February 21, 2017 by College Heights Herald

Tuesday February 21, 2017 Volume 92, Issue 35

The message of WKU’s 10th president

Crafting Tim Caboni Story by Jacob Dick • Photos by Matt Lunsford LAWRENCE, Kansas

im Caboni is driving his wife’s black BMW X3 through downtown Lawrence, on his way to lunch but he’s a bit distracted in conversation. He is explaining his views on theory to practice in communication, and there is a point he must illustrate. After asking to be recorded, he concentrates as the device is being turned on. His eyebrows raise and jaw tightens slightly; the gears are turning as he crafts his phrases carefully and weighs every word. He starts by citing an article on asymmetrical and symmetrical communication. He hesitates and seems disappointed at first when the author’s name doesn’t come right away. He pushes on almost flawlessly, enthusiastic about the subject. “The idea is that there is a give or take between an organization and any of its publics and in that, truth matters,” Caboni said. He breaks down the two basic approaches of communication: a quick hit without feedback and the path of engagement where concern is on the public’s reaction. “What you should be doing is engaging with the public in a truthful way; hearing them and by listening, you actually modify the organization’s message,” Caboni said. “If you’re doing that, you can hear how the organization is being perceived in relation to how you want it to be perceived and help that gap be met in the middle.” The question was about whether he felt a public relations person could have a university’s best intentions in mind while also being

as truthful as possible. Caboni explains the munity with KU. He has been an advocate for advantages of trust and ethics on an organiza- the recently formed Dwayne Peaslee Technical tional level that somehow seems genuine de- Training Institute McElwain and Lowe cite as spite itself. being a boon for the people of Lawrence. Moments like this come up frequently in Before Caboni sits down to talk, he is met conversation with Caboni when he is talking at the door by Matt Hyde, managing partner about a passion. The question at hand is ana- of Restaurant 715, who congratulates him on lyzed, the message is thoughtfully considered the new position. Caboni points out his favorbefore answering and, somehow, the meticu- ite table in the corner Hyde sometimes holds lous is made sincere. for him so he can have a bit of privacy from the This is mostly because the 47-year-old suc- many people that might recognize him – a frecessor to President Gary Ransdell, the WKU quent occurrence. Board of Regents selected in January, has been Caboni and his wife, Kacy Caboni, own a studying and home in East crafting commuLawrence and are nication about fairly visible in The idea is that there is a give or take higher education the community. for more than He said he likes between an organization and any of its two decades. In the proximity he July, Caboni will has to the rest of publics, and in that, truth matters.” take residence the city in this back in Bowling WKU’s 10th President Tim Caboni hub of art and Green for the first business. Earlitime since his er in the day as graduate school days to start WKU’s next chap- Caboni gives a tour of his neighborhood, he ter after Ransdell’s 20-year term. excitedly points out a new brewery under conFor the moment, he’s in Lawrence, home of struction and some of his favorite places, like a the University of Kansas – also known as KU – French spot called Bon Bon. where he has been the Vice Chancellor of Pub“I usually hang out wherever there is good lic Affairs for nearly six years. The talk of theory food,” Caboni said. “I relax by cooking and ento practice has ended for the moment as he is joy the product of that, perhaps too much.” having lunch with two members of Lawrence’s He has a pattern of finding the best signature chamber of commerce. places, name dropping Smokey Pig Bar-B-Q in Larry McElwain and Bonnie Lowe of the Eco- Bowling Green as a place he can’t wait to get nomic Development Council of Lawrence and back to. He attributes his love for local culture Douglas County said Caboni has been essen- and food to his upbringing in New Orleans. tial in communicating the needs of the com-

SEE CABONI PAGE A6

FEBRUARY 21, 2017

COLLEGE HEIGHTS HERALD

A2 University Senate endorses ‘sanctuary’ resolutions BY MONICA KAST

HERALD.NEWS@WKU.EDU The University Senate endorsed two resolutions regarding President Donald Trump’s executive order banning travel from several countries at its February senate meeting. The resolutions, introduced as new business by Senator Patti Minter, associate professor of history, ask “WKU’s President to declare the University a sanctuary campus,” and to “express his support” of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, according to the resolutions. The first resolution, “University Senate Resolution on Sanctuary for Undocumented Immigrant Students” was debated, specifically about language that would include all students who are not citizens studying at WKU. Several friendly amendments were made and accepted by Minter, and eventually the title of the resolution was changed to “University Senate Resolution on Sanctuary for Undocumented Immigrant Students and Campus Community Members Af-

fected by Travel Order.” Language was also amended to include “undocumented immigrant and non-immigrant students, scholars and staff” from “undocumented immigrant students.” The amended resolution states if WKU is declared a sanctuary campus, “undocumented immigrant and non-immigrant students, scholars and staff are full members of the WKU family who will be protected,” including from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Additionally, “WKU will not share information about undocumented immigrant and non-immigrant students, scholars and staff unless required by subpoena, court order or warrant.” Marko Dumancic, university senator and assistant professor of history, closed the discussion talking about his immigration experience and urging senators to pass the resolution. Dumancic was born in Libya, a country impacted by the executive order. “I appreciate Senator Minter bringing this document to us and I think that it works … I appreciate this

body for taking this up, and I think we can, of course, as senate does, discuss details ad infinitum, but I think the spirit of this resolution holds,” Dumancic said. “I would just encourage you, because … I certainly feel a sense of urgency about the senate passing this today, that we take up a vote.” The resolution was endorsed unanimously, with three abstentions. The second resolution, “University Senate Resolution on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program,” was endorsed unanimously and with no discussion. This resolution “resolved that the University Senate expresses its support of the DACA program,” and states “the University Senate urges WKU’s President to express his support of the DACA Program.” Minter said resolutions similar to the two endorsed on Thursday have been passed by universities around the country. Minter said she modeled the first resolution after one passed by Brown University, and considered Brown’s resolution to have “some of the most inclusive language.” Additionally, the University Senate passed a new policy, 1.1035 Emeritus

Status, which changes the name for future naming of faculty with emeritus status. Provost David Lee talked before voting on the resolution, and said the issue had been brought up by senator and associate professor of diversity and community studies Molly Kerby. Previously, when someone was awarded emeritus status, a male would be given emeritus status, while a female would be given emerita status. Lee said the title of emerita was thought to be “outdated.” Under the new policy, which passed unanimously and without discussion, everyone who is awarded emeritus status will have the emeritus title, regardless of gender. The University Senate also approved four substantive changes brought from the Faculty Handbook Committee. The four changes involve minor changes to the promotion and complaint process, and were approved unanimously without discussion.

Reporter Monica Kast can be reached at 270-745-0655 or monica. kast187@topper.wku.edu.

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FEBRUARY 21, 2017

COLLEGE HEIGHTS HERALD

corrections

CRIME REPORTS

A story with the headline “State legislation moves through General Assembly” printed on A1 Feb. 16 incorrectly reported Kentucky State University has vaccination requirements for admission. KSU recommends certain immunizations be submitted with enrollment forms, but they are not required for admission. The Herald regrets this error.

WKU Bookstore employees reported on Feb. 13 two females stole textbooks valued at $171.50. Freshman Calvin Brown, Bedford, reported on Feb. 15 that an unknown person broke into his vehicle and stole his parking permit while his vehicle was parked in Creason Lot. Senior Connor Ross, Scottsville, was served on Feb. 16 with a summons for fleeing or evading police second degree on foot. Senior Teresa Swetmon, Bowling Green, reported on Feb. 17 the theft of WKU property from the Thompson Complex Central Wing. It was valued at $3,250.

Calendar Tuesday, Feb. 21

Graduate student Gary Hughes, Bowling Green, reported on Feb. 17 his wallet stolen on the first floor of the Ivan Wilson Center for Fine Arts on Feb. 16 between the hours of 11:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. It was valued at $5. Freshman Brandon Kowalski, Naperville, Illinois, Barnes-Campbell Hall, was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia buy and possess on Feb. 17. Sophomore Mara Kosater, Centerville, Ohio, was arrested on Feb. 19 and charged with first offense alcohol intoxication.

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FEBRUARY 21, 2017 > WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

WKUHERALD.COM EDITORIAL

OPINION

Have an opinion? Tweet us @wkuherald or find us on Facebook at WKUHerald as well. Let us know your thoughts about the editorial, or write us with what is on your mind.

