LWU School of Business and Communication is ‘thriving with purpose,’ Dean Sexton tells Advisory Board members.
by Duane Bonifer
COLUMBIA, KY. (03/24/2026) Five Lindsey Wilson University alumni returned to school on Monday.
But rather than enrolling in a class, the five alumni led several class discussions about their professions.
The five alumni, who were joined virtually by two other LWU alumni, are members of the School of Business and Communication Advisory Board, which held its spring meeting on campus on Monday, March 23.
Advisory board members also heard from School of Business and Communication Dean Benson Sexton ’04, who delivered a state-of-the-school address brimming with optimism and good news about accomplishments by the school’s students and faculty.
“We have had a truly remarkable year,” said Benson. “We’re strong, vibrant and forward-looking; our students are achieving national recognition; our faculty are leading with passion; and our programs are expanding to meet the challenges of a rapidly evolving world.”
Sexton said credit for the school’s successes over the last year belongs to its “incredible faculty, who have worked so hard to be innovative, to be entrepreneurial, to be supportive of new ideas.”
Benson said that as a result, the LWU School of Business and Communication “is not just thriving, but it’s thriving with purpose.”
“We really understand what our purpose is, and we’re going at it every day,” he said.
As examples of the school’s innovative and entrepreneurial spirit, Benson cited the creation of a bachelor’s degree in agribusiness; the launch of a five-year program that allows a student to earn both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in business; a minor in sports management; the initiation of a certificate in organizational leadership; and the addition of a podcast studio in the J.L. Turner Leadership Center, where the school is housed.
The School of Business and Communication — which offers four majors and six minors — has also made its popular bachelor’s degree in communication available online, and it recently started a partnership with Elizabethtown Community and Technical College. That partnership has created, in part, a clear pathway for ECTC graduates with an associate in science degree in business to earn an LWU bachelor of arts degree in business administration with an emphasis in accounting, human resource management and marketing.
“We have been forward-thinking over the last year,” said Sexton. “We are expanding programs that will help students as they go into the workforce.”
New advisory board members
The LWU School of Business and Communication Advisory Board meets twice a year — virtually in the fall, then in person in spring on the university’s A.P. White Campus so that students have more time to interact with successful business and communication professionals.
This year, the eight-member board welcomed four new members: Patrick Adkins ’19, the financial controller for South Central Bank Inc. in Glasgow, Kentucky; Lori Riddle Eberenz ’02, head of public relations and global storytelling for Yum! Brands; Madison Bryant Kirby ’19, a digital learning executive with New Jersey-based Wiley Publishing; and Paige Nickel ’11, executive director of Adair County Tourism and Convention Commission.
“We get great ideas from our advisory board,” said Sexton. “Together, we are living this mission of every student, every day.”
Student successes
Benson said that LWU students’ successes have probably been the best part of 2025-26 in the School of Business and Communication.
“We see our students growing, they’re taking risks, they’re learning by doing and stepping into their futures with confidence,” he said.
Sexton noted several student groups who placed in national competition, including one that finished first in the country in the Marketing Research Competition’s undergraduate division, besting teams from Providence College and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
“We are preparing students to step into careers with confidence, creativity and with leadership,” said Sexton. “We’re not just preparing students for careers, we’re preparing them to lead, to innovate and to make a lasting impact.”
Lindsey Wilson University Dean of the School of Business and Communication Benson Sexton ’04, left, joins five members of the school’s advisory board in the university’s J.L. Turner Leadership Center. From left: Sexton; Paige Nickel ’11, executive director of Adair County Tourism and Convention Commission; Patrick Adkins ’19, the financial controller for South Central Bank Inc. in Glasgow, Kentucky; Lori Riddle Eberenz ’02, Yum! Brands’ head of public relations and global storytelling; Madison Bryant Kirby ’19, Wiley Publishing digital learning executive; and Kyle Edwards ’06, president of Edwards Managed Technology Computer Consulting of Lexington, Kentucky. Not pictured: Andy Mann ’08, assistant vice president, contract administration, HealthTrust Performance Group; Curtis Pelston ’16, parks program services supervisor at Lake Cumberland State Resort; and Chloe Thomas ’22, marketing specialist with MDI-Management Data Inc.
Lindsey Wilson University alumnus Patrick Adkins ’19 speaks to students in accounting professor Katie Curry’s “Taxation II” class on Monday, March 23, in the J.L. Turner Leadership Center. Adkins, who is the financial controller for South Central Bank Inc. in Glasgow, Kentucky, was visiting his alma mater as a member of the LWU School of Business and Communication Advisory Board.
Lindsey Wilson University alumnus Kyle Edwards ’06 speaks to students in one of business professor Cathy Boatright’s classes on Monday, March 23, in the university’s J.L. Turner Leadership Center. Edwards, who is president of Edwards Managed Technology Computer Consulting of Lexington, Kentucky, was visiting his alma mater as a member of the LWU School of Business and Communication Advisory Board.
Lindsey Wilson University alumna Lori Riddle Eberenz ’02 speaks to students in business professor JC Phelps’ “Topics in Marketing” class on Monday, March 23, in the university’s J.L. Turner Leadership Center. Eberenz, who is Yum! Brands’ head of public relations and global storytelling, was visiting her alma mater as a member of the LWU School of Business and Communication Advisory Board.
Lindsey Wilson University alumna Madison Bryant Kirby ’19 answers a question from communication professor Jennifer Furkin ’06 during one of Furkin’s classes on Monday, March 23, in the university’s J.L. Turner Leadership Center. Kirby, who is a digital learning executive at Wiley Publishing, was visiting her alma mater as a member of the LWU School of Business and Communication Advisory Board.
Lindsey Wilson University alumna Paige Nickel ’11 discusses the building blocks of tourism with students in recreation, tourism and sport management professor Ginni Dilworth’s class on Monday, March 23, in the university’s J.L. Turner Leadership Center. Nickel, who is executive director of Adair County Tourism and Convention Commission, was visiting her alma mater as a member of the LWU School of Business and Communication Advisory Board.
Lindsey Wilson University is a vibrant liberal arts university in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the mission of Lindsey Wilson is to serve the educational needs of students by providing a living-learning environment within an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern where every student, every day, learns and grows and feels like a real human being. Lindsey Wilson offers 30 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs and a doctoral program. The university’s 29 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams have won more than 120 team and individual national championships.
(Duane Bonifer – Lindsey Wilson University)