After spending over two decades in and out of prison, James Davis’ dream of success was deferred. But when he adopts his two nephews he also receives a chance to redeem his life.
Alyssa Pointer’s story follows the Louisville, Kentucky trio as they use the sport of boxing to provide discipline and goals that all three can build upon.
Abby McPeak, 7, and her siblings Jazmine, 9, and Dathan, 3, play in the front yard of their trailer home outside of downtown Brownsville, Ky. “I like this place because we have a trampoline and friends that play with us,” said Abby. April 17 2016, Brownsville, KY. |Skyler Ballard
Shaun Bridgmohan celebrates his 1st place victory riding four-year-old Miss Pink Diva during the Maiden Special Weight horse race at Keeneland Racecourse on April 17, 2016. The win was a first for Miss Pink Diva, earning $36,000. |Alyse Young
Dr. Erika Brady has not had a formal haircut since she was 12 years old, after her first trip to the salon. |Justin Gilliland
Keyshawn Brown, left, and Isaiah Brown, right, swing on a part of their porch on 14th Ave. and Stubbins St. These boys were with their uncle waiting for their mother to come home from out of town. “I’m doing well in school, I have A’s and B’s in all my classes unlike Keyshawn, he has all D’s and F’s,” Isaiah said. “I hope Isaiah and Keyshawn do what you’re doing, go to college,” said their uncle Junior Lancaster. April 12, 2016, Bowling Green , KY. |Ebony Cox
The final race of Sunday, April 17, of the 2016 Spring Race Meet at Keeneland Race Track finishes on the turf. Kasaqui (6) won, ridden by Paco Lopez. |Justin Gilliland
Jockeys relax in the Jockey’s Quarter’s before their races at Keeneland Racetrack on April 16, 2016 in Lexington, KY. |Harrison Hill
Rafey Wahlah models an Oyster Perpetual gold black faced Rolex Watch retailed at $12,550. The watch was a gift from his grandfather and matches the gold ring he wears from his grandmother that symbolizes eternal love. |Alyse Young
WKU professors Rita Meredith and George Kontos dance during the weekly Corvette City Bop and Dance club in Bowling Green, KY. Both Kontos and Johnson have been dancing with the club for over two years. “I love coming here because I am able to socialize and dance with other professors and Bowling green natives,” said Kontos. |Harrison Hill
SUNDAY APRIL 17, 2016–LEXINGTON, KY– Jockeys and horses are up early morning warming up and prepping for the last day of races for the weekend at the Keenland race tracks. |Tyger Williams
Former two-time Olympian and Army wrestler Spenser Mango, of St. Louis, walks off the mat retiring from wrestling after losing to Jesse Thielke, of Germantown, Wisconsin, in the Semi Finals match of 59 KG in greco roman during the US Wrestling Olympic Team Trails Saturday, April 9, 2016, at Carver Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. “When I first started trying to take my shoes off I thought I was just going to take them off real quick and get out of there because I knew I wasnÕt going to be able to hold my emotions back. I heard everybody cheering for me. You know, you go through your whole career I guess hoping that when youÕre done you feel like youÕre appreciated and the crowd was great,” said Mango after his match. Mango competed on the US Olympic team in 2008 and 2012. | Jeff Brown
Nashville Predators center Filip Forsberg (9) is congratulated by teammates after scoring a goal against the Colorado Avalanche during an NHL game at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, on Tuesday, April 5, 2016. The Predators beat the Avalanche 4-3, disqualifying Colorado from the playoffs. | Nick Wagner
Jennifer King models the class ring that she never removes, “It’s a reminder of the success of finishing something,” King said. | Alyse Young
Soup and Nickel take a nap in the sunshine while waiting on a southbound freight train out of Bowling Green, Kentucky. | Emily Kask
