Chad Baldwin, AVP of Marketing and Communications for the University of Wyoming, called into the Weekday Wake-Up on Wednesday, April 15 for his monthly report. Baldwin discussed the selection of Brigadier General Shane Reeves as the 29th President of the University, the athletic jersey patch deal with Tallgrass and more.

(0:00) Thanks for starting your day with the weekday wake up on the SVI Radio Network. (0:04) It is 8.36 this morning live on SVI Radio, Swift 98 and The Spur heading into our first (0:11) guest interview segment of the morning today. (0:14) And Chad Baldwin from the University of Wyoming joins me, Vice President of Marketing and (0:19) Communications at UW.

(0:21) Chad, good morning. (0:22) How’s the high plains today in Laramie? (0:25) Hey, we’re doing great, Duke. (0:26) We got a little moisture this week, which really needed and it feels a little more like (0:30) spring in Wyoming.

(0:31) Yeah. (0:32) Yeah. (0:32) Kind of a kind of a mix, a mix of of winter and warm, you know? (0:36) Yep.

(0:36) Yep. (0:37) That’s spring. (0:38) Absolutely.

(0:38) Well, appreciate your time as always and giving us an update on what’s happening at UW and (0:43) what you’re doing statewide. (0:44) First off, of course, just what was it last week or recently? (0:49) The new president of the University of Wyoming was announced in a southwest Wyoming boy, General (0:55) Shane Reeves, will take over. (0:58) Yeah.

(0:59) Yeah. (1:00) He’s a brigadier general that has had a 30 year career in the Army, including a bronze (1:06) star for service in Iraq. (1:08) He’s been a dean there and the academic leader of at West Point for for I think at least (1:15) five years and may have been there longer, you know, in in in working there.

(1:20) So he’s going to retire from the from his generalship this spring and then start here (1:26) in July. (1:27) Actually, we’re all a lot of us already having some interactions with him. (1:31) Very excited.

(1:32) He’s he kind of joked when he visited campus, you know, you hear brigadier general and you (1:38) picture a guy with a crew cut, smoking a cigar, yelling at people. (1:42) That’s not him at all. (1:43) He’s just a laid back, good Wyoming guy who who’s excited to be coming back to his home (1:49) state.

(1:49) Well, there were a number of candidates, of course, that were considered. (1:53) Why do you feel that the board of trustees selected Reeves to take over the position? (1:59) Well, I think it’s you’ve got a really proven track record of of excellence in leadership, (2:04) done some really amazing things. (2:06) He’s kind of combined an academic career with, of course, is this the military service aspect (2:12) of it.

(2:13) But he’s he’s he’s proven an ability to organize people to to achieve great things. (2:20) And as a his familiarity with the state is also a big plus, I think, for him. (2:24) You know, one of the things that if you if you if you want to Google him a little bit, (2:27) he does it.

(2:28) They’re doing a podcast that West Point and his guests have included Duke, Elon Musk, (2:35) Coach K, Mike Mike Krzyzewski. (2:37) I mean, he’s he’s he’s friends with Coach K, which is pretty crazy. (2:42) So he knows a lot of people across the country, and we really are excited to have him come (2:48) and and, you know, help us move forward as the state’s, as he calls it, indispensable (2:54) institution.

(2:55) That’s that’s really cool. (2:56) Maybe he can have have Coach K help with some NIL funding, maybe, huh? (3:01) Well, hey, you know, we’re looking at all options out there. (3:05) Absolutely.

(3:06) Absolutely. (3:06) Well, of course, we’ll look forward to to hearing more from him as he takes over in the (3:11) coming months at the University of Wyoming. (3:14) Speaking of NIL funding, there was a big announcement recently made by the university (3:17) tall grass in the Jersey patch.

(3:19) This is a big deal for Cowboy Athletics. (3:23) Yeah, you know, as I just mentioned, Duke, we’re looking at all ways to to generate revenue, (3:28) to be competitive in this D1, crazy D1 athletics world we’re in. (3:32) And this is a new thing.

