Murray State University Racer Report: Oct. 12-16
By MSU Public Relations | Oct 13, 2026
MURRAY, Ky. — The latest Murray State University Racer Report includes student, faculty, staff and alumni accomplishments, announcements, upcoming campus events and more for the week of Oct. 12-16.
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The Murray State Speech & Debate Union (SDU) dominated the competition at their season opener hosted by the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky. Seven students brought home a total of 18 awards from a gruelling two-day tournament, and the team currently leads the nation in International Public Debate Association (IPDA) debate and in speaker awards.
The SDU won both the novice (first-year) and open division of IPDA debate, and they brought home the champion speaker in both divisions.
Freshman competitor Landon Ashcraft, of Florence, Kentucky, was the champion debater and the top speaker in the novice division. He headed to elimination rounds as the #1 seed in the division, winning an impressive 10/11 of his judges’ ballots. He had a perfect record in elimination rounds, sweeping all six of his judges’ ballots through the semi-final and final rounds.
Sophomore Coleton Boyd, of Simpsonville, Kentucky, was the #3 seed in the varsity division going into his semi-final round, where he upset the #2 seed on a 3-0 decision on his way to finals. Boyd was both the champion debater and the top speaker in the varsity division.
As a school, Murray State ranked first in overall debate performance, bringing home the champion award for debate sweepstakes. All three varsity members ranked top five speakers in the open IPDA division:
● Champion speaker: Coleton Boyd
● Fourth place speaker: Hailey Meshew, a sophomore from Clinton, Kentucky
● Fifth place speaker: Essabella Voss, a sophomore from Dexter, Missouri
Two of the SDU’s newcomers also ranked in the top five speakers for the novice IPDA division:
● Champion speaker: Landon Ashcraft
● Third place speaker: Chelsi Patel, a senior from Paris, Tennessee
In addition to their outstanding debate performance, Murray State’s SDU competitors also dominated the speech portion of the competition. Ashcraft was the only novice at the entire tournament to break into the finals in extemporaneous speaking. He was also the top performing novice at the tournament in impromptu speaking. Three of the six finalists in extemporaneous speaking and three of the six finalists in impromptu speaking were from Murray State. Their final standings:
Impromptu speaking
● Top novice: Landon Ashcraft
● Second place: Coleton Boyd
● Fourth place: Essabella Voss
● Fifth place: Hailey Meshew
Extemporaneous speaking
● Top novice: Landon Ashcraft
● Third place: Coleton Boyd
● Fourth place: Landon Ashcraft
● Fifth place: Essabella Voss
As a school, Murray State ranked second in individual event sweepstakes and second in overall combined sweepstakes (between speech and debate).
Dr. Ryan Goke, director of Murray State University’s Speech & Debate Union and assistant professor in the Department of Organizational Communication and Leadership, said the team’s exceptional early season performance was made possible through the coaching support of their outstanding new assistant directors/graduate assistants, Caleb McCurren, a graduate student from Paducah, Kentucky, and Liam Boardwine, a graduate student from Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
“Our success at this first tournament was the culmination of coaches and competitors working tirelessly for several weeks to polish our craft,” said Goke. “I am elated with their performance and even more proud of the team culture we’re building. Seeing Liam and Caleb seamlessly transition from successful competitors to exceptional coaches has been particularly rewarding for me. They bring fresh perspectives, high energy and a contagious work ethic that has further elevated our competitors. I know that they have only just begun to leave their mark on the SDU and on the world of speech and debate; I am excited to see the team develop as we prepare for nationals in March.”
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Students in MGT 420: Strategic Entrepreneurial Growth at Murray State University’s Arthur J. Bauernfeind College of Business recently traveled to Sprocket Inc. in Paducah, Kentucky, for an experiential learning visit designed to connect classroom concepts with the realities of entrepreneurship.
With support from Dr. Teresa Betts, chair of the Management, Marketing and Business Administration Department and led by Dr. Ifeoluwa Tobi Popoola, assistant professor of management at Murray State University, the visit gave students the opportunity to tour Sprocket’s entrepreneurial workspace, engage with founders and mentors and hear candid accounts of the opportunities, challenges, mistakes, pivots and persistence involved in developing a business.
Through panel discussions and small-group conversations, students explored topics such as business-model development, competitive differentiation, founder decision-making, networking, time management and the importance of remaining open to learning and change.
