August 22, 2008
Bowling
Green, Ky. - While remaining optimistic that Western Kentucky University is becoming “a leading 
American university with international reach,” President Gary Ransdell encouraged faculty and staff Friday with words from WKU’s first president Henry Hardin Cherry -- “The Spirit Makes the Master.”
“Those words have not changed in 102 years, no matter how you define them,” Dr. Ransdell said at the university’s opening convocation. “The WKU spirit is at the core of our DNA as an institution. That spirit sets this University apart. We have always done things a little bit differently. …
“In recent years, we have embraced an entrepreneurial attitude. We have purposely charted an aggressive course toward a bold vision. We are serious about this ‘leading American university’ business. Just look around our campus. You will see the international reach taking hold. This penchant for leadership. This sense of responsibility. This character. This will to succeed. This attitude. This spirit. This is Western Kentucky University.”
In his annual address to faculty and staff, Dr. Ransdell listed highlights of the past year and the challenges facing WKU as it strives to achieve its bold vision. (The text of his speech is available online at http://www.wku.edu/news/releases08/august/speech.html)
At last year’s convocation, Dr. Ransdell announced “A New Century of Spirit,” a $200 million capital campaign and strategic plan. With four years left to reach that goal, WKU has already received $123.1 million in new gifts and pledges.
Other highlights included WKU’s continued academic improvements, such as the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky, the Honors College and a new doctoral program in educational leadership; campus improvements, such as new academic buildings, new student life facilities and renovated residence halls; athletic success both in the classroom and in competition; growth in service learning, internationalization, graduate enrollment and online learning opportunities; and sustained success of speech and debate teams.
The challenges, Dr. Ransdell said, include a state budget reduction, the impact of tuition increases, faculty/staff compensation and a change in the state’s measure of success which will now be based on degree productivity not enrollment.
But, he noted, WKU will continue its progress in the coming year. Renovation projects are beginning at Science and Technology Hall and Van Meter Hall with other construction projects in the planning and design stage. Other academic and campus life projects include a new Student Engagement Activities Transcript, which will document students’ involvement in engaged learning opportunities; a revision of the General Education curriculum; and an emphasis on environmentally friendly “green” initiatives.
“As we begin a new academic year, we continue to redefine comprehensive university,” he said. “We embrace the role as innovator, as entrepreneur, as risk taker. We thrive in an environment of applied research and practice-based learning. We cherish this hill, these trees, these rocks, these lawns, and we know the quality of life on this campus is matched by few others in American higher education. We know we are achieving a point where we can, indeed, control our own destiny and not be controlled by others who might choose to define us by what either we have been or what they want us to be. We have what most other institutions envy. We have a spirit.
“We have produced 100,000 alumni who understand what it takes to master any task. We are a campus with a high self-esteem and the growing destination point for scholars young and old. We are Kentucky’s future. We will take all of the traditions and values of those who have preceded us. We will nurture them as we change and grow and transform ourselves into a leading American university with international reach. We are WKU.”
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For information, contact Media Relations at (270) 745-4295.
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"A leading American university with international reach"
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