Cartoon by Wesley Slaughter

Differing Doctrines Herald, WKU agree on principle not on actions

THE ISSUE: Both the Herald and WKU share similar philosophies when it comes to the release of open records for Title IX investigations into faculty and staff found in violation of the university’s sexual misconduct policy.

OUR STANCE: While we both agree on the protection of victims and not needlessly dragging the names of the accused through the mud, it’s clear our principles on how to best do this is not the same. For those of you watching at home or just tuning in, we at the College Heights Herald are expecting to be served papers for a lawsuit any day now. We’ve previously touched on our impending legal battle in an editorial about how we came to this point, but we’ve run across people who are still a little confused about what all of this means. So we’ll run it from the top one more time. In November, we submitted an open records request to WKU for “all Title IX investigations into sexual misconduct allegations involving WKU employees in the last five years.” WKU’s Office of the General Counsel denied our request, citing multiple Kentucky Revised Statutes and the then ongoing litigation between the University of Kentucky and the Kentucky Kernel, UK’s student newspaper. The Kernel had also previously submitted an open records request for the same information from WKU and was also denied. In the original denial letter, the Office of the General Counsel disclosed WKU conducted 20 investigations into faculty and staff sexual misconduct since 2013. Of those cases, nine were of WKU faculty and 11 were of WKU staff. Six of the 20 investigations found violations of university policy, but all six employees resigned from the university prior to final action being taken. In late January, UK won its lawsuit against the Kernel when a Fayette

County judge ruled UK had the right to withhold documents about a sexual assault case involving James Harwood, a former associate professor at UK, according to the Courier-Journal. The Kernel plans on appealing the decision. After the denial, we consulted with attorney Jon Fleischaker and then submitted the request again including Fleischaker’s opinion. The university denied the request saying it would revisit the matter once the UK and Kernel suit was settled. This lead us to file an appeal to the Office of the Attorney General. The attorney general decided WKU had violated the Kentucky Open Records Act. WKU then decided to appeal the attorney general’s decision, which in part means WKU will sue the Herald as well as the Kernel as WKU had two options: to release the requested records or sue. This is the timeline of events as far as WKU and the Herald are concerned. This matter has likely put WKU between a rock and a legal precedent. With the decision handed down in favor of UK in Fayette County and the Kernel’s plans on appealing that decision, WKU is in a sort of legal tailspin. While the records the Kernel originally requested from UK and the records the Herald requested from WKU differ greatly, which Fleischaker agrees with us on this point, the legal loopholes surrounding these types of records are becoming increasingly hard to navigate in this state. We have full confidence that if a ruling is made in the Herald’s favor for the records then WKU will comply with the law. However, with the Kernel’s intention to appeal it’s hard to determine where that will leave our case. When it comes down to the brass tax, however, we know this is nothing personal against us from the university’s perspective nor would we want to it become such a thing. We even agree

with the baseline philosophy the university is using to withhold these records: protecting victims and the accused. We reached out to those in the Office of the General Counsel in hopes they would pen a letter to the editor detailing more of their stance on the matter. While they were appreciative of the offer they declined. Seeing as WKU doesn’t feel the need to express their thoughts outside of a court of law, you’re stuck with our rantings for now. President Gary Ransdell told a Herald reporter the decision to appeal was based on the university’s responsibility to all of its stakeholders. “It’s important for people to know this is about us sorting through the most responsible way to handle sexual assault on campus, not the way this administration or university feels about its College Heights Herald,” Ransdell said. However, while our baseline principles are similar the way we view going about this clearly differs. WKU wants to protect the victims in the instances where it was found university policy was violated for sexual misconduct. So do we. This should have probably gone in the very first paragraph, or headline for that matter, to really hammer it home, but the Herald does not publish the names of victims of sexual assault. And we would only consider doing so with that person’s obtained and explicit permission. Part of protecting victims means we don’t publish names, identify characteristics or explicit details surrounding their case, which was what the attorney general gave the university the option to do, redact names and personal identifiers, but they declined. Perhaps the university is of the opinion that publishing this kind of information would deter people from reporting sexual misconduct. As opposed to having six people resign over

violations for sexual misconduct and then dropping those cases altogether. A lack of real justice is a deterrent for survivors of sexual assault to come forward. The organization End Rape on Campus, citing a 2016 study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, said seven percent of rapes on college campuses were reported to any school official and four percent were reported to law enforcement. Of course, reporting to the police and reporting sexual assault here at WKU are vastly different procedures. Ransdell also said the best outcome for WKU would be to determine the best course of action “without making a media spectacle for victims and the accused.” This is a point where we also agree with the university. We don’t want to make any kind of spectacle, but we do not think a public employee should have their identity protected when they are involved in a matter of sexual misconduct. If we get these records, we’re not going to rush to publish the names of the accused party before making sure we have the fullest context and not before we are able to reach out to them. Likely, they won’t want to comment, but we’ll still try. There also remains a possibility that despite safety nets the university has in place, former employees who have violated policy end up working at other public institutions placing other people at risk. We cannot claim this to be a large, widespread occurrence but we cannot ignore the possibility outright. No system is without flaw, above approach, or without critique and this includes the process of Title IX investigations. At the end of the day, both the Herald and WKU want what’s best in the interests of both victims and the accused, which is why we’re still pushing.

WALK IN THE LIFE

Trusting God, rediscovering my worth BY MILLIE RONKAINEN HERALD.OPINION@WKU.EDU I have this lie that I tell myself often. This lie sounds something like, “You are not good enough to love someone or be loved by someone.” This lie prevents me from getting close to people and forming relationships with them. This feeling of being unworthy of love stems from a series of three relationships that did not end well; two friendships and a romantic relationship. In each relationship, I was told I was too demanding, my standards were too high and my personality was too strong. In reality, I do have high expectations and standards and a strong personality.

In reality, none of those are intrinsically bad, not in the least because God created me with those traits. I have accomplished many of my goals and formed many healthy relationships through my standards, self-expectations and personality, not to mention the personal boundaries they have influenced. These aspects of myself have changed a little as I have grown, but overall they are a part of me and have served me well. The trouble in these relationships did not come from who I am. Rather, the trouble resulted from the other person’s reception of the boundaries I set. I am still trying to understand these situations for what they were: a lack of respect for those boundaries. They do not reflect my ability to love or be loved by someone. My love is not tainted or

flawed. But this feeling of not being worthy of love has extended beyond my human relationships into my relationship with God. I feel like He cannot love me because of my brokenness, my imperfection, my sharp temper and other shortcomings. I often feel empty, hollow, unworthy and wonder how He could see anything good in me. I look at myself and see failure. This poor self-image comes from a misconception about how I was created. Saint Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, asks, “Do you not know you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” We were all created uniquely, but with the full love and blessing of God. He did not make us to see ourselves as failures. He loves us through our short-

comings and makes us whole in our struggles. We are His temple , and He , who is all good and loving, lives within us. My beautiful mother pointed me to Wisdom 11:24 one day last semester, a verse I often return to in my emptiness: “For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made; for you would not fashion what you hate.” This reminds me that even though I may not see myself as beautiful or lovable, God cradles me in the palm of His hand and gazes on me with love. Psalm 139:14 has become my prayer: “I praise you, because I am wonderfully made.” I am made to love, deeply and truly. Once I trust God enough to accept that I am perfectly loved by Him because He intentionally created me, I will be able to love others without fear.

