessee • Virginia • West Virginia • Wisconsin

COUNTRIES • Canada • China • Ethiopia • India • Ivory Coast • Japan

• Korea • Mexico • Nepal • Nigeria • Senegal • Vietnam —Jeffrey Pugh

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[ ATH L E TI C S ]

Drew’s Rule

[ DI ]

A CLASS ACT // By Chloe Smith

VOLLEYBALL SENIOR HALEY LIBS was recently named one of 10 finalists for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award—a distinction that celebrates Division I seniors through the four Cs of classroom, character, community and competition. With a 4.00 GPA, three straight years of captaining her team, hours of involvement in community outreach programs while serving as a Team IMPACT ambassador and numerous Horizon League accolades, it’s not difficult to see why Haley was selected as one of the country’s top seniors.

Haley is the third Norse in two years to be named a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award, as Jess Frey (women’s soccer) and Chad Roberts (baseball) were both recognized as top-30 candidates in their respective sports last year. The fact that the university has had three honorees in the past two academic years is a testament to NKU’s mission of producing a complete student-athlete.

Debbie Kirch, associate athletic director for Compliance and Student Services, explained, “A key component of our mission is to empower our student-athletes for academic and competitive success. Since our transition to Division I, our academic standards have increased, and it shows in our department’s academic performance.

Another important core value is community interaction. Each year, our student-athletes commit more than 2,500 volunteer hours in our community.”

With the athletic department raising the bar for student-athletes, the Norse are being pushed to excel in all aspects of their lives. While Haley is the latest Norse to be recognized for her all-around accomplishments, she certainly won’t be the last.

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DREW MCDONALD is making a name as one of the best to ever don an NKU men’s basketball uniform.

He’s already been named a twotime All-Horizon League First Team performer and earned recognition as a Lou Henson All-American, awarded to the top mid-major players by College Insider. In late July, Drew showcased his skills as part of USA Team, which took home the gold medal in the FISU Americas, the collegiate version of the Pan Am games. Now back on campus for his senior campaign, he and the Norse are chasing a third league title in as many years after winning the regular-season championship in 2018 and the tournament crown in 2017.

Drew is also chasing a few Norse records, ranking 11th all-time with 1,431 points and fifth all-time with 762 rebounds.

—Bryan McEldowney

[ AT HLET ICS ]

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NORSE BASKETBALL HOME SCHEDULES Men’s Basketball DATE OPPONENT 10/30/2018

Thomas More

7 p.m.

11/06/2018

Wilmington

7 p.m.

11/11/2018

Wabash

6 p.m.

11/16/2018

UNC Asheville

7 p.m.

11/17/2018

Manhattan

7 p.m.

11/18/2018

Coastal Carolina

6 p.m.

11/30/2018

UMBC

7 p.m.

12/16/2018

Miami (Ohio)

7 p.m.

12/20/2018

Northern Illinois

7 p.m.

12/28/2018

IUPUI

7 p.m.

12/30/2018

UIC

6 p.m.

01/11/2019

Wright State

7 p.m.

Norse men’s golfer Jacob Poore ran away with the individual title at the 2018 Horizon League Championship and qualified for NCAA Tournament, where he played in the Columbus Regional.

01/24/2019

Green Bay

7 p.m.

01/26/2019

Milwaukee

7 p.m.

02/07/2019

Detroit Mercy

7 p.m.

02/09/2019

Oakland

7 p.m.

02/21/2019

Youngstown State

7 p.m.

02/23/2019

Cleveland State

7 p.m.

AWARD SEASON

03/05/2019-03/12/2019 Horizon League Tournament

COACH GLEASON

Norse softball has made tremendous strides under head coach Kathryn Gleason, who turned the program around in just three years. The Norse have increased their wins every year under Gleason, culminating in a 24-22 mark and a firstever appearance in the Horizon League Tournament in 2018.

FORE!

GETTING THE GRADE NKU’s student-athletes continue to excel in the classroom, posting a schoolrecord 3.46 GPA last spring with every program posting at least a 3.13 team GPA.

LADIES FIRST Women’s basketball had one of the biggest upsets in college basketball last year, taking down No. 19/20 Green Bay in BB&T Arena on Dec. 30, 62-54. The win marked the first in program history over a ranked Division I opponent.

TIME

NKU senior Will Haueter collected a number of awards this past summer including the Horizon League’s Cecil N. Coleman Medal of Honor, Horizon League Scholar-Athlete of the Season and Google Cloud Academic All-America First Team honors. He also earned a spot on the AllHorizon League First Team for his play on the baseball diamond.

RUN HOME On Saturday, Sept. 1, Norse Cross Country hosted the 37th Annual Queen City Invitational at its oncampus Valhalla Cross Country Course, marking the first time in 39 years NKU has hosted a cross country event.

TBD

Women’s Basketball DATE OPPONENT

TIME

11/04/2018

Pikeville

2 p.m.

11/07/2018

Alderson Broaddus

7 p.m.

11/21/2018

Belmont

6 p.m.

12/07/2018

Illinois State

7 p.m.

01/02/2019

Milwaukee

7 p.m.

01/05/2019

Green Bay

2 p.m.

01/12/2019

Wright State

2 p.m.

01/25/2019

Detroit Mercy

11 a.m.

01/27/2019

Oakland

2 p.m.

01/31/2019

IUPUI

7 p.m.

02/02/2019

UIC

2 p.m.

02/22/2019

Youngstown State

7 p.m.

02/24/2019

Cleveland State

2 p.m.

03/05/2019-03/12/2019

Horizon League Tournament

TBD

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G N I T H G I F R U O R FO LIVES

OPIOID Y B D E P IP R G N IN A REGIO S ARE IE IT S R E IV N U , N ADDICTIO FOR H C R A E S E H T IN CRITICAL SOLUTIONS.

WE HAVE A PROBLEM. Our population is besieged by an epidemic that’s taking our children, parents and grandparents. It’s irrespective of race, career, age or any of the other socially constructed differences we use to easily categorize one other.

The problem is addiction.

In the 1990s, pharmaceutical companies embarked on a massive trust campaign, reassuring the health care community against concerns over the addictive properties of prescription painkillers. The resulting uptick in painkiller prescriptions ignited a firestorm of potentially fatal dependencies on prescription opioids. And although the truth about opioids’ massive addiction potential is now broadly understood, the fallout persists with prescription opioid, heroin and fentanyl deaths in America.

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How bad is it? Overdose deaths now outnumber fatalities from car wrecks.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, in 2015, some 2 million Americans suffered from a substance use disorder related to prescription opioid use, while almost a million people in the United States reported using heroin in 2016. Here in the Greater Cincinnati region, fentanyl has become the name of the drug game. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that usage of the synthetic super-opioid—it’s at least 50 times as potent as heroin—has exploded in recent years, and Hamilton County deaths from fentanyl overdoses are up 1,000 percent since 2013.