Runners fly high as they leap the water obstacle on the women’s 3000m steeple chase at the Hilltopper Relays in Bowling Green, Ky. on April 9. They must complete eight laps of the track, overcoming multiple hurdles and the water trap like in some horse races. Miami University (Ohio) took the first place honors with a time of 10:52.68 by Alesha Vovk. | Gabriel Scarlett
Chadrick Wigle teaches students at his newly-opened BGKY Boxing Club in Bowling Green, Ky. on April 6, 2016. His experience as a coach at the NCAA Division I level has brought him dozens of new clients who were waiting for a boxing gym to open close to home. Whether or not it is school-sanctioned, Wigle will be leading a Western Kentucky University boxing team in the coming years. | Gabriel Scarlett
Kent State’s Caroline Sauers jumps an obstacle in the 3000-meter steeple chase during the Hilltopper Relay April 9, 2016 at Charles M. Rueter Track and Field Complex in Bowling Green, Ky. Sauers finished 5th overall with the time of 11minutes 3 seconds. | Shaban Athuman
Joe Gray is in his third year of ROTC at Western Kentucky University. “I’m not really sure what I want to do. Maybe aviation or infantry,” said Joe when asked what he wants to do during his time in the Army. | Josh Newell
Drag Queen Geneva LaDiva dances to a performance of “Sweet Dreams” by Brooke Lynn Hytes at Play Dance Bar in Nashville, Tn, Saturday April 2, 2016. | Abby Potter
Entertainer Aurora Sexton kisses an audience member after receiving a tip from him during a performance at Play Dance Bar in Nashville, Tn on Saturday, April 2, 2016. | Abby Potter
Chirag Ar, a sophomore from India, sneak attacks Saudi Arabian student, Mustafa Almarhun with handfuls of brightly colored holi powder during the 2016 Holi Festival hosted by the Indian Student Association on South Lawn at Western Kentucky University on March 19, 2016. Holi is a Hindu celebration of good over evil that is traditionally celebrated in India and southeast Asia. | Alyse Young
Hip-hop duo, Waco Bell, was formed in January 2015 by Scott Gardner (left), and Reuben Bynes (right) in Bowling Green, KY and has gained a strong following locally. Gardner lays down a synth beat and sings vocals while Bynes raps. | Alyse Young
Players compete for a jump ball at a pickup basketball game at Roland Bland Park in Bowling Green, Ky. on March 26, 2016. “It’s my way to get exercise,” said Anthony Hart (21). “I love watching it on TV, playing it myself. I have always loved the sport.”| Gabriel Scarlett
Jasmine Mayes, left, waits for her brother Rydell, right, to finish his training at the Boxing Resource Center in Nashville, Tennessee on March 30. She has witnessed his transformation and 80 pound weight loss over the last year as he has made boxing his priority and begins the transition to the professional level. The next fights throughout this year will determine his path as he attempts to drop more weight and be able to fight in the 175lb weight class. | Gabriel Scarlett
Rap duo of Alex “Lougz Gee” Gee, left, and Matt “Rosario” Vicente pose for a portrait. The Duo recently returned from The South by Southwest (SXSW) in Texas. | Michael Noble Jr.
Flint, Michigan – March 3, 2016: Pastor Alfred Harris sits on the stage of his church, Saints of God Church, in Flint, Mich., on Thursday, March 3, 2016. Harris is an active member of the Concerned Pastors for Social Action, a group that has been active in advocating for Flint residents amidst the city’s ongoing water crisis. |Brittany Greeson
Ra’jene Garrett, left, a sophomore elementary education major from Madisonville, and Domonique White, right, a junior family studies major from Lexington, rehearse a dance to Missy Elliot’s “Lose Control” during the Omega Chi rehearsal on March 20, 2016 in the Downing Student Union auditorium on WKU’s campus in Bowling Green, Ky. |Emily Kask
Members of Sigma Chi yell and flip off Miguel Barzel after his fight in the 165 weight class at the Sigma Chi Battle of the fight night competition at the Salon Conference center March 18, 2016 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. “Its fun to mess with them” said Barzel after the fight. |Michael Noble Jr.
