Freshmen hear about legacy project
September 10, 2010
Scott Vennell, a freshman from Chatham, Ill., said his favorite part about attending WKU is making late night trips to the Great American Donut Shop.
President Gary Ransdell said at Tuesday’s Freshman Assembly that he wants the rest of the class of 2014’s favorite part of WKU to be something much more significant.
Sometimes it’s difficult for freshmen to feel comfortable and find their niche at WKU, Louisville senior Joey Coe told the students.
A far-reaching way for freshmen to find their niche is to leave a legacy for other students to follow, Coe said.
Coe said his class was the first to create a class legacy project.
A class legacy project is a venture for students to become involved in an issue surrounding WKU, Bowling Green and the world, he said. It’s up to each student to decide exactly what issue his or her project will undertake.
“It’s a mechanism for your class to pursue a project to make WKU a better place,” Coe said.
Coe said his class legacy project’s goal was to eliminate extreme poverty.
In order to tackle such a large issue, Coe entered WKU into the ONE Campus Challenge. The university won the challenge in 2008.
The ONE Campus Challenge is a competition between universities that determines which school has the best campaign to fight global poverty, according to ONE’s website.
Coe said the class of 2014’s project must make a difference today but also continue to do so for years to come.
“You do not want your legacy to be a brick in the sidewalk or a bench under a tree,” Coe said. “You want to leave a living legacy.”
Louisville sophomore Tracy Jo Ingram is also involved in a class legacy project.
After seeing a divide between the Bowling Green community and WKU, she said she decided to move the learning environment to the edges of campus and into the community.
Ingram said the project has considerably influenced her as a student and community member.
“I can be a part of something that redefines what it means to be a student at a university, or redefine a university altogether,” she said on Tuesday.
Freshmen are already brainstorming ideas that could potentially be chosen as their class legacy project. Some contacted Coe and Ingram after the assembly, Student Government Association President Colton Jessie said.
“The assembly and the idea were very well-received,” Jessie said. “I think everyone involved is very excited. It’s a fantastic project, and I hope it grows.”