Our region is in the eye of the opioidaddiction storm. Kentucky’s drug overdose death rate is the third-highest in the U.S., and 2017 saw an 11.5 percent increase over

2016—part of a total 40 percent increase over five years.

Traditional approaches to addiction— legislation, law enforcement, emergency response, treatment centers, awareness campaigns—are all critical components of managing the epidemic, but a crisis this big calls for a comprehensive approach. Universities across the nation, as repositories of intellect, research-based solutions and skilled care, offer a wealth of resources for helping in the fight against the opioid crisis. And Northern Kentucky University, in the heart of a Midwest area struggling for survival, is giving all that and more in the fight against addiction fatalities.

In the following pages, we’ll take a look at just a few examples of how, campus-wide, NKU is putting all of its resources into the fight for our population’s health.

ESTABLISHED IN 2018, NKU’S INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH INNOVATION (IHI) WAS DESIGNED AS A CENTRAL HUB FOR THE UNIVERSITY’S WORK ON POPULATION HEALTH. Helming the IHI is St. Elizabeth Healthcare Executive Director and Vice President for Innovation, Dr. Valerie Gray Hardcastle, who was hired to bring the institute’s goals into reality.

“I think of myself as kind of a nudge and a convener, then a support system,” says Hardcastle. “What I can do, particularly with people working in the public service industry, is help them do their job more efficiently. We can study and crunch the data, see what works and what’s most effective.”

Conceived as an engine for improving population health, the institute exists to serve three defined purposes. The first is to engage the entire university, across multiple colleges and departments, in an “all-handson-deck” approach—Hardcastle likens the institute to the College of Informatics in this multidisciplinary methodology. The second is, quite simply, to make a difference in Kentucky’s population health by working directly with the community and helping to secure project funding. Finally, Hardcastle is tasked with serving student success, from attracting students to NKU all the way through graduating adults who are ready to serve their communities in a health-related capacity.

This final point includes initiatives to identify challenges, such as housing insecurity, hunger and mental health, that commonly derail academic experiences and future careers.

With Kentucky in the grips of an addiction epidemic, much of the IHI’s work focuses on opioid use in the Commonwealth. Though she’s only been at NKU for a short time, Hardcastle is already elbow deep in plans to provide aid where Kentucky needs it most, starting with the recent receipt of a $200,000 federal planning grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration to help underserved areas struggling with addiction.

“One of the challenges of our rural areas is there’s just not enough access to health care,” she says, pointing to Owen County, site of the proposed Owen County Collaborative Addiction Treatment Initiative, which has only

Dr. Valerie Gray Hardcastle, St. Elizabeth Healthcare Executive Director and Vice President for Innovation, converses with a colleague in the Institute for Health Innovation offices. three full-time physicians and no dedicated behavioral health provider. “Anything related to addiction treatment beyond some minimal one-on-one counseling gets referred out of the county,” she says. “But there are no major roads that go through there, so that’s a big ask.

Then if you’re working in a job that pays hourly, you’re going to have to take off a lot of hours to travel out of the county to get help—you can see the problem.”

In an area lacking sufficient population numbers to sustain profitable health care practices, finding a way to provide care is key to improving outcomes. “My hope is that we can set up clinical sites there,” says Hardcastle, “so we can have a health care provider there overseeing it, but then our students can rotate through as they need to for their internships and practicums and so forth. That could be a good way to provide low-cost or no-cost health care in areas of significant need.”

Another goal of the grant is training programs to help teachers and workers in Kentucky middle and high schools recognize and respond to student opioid use. “One of the things that we know now about the opioid epidemic, at least in this area, is that younger and younger people are showing up in the emergency department with an overdose,” she says. “A lot of money is being dumped into prevention, the ‘Just Say No to Drugs’ avenue, and a lot of money is being dumped into what happens when you overdose and we get you into treatment and you get healthy. But there’s this whole middle range of when people are

using but they’re not in trouble yet. If we can catch them then, perhaps we can divert them from a very expensive tour through our health care industry.”

Hardcastle is also involved with the Ohio River Valley Addiction Research Consortium (ORVARC), which focuses on neonatal abstinence syndrome, the in-utero effects of opioids on fetal development. “We’re starting to work with St. Elizabeth on analyzing some data,” she says, “because now we’ve had enough children born and we’ve followed them around long enough that we can at least look at their diagnoses and see if we can find patterns. Then we can hopefully work together to find what is the best thing to do.”

With the daunting task of saving lives before her, it’s natural to wonder what Hardcastle’s personal benchmark for success would be. With the total elimination of addiction an unlikely scenario, what percentage would make her say, “Mission accomplished?”

“I don’t know that I can tell you, well, if we cut opioid deaths by 20 percent I would die happy,” she says, “I feel like that kind of work is never done. But if people could really understand that addiction is a chronic illness, like diabetes or heart disease, and should be treated as such, then I would say, ‘OK, I can die happy.’ People would not think of addiction as something you can just get over. So I think if somehow I could engineer this cultural shift on how we approach addiction, then I could say, ‘Yes, we’ve actually made a permanent difference.’”

—Rodney Wilson (’00) F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 - 1 9 17

AN EDUCATOR AT LARGE AS A PROFESSOR, THE LAST THING YOU WANT TO SEE IS A STUDENT NODDING OFF DURING ONE OF YOUR LECTURES. In 1999, Dr. Perilou Goddard, a professor in the Psychological Science department specializing in addiction science, was teaching her drug policy course when she noticed one of her students dozing off.

She was disappointed—were her lectures that uninteresting?—but then the student approached her afterward to explain why he kept falling asleep. He didn’t struggle to stay awake because he found the class boring, but, rather, had started methadone treatments after back surgery left him addicted to opioids. He was tired because he was still adjusting to the doses.

Dr. Goddard’s mood changed from disappointment to joy over her student feeling comfortable enough to discuss his disorder with her.

“We should make a connection on a human level,” Dr. Goddard says. “Instead of treating you like vermin, I see you as a human being trying to get better.”

The experience emboldened her, but it wasn’t until 2013, as the nation’s opioid crisis reached a boiling point (the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration would officially declare two years later that opioid-related overdose deaths had reached “epidemic levels”) that Goddard’s life changed when a second student, Mary Jo Schmidt, approached her after class with a challenge.

“She said ‘Dr. Goddard, you can’t just sit in your classroom anymore,’” Goddard remembers.