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FEBRUARY 16, 2017

COLLEGE HEIGHTS HERALD

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Across

12 13 1 Honeydew, e.g. 6 World Service 16 17 provider 20 21 19 9 Wood sorrel 12 Hogan dweller 23 24 25 13 Salad topper 14 Root beer brand 31 27 28 29 30 16 Russian pancakes 32 33 34 35 36 17 Blood letters 18 Party pooper 40 41 42 43 19 V.I.P. 20 City-like 45 46 44 22 Kind of patch 48 49 50 51 23 Potter’s tool 25 Soft silver-white 55 52 53 54 ductile metallic element 56 57 58 59 27 Blatant deception 66 67 64 65 31 Quick on the uptake 68 69 70 32 Wife of Zeus 33 “Drat!” 71 72 73 36 Oven emanation Copyright ©2017 PuzzleJunction.com 40 Writer Jong 42 Bishop’s 9 Eccentric 69 It has strings 38 jurisdiction 10 Wrist joints attached 39 43 Bounded along 11 French farewell 70 Exhaustive 41 44 Physically weak 12 Peacock network 46 71 Strong cleaner 45 Cry of pain 15 Junk E-mail 72 ___ capita 49 47 Org. with a 20 On pins and 73 Cashing in one’s 51 mission needles chips 52 48 Pen point 21 Sherpa’s home 53 50 Plaid fabric 24 Append 54 Down 52 Park structure 26 Undiluted 55 55 Dome 27 White hat wearer 58 1 Stag 56 Wise one 28 German mister 60 2 Blackhearted 57 Acquired relative 3 Track assignment 29 La Scala highlight 61 59 Mine passages 30 “Phèdre” 4 Plains Indian 64 Roswell sightings playwright 62 5 Refusals 66 Cup handle 34 “The Matrix” role 63 6 Get on ___ 67 Nativity scene 35 Trifle 65 7 Lettuce variety 68 Ballet wear 37 Moonfish 67 8 Waste pipe

Previous Solution

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FEBRUARY 21, 2017

COLLEGE HEIGHTS HERALD

A New Orleans influence

aised in New Orleans where his father’s family has roots, Caboni briefly went to McDonogh 15 in the French Quarter, long before its inclusion in a magnet school system, and would walk to his grandmother’s antique shop after school. Caboni said he comes by his passion for education honestly. His father, a middle and high school science teacher, and his mother, a psychotherapist and nurse practitioner who is now an academic administrator for nursing programs, instilled the importance of education at a young age. His grandfather, owner of a Southern paper company that made bags for French bread in the city, passed on some wisdom about manual labor that made an impression on Caboni. “I can remember being a young person trying to paint the side of a garage and my grandfather telling me, ‘now Tim, you need to learn how to make a living not with your hands’,” Caboni said. “’You’re just not very good at it.’” Caboni began to think of his life in terms of service and ideas, and said New Orleans’ unique brand of education was influential for him. He attended Holy Cross High School, an all-boys Catholic school in the North part of the city. “High school was formative in terms of leadership and my growth as a young leader there,” Caboni said. “There is an ideal of the ‘Holy Cross Man’ taught there and that was something I strive for. I don’t know if it’s something you ever truly accomplish, but it still means a lot to me.” According to the school’s website, part of the motto reads as the following: “The Holy Cross Man is studious. He regards learning as a duty; intellectual perfection as an honor. He knows that

his school is his training ground where he must mold himself into a useful man.” While at Holy Cross, Caboni played baritone and tenor saxophone as a part of the school band. He continued a pattern of garnering leadership roles as drum major for two years and later acted as drum major for the Louisiana All-Star band. When Caboni graduated from high school, his love of music led him to be a music major at Louisiana State University. He said he had hoped to be a band director at a high school or college but the instructors of the music program didn’t share the same aspirations for his future. Students in the program were subjected to solo performances for critique by an assembly of professors once per semester. Before students could continue to the upper levels of the program, they had to pass a barrier exam performance in which the instructors would judge whether the performer had the musical skill to graduate. Caboni described this exam as standing alone on a brightly lit stage, presented before several of the program’s mentors as they critiqued every movement and note. The summer after Caboni’s barrier performance, he received a letter from the faculty at his home. The letter informed him that he hadn’t passed the exam. The faculty felt his time would be better spent in another area of study. “As you can imagine, being a 19-year-old who thought I knew what I was going to be when I grew up and to have all of that crashing down was tough,” Caboni said.

TOP: Caboni drives to get his haircut early Friday Feb. 10, morning in Lawrence. “Today reminds me how many people I am going to have to say goodbye to,” Caboni said. Caboni is replacing current president Gary Ransdell in July, when Ransdell retires.

BOTTOM: Tim Caboni looks down at his phone in between meetings on Friday, Feb. 10. Caboni met with members of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, the Kansas University Alumni Association and the KU Marketing and Communications department.

Navigating a crossroads

crambling for what was next, Caboni said he found the answer to what path his future would take by coincidence in a ponderous book few undergraduates today would recognize. “I remember thumbing through the LSU catalog and came across the speech courses, which jumped out at me,” Caboni said in an email. “Given that I had done a great deal of public speaking in high school, I decided to take an intro course and enjoyed the class immensely.” A chance experience led to a decision on his major and Caboni finished LSU with a bachelor’s degree in speech communication and rhetoric. While in the communication department, he worked as a teaching assistant. As an undergraduate, Caboni became interested in organizational communication and a friend receiving her doctorate at LSU recommended WKU’s master program. Randall Capps, organizational leadership and management professor, was department head of WKU’s master program in 1994 when Caboni attended. Capps said his first acquaintance came in a call out of the blue from a young man introducing himself as Tim Caboni and expressing interest in the master’s program. Although Caboni has made a point of such contact when considering a new institution, Capps said he wasn’t used to receiving such an enthusiastic call from a prospective student. Capps said Caboni went on to equally distinguish himself in the classroom through his public speaking and crisis management. “He had a natural knack for communicating in a public arena,” Capps said. “I think he has a lot of the talent and skills it takes to be a public leader.” Caboni said he enjoyed the application-based education in WKU’s program as compared to the

more theory- and research-based approach taught at LSU at the time. Larry Winn, professor emeritus in WKU’s communication department and Caboni’s crisis management professor, described a class exercise in which a student would take the role of a spokesperson in front of a hostile media pool. “Some of the students said they would sweat through their clothes during that kind of presentation,” Winn said. “There were several things designed to test students’ cool and I would say he

gravitated toward those kinds of difficult situations.” Capps said the program was designed to broadly prepare students for communicating in a variety of professional environments, not to prepare higher education leaders. Including Caboni, the program has produced three students who have proceeded to the highest leadership positions at institutions.

SEE CABONI PAGE A7

A7 The atypical path

FEBRUARY 21, 2017

COLLEGE HEIGHTS HERALD

lthough being a college president takes “I’ve had a varied career as a professional funddedication that isn’t gifted in a class- raiser, faculty member, academic administrator room, Bob Jackson, another former WKU and then leapt to something that seems far afield grad mentored by Capps, isn’t surprised presidents in public affairs,” Caboni said. “My path isn’t typicould come from a communication program. cal but it’s prepared me well.” Jackson is currently president of the Murray State After graduating from WKU’s master program, University Foundation after serving as a Kentucky Caboni was hired as the assistant director of the state senator. alumni association for Loyola University New OrJackson based his doctoral dissertation before leans, a private Jesuit university. his graduation in 2012 on the changing role of While at Loyola, an incoming president chalpresidents as fundraisers and has continued inter- lenged the association to double the amount of est on the subject. According to his research, pres- alumni chapters across the country. The new presidents like Caboni with mixed backgrounds will be ident and Caboni hit the road to talk to alumni the next norm for higher education. about the new plans and aspirations for the uni“The trend of hiring presidents with public af- versity. fairs, development and fundraising backgrounds “In the course of that, I came to understand is becoming more common than it was 20 years what the job was, at least from the perspective of ago and, in the next few years, will become more a 24-year-old, and it looked very interesting,” Caprevalent than ever before,” Jackson said. boni said. In a 2007 study of 2,148 top administrators in In Jackson’s dissertation, he posits that it is comcollege institutions from the American Council mon for university presidents to mentor under anEducation, which Jackson cites in his work, 38 other president or to receive additional adminispercent of respondents said fundraising took the trative training during points of their career based majority of their work time and 45 percent said on testimonial data. fundraising was significantly more important than Caboni left Loyola and received a doctorate in it used to be. These opinions came from a group Higher Education Leadership and Policy at Vanwith a majority of respondents without fundrais- derbilt University in Nashville. He joined the uniing backgrounds. versity as a faculty member in 2001 and became In the article “The Prioritization of and Time associate dean of the Peabody College of EducaSpent on Fundraising Duties,” Jackson links re- tion and Human Development in 2005. He consponding presidents’ comments with the national tinued to teach graduate level courses on subjects trend of decreased state funding for public insti- like fundraising in higher education. tutions. It was also during this time, the first reports of “Specifically, state appropriations for public Caboni’s bowties start to surface. Capps didn’t universities are at their lowest point in 30 years, recall the iconic bowtie during Caboni’s time at having declined by about one-third since 1980; graduate school but Wes Fugate, former student of and there is no end in sight to this funding dilem- Caboni’s and current vice president at Randolph ma,” Jackson writes in the article. College in Lynchburg, West Virginia, recalls their This reflects a catch phrase Caboni used several appearance. times at public forums while visiting WKU during There was speculation that Caboni’s fashion his candidacy about how a flat state funding model choice was inspired by Gordon Gee, then Vanderis the new upward growth for state appropriations: bilt’s chancellor, current president of West Virginia “Flat is the new up.” University and proWith tuition belific bowtie wearer. ing tantamount for Caboni said he was recruitment advanwearing bowties tages, alumni have long before Gee’s become the path for appointment at filling funding gaps Vanderbilt, bowties and expansion rebeing more comquirements. This mon in New OrleWKU’s 10th President Tim Caboni ans, but he briefly means presidents, the public faces of their stopped wearing institutions, can be expected to help lead the fund- them during that time. raising arms of colleges. Over 80 percent of average He said he had to make a principled decision donations come from individual donors, which about his neck-wear. means presidents can spend anywhere from sev“You don’t want to be a suck up or a wannabe so en to 21 days a month on the road communicating for several years I wore a regular tie,” Caboni said. with donors, according to Jackson. “At some point I realized he didn’t own that and I The pressure on presidents to be versed in aca- started wearing them again.” demics as well as public affairs isn’t new informaWhile learning important lessons about his tion to Caboni. business wear preferences, Caboni also achieved In fact, Jackson cited some of Caboni’s 2003 academic accomplishments at Vanderbilt. Pearesearch on the origins of fundraising in his dis- body College was ranked as the No. 1 graduate sertation. When Jackson describes the trend in school of education for five years starting in 2009 experience of higher education’s next generation and saw a significant increase in enrollment. of presidents, it almost seems like he’s reading CaKim Brazil, current director of admissions at boni’s credentials. Peabody who worked closely with Caboni, said