The visit supports MGT 420’s partnership with Sprocket and the Market Fit Lab by helping students connect LeanStack Business Model Design concepts to real entrepreneurial experiences. Student reflections were overwhelmingly positive, with many noting that conversations with practicing entrepreneurs made entrepreneurship feel more tangible, realistic and attainable. Students particularly valued opportunities to discuss their own business ideas and receive insights from entrepreneurs with firsthand knowledge. The experience reinforced the course’s emphasis on learning through experimentation, thoughtfully testing assumptions, building strong entrepreneurial relationships and developing business models that can evolve through feedback before significant resources are committed.
In students’ written reflections afterward, every student described the visit as valuable, and many identified the same thing as its strongest feature: hearing founders speak candidly about setbacks, failed ventures and the patience required to keep going. They consistently reported that meeting entrepreneurs in their own working environment made entrepreneurship feel less abstract and more attainable, and several noted that the conversations were already changing decisions in their own projects. The most common request was simply for more of it. Effort is underway to work with Sprocket and attempt to extend the 2027 visit into a half-day program with expanded one-to-one founder time.
Students will return to Sprocket in November to pitch their completed business models to the company's team, an experience made possible by a partnership that connects Murray State students directly to the entrepreneurial ecosystem of western Kentucky.
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Calla Marshall, nursing instructor in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at Murray State University, recently had her podium abstract, “Addressing Theoretical and Methodological Congruency Issues in a Conceptual Model,” accepted for presentation at the Southern Nursing Research Society’s 41st Annual Conference, which will take place in February 2027 in Atlanta, Georgia.
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Dr. Meryem Akay Kuzey and Dr. Carolyn Tinsley, both assistant professors of nursing in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at Murray State University, recently had their manuscript, "Nurses’ Perceptions of Dual-Signature Policy for Subcutaneous Insulin Administration," accepted for publication in the Journal of Comprehensive Nursing Research and Care.
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Dr. Meryem Akay Kuzey also had her article, “Assessing Pain in Children: A Narrative Review of Distraction-Based Interventions and Outcome Measurement Tools,” accepted for publication in the journal Paediatric and Neonatal Pain.
Kuzey’s work contributes to the growing body of research focused on improving pain assessment and management for children through evidence-based, distraction-based interventions.
Dean of Murray State University’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences Dr. Dina Byers said she is proud of the work her faculty members are doing to advance research across nursing and health care.
“Scholarly work is an important part of the faculty role,” said Byers. “I am extremely proud of the ongoing commitment to research and evidence-based practice projects that enhance teaching and learning.”
Read the full article at bit.ly/4AOmh9Q.
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Murray State’s Department of History is sponsoring an essay contest open to all undergraduate and graduate students at the University. The top prize is $1,500. Honorable mentions are to be determined. The deadline is 5 p.m. on Oct. 15. Full guidelines and submission instructions are available at bit.ly/4iUUgqx.
Prompt (1,200 words): It has been 250 years since the writing of the Declaration of Independence. Have Americans fulfilled the ideals of the Declaration, as stated in the opening sentence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”?
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The Commonwealth Honors Academy (CHA) is currently recruiting 10 Murray State faculty members for its summer 2027 program. Applications are now open and due by Nov. 1.
CHA is a three-week residential academy for high-achieving rising high school seniors. Scholars take two courses, attend a personal growth seminar series, live in the residence halls, eat in Winslow Dining Hall and fill their evenings with everything from guest speakers to a talent show to a pickleball tournament. They earn college credit and a scholarship to Murray State, provided that certain academic benchmarks are met. Find more details and the application form at murraystate.edu/cha.
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Dr. Antje Gamble, professor of art history at Murray State University, recently had her reflection piece, "Changing My Wikipedia Assignment To Get Stronger Student Research," published by the nonprofit Wiki Education. The piece explores Gamble’s experience running a high-impact, public-facing assignment in which her students improve Wikipedia content.
Since Gamble first began to teach with this Wikipedia editing project in spring 2021, her students have added more than 40,000 words to improve the online encyclopedia, and their work has been viewed 875,000 times.
In her piece, Gamble reflects on her pedagogical approach to the assignment, including the increased student motivation and learning outcomes she saw when she designated it as the primary research project for her course.
“I'm so glad Dr. Melony Shemberger introduced me to the WikiEdu program,” said Gamble. “It's been a great way to bring digital media literacy and scholarly research goals together in my classroom.”
Read the full article at bit.ly/4ANhMvU.