Whitfield Financial Aid House, Baughman Tennis Complex to be Dedicated on Friday

LWC  tennis coach Bill Shook watches the LWC tennis teams practice at the Henry
Baughman Tennis Complex. The college will dedicate the complex at 3 p.m. CT on
Friday, Oct. 8.

COLUMBIA, Ky. -- The Lindsey Wilson College community will honor one of the greatest graduates in the college's 107-year history and one of Kentucky's legendary tennis players at two ceremonies on Friday.

The Elizabeth Lowe Whitfield House of Student Financial Services, 305 Lindsey Wilson St., will be dedicated at 11 a.m. CT, then the Henry Baughman Tennis Complex will be dedicated at 3 p.m. CT. Both ceremonies are open to the public.

"This is a big year for Lindsey Wilson College," said Lindsey Wilson President William T. Luckey Jr. "The college is enjoying a record enrollment, the largest faculty in its history and the return of football. Friday's two dedication ceremonies are a reminder that Lindsey Wilson is where it is today because it is blessed to have distinguished and committed alumni such as Elizabeth Whitfield and friends such as Henry Baughman."

A 1949 Lindsey Wilson alumna, Whitfield has served on the Lindsey Wilson Board of Trustees since 1981. A native of Columbia and currently a resident of Bowling Green, Ky., Whitfield was one of the first women to serve on the LWC board. She has also been heavily involved in LWC's alumni program as well as in The United Methodist Church.

"Few people better embody the Lindsey Wilson mission than Elizabeth Whitfield," Luckey said. "For more than 50 years, Elizabeth has been a part of the Lindsey Wilson family, either as a student, alumna or trustee."

Whitfield was born into the home of the late John and Aileen Lowe, whose home was adjacent to LWC's A.P. White Campus. Whitfield has personally known all of LWC's eight presidents, and as a trustee she played an important role in selecting the college's last two leaders.

Whitfield has also played a key role in shaping the Lindsey Wilson National Alumni Association, and she has been an adviser to all of the college's alumni directors.

Whitfield has also been a major asset to the LWC student body.

"Few people are more passionate about Lindsey Wilson students than Elizabeth," Luckey said. "She has taken an active interest in hundreds of students over the years."

In 2002, the Lindsey Wilson Board of Trustees and faculty awarded Whitfield an honorary doctorate.

The Henry Baughman Tennis Complex is located across from the Doris and Bob Holloway Health & Wellness Center, 399 Williams St. It is named in honor of Henry Baughman of Smithfield, Ky., who made the lead gift to the complex.

"Henry Baughman's support of our tennis program and student-athletes means so much to this college," Luckey said.

In addition to expanding LWC's number of tennis courts from two to six, the Baughman Tennis Complex includes lights and a "top-notch playing surface," said LWC tennis coach Bill Shook.

"If we are going to remain in the top 20 or even push ourselves into the top 10 or the top five of the NAIA, we need a tennis facility like this one," Shook said.

Lighted courts also mean that LWC student-athletes will miss fewer classes during the dark months of the year, when natural light is scarce.

"Our players will get to practice much more often as a team, which is something we could rarely do when we didn't have these kinds of lights," Shook said.

The Baughman Tennis Complex was built to United States Tennis Association specifications.

"This gives our student-athletes a facility that is equal to their level of performance on the court," Shook said.

LWC women's tennis program has appeared in the four of the last five NAIA national semifinals, and the men's tennis program has reached the national tournament the last eight seasons. 

A native of Lincoln County, Ky., Baughman is a retired Western Kentucky University professor who taught health and safety, and he helped start the university's emergency medical technologist/training program.

He has been an active tennis player for more than 60 years, and his tennis achievements are legendary. Baughman has been ranked No. 1 in Kentucky more than 60 times, and 15 times he has been ranked No. 1 in the nine-state United States Tennis Association Southern, the largest association in the United States. He has also earned a No. 4 national ranking in 70 and over singles. 

Baughman was chosen to the Southern All-Star team for the USTA National Inter-Sectional Championships, where he won three gold medals on the teams that were seven-time national champions. He has won 13 National Public Parks' tennis championships and five National Senior Olympic gold medals. 

Baughman was inducted into the Kentucky Tennis Hall of Fame in 1996, and in 2007 he was honored with the fifth Kentucky Player of the Year award and first Southern Player of the Year award. Also in 1997, he received the Slew Hester Adult Achievement award for being ranked in the USTA Southern top five for 25 consecutive years.