You don’t want to be a suck up or a wannabe so for several years I wore a regular tie.”

TOP: Caboni earned a bachelor’s degree in Speech Communication and Rhetoric from Louisiana State University in 1992. Caboni graduated as a Hilltopper with a master’s degree in Organizational and Corporate Communication in 1994. Caboni earned his doctorate degree in Leadership and Policy Studies from Vanderbilt University in 2001.

most of the school’s change grew from his work. “He did a wonderful job improving our rankings through advertising means, dealing with research and also building a marketing recruitment formula that not only grew our amount of applications but also our yield,” Brazil said. Caboni joked at a faculty forum at WKU last month about the role of associate dean being thrust upon him to “shut him up,” but Brazil remembers the situation differently. “He had talent,” Brazil said. “Anything he tried to do or was tasked to do, he did well.” Brazil said Caboni also helped create a funding model for the college that was used for several years. WKU recently announced a need to adjust funding policy at the university to a more centralized model to ensure financial stability after enrollment issues. Caboni experienced similar change at Vanderbilt when his college, one of the wealthiest in terms of enrollment dollars, started paying a sort of administrative tax to the central fund. “The press towards centralization is a fundamental conversation in higher education, not just at WKU,” Caboni said. “A balance needs to be made between strategic decision making and independence in a department to protect what the institution as a whole is trying to do.” When Caboni speaks of making decisions, it’s with the assumption that a collaborative discussion will be included. Brazil said Caboni worked with every aspect of Peabody, from academics to marketing, to make sure the message of the school was aligned for faculty and incoming students.

BOTTOM: Lauren Erickson, the Kansas University director of Marketing and Communications, along with Caboni watch an Admissions Publications video used for prospective student recruitment. Undergraduate admissions inquiries have risen by 160 percent since 2011, when Caboni came to KU.

Kansas collaboration

t KU’s campus, Caboni has cast a similar net of collaboration with almost every part of the university. The Office of Public Affairs at KU is divided into five different sections touching almost every aspect of the university, including media, marketing, relations in the state capital as well as Washington, D.C. and emergency communications with students. Through all of these branches Caboni has had a hand in shaping how almost every aspect of KU is viewed by the public. When Caboni first came to KU, there wasn’t a dedicated relations coordinator with Kansas’s state government so he filled in for about six months. To his relief, the university now has Kelly Reynolds to direct state relations as well as a D.C. relations person he helped hire. Caboni said having dedicated lines of communication with lawmakers is important for public institutions, but doesn’t put all of his faith in legislators to provide for universities. KU has had a rebranding movement since Caboni arrived with a new direction for its recruiting and marketing efforts and monumental construction projects such as a new science building, residence hall and dining facility, apartment style housing and new student union. All of this has occurred in a climate of Kansas’s state government reducing funding and the frequency of approval for projects in higher education. According to reports published by KU’s relations office, state appropriations to the school were nearly halved from $16,180 per student in 1999 to $9,076 in 2016. The reports also indicate inflation has largely outpaced growth in state support. Although KU is larger than WKU with 28,401 students enrolled in 2016, the story of expansion in the face of cold legislative attitudes is all too familiar. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Kentucky’s per student funding of higher education lowered 32 percent from 2008 to 2016, the seventh largest reduction among states since the 2008 recession. Kansas was recorded as having reduced 22 percent in that time. Despite all of this, Caboni has expectations to

find solutions for similar projects at WKU that can be accomplished independently. He’s a realist when it comes to government attitudes on education. “We can’t expect the next 40 years of funding to look the same as the last 40 years as far as the automatic growth in the appropriation to universities,” Caboni said. “It’s not the world we live in.” KU’s focus for the future has drawn away from state funds and has switched to the attention of students and donors. In the works since Caboni’s arrival, KU is about to launch a new marketing and recruitment campaign five years in the making. While some of the details are being finalized, the marketing staff have prioritized engaging students in their junior year of high school and keeping them committed with strategic contact. Along with new plans, Caboni has reviewed and distilled KU’s iconography into a new marketing campaign. In a video advertisement set to launch before next recruiting cycle, history and pride for the school’s lineage take center stage as figure’s from Kansas’s free-state founding pass on

screen to serious narration and the “Rock Chalk, Jay Hawk” chant. One of the partners in this effort representing the fundraising side of the equation has been Heath Peterson, president of KU’s alumni association. Caboni said the university’s fundraising arm has relative autonomy is most things but Peterson contributes some of the school’s recent success to collaboration with Caboni. “Tim has been able to bring everyone together in a coordinated, consistent and effective way to really better tell the institution story,” Peterson said. Along with condensing some of the several taglines and mottoes KU used in its branding, Peterson said Caboni has driven several hours on many an occasion to talk to people in the small towns of Kansas. Traveling to meet with alumni statewide has become a priority for the department as well as the message it is trying to deliver. The institution now brings unique programs like its Formula One-style racing team and automotive engineering program to events for demonstrations.

SEE CABONI PAGE A8

FEBRUARY 21, 2017

COLLEGE HEIGHTS HERALD

A fundraising family

KU will not just be receiving one experienced development coordinator when Caboni takes his appointment. His wife, Kacy Caboni is the current development director and team leader for KU’s school of business and an accomplished fundraiser. The couple became acquainted through work, Caboni having attended many of the events hosted by the endowment department and business school. They went out for the first time to a KU basketball game that Caboni happened to have an extra ticket for. They were married in September of 2014. Kacy Caboni recently oversaw the completion of a new $70.5 million facility for the business school. The 166,500 square feet Capitol Federal Hall was the result of private funding with $10 million from the university for infrastructure and took almost five years of planning. The lead $20 million donation came from the family owners of Capitol Federal Savings Bank. “We’ve always said we have the programs to re-

cruit the best students, we just needed the building,” Kacy Caboni said. “That’s to say, a building isn’t everything but I think we’ve seen it help here.” Kacy Caboni worked with alumni to help utilize their gifts towards their personal interests like investing money from a donor passionate about preserving Monarch butterflies into landscaping that is butterfly friendly. Donations from corporations such as Koch Industries and Forbes were also incorporated in different fixtures in the building. The business school campaign had several large donations, numerous small donations and even students chipped in with t-shirt sales and fundraisers. Kacy Caboni, who has been at KU for 10 years, said seeing the people she’s known for a while come together for the school has been a delightful experience. “We wanted everyone to feel involved in helping this project be realized,” Kacy Caboni said. “It was tough, but these people have been like family and it’s been a great opportunity.”

