WKU Students, Community Members To Attend Inauguration
Bowling Green, Ky. - More than 50 Western Kentucky University students, faculty and community members will “get on the bus” Sunday morning to begin the final ride on the 2008-09 Political Engagement Project – the inauguration of Barack Obama as 44th president of the United States.
“I’m looking forward to the inauguration because it is so historic,” said Dr. Saundra Ardrey, head of the Department of Political Science. “I never thought I’d see an African American become president so for me and my family this is a must-see event.”
Dr. Ardrey has taken WKU students to Washington, D.C., for inaugural events since 1989. “This trip really broadens the horizon for students,” she said. “They’re really excited to be a part of this historic event.”
The racially and politically diverse group, which includes 35 students, 19 Bowling Green residents and three WKU faculty members, ranges in age from 15 to 81.
Obama’s inauguration on Tuesday is just one part of a busy trip.
The group will leave Bowling Green at 6:30 a.m. Sunday for a 12-hour trip to Winchester, Va., which is 60 miles from D.C. The bus will take the group into D.C. each morning and will pick them up each evening.
Monday’s activities include tours of Arlington National Cemetery, the Vietnam Memorial and other historic sites. Some group members will participate in Martin Luther King Day activities while others will attend that evening’s concert by Aretha Franklin at the Kennedy Center.
On Tuesday, Dr. Ardrey said, the group will get an early start (4:30 a.m.) “because traffic is going to be horrendous” as millions of people make their way into the city. Thanks to Sen. Mitch McConnell, Rep. Brett Guthrie and Rep. Ed Whitfield, most of the group has tickets to the inauguration ceremony.
After the inauguration, members of the group will attend inaugural balls, parties or other events.
On Wednesday, the group will meet with Sen. McConnell and visit the Senate. Later that day, they will visit the Newseum, a multimedia museum of news history.
Then on Thursday, “we come back exhausted,” Dr. Ardrey said.
The WKU students, who are participating in a class called “The Transition of Power,” will be writing daily journals that incorporate what they experience on the trip with the concepts and theories from their various majors, writing reflective essays on their experiences and participating in small group discussions.
Political science faculty members Soleiman Kiasatpour and Roger Murphy will accompany the group.
Students making trip include: Jennifer McCoy of Alvaton; Ameisha Elliott of Auburn; Jessica and Cody Aldridge, Jacqueline Clarkson, Scott Gardner, Katie Kirwan, Elizabeth Mackey, Chasity Palmer and Kevin Preston, all of Bowling Green; Stephanie Miceli of Barbourville; Brian Brockman of Crestwood; Candy Ott of Elizabethtown; Austin Wingate of Fort Knox; Brittany Cardwell and Dana Baker, both of Franklin; Vashae Swope, Tabnie Dozier and Daniel Shaw, all of Lexington; Kameron McNeal of Louisville; Amber Peoples of Morganfield; Tameia Higgins of Radcliff; Ashley Bland of Russellville; Abby Jones of Smith Grove; Reginald Lane of Manatee, Fla.; Alyssa Conner of Waukegan, Ill.; Jeremy Thompson of New Lenox, Ill.; Thomas Fritz of Jasper, Ind.; Jennifer McDivitt of Evansville, Ind.; Joseph Dunphy of Belvidere, Tenn.; Landon Bevier of Clarksville, Tenn.; Lena Hager of Greenbrier, Tenn.; David Kerr of Jackson, Tenn.; Kimberlee Robinson of Nolensville, Tenn.; and Rebecca Schaefer of Brentwood, Tenn.
Other community members on the trip include: Barbara Pollock, Harper Lee, Michele Thomas, Johnalma Barnett, Kendra Barnett, Toni Lawson, Dr. William Ardrey, Chris Ardrey, Rachelle Wafer, Cole Taratoot, Devon Murphy, Morgan Kern, Jim Gaines and Cheryl Kirby-Stokes.
Inauguration viewing on campus
WKU’s Campus Activities Board will host an inauguration viewing event on at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Downing University Center, room 340. Refreshments will be served.
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For information, contact Political Science at (270) 745-4558.
-WKU-