That’s when Goddard’s real-world activism began. She started booking public speaking appearances, presented a Six@Six lecture called “Heroin Hits Home” and got involved in any other area she could find.

“I won’t change the world,” she says. “But I think I can make a bigger difference talking about it.”

Goddard’s not-so secret weapon is awareness, and discussing addiction with both the general population and those undergoing the challenge is central to how she tackles the opioid crisis. And, as a psychologist, she makes sure her communication about the issue is backed by science, 18 n k u m A G A Z I N E // F i g h t i n g F O R o u r l i v e s

which she’s always eager to help people understand.

“I can read the science and translate for them,” Dr. Goddard says.

She’s passionate about the need to adjust how we think about addiction, which is often wrongly assumed to be based in choice, minimizing how humans struggle with the disease. Goddard explains that numerous factors in a person’s life can lead to addiction, from a genetic disposition to past experiences of trauma. She cites ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences)—traumatic experiences that happen before the age of 18—as similar to PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) in how they can create internal “voids” that opioids too-easily fill.

In addition to bringing awareness to the realities of addiction, Goddard also spreads the word about options available to people with substance-use disorders, including controversial programs such as needle-exchange outreaches. “[People say] that’s enabling,” she says. “But research shows it doesn’t lead to more injecting.”

She also encourages people to carry naloxone (Narcan), a nasal spray that can be used for the emergency treatment of suspected opioid overdose. And there are other ways to help people who have overdosed; one of Dr. Goddard’s students used rescue breathing techniques to help someone before emergency vehicles arrived.

Goddard refers to herself as NKU’s “Educator at Large” when it comes to opioid problems, and her talks have created additional opportunities for the university.

A new post-graduate certificate program in Addictions Research and Practice was, in fact, recently launched for students with a bachelor’s degree who want to learn more about addiction and innovative ways to offer treatment.

Unfortunately, the opioid crisis isn’t going away anytime soon—too many lives have been affected to right the ship overnight.

But with people like Goddard working on raising awareness and educating the next generation of addiction specialists, there’s every reason to hope things will soon start to improve.

—Lizzie Kibler (’16)

TOP: Dr. Perilou Goddard gives a presentation about the science behind addiction struggles.

ABOVE: “I can read the science and translate for them."

Debbie Moak at the 2016 Think Tank series.

Breaking the Silence

“I WON’T CHANGE THE WORLD, BUT I THINK I CAN MAKE A BIGGER DIFFERENCE TALKING ABOUT IT.” DR. PERILOU GODDARD

DEBBIE MOAK’S (’85) LIFE WAS TURNED UPSIDE DOWN WHEN HER SON BECAME ADDICTED TO COCAINE and spent months between three different rehabilitation programs. Moak and her husband, Steve, created notMYkid as a way to share their family’s story and help other families struggling with substance abuse. So far, she has shared her personal story with thousands of families in the U.S. and internationally.

She has created several programs focused on substance abuse prevention through notMYkid and led two national drug awareness campaigns.

“What I’ve experienced in these 17 years after founding notMYkid is that there is an epidemic around drug use,” she says, “but we keep perpetuating a myth that everything is OK because families are too ashamed to talk about it.”

—Jayna Morris Visit notMYkid.org for more information.

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LIFE-SAVING MEASURES IT’S A DISCUSSION NOBODY WANTS TO HAVE, BUT FOR TOO MANY NORTHERN KENTUCKY RESIDENTS, OPIOIDS ARE NOW PART OF EVERYDAY CONVERSATION. As overdoses ravage families and neighborhoods across the region, communities wonder aloud if these tragedies could, in some way, have been prevented.

The Kenton County Detention Center (KCDC) is taking on the task of prevention with an innovative new program. Funded by a 3-year, $300,000 grant from the Department of Justice, KCDC recently launched the Kentucky Overdose Prevention, Education, and Pre-arrest Diversion Project aimed at preventing overdose through enhanced treatment access.

The project structures community-based policing via Quick Response Teams (QRTs)— collaborations between law enforcement, community behavioral health agencies and other first responders. QRTs connect overdose survivors with appropriate care, and the project covers all eight northern Kentucky counties (Kenton, Campbell, Boone, Grant, Owen, Carroll, Pendleton and Gallatin).

For coordinator Jason Merrick, himself a recovered addict, the jail’s program is something of a passion project. After finally getting clean following years of addiction, he earned an undergraduate degree in social work in 2014, followed by a graduate degree in social work in 2016—both from Northern Kentucky University. He now works as the director of addiction services at KCDC, where nearly 85 percent of inmate incarcerations are directly or indirectly tied to drugs. The purpose of the project, Merrick says, is not only to save lives but also to usher abusers away from the correctional system and into treatment.

KCDC partners with organizations across the community, including northern Kentucky’s Heroin Impact Response Task Force, St. Elizabeth Healthcare, NKY Hates Heroin, People Advocating for Recovery, Brighton Recovery Center for Women, Transitions, the Addiction Services Council, the Kenton County Police Department, the Alexandria Police Department and the City of Independence.

NKU is another community partner, and all it took was a phone call to Merrick’s former professor, Dr. Suk-hee Kim, to bring

Jason Merrick ('14, '16) , director of addiction services at the Kenton County Detention Center, joined Northern Kentucky University and journalist Sam Quinones to discuss the heroin crisis and the stigma of addiction in April 2016. her on board. Kim, an assistant professor in the social work program, has a particular interest in how addiction affects brain health and environment across the lifespan and in the aging process.

“My main interest is in the frontal lobe and upper area of the cortex of the human brain. It carries out higher mental processes, which is where we use our frontal lobes daily,” she says. “The brain and mental health have a drastic impact on behavior.

Addiction has a strong tie into the frontal lobe because it takes over thinking, decision making, organization, critical thinking and problem-solving skills.”

She wants to find new ways to reduce the number of opioid-associated deaths and believes that community involvement isn’t just an option—it’s a responsibility.

“Changing the world doesn’t start with big ideas,” Kim says. “It starts with building trust and relationships. I consider myself a community member, and I cannot disregard what the community is experiencing—overdoses, broken family relationships and people living without hope. NKU is a vehicle and resource to help our own community’s issues.”

Merrick hopes to bridge the gap between overdose and treatment—the same assistance he once needed to escape addiction. One way the project does this is through a grant that places an intern from NKU’s Master’s in Social Work (MSW) program at KCDC to intern with Merrick, which Kim says is one of the greatest assets NKU can offer.

“This partnership allows students to be key players,” Kim says. “They have brilliant and innovative ideas, and they’re building critical skills and applying knowledge learned in

the classroom to big, real-world ideas. They’re a part of the community-helping process.”