TOP: Caboni visits with Kansas University Alumni Association President Heath Petersen on Friday Feb. 10. “Tim has been able to bring everyone together in a coordinated, consistent, and effective way to really tell the institution story,” Peterson said.

BOTTOM: Caboni, visits former Lawrence mayor, Mike Amyx, at his barber shop on Massachusetts St. in downtown Lawrence, Kansas.

‘I want to understand a place’

aboni reports directly to KU’s Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little but, in general, university leaders agree the administrative core of the school is collaborative. This reflects the kind of leadership methods Caboni said he subscribes to and hopes to bring to WKU. “One of the things people will get to know about me is that I want to understand a place before I make any decisions,” Caboni said. “I’ll be spending some time in the transition getting to know the folks who will be working with me but also how the organization is structured.” While managing public affairs, Caboni also continued to teach classes on policy in higher education. Similar to his tenure at Vanderbilt, Caboni couldn’t be kept away from the classroom. But instead of graduate classes, he was now teaching courses like the freshman seminar course attended by Gabby Murnan. Murnan graduated KU in Spring 2016 and considers Caboni a mentor. She started a major in environmental studies and later added political science because of her interest in writing environmental policy. This drew her towards Caboni’s honors seminar on higher education policy but she said she didn’t know what to expect from the excitable man in the bowtie. “At first, I was like, ‘Who is this guy?’” Murnan said. “But after a while, I started to see what a great teacher he was and he really spent time with his students trying to help them understand clear and concise writing. He wanted them to ask questions about things that mattered to them, whether its policy or just something you’re reading for class that day.” Remembering his days in Vanderbilt, Wes Fugate seconds Murnan’s comments on Caboni in the classroom. He said the graduate courses Caboni taught at Peabody were on Friday and Saturday for about 15 hours between two days. “You can imagine if you were going to be in a course that long with one professor, they need to be incredibly dynamic and engaging,” Fugate said. “That is probably what I remember about him most as a teacher. I could have stayed in his classroom for days just engaging with him on the material.” Murnan agreed on Caboni’s ability to draw his students’ attention into the world of policy. Skeptical at first, Murnan left the class with a new understanding of how to apply her environmental interest and became Caboni’s student assistant for the next two years. Caboni said he doesn’t anticipate being able to teach a class at WKU within the first couple years of his presidency but wouldn’t turn down the opportunity for a guest lecture. He said he would likely teach a course on public relations and communications, fundraising or higher education policy. Aside from sparking interest in the classroom, Caboni also has a pattern of offering applied learning opportunities such as allowing several of his Vanderbilt graduate students to have staff respon-

sibilities. While at KU, he offered a learning position in the public affairs office to Murnan. “Tim doesn’t just do one conversation; he continues to follow up and push you until you reach what you want,” Murnan said. She said the position offered her a chance to work hands on with public policy for state relations and provide research assistance for the various offices. She was even given the lead in KU’s involvement with the local “Free State” art festival held in Lawrence. Murnan has been dedicated to her path since she first started KU but she said a large part of her being able to continue that interest lies in the opportunities people like Caboni have made available. “You see students spread across the different parts of the enterprise here but I’ve always tried to create opportunity for talented students to work in issues they are interested in,” Caboni said. Murnan, who received a White House internship she partially credits to Caboni’s mentorship, is now taking a slight break from environmental policy. She joined AmeriCorps after graduation and is now teaching English to adult learners in Florida while applying for graduate programs. Despite the laundry list of accomplishments and experience seemingly crafted to modern administration specifications, Caboni’s real talent shines through when he’s least aware. Near the middle of Massachusetts Street, a wide drive of community favorites and main draw for tourists and college students in downtown Lawrence, the barber shop of Mike Amyx is already filled at 7:30 a.m. Several of the regular coffee drinkers greet Caboni, including a man known in town as “Red Dog” who leads an early morning exercise routine. He has some wonderful words to share about the

young men on the football team. Caboni is in the chair getting a trim, just the back and sides, as three-term former mayor and owner Amyx tells the story of how the men met. When Caboni was preparing for his position at the University of Kansas, he made several preemptive visits to help his adjustment, just as he plans to do during his transition to WKU. While on one of those visits, in the early hours of the morning, Caboni said he was desperately searching for a barber shop to accommodate his schedule when he found one open to his surprise. Amyx describes the small talk they made during that first cut: Caboni mentioning his new job at the university and Amyx discussing the town. “We had a good conversation but it was a short cut with the hair he had at the time and I just knew he worked at the university; I didn’t know he was important,” Amyx said. “So we shook hands and I handed him my card.” “Mayor,” Caboni said while laughing. “Now of course I’m thinking, what did I actually say?” It was a typical Caboni experience: meeting the right person, saying the right thing, whether by luck, training or charm. He treats each new conversation as a moment to learn and persuade, to find the right message that will let others know what he’s about. He acts with the skill of a master public relations practitioner, but people who know him buy what he says as genuine. According to Caboni, that’s because he believes what he has to say. It’s more than putting theories to practice. “You have to believe what your organization stands for before you speak for it,” Caboni said. “That’s one of the reasons I love working in higher education; I believe in what we offer students. If it’s spin, it doesn’t hold up long.”

FEBRUARY 21, 2017 > WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

WKUHERALD.COM

LIFE

» Housing Guide: Check out our coverage of WKU’s haunted dorms in next week’s housing guide.

Annual Sci-Fi convention to take place this week BY OLIVIA MOHR HERALD.FEATURES@WKU.EDU

Kentucky’s longest-running science fiction convention will hold its 38th annual convention this Thursday and will run until Sunday. The convention, Concave, is a non-profit convention that donates the money exceeding its operating cost to various charities. All the workers are members and work as volunteers. Members buy membership annually by pre-registering or registering to attend the convention. Concave does not provide one-day passes. Members pay for the whole weekend. Workers also pay the annual membership fee. Concave takes place in The Greenwood Inn and The Jameson Inn and Suites located at 166 Cumberland Trace Pkwy in Bowling Green. The convention allows members full access to the hotel, which provides food and beverages and allows members 24/7 access to the pool over the weekend. Concave has donated books to libraries and has donated money to several gifted-and-talented programs, the Horse Cave Repertory Theatre when it existed, the American Cave Museum, the American Cancer Society, the Alzheimer’s Association and other programs and organizations. The convention does not feature celebrity guests, but it features a chili cook-off, an art show and auction, meals, a bonfire, a costume contest, impromptu activities, role-playing and themed parties. Concave also features LARP, also known as live action role-playing, child-appropriate games and its house band Five Year Mission, which will perform songs inspired by each of the original Star Trek episodes. Concave president and chairman Claude Miles from Bowling Green took over the convention in 2009, and it became a non-profit organization. The convention first took place in Bowling Green in 2010. Miles said he believes it is important for Concave members to enjoy the convention for its own sake and money should not be the focus. “I think that too many industries and too many aspects of our lives are profit-driven,” Miles said. Miles’ parents introduced him to Concave at its second convention. “I was brought as a young child at the age of six to the second Concave, and it got in my blood, and I attended again and again and again,” Miles said.

