The Final Exam is your chance to get to know leaders in the industry. For the November/December 2024 issue, Campus Rec Magazine spoke with Justin Cato, the director of Campus Recreation and Wellness at Western Kentucky University.
1. How did you get started in the industry?
I was dating this girl — who is now my wife of 20 years — and it was about halfway through the fall semester when I realized I needed to make some extra money to get Christmas presents for her. Already I was working at a private fitness center to pay for school, and intramural volleyball was about to start. I was at the captain’s meeting, and they needed people to be officials. That meeting was right after, so I thought, why not? I liked sports and played everything that was offered and thought it might be fun.
After that semester was over, I was looking to change majors, found out we had a Sport Management program, and because I had too much fun officiating volleyball, I thought to myself, “Somebody has to run this stuff, I wonder if it could be a career?” I looked up the person that oversaw our Intramural Sports program and scheduled a meeting with him to ask what I needed to do. After that meeting, I immediately was hooked. I’m now on year 22 in collegiate recreation all because I needed extra money to buy Christmas presents for my girlfriend.
2. How would you go about describing campus recreation at Western Kentucky University?
It’s all about the experience we bring to students to enhance their time on campus at Western Kentucky University. Our mission statement is our guide: “We connect, transform and empower Hilltoppers to be lifelong learners through inclusive, holistic, experiential learning opportunities that enrich their overall well-being.” It’s in everything we do and how we operate, and we try to always make sure it follows our mission statement.
3. What has been one of the biggest challenges you have faced throughout your career?
Sadly, even with all the great things we accomplished as a department this past year, we had a significant budget reduction. In December 2023, the university did a 10% budget reduction from our beginning balances across the board to all departments. We were already at the halfway point of the fiscal year, and we were right on target with almost 50% spending at that point. So, for us, we had to figure out how to operate with essentially 20% less from the money we had for the second half of the fiscal year. Thankfully, we figured it out and were able to operate almost completely normal without our students seeing any interruptions in building hours and minimal reductions in programming. I think we ended the fiscal year with $2,800 left in our account. Crazy, but we did it.
4. What has been one of the biggest accomplishments of your career?
My dream from the time I realized I wanted to be in collegiate recreation during my junior year of college was that I wanted to be a director. From that point on, everything I did as a student, graduate assistant, young professional and mid-level professional was to try and prepare me to have the opportunity to become a director.
5. What is one lesson you have learned that other recreation professionals might benefit from?
I think one of the biggest things I’ve learned is to do everything you can to show your staff that you care about them and want them to be successful. As a leader, if you can take care of your people, show them empathy, praise them for the awesome things they do, set expectations, hold them accountable and work with them to course-correct to be successful, but above all, practice what you preach and set the example, then you’ll get buy-in and earn their trust.
6. What is one fun fact about yourself others may not know?
My family and I have four dogs. All are male Cocker Spaniels from the same champion show dog bloodlines. Don’t ask me what we were thinking, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.