Charlotte Smith is 95 years old, and has been living in Rochester, Kentucky, since 1932. She is the oldest living resident there, and gave birth to her six children in this house that she’s living in now. |Emily Kask
“I find faith in everything,” says Vervain. “Faith is everything to me.” He lives a simple life alone in a trailer in the back country of West Virginia. His daughter lives next door and he can see his granddaughter every day. “It’s a laid back life here,” explains Verlian. “Not that giddy up and go…I’ve lived in the city–what do they call it?–the concrete jungle, I would know.” |Gabriel Scarlett
Detroit, Michigan – March 4, 2016: Members of the congregation lift their hands in prayer during a noon service at the Az-Zahra Islamic Center in Detroit, Mich., on Friday, March 4, 2016. Az-Zahra’s imam, a prayer leader, Hassan Qazwini, used the service as an opportunity to discuss voting and his view of Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump, who he said he believes is unfit to be president. |Brittany Greeson
Joan Payne was born and grew up in Rochester and now lives with her husband in Muhlenberg County. She bought this house in Rochester for $40,000 last year during an auction and is trying to convince her husband to move there. “I’ve traveled all over the world, Japan, Hawaii, every state. But here down by the river, this is the only place that feels like home.” |Emily Kask
While searching for something different in her life, Bambi, 20, left her small town home in North Carolina in the early summer of 2015. She was following the expected path, a semester at college and working at a local restaurant but soon realized that perhaps her life was meant for something else. She opted out of her routine to search for something different, and a greater sense of freedom and exploration. “I don’t know what it is I’m looking for, or if I’m even looking for anything,” Bambi said. Follow her journey here.
Alcoholism is categorized as both a psychiatric and medical disease by the Center for Disease Control, but remains widely misunderstood by those not personally affected. Roger Grant, more popularly known as Pimp, suffers from both sides of the disease, and has lost his family and his old life along the way.
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Nicky raises cocks for fighting in Mingo County, West Virginia at his family’s trailer and usually bets between fifty and a hundred dollars on each fight. This is his main income source, but he stays clear of fighting in the big derbies in Kentucky because the bets are made in the thousands not just in a few bucks. “There is a real sportsmanship to this. It is a real sport,” Nicky explains. | Gabriel Scarlett
Hudson Sitzman of Ferdinand, 14 months, middle, pointed to a 3-week-old turkey while his dad Wes and grandmother Debbie Kerstiens of Ferdinand watched him interact with the animals in the brooders house at Kerstiens Farm in Ferdinand on Tuesday. | Erica Lafser
Dawson Newbold,16, of Housespring makes a call while taking a break from sandbagging on December 30, 2015 in Fenton, Missouri. The Meramec river is expected to crest at 43 ft late Wednesday. | Michael Noble Jr.
Ray “Raisin” Jones of Bowling Green helped his third cousin, Carleigh Frost of Bowling Green, 7, left, put her hat back on after it fell while she was feeding the ducks at Basil Griffin Park on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016. Jones used to go to the same park with his own son, who is now 23. | Erica Lafser
Rachel Cranor, 17, of Bowling Green, lies on the floor after walking the runway at the fashion show during the third annual Southern Kentucky Bridal Expo at the WKU Knicely Conference Center in Bowling Green, Kentucky, on Sunday, Jan. 31. “I didn’t pass out, I’m just tired” said Cranor. | Emily Kask
WKU president Gary Ransdell prepares to announce his resignation at the Regents Board meeting at the College & Career Center on WKU’s Elizabethtown campus on January 29, 2016. Ransdell’s retirement from his presidency will be effective June 30, 2017. | Emily Kask
At six in the morning, when Judy’s Castle opens it’s doors, faithful tenants make their way inside for a warm breakfast and good conversation. Rita Porter has dined with her father, Fred Oliver since her mother’s passing in 2014. At the diner, Porter befriended Jerry Blankenship who sits in the booth behind Porter and Oliver. “We come here every day” said Porter. | Alyse Young
Family, friends, students, and staff gathered in the Chandler Memorial Chapel on Western Kentucky’s Campus on Monday, January 25, 2016 to mourn the loss of their friend and loved one Tammy Jeffries, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communications. | Lex Selig
WKU Photojournalism professors James Kenney and Jeanie Adams-Smith spend their Super Bowl Sunday pondering edits for the second round of the Hearst photo competition.
Congratulations to Nick Wagner and Brittany Greeson for being selected to represent WKU photojournalism in the second round of the Heast Photojournalism competition. Wagner’s story depicts the personal sacrifice a legal immigrant must endure to try to earn money for his family. Wagner traveled between Bowling Green and Mexico to cover both sides of the immigration process. Greeson’s story is a comprehensive and unnerving look at the community of Flint, Mich. as they deal with the current water crisis. We wish both of them our collective luck in the competition.
In the aftermath of attacks in Paris and San Bernadino, there lay a new weight on the shoulders of young Muslims living in the United States. The search for acceptance and fight for religious freedom became a daily challenge for Muslim students on campus under the pressure of stereotypes and cultural misconception. SEE THE STORY