WKU Group Making Plans To Attend Beijing Olympics

March 05, 2008

Bowling Green, Ky. - Western Kentucky University will be going for the gold in international reach when a delegation of more than 60 students and faculty visit the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

WKU is partnering with Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina and the Capital Institute for Physical Education in Beijing for the August trip.

The WKU group will include a mix of undergraduate and graduate students in recreation, sports management, exercise science and teacher education programs.

“I think we want to design a challenging academic component and an enlightening cultural component,” said Dr. Fred Gibson, assistant professor of recreation. “What we want to do is for the rest of these students’ lives and ours to look back and say this was one of the most important things I ever did.”

“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity,” said Dr. James Navalta, assistant professor of physical education.
The students also know that making the trip to Beijing will cost $4,300 each.

WKU development officer Gina Brown is making the trip as part of her work to complete a master’s degree in sports administration. Dr. Gibson is hoping Brown can use her expertise and contacts to find corporate sponsors or other donors “to at least lessen the financial implications for students.”

“Students know the costs up front and they expect that,” Brown said. “If anything comes in, it’s an added bonus.”

Another bonus for the WKU Olympic dream has been the assistance from Zhiwei Pan, division chief for the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games.

“He essentially is the coordinator of the Olympics,” said Dr. Scott Lyons, assistant professor of physical education.

Pan is a graduate of Indiana University, but has a business partner who is a WKU alumnus in Bowling Green. Dr. Lyons and Dr. Navalta made contact with Pan before they made a trip to Beijing last May to explore study abroad opportunities.

“He’s an amazing person to have access to,” Dr. Gibson said. “We’re very fortunate.”

When Dr. Lyons and Dr. Navalta visited Beijing, Pan provided security clearance for access to Olympic venues and assisted with planning.

“If we hadn’t met him, I’m not sure this thing would have ever gone off,” Dr. Lyons said. “I can’t envision right now how we would have gone about planning this trip without his assistance.”

Pan’s wife has been at WKU this year as a visiting scholar. During a trip to WKU to visit his wife last semester, he discussed planning for the Games with a group of WKU students and others.
 
“He has really created this partnership between the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games and Western Kentucky University,” Dr. Gibson said. “It’s not really us so much; we’re just facilitators. Pan is our lynchpin. We appreciate what he has done for Western.”

Pan also helped WKU establish its partnership with Capital Institute for Physical Education in Beijing, Dr. Navalta said.

“We’re still trying to figure out why he has been so good to Western Kentucky University,” Dr. Gibson said. “But he’s doing this with us because he’s chosen to and because he’s impressed with the University and the things that are going on here.”

One of the things going on is President Gary Ransdell’s mission for WKU to become a leading American university with international reach.

“Our goal is to really participate as a group of faculty in international reach for Western,” Dr. Gibson said. “We’ve bought into the president’s mission and we want to be part of that. This is not just about the two weeks in Beijing or two weeks in China. This is about a long-term relationship. We’re going to put down the building blocks for a long-term relationship over there.”

Once the group arrives in China in August, the schedule will include classroom-type experiences, a two-day visit to Shanghai to look at the local economy and culture, an eight-hour train ride to Beijing, visits with students in Beijing, a possible service project at the Great Wall and trips to Olympic venues.

Dr. Gibson also hopes to use contacts he’s made with the U.S. Olympic Committee to include some additional volunteer and outreach opportunities for the WKU group. “We want to take in as many sights and sounds of the People’s Republic of China as possible as well as the Games,” he said.

The WKU group has purchased tickets for events like team handball, canoe/kayak, baseball, weightlifting and archery. Students will have the option of finding tickets to more popular sports.

Brown, a former Lady Topper basketball player, is looking forward to “a great cultural experience. Granted I would love to see women’s basketball, but just for the experience itself I’d go to see table tennis and be satisfied.”
               
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.

For information and photos, contact Fred Gibson at (270) 745-6021.