Bethany Ball, a 2017 MSW graduate and KCDC substance abuse counselor, is at the jail every week, working closely with inmates trying to get back on their feet.

In fact, she coordinates the START STRONG COR-12 Treatment and Reentry Program, which was created by the Hazeldon Betty Ford Foundation. KCDC is the first jail in the nation to launch the 12-step reentry plan for opioid-addicted inmates. The hope is that comprehensive opioid response (COR) can be completed in 12 steps— through 90 days of residential treatment and then six months of job training.

“We serve the innovative approach to corrections by offering a substance abuse program to county as well as state inmates,” Ball says. “Our clients are also referred to our community partner, The Life Learning Center, which provides continuing support as they transition back to the community.”

The ultimate goal is to reduce overdoses as abusers transition away from incarceration and into recovery. Kim hopes the partnership will reach beyond the region, providing an example for other cities dealing with addiction.

“Our aim is to create a model that other states can adopt. We’re demonstrating this task force in eight different counties, and each county’s dynamics are different. But if one model works for eight counties here, it can certainly be duplicated elsewhere,” Kim says. “The opioid epidemic isn’t just local. It’s a national problem—one that’s bigger than everyone realizes. Now is the time to work together to rescue and restore our people and community.”

—Jayna Morris F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 - 1 9 21

A HEALING APPROACH IT TAKES MORE THAN A MONTHLY DOSE OF A MAINTENANCE THERAPY DRUG AND A POSITIVE ATTITUDE TO TREAT ADDICTION, especially when a substance use disorder masks undiagnosed health issues. Experienced health professionals can make all the difference for addicts entering recovery, and Lynn Brown and Joan Ziegelmeyer know that nursepatient relationships are critical to patient care. That’s what makes their roles at the Brighton Recovery Center clinic so important.

Brown, a parish nurse, and Ziegelmeyer, a nurse practitioner, dedicate much of their time to the residence-based addictionrecovery program for women in Florence, Kentucky. The clinic, which opened in July 2014, is one of several locations operated

by Northern Kentucky University’s Nurse Advocacy Center for the Underserved (NACU) program, which places experienced 22 n k u m A G A Z I N E // f i g h t i n g f o r o u r l i v e s

nurses in the region’s underserved communities.

“The Brighton Center is our busiest and one of our most important places that we serve,” says Mary Kishman, NACU’s director. “The goal is to get the women clean, so the nurses have to keep them healthy for them to be able to focus and make this happen. The nurses deliver primary care while they’re in the program, but the women often do not really know how to navigate the health care system, so health education and guidance is really what many of them need.”

While NACU is a clinic, the Brighton Recovery Center is not a medical facility.

There are no electronic medical records or care plans like in traditional facilities. Brown and Ziegelmeyer treat everything from the common cold to the flu to hepatitis, and they refer patients externally for counseling to treat depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder.

Sometimes bigger issues surface, too.

“There are many medical conditions that have to be managed,” Brown says. “Once the opioid wears off, they’re hypersensitive to everything. They start to feel pain, but they don’t take care of their medical conditions. They don’t know what’s serious or what they should pay attention to. They don’t know what’s common to the human condition anymore.”

In addition to typical nurse duties, Brown and Ziegelmeyer serve as advocates for women who come through the program.

“These women come in completely broken. They’re not even a personality anymore. They’re just an addiction wearing scrubs,” Brown says. “They don’t know how to maneuver, and they feel alone. We say, ‘Let’s talk through it. How will you be more comfortable? How do you settle in?’

Over time, we see their personalities come out. We watch them progress and grow. It’s

Support the work of these NKU programs by visiting nku.edu/givenow

“THE BRIGHTON CENTER IS OUR BUSIEST AND ONE OF OUR MOST IMPORTANT PLACES THAT WE SERVE,” MARY KISHMAN

beautiful to watch that happen.”

Graduation typically comes nine months after a patient enters recovery. For some, it takes longer if they run into trouble and need to restart, or if they leave and come back later. Some don’t the finish the program at all—they leave and relapse, a scenario that too often results in death.

“The hardest part is when you hear later that they’ve overdosed,” Ziegelmeyer says.

“Those drugs are so strong, and they pull you back.”

This could have been the case for Davita Riggs, a trained phlebotomist who slipped into addiction and twice sought help at Brighton. When Riggs was admitted in 2013 for the first time, there was no nurse or clinic on site. She had to find and arrange transportation for herself whenever she needed to leave the treatment facility—which was often—to treat her thyroid condition and other illnesses. Leaving the facility put her

behind in life skills classes, which extended her time there.

But during her second admission to the program, Riggs was introduced to NACU. She remembers being high and mean during her intake session, but Brown and Ziegelmeyer were patient with her. This compassion, she says, made all the difference.

“When outside doctors would see that I was an addict, they would treat me differently,” she says. “You don’t get treated the best when people find out who you are and what you’ve done. It was nice to have two people who were professional, educated and treated me like a human being.”

Now, after successfully moving through the program, Riggs works as Brighton’s in-house phlebotomist. She was hired to the position by an outside company after her graduation and now works alongside the two NACU nurses who helped her when she needed it most. Riggs is just one example of

the women whom Brown and Ziegelmeyer get to work with every day.

“It’s crazy how it came full circle and now I work with them. I’ve never loved a job like I love this one,” Riggs says. “If I didn’t have my job here, I wouldn’t be sober. I remember laying in those beds. I remember girls cleaning up my vomit because I was detoxing so hard. I don’t want to be that person anymore.”

NACU’s clinic at the Brighton Recovery Center doesn’t just benefit the women who are recovering—it has a profound effect on the nurses as well.

“We get attached to them,” Ziegelmeyer says. “Sometimes it helps to have someone on the outside to process everything with.

We know the program and can encourage them to do the right thing.”

“It’s easy to love this job,” Brown says, “because you love the girls.”

—Jayna Morris F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 - 1 9 23

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Michael Wilson made a career photographing some of the biggest names in entertainment.

But it͛'s not like he planned any of it.

BY RODNEY WILSON ('00)

M

ICHAEL WILSON (’82) is gazing back in time, and he seems amused over what he sees.

We’re seated in Wilson’s Cincinnati home, a compact Cape Cod in the city’s Price Hill neighborhood, and he’s sipping a homemade latte—a midday ritual he observes despite the summer heat—with a look of puzzlement on his face.

“When I talk about it now,” he says, “it’s like, ‘Did things really happen like that?’”

He shakes his head of loose, gray curls remembering the events that led to him becoming what he is now—to many, a venerated artist possessing both critical acclaim and commercial success, with photographs appearing on hundreds of album covers by musicians ranging from B.B. King to Robert Plant to The Avett Brothers. To himself, though, he’s just a guy lucky enough to make pictures.