SEE CONVENTION PAGE B2

Bowling Green resident Jeanne Cline, 64, participates in a demonstration with instructor Kevin Taylor, 47, during the women’s self-defense course on Saturday, Feb. 18 at Kentucky Grapplers. Taylor opened Kentucky Grapplers in July of 2015 and offers a variety of classes. KATHRYN ZIESIG/HERALD

Learning to Fight Back Local martial arts school hosts self-defense workshop

BY ANDREW CRITCHELOW HERALD.FEATURES@WKU.EDU

Bowling Green women punched, kicked and learned Saturday at a self-defense workshop hosted by the Kentucky Grapplers. Located on 512 2nd Ave, the Kentucky Grapplers is a martial arts school focused on self-defense training for adults. The Women’s Self Defense Workshop focused on teaching techniques in self-defense, along with a lecture by Kentucky Grappler founder and trainer Kevin Taylor pertaining to how to avoid conflict and dangerous situations. Though the Kentucky Grapplers have held workshops catered towards women’s self-defense in the past, Taylor said the school now plans to make the workshop a monthly event. “We’re more geared towards self-defense,” Taylor said. “We figured that it would be a good idea to

get women in here because we’re not trying to push them into competition and doing a one-off or a series that they can participate in would help, and I see it as a way to give back to the community.” Saturday’s workshop began with Taylor addressing the workshop audience as they sat in a circle, speaking about issues such as how to psychologically prepare to use self-defense, how to avoid confrontation with potential attackers and what to do when confronted with violence. “I’m not training fighters,” Taylor said, addressing the workshop audience. “I’m not training people to go out and beat other people up. I’m training people to defend themselves.” After addressing the audience, Taylor demonstrated self-defense techniques, instructing the audience to use these techniques on training equipment. Students of the Kentucky

Grapplers held on to the equipment and encouraged participants as they practiced their newly-learned moves. Jeanne Cline, a participant at the workshop, said the event taught her lessons she considered valuable. “They’ve given us skills that we can take home and practice at home,” Cline said. “It makes you more aware of things to be aware of.” Founded in the summer of 2015, The Kentucky Grapplers started as a way for Taylor to teach residents in the Bowling Green area the self-defense techniques he learned through his experience training under Sifu Larry Hartsell, a student of Bruce Lee. Taylor spent five years in the 1980s with Hartsell, traveling around the world to teach martial arts seminars. Taylor said he named his school after Hartsell’s contributions to the

SEE SELF-DEFENSE PAGE B2

Speaker tackles issues of race with poetry

PHOTO COURTESY OF JOSCLYNN BRANDON

BY REBEKAH ALVEY, ANDREW CRITCHELOW HERALD.FEATURES@WKU.EDU When Clint Smith begins a poem, he takes a step back before lifting his

head and rising up to the mic. His voice transforms from a conversational speaker to a powerful writer. Smith performs with no paper in front of him; the audience experiences his words in a personal way. No one speaks over him, aside from the appreciative snaps and “mhmmm”’s. Thursday in Downing Student Union auditorium, students were transfixed by Smith’s slam poetry. The subjects ranged from family, religion, race, writing, basketball, history and growing up in New Orleans. Smith is currently a third-year graduate student at Harvard University. He is a writer whose work has been in The New Yorker, The Guardian, Boston Review, American Poetry Review and Harvard Educational Review. Smith is also an educator in English and was acknowledged as the recipient of the the 2013 Christine D. Sarbanes Teacher of the Year by the Maryland Humanities Council. He is currently on tour for his book of poetry, “Counting Descent,” which was published in 2016 by Write Bloody Publishing. The book was included as a finalist for an NAACP Im-

age Award. He has also been a speaker for two TED Talks. During Thursday’s event, Smith shared several of his poems, including some that are in “Counting Descent.” Most had a serious and commanding tone and conveyed an important message with lines like, “Someone’s implicit bias is the reason you don’t wake up.” The event was brought together by a variety of WKU organizations including the Intercultural Student Engagement Center, WellU and the WKU Campus Activities Board. In between poems, Smith would discuss the background or inspiration for the piece. In a more conversational way, he shared anecdotes about his childhood like his father’s odd obsession of mimicking Denzel Washington. He also took this time to explain his position on many race-related issues like the Black Lives Matter movement. Most of the event was geared towards issues of race, which is why it was included in this month’s events. Smith said he believes education about black history is extremely important.

“Because I think in this country we fundamentally misunderstand the nature of what has happened to black people, and the way that we condition the black community has come to exist as they are because we misunderstand them, because we ignore it,” Smith said. This idea was reflected in one poem that served as a letter to previous presidents who all had slaves. Smith concluded the event with a Q&A with the students. He elaborated on his feelings about the Black Lives Matter movement, how to answer questions about racism and what he believes his legacy is. Junior Alexandria Williams said she took the event as a way to educate herself and others about racial issues. Junior Alesis Collins said she connected a lot with what Smith had to say about impact. “It doesn’t matter what people take away as long as you say what you need to say,” Collins said.

Reporter Rebekah Alvey can be reached at 270-745-6011 and rebekah.alvey660@topper.wku.edu.

FEBRUARY 21, 2017

B2 CONVENTION Continued from LIFE

Miles’ parents introduced him to Concave at its second convention. “I was brought as a young child at the age of six to the second Concave, and it got in my blood, and I attended again and again and again,” Miles said. Miles said he enjoys bonding with fellow members of Concave and the atmosphere of the convention. “I enjoy seeing people that I see once a year for that amount of time,” Miles said. “You build bonds and friendships and kinships, and there’s nothing else quite like it. I joke that we build a perfect science fiction utopia for about 72 hours.” Concave vice president and chair-

man Brad Hall is originally from Greenville. He is in charge of hotel facilities management and helps run the convention. Hall sees the convention as a way for like-minded people to get together and talk about the things they love. “We’re just a community of like-minded people who get together once a year, relaxing and having fun in a stress-free environment,” Hall said. Hall first attended Concave 21 years ago when it was in the Park Mammoth Resort in Park City. A group of friends with whom he played cards at the time told him about the convention and said he would love it and fit right in. “That first year, I was hooked, and ever since, I haven’t missed a year,”

Hall said. Hall has made many friends at Concave, and he met his fiancée at Concave six years ago. Gary Robe is currently Concave’s Treasurer. He is Concave’s former President and Chairman. He keeps track of Concave’s financial dealings and is in charge of Concave’s publications. WKU’s Science Fiction Club, which no longer exists, helped form Concave in 1979. Another group at the time had intended to form the convention, but they ran into financial and personal issues and had to abandon their efforts. They turned to WKU’s Science Fiction Club for help, and the club formed a committee that put Concave together in three months.

SELF-DEFENSE Continued from LIFE

martial arts. “He was the one who really added grappling to Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do,” Taylor said. “We call ourselves grapplers in respect of Larry Hartsell.” Taylor later studied at WKU, receiving a degree in theater and sociology. He spent 10 years teaching karate and massage therapy in Louisville before he returned to Bowling Green to open the Kentucky Grapplers. The Kentucky Grapplers teach several classes every week focusing on martial arts disciplines including Wing Chun, Kali-Silat and Jun Fan. In addition to the Women’s Self Defense Selena Travis, 12, and her mother Vella Mae Travis, 43, focus on their instructor, Kev- Workshop, the school has also been in Taylor, at the Women’s Self Defense Workshop at Kentucky Grapplers on Feb. 18. involved with events such as seminars with famous fighters and demonstra“I think it’s important for every woman to know how to protect themselves,” Vella tions at festivals. Mae Travis said. EMILY MOSES/HERALD Herb Travis, a student at the Ken-

COLLEGE HEIGHTS HERALD “A lot of our people who come to this really look at it as almost a second family, so it’s almost like a family reunion,” Robe said. Robe said he loves to watch people interact at the convention. “My absolute favorite thing is being there during the evening when everybody’s just out, and you can just drift from one conversation to another,” Robe said. “All weekend long, it’s just one gigantic chat room after another, so just standing and watching all these people from all over the place interacting with each other is the big thrill for me.”

Reporter Olivia Mohr can be reached at 270-745-6288 and olivia.mohr564@ topper.wku.edu

tucky Grapplers, said the school is open for anyone in the community. “We’re not MMA people who are out there wanting to beat people up,” Travis said. “It’s about friends and family.” Taylor said he hopes to reach out to more women in the community to participate in the monthly workshops and hopes to focus more on the physical aspects of the seminar as the event draws in more regular attendees. “I think women specifically as a group need to be able to protect themselves and a lot of times aren’t taught to,” Taylor said. “I think part of it is empowering women and protecting them. It would be nice if we were in a society where we didn’t have to worry about that. But we do, and it’s not to make people scared but to make them aware.” Reporter Andrew Critchelow can be reached at 270-745-6288 and andrew. critchelow121@topper.wku.edu.

