Honors photo by Sam Oldenburg Tim and Ellen Gott and their children, Emily, Andrew and Ryan, are recognized as the WKU Family of the Year during halftime of the Parent's Weekend football game Sept. 17.
Arete story by Betsy Grammel
Tim and Ellen Gott met on the third floor of Tate Page Hall when they were students at WKU and got married one year after they graduated.
After 20 years, they returned to WKU. Mr. Gott is the Director of the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky, a residential program on WKU’s campus for high achieving high school students. Mrs. Gott is the Teacher Certification Officer for the WKU College of Education.
Having made the love for WKU a family affair, the Gott family is this year’s “WKU Family of the Year.” Emily Gott, a sophomore entrepreneurship major from Bowling Green, Ky., nominated her family by submitting an essay about her family’s involvement.
The two other Gott children also have the Hilltopper spirit. Their oldest child, Andrew, was in the first graduating class of the Gatton Academy. He will graduate from WKU in December with Bachelors degrees in physics and math. The youngest child, Ryan, is a junior at the Gatton Academy.
The Gott family feels very attached to Western. “Everything we do is based on Western,” Emily said.
Emily is a member of the Honors Club Student Planning Board and on an intramural soccer team. She is a co-founder of “Share A Swipe,” a group that encourages students to use extra meal plans to donate items to local food pantries.
Emily said that her favorite thing about WKU is the Honors College.
“It is so awesome to have 1,000 people excited about learning, excited about different things,” she said.
Emily views involvement as being important. “Get involved in something that gets you excited,” she said. “Get to know people and hang out with them; it adds a lot to your college experience.”