The Kentucky Wesleyan College Music Department will present a showcase of music faculty, students and community members with music from “The Great American Songbook” on March 14 at 7 p.m.…
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The Kentucky Wesleyan College Wade Lecture Series will present a pair of lectures surrounding American History this March. Both events are free and open to the public. “Baptizing Andrew Jackson:…
Coach Rod Drake ’84: An Unstoppable Journey of Resilience and Inspiration
by Brandon Cox ’10
Rod Drake’s journey began in Owensboro, Kentucky, where he was a standout player on Owensboro High School’s 1980 State Championship basketball team.
Originally set to play for Murray State University, fate had other plans. After returning from an official visit to MSU his senior year of high school, he learned that the Racers coach was interviewing for other jobs.
Soon after, Drake attended a Kentucky Wesleyan College (KWC) game at the Sportscenter. There, he met Coach Mike Polio and legendary broadcaster Joel Utley ’74, who painted a vivid picture of life at KWC and beyond.
“It turned out almost exactly how he predicted it,” Drake recalls with a smile. (more…)
Written by Dr. Jackie Fischer ’89
Most of us are familiar with Kentucky Wesleyan College’s history geographically; at the very least, we know that the College relocated to Owensboro in 1951 from Winchester, Ky. But…how many of us can say that we had family members employed at the Winchester campus?
Dr. Cassandra Best, a 2013 KWC graduate, has family roots running deeply back to KWC’s Winchester campus. Her Great Grandma Jackson and her daughter, Cassandra’s great aunt, both served as cooks on the Winchester campus. And the impact of the women in her family did not stop there.
Cassandra was raised by her single Mother, Pam Best, and her grandmother, Sandra (Jones) Parker, in a three-generation home near Fort Knox. They settled on Fort Knox, as many of her family members served in the military. She shares that she has always looked up to her mom and grandmother, who both stressed the importance of church, school, and education. “They worked hard to provide opportunities for me and I owe so much of my success to their willingness to ensure that I had the best possible experiences.” (more…)
Kentucky Wesleyan College’s FM radio station, WKWC 90.3, and the Keith and Vickie Sharber Communication Arts Program earned two prestigious awards at the Broadcast Education Association’s (BEA) “Festival of Media Arts,” announced February 11. KWC has competed and brought home awards for five consecutive years.
BEA is the premier international academic media organization, driving insights, excellence in media production and career advancement for educators, students and professionals. BEA is concerned with electronic media programs, placing an emphasis on interactions among the purposes, developments and practices of the industry and imparting this information to future professionals. The winners were selected from a pool of 2,285 entries, representing over 300 colleges and universities.
Communication arts majors Embry Burgess ’25 and Daylin Tolgo ’25 received third place in the Student Comedy or Drama competition. This category competed among examples of radio dramas and radio-theater type productions. Burgess and Tolgo produced a segment they wrote together in KWC’s audio production class within the Communication Arts Program and taught by Instructor and WKWC Manager Derik Hancock in 2024. (more…)
Enjoy this opportunity to get to know Steve ’90 and Greta (Pike) Roof ’89 and their enduring commitment to Kentucky Wesleyan College.
How the Wesleyan Sweethearts met.
Kelley Kramer, sister of KWC Vice President of Facilities & Executive Initiatives, Scott Kramer ’87, thought we should meet each other and introduced Greta and me (Steve) at an intramural basketball game in the old Quonset hut that is no longer standing. Thankfully, our relationship has lasted longer than the Quonset did.
How Wesleyan continues to play a role in their lives.
Wesleyan was our springboard into adulthood in many ways. It strengthened our Christian foundation that we had when we arrived, taught us to value other people and the importance of building relationships. We were also provided a strong academic background, which has led to successful careers in Physical Therapy (Greta) and Accounting/Management (Steve). These three things have been integral in our everyday lives both professionally and personally. (more…)
Written by Peggie (Pratt) Stewart ’73
Before Black Student Unions existed on college campuses, before DEI programs, and before there were dedicated outlets for students of color, Pamela (Wade) Watkins ’77 stepped onto the campus of Kentucky Wesleyan College. Over the next four years, she earned a bachelor of science degree in sociology, minored in psychology, and laid the foundation for an impressive career in government service.
After college, Pam joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and was assigned to FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. During her 16-year tenure in government service, she worked at the Los Angeles Field Office, the Riverside Resident Agency (RIVRA) in Riverside, California, and the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC), a division of the National Security Branch of the FBI in Washington, D.C.
While assigned to RIVRA, Pam pursued further education, earning an Associate of Science degree in Computer Programming. Her commitment to lifelong learning continued when she obtained a Master of Science degree in Information Systems from Strayer University in 2005. Later in her career, Pam transitioned to the Kaiser Permanente Riverside Medical Center in Riverside, California, where she served as a Project Analyst, overseeing and maintaining the operating room database.
Pam retired from Kaiser Permanente in 2018 and now resides in Redlands, Calif., with her husband, Stacey Watkins. (more…)
The Kentucky Wesleyan Band, under the direction of Associate Professor of Music Dr. Patrick Stuckemeyer, will present “Bright Lights, Big City,” celebrating the sights and sounds of urban living, on…
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Kentucky Wesleyan College has announced a pivotal milestone in its history with application for accreditation level change, paving the way for the launch of its new Master of Business Administration (MBA) program. This represents a strategic expansion of the College’s academic offerings and reinforces the commitment to meeting the educational and professional needs of students and the community.
The change in accreditation level is subject to approval by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) and will allow Kentucky Wesleyan College to confer master’s degrees for the first time in its 166-year history.
“This is a special moment that was years in the making. I’m grateful to the faculty and staff who made it possible,” said President James Cousins. “Our Master of Business Administration program will meet the needs of our students and fuel economic growth across the region. Other programs are in the making, and we’re thrilled to build upon our mission to deliver academic excellence and life-changing opportunities.”
The Kentucky Wesleyan Singers will host and perform with the Chuck Nation Band, called “the South’s best Bluegrass band,” on Feb. 20 and 21 at 7 p.m. in the Jack T. Wells ’77 Activity Center at 3300 Frederica St.
The band will begin the concert with their own set of original and traditional Bluegrass tunes and the Kentucky Wesleyan Singers will then join the band for the performance of “Come Away to the Skies: A High, Lonesome Mass” with Visiting Assistant Professor Patrick Ritsch conducting. He is director of Choral Activities and Music Education.
Written by Tim Sharp and Wes Ramsay, “Come Away to the Skies” is an extraordinary piece of sacred music transcending time, geography and genre. This setting of the Ordinary of the Roman Mass combines American frontier folk hymns from the “Sacred Harp” and “Southern Harmony” in a bluegrass idiom. The folk hymns used come primarily from the Scots-Irish theological and musical traditions found uniquely in the American South and published in these hymn collections. Such hymn collections flourished throughout the American South in the mid-nineteenth century and are repositories of some of the greatest hymns of that era. (more…)