WKU Track and Field wins six titles at C-USA Championships BY JEREMY CHISENHALL HERALD.SPORTS@WKU.EDU WKU Track and Field competed in the Conference USA indoor championship meet this past weekend, and took home several first-place finishes. The Toppers took home six event titles, five coming from the men’s team and one from the women’s team. Senior Ventavius Sears was by far the top performer of the weekend for WKU, as he contributed to three of the six titles himself. “We faced some very good competition this weekend,” head coach Erik Jenkins said in a press release. “This league is loaded with NCAA championship caliber athletes. Both teams fought hard and I am proud of them.” Senior Ventavius Sears won the men’s long jump, reaching a distance of 7.68 meters. Junior Desmond Mobley finished in third behind him, with a jump of 7.36 meters. Sears also won the men’s triple jump, clearing 15.40 meters. Mobley also competed in the men’s high jump, clearing a height of 1.99 meters and finishing tied for seventh. Junior Morgan McIntyre contributed to the Toppers’ event wins, as she won the women’s pole vault by clearing 3.86 meters. Finishing behind her was sophomore Getter Lemberg, who tied for

ninth at 3.41 meters. Jonathan Hayden also picked up an event win, finishing first in the men’s 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.98 seconds. Then senior Emmanuel Dasor tacked on, as he won the 400-meter dash with a time of 46.54 seconds. Sears also competed, finishing fifth with a time of 47.72 seconds. Rounding out the firstplace finishes for WKU were the men’s 4x400-meter team. The team, made up of Dasor, junior Julius Morris, sophomore Maor Seged and Sears, won the event with a time of 3:11.37. Senior Jenessa Jackson continued her successful season in the weight throw, as she placed second with a throw of 19.69 meters. Jackson also finished fourth in the shot put with a distance of 14.84 meters. WKU had multiple competitors in the men’s 60-meter dash final. Leading the pack was Morris, who ran a 6.78 and finished in second place. Junior Eli Minor finished fourth with a time of 6.79. Another event WKU dominated was the men’s 200-meter dash, as they had several runners in the final. Dasor, Morris and Sears finished second, third and fourth respectively. Senior Lindsey Hinken finished third in the women’s

Freshman Taylor Scarbrough runs the men’s 3,WW000 meter event on Feb. 11 at the Music City Challenge. Scarbrough placed sixth in his heat with a time of 8:31. BROOK JOYNER/HERALD 5,000-meter run with a time of events in the pentathlon, Slay Next up for the Hilltoppers 17:15.34. stood out in the long jump, is the NCAA Indoor Track Competing in the women’s where she took home sec- & Field Championships on high jump final was Senior ond place with a 5.55-meter March 10 and 11. After that, Sandra Akachukwu, who fin- jump. Smith stood out in the preparation for the outdoor ished fourth with a jump of 800-meter run, where she fin- season will begin. 1.71 meters. ished second with a time of Reporter Jeremy Chisenhall Seniors Catika Slay and 2:19.96. Kaila Smith competed in Slay went on to finish fifth can be reached at 859-760the women’s pentathlon for in the individual women’s 0198 and jeremy.chisenWKU. Smith finished fourth, long jump, with a jump of 5.69 hall921@topper.wku.edu. and Slay finished right be- meters, and Akachukwu fin- Follow him on Twitter at @ JSChisenhall. hind her at fifth. Among the ished tied with her.

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Continued from SPROTS three games in a row in Diddle, and they weren’t going to fall to the Blazers twice. WKU was led by none other than junior forward Justin Johnson who was quiet in the matchup with MTSU. The Hazard native powered the Tops to a convincing victory Sunday afternoon with a career high 26 points. In his stellar scoring performance, he was a force on the glass as well. Johnson grabbed 14 rebounds in the effort, just one short of his career high. The double-double performance was his sixth

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Continued from SPORTS answered with a layup to make it a one possession game going into the final quarter. Clinging to a 71-67 lead, MTSU’s Abbey Sissom nailed a three to trim the lead to one point with just over five minutes to play. Tashia and Ivy Brown both hit jumpers to make it a two possession game once again. From that point on, the Lady Blue

BASEBALL

Continued from SPORTS DiPuglia’s RBI flyout to nearly the same location scored Kevin Lambert and cut the Crusaders’ advantage to 4-1. Valpo continued to present a highly-powered offensive game, as its lead increased to 5-1 on Sam Shaikin’s solo shot with no outs in the top of the sixth. The Toppers regrouped and battled right back. With two outs in the bottom half of the inning, Colie Currie got a hold of a pitch down the middle and recorded a two-run RBI double to bring WKU within two runs at 5-3. The scoreboard remained the same all the way into the bottom of the ninth, which is when WKU showed its offensive side. Paul Murray ripped a one-out RBI double to score Steven Kraft to make it 5-4 and then Kaleb Duckworth blasted a two-run walk-off home run, which was WKU’s first since April 23, 2013, to cap the Hilltoppers’ comeback on Opening Day. “I probably needed to have five RBI’s today, but two got the job done,” Duckworth said. “After last year when we didn’t win a lot of games, we wanted to get out here and just win. It’s so fun winning and nobody likes to lose.” A trio of home runs – including a game-winning, two-run dinger by

FEBRUARY 21, 2017

COLLEGE HEIGHTS HERALD

in the last seven games. Johnson went 12-17 from the floor, and his 12 made field goals were also a career high. “[Justin] was a horse out there today now. He was finishing things today. He makes good decisions, and he’s finishing things around that hole,” Stansbury said. The Toppers were in control from start to finish as the Blazers never led in the contest. “We got off to a good start. Que [Johnson] made some shots early. I thought Junior did a really good job controlling the floor,” Stansbury said. Senior guard Que Johnson put on an offensive showcase in the first half.

The Washington State transfer went 5-5 from three point land and had 17 points heading in to halftime. Senior point guard Junior Lomomba was the third Hilltopper to score in double figures in the game. The Montreal native finished with 10 points, three rebounds and four assists. “Those are efficient stats. When [Junior] can be efficient like that, that can be another guy that adds to from a scoring standpoint,” Stansbury said. The Tops struggled down low against Middle Tennessee and on Sunday they outscored UAB 40 to 18 in the paint and out-rebounded the Blazers by 10. “We out-rebounded a team… last

time they killed us in the paint. Today we beat them 40-18 in the paint,” Stansbury said. “We out-rebounded a big strong athletic team by 10.” With the win the Tops improved to 13-14 on the year and 7-7 in league play. The team will be back in action this Thursday as they face off against the 49ers of Charlotte. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. “We gotta carry this confidence on the road,” Stansbury said.

Raiders never got any closer as WKU pulled away for the 82-75 victory to take first place. Clark-Heard and company didn’t have much time to celebrate as they traveled to Birmingham, Alabama for another conference showdown on Saturday. Thanks to 26 points (21 in the second half) from Noble, the Lady Tops defeated the Lady Blazers 62-52 in Bartow Arena. With a 38-37 lead late in the third quarter, Micah Jones cemented herself

in program history. The Greensburg, native drained a three to give her 1,000 career points to become just the 38th player in program history to do so. Jones finished the game with 16 points, giving her 1,009 for her career in red and white, to help the Lady Tops pull away for the 10 point victory. Thanks to the regular season sweep of the Lady Blue Raiders, the Lady Tops will be crowned the regular season champions if the two teams finish with

Reporter Sam Porter can be reached at 270-799-8247and sam.porter270@ gmail.com Follow him on Twitter at @ SammyP14.

Thomas Peter in the eighth inning – propelled WKU to Saturday’s win and handed it the series victory in just two outings. Following Duckworth’s walk-off on Friday, it was the second-consecutive night a Hilltopper hit a go-ahead, game-deciding home run. In the top of the second, Currie homered to give the Hilltoppers an early 1-0 lead. Valparaiso evened things up two innings later after a runner, who reached on an error, scored on a single and then took its first lead at 2-1 on Jake Hanson’s RBI double. In the following inning, WKU’s Ray Zuberer III smashed his first career home run and helped tie the affair at 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth. The Owensboro native took a 2-1 pitch from the Crusaders’ starter Wes Gordon off the light pole in Valpo’s bullpen for also his first career hit. “Last year we had a lot of trouble winning the 6-7-8-9 innings, so it kind of shows our resilience to come back like this,” Peter said. “It shows a lot of heart from this team. Guys understand what we’re trying to do here, we have a lot of leadership on this team to go along with the new guys. We can learn a lot from each game to help us further down the road.” With the game tied at 2-2, Peter took liked a 3-1 fastball and ripped it

over the left field wall and resided in WKU’s bullpen. Leading 4-2, Valparaiso would plate a run in the ninth, but it wouldn’t be enough, as the Hilltoppers found another way to win. “When games are close like this,

contest. WKU entered the bottom of the sixth inning trailing 4-0 before Grayson Ivey, Lambert and Zuberer III loaded the bases with three-straight singles. Currie took a 1-1 pitch over the shortstop’s

Reporter Matthew Stewart can be reached at 859-797-3140 and matthew. stewart015@topper.wku.edu Follow him on Twitter at @MES_WKU22 the same record in conference. WKU will continue their quest of the regular season championship against Charlotte, who boasts a 17-8 (9-5 C-USA) record, this Thursday at Diddle Arena at 7 p.m. The Lady Tops will look to avenge an 89-85 overtime loss earlier this year in Charlotte.

