WKU News

Provost Robert "Bud" Fischer (right) presented WKU student Laurel Beckley with her prize in the vaccine incentive program contest.

Western Kentucky University began awarding prizes to its first group of vaccine incentive program contest winners this week. Each week through the beginning of October, the university will select 26 vaccinated employees and 40 vaccinated students to receive prizes, which include full tuition scholarships, iPad Pros and $1,000 checks. WKU drew the first group of winners last week, and individuals then had 72 hours to verify their vaccination status with the university.

WKU announced the contest last month to encourage students and employees to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. Laurel Beckley of Bowling Green is a Pre-Nursing transfer student in her first semester at WKU. She was the first individual selected to receive a full tuition scholarship through the drawing. “I couldn’t believe that my first semester at Western was going to start with so much support,” she said. She stressed the importance of providing the university with information about vaccination status. “Reporting your status is always helpful. It’s so easy to do and it gives us a better idea of where we are.”

Nena Howard, a sophomore Interior Design and Fashion Merchandising major from Bowling Green, was another one of the first student winners selected in the initial drawing. “I got vaccinated because my parents are high risk and I live at home. I think it’s a win-win for everybody to get vaccinated so that we can return back to normal,” she said. Howard won a $500 book scholarship from the WKU Store.

Andria Henry, an Office Associate in the Gordon Ford College of Business, was among the WKU employees whose name was drawn this week. She won a $1,000 prize and is pleased the university is encouraging others to become vaccinated. “I’m a pretty healthy person generally and I just wanted to help protect those around me,” she said.

Dr. Ritchie Taylor, a Public Health professor, also received a $1,000 prize this week. Taylor said he was surprised his name was drawn. “I was about to delete it, and I looked and the email was from someone at WKU so I realized this might be real.”  He also shared his reasons for being vaccinated. “I chose to be vaccinated because it’s the first line and best line of defense. I think it’s really important that other people are protected,” he said.

WKU Spokesperson Jace Lux said that in addition to encouraging the campus community to receive the vaccine, the status reporting program also provides the university with valuable data. “We’re glad to be able to reward people for doing the right thing,” he said. “The reporting form also gives our COVID-19 Task Force a better idea of the percentage of our campus that is vaccinated. We know that the vaccine is the best way to prevent the spread of the virus and to prevent serious illness if contracted, and having reliable data about WKU’s overall vaccination status helps guide our Task Force as it makes decisions to keep all of us safe.”

Prize drawings will take place each Friday for the next four weeks. To be eligible, an individual must have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. More information about the contest, including a list of prizes and rules, can be found at www.wku.edu/healthyonthehill/vaccineincentive.php.

- WKU -

Western Kentucky University prides itself on positioning its students, faculty and staff for long term success. As a student-centered, applied research university, WKU helps students expand on classroom learning by integrating education with real-world applications in the communities we serve. Our hilltop campus is located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which was recently named by Reader’s Digest as one of the nicest towns in America, just an hour’s drive from Nashville, Tennessee.

Contact: Jace Lux, (270) 745-4295