When tornadoes rip through Bowling Green, campus operations suddenly change or when a building ribbon cutting occurs, Jace Lux maintains control through the chaos.

Lux serves as WKU’s director of media relations and university spokesperson. He is in his fifth year as the liaison between the university and media, where he collaborates with the press to inform the WKU and Bowling Green communities about campus happenings.

Often, his job entails responding to inquiries from media outlets. Lux either answers inquiries directly or connects the media to someone more informed who can answer their questions.

“I think sometimes there’s a misconception that I know each and every little thing that’s going on at the university, and that’s certainly not the case,” Lux said.

Director of Environmental Health and Safety David Oliver and WKU Police Department Chief Mitch Walker are common contacts Lux refers reporters to.

Lux also reaches out to the media himself for significant events he believes are of interest. Communicating regularly with local news, including WBKO, WNKY, WKYU, the Bowling Green Daily News, the College Heights Herald, News Channel 12 and several radio stations, Lux uses national and state distribution lists in addition to his regional contacts to match the breadth of a story.

“I try to respond quickly because I know the media works on a deadline generally,” Lux said. “I try to respond as thoroughly as possible so that our community is as informed as they can be about what’s going on at the university.”

His role as university spokesperson tacks on additional duties. Lux writes press releases, drafts speeches and helps to plan events.

“Most of those big events that take place at the university do have a media component to them,” Lux said.

Lux plans events with the media in mind, ensuring that they are well-integrated. He considers where interviews occur and whether to bring media before the event to gather b-roll and photos.

Lux works within the Office of Communications and Marketing, but he doesn’t necessarily work with a “team.” He and Vice President for Strategic Communications and Media Relations Andrea Hales are the only media relations staff.

WKU Athletics has a separate media relations staff that occasionally works with Lux and Hales.

“I certainly know, in comparison to other universities our size, it’s a pretty small staff,” Lux said. “That’s okay, we get the job done.”

Working for a university introduces unique parameters for media connections.

“WKU is an organization that is largely supported by state funding, and so that means that the university is subject to just different laws and regulations than maybe a private company would,” Lux said.

Universities are subject to open records requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). FOIA requests are processed by the WKU General Counsel.

As a university spokesperson, Lux is obligated to respond to information requests.

“If it’s information that is directly related to the university, I think the university has a responsibility to respond,” Lux said.

However, he clarified that there are times when a response is not appropriate.

“There’s a lot of pressure on organizations… to have an opinion on a particular issue,” Lux said. “We typically don’t weigh in on issues that aren’t central to our academic mission.”

Lux used the example of the university retaining neutrality last year amid student protests when Kyle Rittenhouse came to speak on campus.

“There was a student group on campus who chose to bring a speaker to campus who was a controversial speaker,” Lux said. “There was a lot of discussion about First Amendment and freedom of speech that was involved there. Oftentimes on a university campus, there will be opinions with which you disagree, but those opinions are protected, just like your own opinion is.”

Lux expressed that he is often questioned about how proposed legislation could affect campus operations. He said answers to those hypothetical questions would be mere speculation with little weight, as many bills that are introduced never pass. There are some, however, that can warrant a response from the university.

“Now there is legislation that does affect higher education in Kentucky, and so we do speak to that,” Lux said.

Lux said that the university does not comment to adamantly agree or disagree, but instead to introduce what operational changes to expect under new legislation.

Statements on sensitive topics are similarly classified. Comments on campus-wide crises like criminal activity or student and faculty deaths are kept brief.

“Those are times when even though a response may be requested, there are reasons why the university won’t respond either way,” Lux said.

Both situations require delicacy, either to not jeopardize an ongoing investigation or out of respect for family members.

In the case of student and faculty deaths, academic colleges typically issue their own memorial statements. Each college has its own designated communications coordinator, but often, faculty pitch in. According to Lux, academic colleges can craft a more personalized message than the university as a whole.

Lux said that although deaths within the university community are an unfortunate reality, he is thankful for the lack of widespread crises during his time in his position. Planning press conferences in response to these crises is his responsibility, yet it is not a responsibility he has had to put into practice often.

“The last time we did a full-blown press conference was when the university announced that it was going to have to shut down for COVID,” Lux said.

Lux has had a long history working at WKU.

“I’ve worked at WKU since I graduated, if you don’t include a few months of waiting tables at Rafferty’s.”

After graduating from WKU in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in mass communication, he was immediately hired as an assistant coach for WKU Forensics. After rising through the ranks to assistant director and then director, he left the team in 2014 to enter the role of director of admissions. Bob Skipper, Lux’s predecessor as university spokesperson, retired in 2021, leaving Lux to move into the position.

Despite the inherent challenges in the job, Lux said he enjoys his work.

“Some days are much more challenging than others, but overall, I do really like what I’m doing,” Lux said. “A lot of what I do is fun, and I don’t think everyone can say they have fun at their job.”

Lux now lives in Bowling Green with his wife and two sons. He anticipates that he will spend his entire career with the university.

“WKU is a very important place to me, and so to be able to play a role in telling the WKU story and highlight the great things that our students do is extremely important,” Lux said.

“I hear things that our students have done on a daily or weekly basis that are just kind of mind-blowing,” Lux continued. “It’s like, wow, they’re 19, 20 years old and they did that? I think we want to do everything we can to make sure the community is also proud of them.”