Jon Fleischaker and Kim Greene, the Louisville attorneys who built careers around defending the public’s access to their state and local governments in Kentucky, were honored Nov. 16 with the Friend of Student Publications Award for 2024.
“Jon and Kim have been nothing short of extraordinary, not only in ensuring public access to government in Kentucky, but especially for their dedication to helping the students and being available at all hours to the staffs of the College Heights Herald and the Talisman,” said Chuck Clark, director of WKU Student Publications.
“Time after time, our students have benefited from the coaching and mentoring as they dug for public records, came up on bureaucratic blockades, pushed for information and worked to tell the news and stories of WKU,” Clark said. “Our students look to them for guidance. They call the cell phone numbers. They get exceptional advice every time on stories big and small – worth far, far more than the grand price tag of zero dollars and zero cents we have had to pay.”
Just the week before the award was given, Fleischaker coached Herald editor-in-chief Price Wilborn, a Shelbyville senior, on how to overcome information hurdles in finding out how WKU ended its 2023-24 fiscal year. You can find that story here.
In addition to their work with Student Publications, WKU students in the School of Media & Communication have benefited from the couple’s sponsorship of the Fleischaker-Greene Fund for Excellence in First Amendment Studies since 2008. Through that program, scores of WKU students have benefited from experiences and classes they otherwise could not have taken without the couple’s generosity.
And this year, in a year in which WKU Student Publications has faced enormous budget challenges, Fleischaker and Greene have donated money to support the students’ work.
This is the second year WKU Student Publications has given the honor to someone who is not an alum of the program but has shown exceptional dedication and generosity to our students. The 2023 Friend of Student Publications Award went to Julie A. Harris Hinson.