And it all started, more or less, with a brass instrument.

Photographer Michael Wilson produces a wet plate photograph in his Cincinnati studio.

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Sound Seduction

#

“I fell in love with the French horn,” he says. “I’m sure it was based on some sort of fantasy. I loved carrying it around, and it was this beautiful thing to look at. Like so many of the good things in my life, I arrived at it not so much by pursuing it than finding myself surprised by something.”

Wilson discovered the instrument after following a friend into Cincinnati’s Norwood High School band class, where he found kinship among the music makers. “Something connected for me,” he says, “some sort of bliss that I really loved—being in the band, surrounded by this sound generator.”

He was so smitten, in fact, that Wilson became laser-focused on acquiring a French horn of his own and worked part time at fast-food restaurant Burger Chef to earn the $800 price tag. And he reached the goal during his senior year, around the time he also reached an inconvenient realization. “That was coincidentally when it was dawning on me that I can’t play the thing,” he says. “I was always the last chair. It was almost like I’d been caught daydreaming for three years.”

Seeing no reason to continue on with the instrument (“It wasn’t like my dream just died in front of me. It was just a reality”), Wilson set himself to spending his accumulated savings. He knew his older brother, Jim, had his eye on a Martin D28 guitar, so a loan of $600 took care of the bulk of his funds. (Jim paid him back eventually.) As for the remaining $200….

“I just wanted to buy something,” he says. “One of my other good friends was the photographer for the school paper and had a darkroom in his house that his dad had built. I’d seen a print developed, and it was fascinating. So that was enough to make me say, ‘You know, I think I’ll buy a camera.’”

Emmylou Harris

The Accidental Scholar

Karin Bergquist

He made the purchase, but, camera notwithstanding, Wilson was a long way from becoming a career photographer. With no plans for college or a post-high school life, he was miles from any path until, on the last day of school, fate once again intervened when he was pulled out of homeroom for a curious offer.

“A counselor said, ‘Do you have any plans for college?’ and I said, ‘No,’” he remembers. As luck (or fate or…whatever) would have it, the high school had a Presidential Scholarship to Northern Kentucky University available (in 1977, NKU handed out full rides to local high schools to boost awareness). Wilson was confused why the offer was being extended to him—he wasn’t a star student and only avoided a failing math grade because the instructor knew his sister—but he accepted.

“I for one am incredibly grateful that they were of a generous mind,” he says. When he showed up to register for classes in Regents Hall, serendipity held one more push for him in the form of an intuitive advisor who, faced with the clueless freshman, decided to do some digging. “He didn’t know me, I was just the next in line, but he asked me, ‘Well, do you have any hobbies?’ I told him I’d bought a camera, and he took the trouble to look through a catalog and said, ‘Well, here’s some photography classes. You could be a photography major. You’d be a fine art major—would you be interested in that?’ At that point, I’d never had an art class, but I said, ‘Sure.’”

Once he started taking photography classes, all the beneficial happenstance of the previous months fell to the side as Wilson 26 n k u m A G A Z I N E // c i r c l e s o f l i g h t

Nashville, Tennessee, 2000

# Lyle Lovett

Cincinnati, Ohio, 2007

# Cincinnati, Ohio, 1998

# PHILIP GLASS

New York, New York, 2001

Photographer Michael Wilson stands beside his 4x5" field camera outside the Price Hill home he shares with his wife, Marilyn. entered a full crush stage with making pictures (his preferred phrasing, as he doesn’t like to think he’s “taking” anything). “It was sort of like a needle fell into a groove. I can’t imagine what would have happened if that needle hadn’t dropped.” The photography program was run by Barry Andersen, who taught students the history of photography alongside creative and technical aspects of making photographs.

For Wilson, the academic experience was transformative.

“I’ve used the visual picture of when you’re a grade-school kid and you go on your first trip to see a real theater production. The house lights go down, the curtains go back, and you see the stage is lit in a certain way that looks totally like you’ve never seen it,” he says. “It’s like this is the world, but it’s a world I’ve never seen before.

There was a moment like that when I began to be exposed to the 150-year history of photography. There was no reason for me to ever think about that before, but once I did, it was like, ‘Wow.’ “It wasn’t too long of me being immersed in that environment that it became clear that this is what I wanted to do.”

‘I Want to Do That’ Upon graduating from NKU, Wilson continued to pursue photography, staying active in the darkroom in his free time while earning a living through jobs such as janitor at a fish hatchery and dishwasher in a kitchen. He married a woman, Marilyn, whose portrait he’d once taken and eventually landed a position as a photographer’s assistant at Cincinnati-based South-Western Publishing, working on typing manuals and other instructional titles. But, although he was

making pictures for a living, Wilson’s passion for photography waned during his four years at South-Western; conversely, his musical side experienced a reawakening as he found himself becoming passionate about music again—this time as a listener.

“I really sort of surrendered myself to being a fan of music. It’s all chemistry, right?” he says, “I developed a dissatisfaction with spending that much time working around pictures I didn’t care about, and that dissatisfaction merged with my growing interest in music.

So most of my spare energy was spent going to record stores, where I would see a beautiful record cover and think, ‘Well, I want to do that.’”

Encouraged by an illustrator friend, David Sheldon, to quit his publishing job, Wilson paid off his and Marilyn’s total debt—the loan payment on their truck—and, in 1987, embraced the freelance life.

When not making pictures, he spent time in record stores, examining album covers for inspiration and eventually noticing a common thread between the ones he was drawn to—Jeri Heiden, then-head of the art department at Warner Bros. Records. In what he describes as a move bold for him, Wilson decided to make contact.

“Marilyn helped me hand-bind together a little book of maybe 10 portraits or so,” he says. “I found the address and mailed it to this name.” Wilson was ecstatic to receive an acknowledgement letter in return but didn’t expect what came next, when Heiden recommended his skills to Wisconsin band The BoDeans, then, soon after, invited him to a meeting at Warner Brothers’ Los Angeles office. And so, photos in hand, the young man headed west.

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Staying Focused Though established, his career hasn’t been immune to industry changes, with music work tapering off in recent years. But Wilson’s love for making pictures is resilient, and he’s found new ways to explore his passion, branching into teaching at a Cincinnati-based arts center and, in various ways, allowing himself to become a student again.