(3:34) And it was just allowed by the NCAA, I think maybe a year or two ago, we’re one of the (3:39) first in the in, I think, in the region, maybe in the whole country to to to go to this (3:44) where our student athletes will be wearing a this patch on their on their uniforms. (3:50) And it’s a you know, it’s a five year agreement with this tall grass is a energy infrastructure (3:55) company with a lot of big presence in Wyoming. (4:00) And, you know, it’s going to be, you know, probably the first of a number of partnerships (4:06) not not not.

(4:07) I don’t think we’re going to do any more than one name, you know, patch on the on the (4:12) uniforms. (4:12) But we’re looking at ways to generate revenue. (4:15) And this is a this is a company that we’re excited to be partnered with.

(4:20) Yeah. (4:20) And and as you mentioned, more and more of this is going to start happening, of course, (4:24) across the nation. (4:25) Do you see there’s been the idea at least kicked around and floated and discussed across (4:30) the state of maybe a naming sponsorship for the for War Memorial Stadium and the Arena (4:37) Auditorium? (4:37) Do you see maybe that potential possibility in the future as well? (4:41) So what our athletic director Tom Berman has said is that for the Arena Auditorium, definitely (4:46) we’re looking at seeing if we can get a naming partner there.

(4:49) He did talk about how War Memorial Stadium will always be War Memorial Stadium, but that (4:54) we’re looking for a like a field kind of sponsor logo, you know, that can be on the field. (5:00) So that that’s that’s what I’ve heard from from Tom about that. (5:04) And yeah, I know they’re aggressively pursuing it.

(5:07) Speaking this morning with the University of Wyoming, Chad Baldwin with his monthly (5:10) report on the weekday wake up. (5:12) Well, Chad, let’s talk about the quality of education found at UW, both at the Laramie (5:17) campus and across the state. (5:19) Laramie has actually shot up the list of best college towns, in fact, on a recent list.

(5:26) Yeah, yeah, there’s there’s a number of these rankings out there, Duke, and you always, (5:31) you know, you want to be listed in these things. (5:33) But this outfit called Rent Cafe is a website that always does this calculation every couple (5:40) of years of what are the best college towns in America. (5:44) And last year we were like 16th on this list.

(5:47) This year we shot clear up to number four. (5:51) And and they did they look at a lot of things. (5:53) They look at your amenities, your affordability, your cost of living, the the success of your (6:00) students, your you know, like your retention and graduation rates.

(6:06) And they put us way up there. (6:09) And you know, it’s we kind of feel like in some ways we’re a bit of an undiscovered gem (6:14) around, you know, around the country. (6:16) Duke, I mean, we aren’t a huge university.

(6:20) We’re in maybe a relatively isolated place. (6:22) But boy, we got a great quality of life here, a great institution. (6:26) And and, you know, things like that are going to help put us on the map, you know, (6:31) nationally, where, again, we we pull students from all 50 states and like forty nine (6:36) different countries or something like that.

(6:37) So it’s not like we’re completely undiscovered. (6:39) But but people looking for maybe a little bit slower sort of life and not in in a big (6:47) urban setting. This is the place you ought to take a look at.

(6:53) Chad, one final thing to bring up here, the Wyoming Outdoor Recreation Summit is going (6:58) to take place in Saratoga at the end of this month and heading into the month of May. (7:02) Tell us what this is and how it supports the entire state. (7:05) Yes, so we have our Outdoor Recreation Tourism Hospital Institute, the Jay Kemmer (7:10) Institute here at UW.

(7:12) We work very closely with the the Wyoming Office of Outdoor Recreation, and this is an (7:18) outdoor recreation summit. (7:19) It’s become an annual event. (7:21) The one that’s coming up this year will be April 30th and May 1st this year in Saratoga.

(7:27) And we expect people from across the state in this really important kind of emerging (7:32) industry in the state to be there. (7:34) Hear some great speakers and, you know, figure out how that as a state we can really (7:39) maximize our natural resources and and at the same time, you know, really protect them. (7:45) Right.

Make sure that the types of outdoor recreation and things happening are are (7:51) going to preserve this beautiful state we have. (7:54) And at the same time, allow us to to, you know, maximize the economic opportunities it (8:00) presents. Excellent.

(8:02) That’s Chad Baldwin, vice president of marketing and communications at the University (8:06) of Wyoming. Chad, as always, appreciate the update and thank you for your time today. (8:11) Thank you, Duke.

It’s all part of the weekday wake up this morning on SVI Radio.