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‘I Am WT’ Podcast Continues with Spotlight on Alumna Debbie Farnum
Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, cchandler@wtamu.edu
CANYON, Texas — West Texas A&M University’s student-run podcast continues the second half of Season 2 on May 23 with an episode spotlighting the president of the WT Alumni Association.
“I Am WT” hosts Myka Bailey, a junior PR/advertising/applied communication major from Abernathy, and Thomas Rodriguez, a junior digital media and communication major from Katy, are joined by Debbie Farnum.
The episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and SoundCloud, as well as at wtamu.edu/IAmWTPodcast. New episodes will drop weekly through June.
Farnum, a Perryton native who has lived around the Panhandle before settling in Austin, graduated in 1971 with a degree in education and was a longtime teacher before working with the Texas Association of School Boards for almost 10 years. She followed in the footsteps of her grandmother and mother as a WT student.
In the episode, she describes campus life in the 1960s.
“It was the place I needed to be,” Farnum said.
Farnum recently made a legacy gift to the One West comprehensive fundraising campaign, establishing a distinguished professorship in educational leadership and a scholarship fund for students in the Terry B. Rogers College of Education and Social Sciences.
The “I Am WT” podcast embodies WT’s commitment to people first, one of the key principles of the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.
That plan is fueled by the historic One West comprehensive fundraising campaign, which reached its initial $125 million goal 18 months after publicly launching in September 2021. The campaign’s new goal is to reach $175 million by 2025; currently, it has raised nearly $160 million.
In episodes of “I Am WT,” student hosts interview WT faculty, staff, students and alumni about what WT means to them.
Audiences hear stories about how attending or working at WT changed the lives of the guests, and how they’re making a difference in their community.
About West Texas A&M University
WT is located in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT, a Hispanic Serving Institution since 2016, boasts an enrollment of about 10,000 and offers 59 undergraduate degree programs and more than 40 graduate degrees, including two doctoral degrees. The University is also home to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the largest history museum in the state and the home of one of the Southwest’s finest art collections. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 14 men’s and women’s athletics programs.
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