“In the last, specifically, year and a half or two years, a significant part of my time has been involved with Manifest Drawing Center in Madisonville,” he says, adding he’d become familiar with the center through drawing classes Marilyn takes there. A few years back, after acquiring darkroom equipment from a program shuttered elsewhere, he approached Manifest with the idea of setting up a darkroom there. “I’d been imagining a sort of community darkroom where 28 n k u m A G A Z I N E // c i r c l e s o f l i g h t

# Robert Plant

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Nashville, Tennessee, 2010

BB King

Sao Palo, Brazil, 1995

# Lucinda Williams

Los Angeles, California, 2014

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“I had a small portfolio of assignments I’d been paid for that would have said that I was professional, but it was really uninteresting,” he says. “Fortunately I had with me a group of square pictures that I was going to show to a writer friend out in Los Angeles, so when she finally asked, ‘Don’t you have anything else that you can show me?’ I said, ‘Well, they’re just pictures I made for myself.’ She said, ‘Well, I’d love to see them.’”

Wilson showed her the prints, a lifelong project started during his days at NKU entitled “Martha, Martha,” and she was drawn to one, a picture of two dogs taken in the streets of Newport, Kentucky. The image eventually became the album cover for The Replacements’ “All Shook Down.”

“There’s a lesson there,” Wilson says with a laugh. “I don’t know if I’ve learned it yet.”

The Replacements album led to more music-business opportunities, and by the 1990s Wilson had built a career making pictures for music, with photographs appearing on albums by artists as diverse as Adrien Belew, Toad the Wet Sprocket and Cincinnati folk rockers Over the Rhine (Wilson’s old friends—some of his most iconic pieces can be found on their albums). Working in mostly black and white, and using available light to create dark shadows with deeply layered highlights, he developed a distinctive aesthetic that caused many listeners to rifle through record bins looking for the “Michael Wilsons” (I know—I was one of them). In the years since that fateful L.A. meeting, his work has appeared on a handful of Grammy-winning albums, and he’s gained a rich network of friends in the artists and musicians he’s photographed.

But ask him what he thinks of all of this, and he averts his eyes and chuckles uncomfortably. “I remember I saw a Facebook post by a musician that said, ‘The truth is, I’ve had really good gigs,’” Wilson says. “I’ve been really fortunate to get the opportunities that I did.

Having received great opportunities is the biggest part of being able to do good work.”

He points to the now-defunct network of record-business art directors who recommended him when he was building his career, as well as a once-thriving recording industry that enabled him to travel the world taking pictures while raising a family (he and Marilyn have three grown children: Henry, Polly and Sunny) in his hometown of Cincinnati. “I just happened at a time when there was a network that would spread your work around,” he says, adding, “That world is gone now. I feel incredibly fortunate. I’m not sure what the new normal is, but I’m convinced that what has been is not what will be.”

Thane Maynard

Cincinnati, Ohio, 2013

“I’ve become sort of a student of the wet plate, a process from the 1850s that’s taken me way down to the beginner level. Part of me feels like I’m just learning photography in that sense.”

MICHAEL WILSON

# Avett Brothers

Dayton, Ohio, 2007

this analog process could be taught and practiced,” he says. After the employee initially put in charge left town for another opportunity, Wilson took over and has spent much of the past year helping the fledgling program survive. “I would love to see it prosper.”

Wilson remains in demand as a fine artist, too. His show, “They Knew Not My Name and I Knew Not Their Faces,” is on display at the Public Library of Cincinnati Hamilton County’s Main Branch through the end of 2018. The exhibit and companion book, presented by FotoFocus, are a collection of black-and-white portraits made during the past two years that involved Wilson erecting a portable studio and having strangers pose for a picture. And a recent show at the Cody Center in Kerrville, Texas, entitled “Shirt for a Ghost” featured a number of photographs that stretch back to his time as a student at Wet plate, or collodion, NKU. photography is a Civil War-era And he’s always looking for something to process from the earliest days learn. A handful of years ago, Wilson, with his of image-making. Wilson son, Henry, started producing performance started learning the technique videos by bands he’s worked with, and he’s a few years ago, and the currently learning collodion-on-glass imaging resulting work allows him to techniques that date back to the earliest days engage his craft in a new way. of photography.

“I’ve become sort of a student of the wet plate, a process from the 1850s that’s taken me way down to the beginner level,” he says. “Part of me feels like I’m just learning photography in that sense.”

All of which underscores one of Wilson’s greatest skills as a photographer and, in the greater scheme, a person: perspective. Despite a career that’s positioned him among the contemporary greats, not to mention a litany of high-profile friends and acquaintances, he remains a person lucky enough to occasionally get paid for doing what he loves.

“The life of any artist consists of what I think of as a circle that’s somehow involved with a bigger circle,” he says. “The smaller circle, the inner circle, involves responding to the impulse to, for me, be curious enough about something to get my camera and go stand in front of it.

The bigger circle is the one that the world sees and is like, ‘Oh, you did the cover for so and so,’ or, ‘Oh, I heard your song on NPR.’ “We are responsible for navigating both at the same time, but, in large part, they seem unrelated.”

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Northern Kentucky University alumni know that the fun doesn't stop on graduation day—there's always a game, gathering or get-together for former students to swap stories, share a laugh and, most importantly, Norse up! Here are some shots from just a few of the alumni events during the past year.

In September, we watched the Cincinnati Reds take on the San Diego Padres at the NKU Night at the Reds.

Norsing up for the Reds at Great American Ballpark.

President Ashish Vaidya and his daughter, Jaanhvi, took in the ball game along with fellow Norse—including NKU assistant baseball coach, Dizzy Peyton, who helped the president practice for the first pitch.

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Service on Saturday was a day for alumni to gather with current students, faculty and staff to perform work in the community.

An alumni member is honored before each men's basketball game as the Proud Alum of the Game.

Alumni gather before NKU Night at the Reds for a pregame happy hour.

The Norse Nuptials Date Night gave alumni who met and married at NKU a chance to hang out with other Norse couples.

Watch parties for NKU Men's basketball happen each March to cheer on the Norse during the conference and postseason tournaments.

Graduating seniors share their future plans during Grad Fair.

ABOVE Service on Saturday was a day for alumni to gather with current students, faculty and staff to perform work in the community.

Married NKU alumni cheer on the Norse during Norse Nuptials.

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NORSENOW [ E N TR E P R E N E U R]

PURPOSE OVER PASSION Adaora Mbelu-Dania’s done it all— and she’s just getting started.

32 n k u m A G A Z I N E // n o r s e n o w

J

ust reading Adaora Mbelu-Dania’s (’08) resume is enough to tire most of us.

She launched her first entrepreneurial endeavor at age 16, a magazine produced in her home country of Nigeria that celebrated the work of Africans in the diaspora. She worked as content director for the United Nations World Tourism Conference, Nigeria Centenary Awards and the International Conference On Peace & Security; as a project manager for Nigerian Idol, Nigeria’s Got Talent and X Factor; and as corporate communications manager for Optima Sports Management International during the 2010 World Cup. And she started her own company, A2 Creative Ltd., in 2015, prompting Entrepreneur Magazine to include her in a list of 11 Africans changing Africa’s business landscape.

