Story by Nick Kendall
Contributing writer
After traveling thousands of miles across the region, the Murray State Racer Roadshow ended on a good note back home in Murray.
University president Bob Jackson talked about creating an event like this in late March so the University could get around and make themselves known.
“We talked about putting together alumni, development and athletics and really go out in the communities that we serve in this region to see students, prospective students, families, alumni, donors, friends, and really give them an opportunity to talk to us and give us an opportunity to see them.”
Jackson’s idea turned out to be a great night for mingling and honoring Murray State alumni and athletics.
Alumni relations director, Carrie McGinnis got the event rolling after everyone had settled down.
She praised the alumni and the people of the town for all their contributions to the University.
She said she’s a big fan of the Racers Men’s Basketball team and let men’s basketball Head Coach Matt McMahon, sophomore Tevin Brown, Senior Brion Sanchious and senior Anthony Smith, who were in attendance know that while Ja Morant was good, the success as a whole was a team effort and she couldn’t wait for basketball season to start again.
Jackson went up to the podium after that to honor some notable alumni and townspeople, including pediatrician Clegg Austin. Austin’s father A.B. Austin wrote Murray State’s Alma Mater back in 1935.
Jackson also thank everyone who donated to the University. He shared with the room that $3.1 million was raised last year and $9.1 million was raised this year.
Athletic director Kevin Saal made his way to the podium to tell the people about the accomplishments of Racer Athletics.
Racer Athletics has made history on many fronts. Last year, every student athlete finished with a 3.0 GPA or higher, six ovc championships were won and they earned the OVC Commissioner’s Cup second largest margin of victory in cup history.
He also mentioned the men’s basketball team alone earned $270 million dollars from last year’s incredible season.
With the football season coming up, Saal also let the attendees know that ticket sales were up 40% from last year and he plans to make Stewart stadium a fun place for family and student outings.
This night was a great opportunity for incoming freshman to meet the faces of Murray State and Kyle Allen, who graduated from Northside Baptist Christian School, made the most of his.
“It felt great,” Allen said. “It was awesome to be able to establish connections with the various faculty and staff before starting classes in the fall.”
Allen has been to six of the Racer Roadshows this summer.
With Racer fans and alumni all over the region, Jackson can’t wait to do this again.
“Whether it’s St. Louis and Southern Illinois, or whether it’s Henderson and Madisonville, Hopkinsville, and especially Paducah, Murray, Mayfield and Nashville’s the same way. I mean, we’ve got thousands of alumni in all of these different communities. We have 70,000 alumni worldwide and they love this place.”
