Bowling Green, Ky. - Western Kentucky University’s Board of Regents today honored two families by naming special areas of campus for them.

The board approved naming one of the more spectacular views from the campus for the family of Lowell Guthrie. The Guthrie Family Overlook and Arboretum, which was also dedicated today as part of WKU’s Centennial Kickoff, is being made possible by an initial $1.1 million gift from the Guthrie family.

"What a wonderful family they are for this community and this state," WKU President Gary Ransdell said.

The first phase includes reconstruction of the overlook in front of Van Meter Hall and installation of a fountain that includes design elements from Van Meter Hall. The arboretum will unfold over the next few years, Dr. Ransdell said.

The board also approved naming a floor of the planned Academic-Athletic Performance Center for former football coach Jack Harbaugh and his family. Harbaugh was head football coach from 1989 to 2002. He became the first coach in WKU history to lead a WKU team to a NCAA team championship when his 2002 Toppers won the NCAA I-AA Football National Championship.

In other business, the board:

• Approved new certificate programs in Complementary Health Care and in Public Health Nursing through the Department of Baccalaureate and Graduate Nursing.
  
• Appointed Dr. Robert Jefferson, retiring dean of the Gordon Ford College of Business, dean emeritus.
  
• Heard an enrollment report on WKU’s first Winter Term, which will start in January. With enrollment still open, 1,904 students have enrolled in 218 classes offered, including 52 that are being offered via the Internet. Provost Barbara Burch said she was pleased with the good response to the Winter Term. “We have heard the students and tried to respond,” she said.
  
• Swore in newly appointed regent Yevette Haskins of Campbellsville and re-elected faculty regent Robert Dietle of Bowling Green.
  
• Recognized outgoing regent Kristen Bale of Glasgow.
  
• Recognized the College Heights Herald student newspaper and Talisman yearbook for receiving national Pacemaker Awards.
  
• Recognized the nine living former board chairs with replicas of a plaque that has been installed at the Colonnade outside the Ivan Wilson Fine Arts Center.
  

More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.

Office of Media Relations
Western Kentucky University
1 Big Red Way, Bowling Green, Ky. 42101-3576
Phone: (270) 745-4295 ~ Fax: (270) 745-5387 ~ E-Mail: western@wku.edu