And those are just the highlights.

“Entrepreneurship is kind of a mindset,” says Mbelu-Dania. “As much as people like to think that it’s a job, it’s really a mindset.”

A born entrepreneur if ever there was one, her time as an entrepreneurship and economics major at Northern Kentucky University honed her innate skills. But traveling from Nigeria to Highland Heights wasn’t her first plan.

“Interestingly, I hadn’t initially applied to NKU,” she explains. “I was so sure that I was going to Georgetown or somewhere in the D.C. tristate area.” But her brother intervened—as a student at NKU himself, he wanted his sister to join him in northern Kentucky, and their parents conceded. “It was culture shock at first, but I loved it,” she says, pointing to cultural diversity as a key takeaway from the experience.

“We had to submit business plans or come up with an idea for something that we wanted to run,” she continues.

“Everyone in the class kind of focused around the Kentucky area, but because that wasn’t my cultural experience, I decided I wanted to do something that worked well in my environment.” MbeluDania wrote her business plan around the logistics of transporting petroleum products, a challenge in her home country.

“My financial projections were based on

the Nigerian market, and my professors couldn’t understand it. So when I did my presentations, it always seemed like I was thinking a little too big, but really it was based on where I was coming from.”

After graduation, she packed her things and headed back to Lagos, Nigeria—as was her plan all along. “I came to America with the mindset that I was going to learn and take it back home,” she says. “There’s always been a brain drain out of Africa in general. But with the world being a global network now, you can do business anywhere. I do business with a lot of clients who are in the states.”

Upon arriving home, she landed work in production, a far cry from what she studied at NKU. But she was prepared. “That’s the brilliant thing about studying something like economics or entrepreneurship—you gain so many skills that you can pretty much take into any industry,” she says. She excelled at the work but soon realized she wanted more from her career. “I just felt like I could do this and have some level of creative control,” she says. “I really wanted to touch the creativity and innovation by creating things that I felt would actually solve problems.”

In response to this inner yearning for creative control, Mbelu-Dania founded A2 Creative, an experiential marketing and talent firm focused on consumer brand journeys, in 2015 and the Trellis Group, a creative consultancy, in 2016. “When I moved back to Nigeria, I found that a lot of people who wore creative hats didn’t know how to do the business side,” she says. “I had the ability to do both. I was a creative, but I also understood the business side of creativity.”

The workload is daunting most days, but she’s committed to being everything her companies need her to be. “I still consider us a startup, which means that my partners and I are fully immersed in the business. We don’t get the luxury of just being figureheads. We actually get the work done with our team.” She hopes to reduce her role in company operations soon but understands it’s all part of the entrepreneur’s life.

“It’s like, I’ll try to work, then someone’s knocking on my door to talk about HR!” she says with a laugh. “But it’s an

important part of running a business.”

When asked what project she’s most proud of, Mbelu-Dania doesn’t hesitate to answer Socially Africa, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) aimed at improving the lives of people in the community.

“It was basically me getting a few young people together and saying, ‘Look, I know we all want to wait until we’re billionaires to give back to the community, but there are ways to give back now.” The project’s first campaign, Art for a Cause, took volunteers into dilapidated schools to create educational wall murals. (Art for a Cause is transforming its 14th school now). “We wanted to find a way to create inspiration for [children] while they are learning, and also just spend time with them. A lot of NGOs in this market just donate money—they don’t spend time.

We really wanted to spend time.” Socially Africa currently runs three other projects as well: a coding school for girls, a holiday gift program and a creative goodwill campaign.

Which all seems like plenty to occupy a person’s valuable time, but Mbelu-Dania’s entrepreneurialism fuels a constant search to find new ways of connecting with people, from her frequent speaking engagements to an educational platform within Trellis to, most recently, a musical project crafted under the Adoara Lumina persona—all intentionally designed to share an important central message.

“I like to talk about the fact that purpose will take you out of your comfort zone. I feel like everyone wants to find purpose, but then they find it and say to themselves, ‘That cannot be my purpose if it takes me out of my comfort zone,’” she says. “People talk a lot about passion, and passion’s great, but my own journey has really been about purpose.

“These days, there’s just so much information out there that if you don’t live what you’re teaching, you don’t really impact anyone. If what you’re teaching is not what you’re living, then how will someone be inspired by who you are? So I talk about those things, but I also make sure I walk my talk.”

—Rodney Wilson ('00)

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NORSENOW

HOME PLATE TO POLE POSITION

For Ashley Brennaman Shirley, nothing beats the engine’s roar.

W

hen you’re the offspring of a well-known sportscaster, growing up around professional athletics, your life options boil down to two equal, but opposite reactions: run as far away from sports as possible or answer the call buried in your genes.

For Ashley Brennaman Shirley (’05), youngest daughter of Cincinnati Reds baseball radio announcer Marty Brennaman, there was never any uncertainty—she planned to get in the game from an early age.

“I wanted to be involved in sports in some way, shape or form,” she says with a decisive nod, adding that it was her choice, not a house rule, that led to the decision.

Her father confirms. “I’ve always been a parent who believed that my kids are going to do what they want to do,” Brennaman says, “not what their dad wants them to do.”

She did find her way into an athletics career, though it’s not one she imagined as a kid when visiting Riverfront Stadium “dressed to the nines” in pigtails and frilly dresses with her mother. The road—or, in her case, 1.5-mile oval racecourse—to her current career as communications manager for the Kentucky Speedway started with her first race, during an internship in the summer of 2005. “It just

34 n k u m A G A Z I N E // n o r s e n o w

hooks you,” she says.

But this leg of the race was preceded

by Shirley’s time in college, which provided skills she uses at the racetrack. The Anderson Township, Ohio, native entered higher education at Ohio University, leaving after two years to return to Cincinnati. She took a year-long pit stop, then, on the recommendation of a family friend, decided to check out Northern Kentucky University.

“There was a gentleman, Russ Jenisch, who was the scoreboard producer for the Reds and a really good friend of my dad’s,” says Shirley. Jenisch taught classes at NKU and offered to show Shirley around campus. “He gave us a great tour, and I fell in love with it.”

NKU’s small classes and caring radio and television professors (particularly Dr. Russ Proctor, with whom she remains close) provided the perfect scenario for Shirley, who found academic success at the Highland Heights campus. “Ashley made honor grades when she was at Northern Kentucky University,” says Brennaman.

“She was an entirely different student academically. She really applied herself, and she learned a lot about herself.”