When games are close like this, you learn a lot about your club and how much you have to execute in big situations.” Baseball Head Coach John Pawlowski you learn a lot about your club and how much you have to execute in big situations,” Pawlowski said. “We hit three homeruns today, and we’ll certainly take it. I thought we’ve battled the last two days, and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow [Sunday]. We’re going to see how mature our club is coming back on Sunday after winning Friday and Saturday.” Enter the series finale coming off back-to-back victories, WKU was unable to complete the sweep despite Currie going 2-for-4 with a walk and the Toppers’ two lone runs batted in, notching his second-straight multi-hit

outstretched glove to bring in a pair – but that would be all for the Hilltoppers, who fell short. “Today our team was disappointed because we were trying to sweep the series and weren’t able to do that,” Pawlowski added. “But overall this weekend we learned a lot, and I think the players understand how hard we have to work and how much work we have to do as we move forward.”

Reporter Tyler Mansfield can be reached at 270-935-0007 and tyler. wkuherald@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter at @RealTMansfield.

FEBRUARY 21, 2017 > WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

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» Track and Field: Track and Field competes in C-USA Championships

WKU junior forward Justin Johnson (23) struggles for the ball under the basket against MTSU junior guard Edward Simpson and other MTSU players during their game on Thursday, February 16. MTSU won the game with a score of 78-52. KELSEA HOBBS/HERALD

Hilltoppers split homestand against conference powers BY MATTHEW STEWART HERALD.SPORTS@WKU.EDU The past two games for the WKU men’s basketball team were on opposite ends of the basketball spectrum. Both games were played in the friendly confines of Diddle Arena, but had vastly different outcomes. With less than 48 hours between the games, the Toppers completely transformed as a team. Thursday, the Tops faced off against long-time rival and Conference USA front-runner Middle Tennessee. If there was no Bowling Green massacre six years ago as Kellyanne Conway cited in a recent interview, there was one Thursday night in Diddle. Earlier this season on Jan. 14, the Tops faced off against Middle Tennessee in Murfreesboro and fell 91-76. Thursday night was no different, as the Blue Raiders walked out of Diddle with

a 78-52 victory, dropping the Hilltoppers to 12-14 on the season. “Come out of halftime, and you’re down 14 points, championship teams do what they did,” Head Coach Rick Stansbury said. “They come out and put a foot on your throat. That’s what championship teams do. They put a foot on our throat.” MTSU Head Coach Kermit Davis said that was about as good as his team has played all year. “I thought for the first seven or eight minutes, Western had the better energy,” Davis said. Things turned around quickly, and the Hilltoppers couldn’t reach the 20-point mark in the first half. Heading into halftime the Raiders had built a comfortable 32-18 lead. The lone positive from the first half was junior forward Justin Johnson’s nine boards heading in to intermission.

But once they got hit in the mouth, the Hilltoppers couldn’t “stop the bleeding” as Stansbury noted, and MTSU went up by as many as 32 with under 10 to play in the second half. WKU, like MTSU, had three players scoring in double figures, but no Hilltopper notched more than 12. Senior guard Pancake Thomas led the offensive attack with 12 points while going 4-5 from deep. Senior forward Anton Waters and freshman guard Tobias Howard each put up 11 of their own. MTSU senior forwards JaCorey Williams and Reggie Upshaw led the way for the Raiders as they combined for 17 points in the first half. Both players finished their nights with a double-double performance. Williams went for 20 points and 10 rebounds and Upshaw with 19 and 11. “[Williams] and Upshaw had 17 between them at halftime,” Stans-

bury said. “And a lot of those they just went and got. They beat us inside that paint.” The crowd of 4,385 showed up in support of the Toppers, but quickly dispersed after the Blue Raider lead grew too large to overcome. “We had more players play better today,” Davis said. “I thought we guarded at a high level. The changes of defenses bothered them, and then we got in transition in the second half, so that was a good road win for us.” On Sunday, a completely different Hilltopper team showed up to play basketball. This time the Tops were facing off against the Blazers from the Alabama Birmingham. Earlier in the season on Jan. 12, UAB bested WKU by a final score of 72-54 in Birmingham. The Hilltoppers weren’t going to lose

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Lady Tops take huge stride in weekend sweep Tops open with series win over Valparaiso

WKU forward Tashia Brown (10) looks to pass as she is defended by a Southern Miss player during the Lady Toppers’ 79-53 win over Southern Miss on Saturday Feb. 4, 2017 in Diddle Arena. SILAS WALKER/HERALD

BY SAM PORTER HERALD.SPORTS@WKU.EDU The WKU Women’s basketball team did a lot more than win two Conference USA games on the road this past weekend. With two wins over Middle Tennessee and Alabama Birmingham, the Lady Tops reached the 20 win mark for the fifth time in five seasons under head coach Michelle Clark-Heard. The Lady Tops also took complete control of first place in C-USA with a 12-2 in-conference record, holding on to a one and a half game lead over MTSU who was one of WKU’s two victims this past weekend.

“I’m just really excited for our team,” Clark-Heard said in a radio post-game show. “This win was for Alexis Govan, Chastity Gooch, and all the other players that haven’t been able to win here for so many years. This win was for them. It just means a lot.” As far as individuals go, redshirt senior Micah Jones became the 38th player in program history to reach the 1,000 career-point mark. Jones joins redshirt senior Kendall Noble and junior forward Tashia Brown as 1,000-point scorers currently on the WKU roster. With four games left in the regular season, the Lady Tops need to win at least three of those to clinch the No. 1 seed in the conference tour-

nament and the regular season championship. Backtrack to Thursday night when the Lady Tops headed to Murfreesboro, a place they hadn’t won in 13 years, to take on MTSU in a game that would decide first place in the conference. Despite giving up 33 points to MTSU forward Alex Johnson, WKU outlasted the Lady Blue Raiders 82-75 to end the 13-year drought and take control of first place. Tashia Brown led the Lady Tops with 25 points herself while four of her teammates also broke double figures. “This was a game where I saw everybody step up,” Clark-Heard said. “Our seniors, Tashia and Ivy, and our bench all played their part. Different people stepped up, and that’s a key reason why we came out with a win.” Neither team pulled ahead early on. WKU led 19-15 in the first quarter until the Lady Blue Raiders went on a 9-0 run to surge ahead. However, the Lady Tops responded. Ivy Brown drained a three that gave WKU a lead that sparked a Lady Topper run. WKU hit four three pointers down the stretch of the first half to build their lead. With a 42-35 lead late in the second quarter, sophomore guard Sidnee Bopp’s three pointer with 11 seconds left gave WKU a double digit lead at the half. Just two minutes into the second half, MTSU found an answer. The Lady Blue Raiders went on a 12-1 run to steal the lead midway through the third quarter. Trailing 58-57, WKU went on a 6-0 spurt, capped off by a Tashia Brown jumper to take a fivepoint lead. MTSU’s Alex Johnson

The WKU baseball team made it clear that it wanted to get off on the right foot in 2017 prior to its opening weekend against Valparaiso at Nick Denes Field. The three-game series went quite well for the Hilltoppers, who won two of the trio of games to claim the slate over the Horizon League Crusaders in front of their home fans to start the season out on a positive note. WKU opened the series with a 6-5 win on Friday afternoon, which marked its second-straight season-opening victory. The Toppers (21) carried that momentum into the ensuing contest, winning 4-3 on Saturday before falling 5-2 on Sunday to cap the three-game slate. “Give our kids credit – they played extremely hard,” Head Coach John Pawlowski said following Friday’s matchup. “Game 1 here at the Nick was pretty exciting.” Valparaiso jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning behind a three-run home-run over the left field wall by Scott Kapers. WKU made it for the deep ball in the bottom half on the inning, as Steven

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BY TYLER MANSFIELD HERALD.SPORTS@WKU.EDU