Story by Eric Modrovich
Photos by Megan Geisler
The Executive Director of the WKU Alumni Association, Anthony McAdoo, said he has spent a decade leading it. He said he began with alumni engagement at the University of Arkansas before eventually arriving at the Hill years afterwards.
“I thought I was going to change the world teaching high school life sciences with my undergraduate degree,” McAdoo said. “[I] decided by the time I graduated, I made a mistake, and then figured out that you could work at a college or university.”
McAdoo said he was a first-generation student and graduate. He said the alumni from his institution helped him with his college studies and that these alumni inspired him in his current profession.
McAdoo said he started his profession in 2001 and has spent the last 25 years helping alumni at colleges.
William Kevin Mays, a 1986 WKU graduate, is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and the president of the WKU Alumni Association Board of Directors.
He said he had originally studied something completely different as an undergraduate, changing his course of study from accounting to geography, graduating with a geography degree and returning to school years later to attain an accounting degree to ascend to CPA.
“I think all my life, I’ve pivoted,” Mays said. “I’ve learned to really embrace the idea of adapting, changing and not being held into a position or career that makes one unhappy.”
Mays said he has encouraged current undergrads to be open to considering new courses of study. He said that students don’t necessarily have to think of themselves as set to follow one type of career because of their degree.
“I’ve learned to make a lot of changes over the years,” Mays said. “But that’s part of the journey.”
McAdoo said that during his time at the University of Oregon, he wanted to have his own alumni program. He said he searched for places where he could serve as a chief alumni officer for the whole institution.
“I came here [WKU] with a positive perception of the institution,” McAdoo said. “Campus was beautiful. Everything was in bloom. [I] saw this beautiful place that everyone took pride in [and] the people really sold me.”
Robin Brown-Ayers, a 1987 WKU graduate and a senior instructor in WKU’s Mathematics Department, said she teaches general mathematics education courses for undergraduates. She said she serves on several campus committees, including one that communicates with WKU alumni to keep them updated on the university’s current events.
“My social media presence is sometimes with short video clips or having alumni remembering things about the Hill,” Brown-Ayers said. “I use any of the social media platforms.”
Brown-Ayers said that when she obtained her master’s in 1990, she was uncertain what she would do. She said that she had called Dr. Thomas C. Meredith, WKU’s then president, about a position for teaching in the master’s department and had gotten her job a few weeks later. She said she has had that job ever since.
“I am very proud of being a WKU alumni,” Brown-Ayers said. “One of the things that I have to always tell students is never give up on a dream that you have.”
Brown-Ayers said she instructs her students to seek out positive aspects of undergraduate studies on the Hill. She said her own studies proved to leave the most significant impact on her during her undergrad years and that she strove to attain her academic goal.
“If I have any regrets, I wish I had done a study abroad,” Brown-Ayers said. “That was not something that was a major push at the university during my time on the Hill.”
“I just tried to tell students to take advantage of any opportunities,” Brown-Ayers said. “Socialize, meet people, be a part of something. Don’t just leave the campus on the weekends.”
McAdoo said that networking is more than simply attending events and casually greeting people. He said it is actually a very active process involving going to specific places and relocating to specific population centers.
“Over time, your network deteriorates,” McAdoo said. “You go different ways. You end up in different parts of the country.We want to be that organization that helps reconnect you.”
Brown-Ayers said if she were to tell one thing to her past self, she would instruct her to find out more about herself and network more often. She said she would also advise her past self to be unafraid of attempting new endeavors.
“I was not a very big social butterfly during college,” Brown-Ayers said. “The college experience is more than just the classroom. It’s the atmosphere, the people and the extra activities that you can be a part of.”
McAdoo said that he would, if given the chance, tell his own younger self to show courage. Along with this, he said he would have get more closely involved in college life.
“One of the more transformative things that any individual can do is lean into becoming uncomfortable,” McAdoo said. “When you become uncomfortable, you’re growing, and when you’re comfortable, you’re not.”
McAdoo said that some discomfort in given circumstances indicates the presence of personal growth. He said failure spurs a person to excel in life and that success does not happen right away.
“That’s probably the advice that I would give, make yourself uncomfortable so that you grow more,” McAdoo said. “I figured that out throughout my professional career, and I try to help teach that to the professional staff that I get the opportunity to work with.”
Mays said that it was most helpful when professors always cared about their students and showed genuine interest in them. He said the professors remained available for help and for answering questions the students may have had.
“Even today, the professors that I get to communicate and work with [are] very invested in their students,” Mays said. “That was the biggest thing that I remember from my time on campus, having great professors who really cared about me.”