Below are some of our favorite photos from this week’s Through Our Eyes. Each week the selections are chosen by WKUPJ students. Stay tuned for more to come!

First Place

St. Louis Blues defenseman Justin Faulk (72) keeps his eyes on the face-off circle against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on February 16, 2020. Nashville won 2-1. | Chris Kohley

Second Place

Jack Quinn, a freshman at WKU, grew up with music as a large influence in his family. Quinn is currently in two bands whilst pursuing a degree in graphic design and journalism. | Sam Mallon

Third Place

Sabre Semrau is a Junior at Western Kentucky University who co-founded the art collective Deep Relief Designs. Semrau works in varying mediums, including embroidery and collage. Semrau has recently started working with Resin, producing a variety of ashtrays, rolling trays, and plans to start making coasters. “I won’t lie, the resin is expensive as shit but I also have more issues with charging friends for my art since I don’t believe in capitalism,” Semrau explained. | Lydia Schweickart

Below are some of our favorite photos from this week’s Through Our Eyes. Each week the selections are chosen by WKUPJ students. Stay tuned for more to come!

First Place

Dixie Mahurin has worked at WKU for over three decades. She taught mathematics before transitioning to academic advising. Growing up in Hopkinsville, Ky., Mrs. Dixie, as her students call her, remembers classmates dropping out of school to go to Vietnam, being the only woman in her mathematics classes and witnessing the American political climate cleave. From fashion to politics, there isn’t much Mrs. Dixie doesn’t have an opinion on. Her colleagues say her eccentricity makes the office as fun as it is. Mrs. Dixie’s passion for her students’ success can be felt in her words and seen in her actions. One example is the names of straight A students scrawled in chalk on her office wall. “Maintenance had a fit,” Mrs. Dixie said. “It isn’t a chalkboard. It won’t come off, but I just couldn’t stand that black wall.” | Reed Mattison 

Second Place

Mamadi Diakite (25) of the Virginia Cavaliers dunks the ball against the Louisville Cardinals during the first half of the game at KFC YUM! Center on February 08, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. Louisville defeated Virginia 80-73 for the first time in since 2015. | Silas Walker

Third Place

Hoda Amira is originally from Palestine and is a Nursing major at WKU. Amira is pictured wearing Palestinian cultural wear, commonly worn for special occasions, with a pattern that represents Palestinian nationalism. Amira wears a headscarf every day and when asked about her experiences with discrimination explained, “On campus, I haven’t noticed a lot of instances other than the usual stares. Some people might have some misunderstandings or they might have misconceptions before speaking to me. That’s the only thing I wish people would open up about is to ask questions rather than assume.” Amira is a member of the Muslim Student Association and expressed an appreciation for the sense of community that the organization provides. “On campus, I feel like all of us have an understanding of each other, so we never have that miscommunication or misunderstanding,” Amira explained. “We just try to convey a message to everybody else that we are just normal people. The whole point of the MSA is to show people what Muslims are really about.” | Lydia Schweickart

Honorable Mention

When Keith or Everett gets sick, it’s just them, Keith said. The two in their rough shape laze on the couch as they try to recover from colds. “Whenever I have a bad day, he knows how to help,” Keith said. | Reed Mattison

The Wrongful Imprisonment of
Jose Luis Garcia

Story by Gabriel Scarlett and Skyler Ballard

More than a week after the arrest of her father Jose (who is a green card holder), Natalie Garcia tries to console her daughter Marley outside their home in Arleta, California from which Jose was taken. He had been watering his lawn and preparing for a shift driving for Uber, one of his three jobs, when ICE officials detained him for deportation for a charge from two decades ago. Since his arrest, Marley has slept in his bed and lays out his clothes each day to pretend that he is there.

The Pain We Cause:

The entanglement of addiction and incarceration in Kentucky, told in two parts.

By Morgan Hornsby and Gabriel Scarlett

Once a month, the Warren County Jail allows local churches to come to the facility to hold a baptism service for inmates who wish to participate. Part of Miles’ job is to coordinate with local groups, like churches, recovery groups, local businesses, and a community college

En Muerto En Vida

Stuck in limbo, a family fights their father’s deportation.

BY SKYLER BALLARD

In the thirteen years that Jorge and Christina Zaldivar have been married, the family has been fighting for Jorge’s legal residency in the U.S. With a changing administration and an increasing focus on ICE and immigration policies, the family fears that Jorge’s time in the U.S. will soon be up.

Ballard began documenting the family during her summer internship at The Denver Post. See the entire story here.

WKUPJ student Gabriel Scarlett was interviewed by the Alexia Foundation about his project, Flock of Doves, which explores “the intersection of gang violence and a community of voices demanding change in Pueblo, Colorado.” Scarlett, a senior in the photojournalism program, elaborated on how the project came to be, his goals for the project, and his future endeavors in the world of photojournalism. You can read Scarlett’s full interview here

Julian Rodriguez plays with his son Christopher at their home on Pueblo’s East Side. Julian’s decades long struggle with addiction brought him intimately close to the gang operations as he often bought from and sold for the gangs in order to support his own addiction. With his son, Christopher on the way, he achieved sobriety and had his facial skeleton tattooed to remember his commitment to his son and to commemorate his brother “Bone Head” who was killed in a shootout with the police. “Everything that I desire and want in this life is for that boy.” Christopher will grow up on the East Side, in Duke territory, but Julian hopes that a loving relationship with his father can keep him from that lifestyle. | Gabriel Scarlett

Michelle Hanks has been chosen to attend the Danish School of Media and Journalism this spring as part of an exchange program used to give students a chance of engaging in visual storytelling internationally.  The program, now in its 5th year, as brought students from Denmark to attend classes at WKU and in return has sent several of our students to Denmark for a semester.

Hanks, from Chattanooga, TN, is in her Junior year as a Photojournalism major.

This Fall Hanks documented Natasha a young mother battling with recovery with the hope of getting custody of her 4-month old baby. Her child was taken away from her four days after birth, because of her addiction to drugs.