Jo Ann Verner

Jo Ann Verner, or “Ms. V” as she was often called, was a recreation professor at WKU from 1972 to 1997. Her specialization was adaptive recreation, an area dear to her because of her own experience living with a disability. She is most remembered for her volunteer work with Special Olympics, coordinating the Area Five Regional Special Olympics soon after the Special Olympics became a national program. The events she brought to WKU enabled her students to become involved and get first-hand experience. Before computers, she and her students spent long nights at WKU organizing and arranging “heat sheets” of Special Olympians in their respective events. Jo’s organizational skills drew in the co-sponsorship of the Bowling Green Parks and Recreation Department in 1975, which began a long-term relationship between the citizens of Bowling Green, Kentucky and her students. From that small beginning, an adaptive recreation program grew within the city’s parks and recreation department.

Jo served as co-chair for the Kentucky State Special Olympics in 1976 and 1977, and again in 1980 and 1981. All the while, she continued to grow the Area Five Regional Special Olympics program. Her students were put in charge of various aspects of the State Special Olympics games, which drew over 2,500 athletes from across Kentucky. Many policies and processes were developed within Kentucky, and some of those became a part of the national Special Olympics program. The Gymnastics Handbook, adopted by Area Five and later by the Kentucky Special Olympics, was developed by her former students. The Kentucky State Games were acknowledged for these contributions when Eunice Kennedy Shriver, creator of the Special Olympics, attended and honored her work. Jo’s reach extended across and beyond Kentucky as many WKU students were impacted by her. Her students continued with Special Olympics after they left WKU, bringing the event to many communities and states and even serving on the Special Olympics Board of Directors at the state level. Thousands of Special Olympians and their families benefited thanks to Jo’s dedication to WKU students and volunteers. Jo passed away in January of 2002, at the age of 70. She lives on through her students, as well as the Special Olympians and their families, many of whom may never realize the vital role she played in their lives.

To honor Jo’s impact, her students, co-workers, and friends initiated the Jo Ann Scholarship Fund. The fund serves to assist deserving freshmen, sophomore, and junior WKU students who are majoring in recreation administration and have a 2.5 GPA. Through this fund, her legacy lives on in perpetuity.