She’d interned with the Reds during college, but in seeking a second internship

after graduation, Shirley wanted something new. “Jerry Carroll, who owned Kentucky Speedway, is a good friend of my father’s,” she says. “My dad always said growing up, ‘I’ll help you get a job, but once you get it, it’s your job to keep it.’” Brennaman passed Shirley’s resume along to the speedway, and the HR director reached out. “She called me in but she’s like, ‘Oh, lord. Marty Brennaman’s daughter. Great, I wonder how she’s gonna do?’” Shirley laughs. “She tells me that to this day.”

Shirley loved working at the speedway, but the internship ended and she found full-time work at a graphic design studio. “I honestly don’t even count that year I left,” she says. “I got laid off, then went out that night and had a couple of drinks. I was really sad. Then, the next morning my dad comes knocking on my door.” Brennaman had a message from speedway officials looking to offer Shirley a permanent position. “I was like, this is fate. This is where I’m supposed to be. I mean, the day after I got laid off—not even 24 hours.”

And she’s been there ever since, working with local and national media, coordinating interviews with management and drivers, handling public relations and strategizing new ways to promote the Kentucky Speedway experience.

She was even a part of the August 2010 announcement of the inaugural Quaker State 400, the speedway’s first-ever NASCAR cup race. “Flip flops and all,” she says. “I was nine months pregnant, but to be there for the announcement that we’re getting a cup race was awesome.” At the most recent cup race, her dad even came to Sparta to drive the pace car.

Brennaman is happy that his daughter found a career she enjoys and excels at, though he does hope she’ll someday find her way to Great American Ballpark. “I think she’d be an asset to the organization, just like she’s been an asset to Mark Simendinger and all the folks down at the speedway,” he says. “It would be great.”

So if she was offered a role with the Cincinnati Reds, would she consider it?

“I love my job at Kentucky Speedway,” she says with a laugh. “I think I like being a fan of the Reds and looking from the outside in now.”

—Rodney Wilson ('00)

NORSENOW

NATE'S NATION

We hold a bullpen session with MLB superstar and gold medalist Nate Jones.

A

nother hot summer day is drawing to a close, and the barn’s shadow stretches long over an open field. Young Nate Jones of Pendleton County, Kentucky, and his siblings spent the day playing baseball on this small piece of land, and he’s not ready to head in for the evening—he’s always ready for another pitch, another swing. Another game.

It’s been years since these pickup games on the family farm, but Jones’ love for both his family and the game hasn’t faded. Now a pitcher for the Chicago White Sox with a World Baseball Classic gold medal on his shelf (as well as father to three of his own kids), he still thinks of these early games when he reaches for a baseball.

“It all started with my family,” says Jones.

“I have two brothers and a sister, with me being the youngest. There was always someone who wanted to play.”

When high school ended and it was time to leave the family farm for college, proximity to home was important—Jones wanted a chance to play baseball for a university team, but he also needed his family to see him pitch as often as possible. Northern Kentucky University, just a short drive from home, offered an ideal scenario, so Jones brought his arm up the road to become a Norse.

The power right-hander arrived on campus in 2005, and he spent years honing his

craft. Every morning at 7 a.m., before classes began, Jones would practice with Coach Dizzy Peyton as the pair worked toward making Jones the best pitcher he could be.

It worked. After three seasons of leading the NKU baseball team under Coach Dizzy’s constant reinforcement, Jones could hold batters to a .185 batting average and had become a popular name among Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Midwest scouts. Then, in the fifth round of the 2007 MLB draft, Jones received a life-altering call from Mike Shirley of the Chicago White Sox, who told him he was the team’s newest pitcher.

“As a kid you’re dreaming and working for that, but you never know because you don’t think you have the stuff. Everyone wanted to pitch the World Series with bases loaded, two outs, and strike the guy out,” he says. “When that call came around, it made it real for me.”

He’d made it, but for Jones the grind was just beginning. Two seasons into his professional career in the White Sox’s farm system, his earned run average (ERA) was a lackluster 5.73, and he considered throwing in the rosin bag. He’d spent countless hours on eight- to 12-hour bus rides away from his family, and his slow start was deflating.

But his coaches understood Jones’ potential; they also knew he needed to develop an attack mentality. So after a tough outing in Jacksonville, Florida, the pitching

coach called him in for a meeting.

“Coach Purdue sat me down and told me, ‘Jones, you’re a power pitcher. Stop trying to change who you are. You keep throwing that slider and don’t back down,’” explains Jones.

“That changed my mentality. I settled down for the rest of the season, and it carried over into my next big-league camp.”

Jones hasn’t backed down since that conversation with Purdue. He was called up to the major league team in 2012 and pitched a perfect record of 8-0 with a 2.39 ERA. In recent years he’s continued to be a strong arm for the White Sox organization, owning a career 3.07 ERA over seven seasons and earning a reputation as one batters don’t want to face late in games.

“You have to not be scared of who’s in the box, because there are a lot of big names out here,” he says. “My first career strikeout was a big turning point for me. It reminded me to be confident in myself and believe in my pitches.”

In 2017, MLB’s Joe Torre contacted Jones about playing in the World Baseball Classic on the United States national baseball team, which Torre manages. Modeled after FIFA’s World Cup, the World Baseball Classic was created in 2006 after baseball was removed from the summer Olympics and features the best players in the world competing for their home countries and territories.

Ecstatic, Jones said yes, and on March 22, 2017, he helped Team USA bring home its first gold medal after a win against Puerto Rico.

“To do that was special. It’s not every day you get a chance to represent your country in something, and this was the first time I ever had a chance to,” he says. “That last game, when they started chanting ‘USA! USA!’ I had cold chills, and my hair was sticking up. I never thought I’d be doing that.

It was something I’ll never forget.”

Even as a gold medalist and premier pitcher in the MLB, Jones still looks back on his time at NKU as formative to the player he’s become.

“Training staff, coaches, all the teachers—they all played a part in who I am as a person, on and off the field,” he says. “I owe a lot to NKU. I cherish my time there, and it’s a place that will always be near and dear to my heart.”

—J. Atley Smedley ('18)

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MYSTERY PHOTO!

SOLVE THE MYSTERY FOR NKU HISTORY! Is that you, Katniss Everdeen? The registrar has no record of the Mockingjay ever attending NKU, so probably not, but these archers look poised and ready to topple the Capitol and win the Hunger Games. “I volunteer as Tribute!”

What’s going on between Regents Hall and the Lucas Administrative Center? Is this some kind of archery club? A marksman competition?

Green Arrow cosplay group? Help us out! Email your memories (or total guesses) to nkumagazine@nku.edu or tweet us at @nkumagazine. Let’s set this mystery straight as an arrow.