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Campus Community,

James Russell grew up in Johnson County, Ky. 

He is the first in his family to attend college. 

With a Pigman Scholarship, he doesn’t have the burden of worrying about how to pay for his education. And when he earns a degree in computer science, he hopes to teach young people from the mountains like him to create computer code and build stronger community organizations.

“The scholarship I received,” he says, “means hope.”

Hope.

It's one of my favorite words because, in so many ways, it describes you — what you do for each other, for our community and for the state we seek to advance.

The television spot we will run this year during football and basketball games on behalf of UK contains several of the voices of hope that make this community so special.

One of my hopes is that the beginning of another academic year reminds us of what we mean and what we do for Kentucky.

It is evident in the voices of hope in this advertisement, only a few of the thousands that comprise our campus.

You will hear students, like James. You will also hear new graduates like Deidra White, who worked on a factory floor and cleaned houses to pursue her dream of being a writer at UK. Last spring, her spoken word poem was a moving commencement address. In addition to lending her voice to the commercial, she scripted the words that you hear. 

Another recent graduate and current UK College of Medicine student, Caroline Summer, is using her experience as a leader with DanceBlue to fuel her dreams of being a doctor who might one day help end pediatric cancer.

Kayla Johnson, a faculty member in the College of Education helps open doors for students like herself, who are the first in their families to attend college. 

Alexis Sheffield, a horticulture extension specialist in the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, has worked in collaboration with faculty in the College of Fine Arts and extension on a natural dyeing process for fabrics that is more environmentally sustainable.

And Kenneth Campbell, a scientist in the College of Medicine, is garnering breakthroughs in his research that may lead to new therapies for heart disease. 

You can learn more about their stories here.

Individually, and collectively, you extend hope — through the education you provide by breaking down barriers to access, the healing you extend to communities throughout our state, the discoveries that make transformation possible and the service you render in every corner and community of the Commonwealth.

You are the powerful voices of hope who mean so much for Kentucky.

With another year upon us, I can't wait to see what you do next. 

You give our state hope.

Eli Capilouto,

President