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University of Kentucky

Undergraduate School

Mailing Address
100 Funkhouser Building, University of Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky 40506
Phone
(859) 257-2000
Email address
admissions@uky.edu
School Information
"The University of Kentucky has a broad range of resources centered on a single campus in the heart of the Bluegrass. Our wide array of programs allows us to excel in multidisciplinary studies and fosters an environment of cooperative engagement across all colleges, programs, and research endeavors. Because of the lives we touch and teach, we remain anchored in our mission to Kentucky– to educate, innovate, heal, and serve. To be sure, our complex, multi-faceted mission looks different today in many ways than it did in 1865. However, our sense of responsibility to our communities on campus and across the region is resolute. The mission has evolved and grown. The vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world beyond remains the same. They remain our compass – the soul of the University of Kentucky." The university offers over 200 academic programs across its 16 colleges and schools. (Source: http://www.uky.edu/)
General Information
The University of Kentucky, in an effort to revise its disciplinary measures, will be revising its free-speech policies, although what form the revisions will take is unclear. Additionally, $10 million in funding allocated for a research alliance on racial justice, most notably the Commonwealth Institute for Black Studies. Updates are expected as the center continues its work. No mandatory Critical Race Training sessions are yet required of students. However, see developments below:

Actions Taken

Admissions Policies
  • The mission of the Office for Institutional Diversity is to "enhance the diversity and inclusivity of our university community through the recruitment and retention of an increasingly diverse population of faculty, administrators, staff and students...."
  • The College of Communication and Information 2021 Diversity Plan states that it would "[w]ork to increase the diversity and retention of students."
Anti-Racism, Bias, and Diversity Training
  • The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Implementation Plan incorporated an initiative where "all sections of UK 101/201 implemented updated content for Unconscious Bias (UB) in accordance with the charge outlined by President Capilouto in mid-June 2020. This content introduced the following terms/concepts: Unconscious/conscious bias; Microaggressions; Accountability; Land acknowledgements; Ally, accomplice, co-conspirator."
  • The Office of Institutional Diversity hosts the "Unconscious Bias Initiative" which is a "3-part learning and dialog series...for UK employees through MyUK."
  • The College of Communication and Information 2021 Diversity Plan states that it would "[p]romote and incentivize anti-racist, inclusive pedagogy and cultural competency activities/training" through the creation of a "DEI certificate for participants who attend multiple trainings."
Curriculum Changes and Requirements
  • On August 19, 2021, the University of Kentucky expanded the requirement for race and ethnicity classes. “Starting in the Fall 2021 semester, the University of Kentucky’s College of Arts & Sciences will implement a one-course Race and Ethnicity requirement for all majors, starting with incoming freshmen.”
  • The College of Communication and Information 2021 Diversity Plan states that it would "[p]romote and incentivize the revision of existing courses not explicitly about DEI-related subjects to increase the incorporation of material related to diversity and cultural competency across all courses." The plan also states that it would "[e]ncourage departments/schools to perform regular diversity audits of their course curriculum."
Disciplinary Measures
Faculty/Staff Requirements
  • The College of Communication and Information 2021 Diversity Plan states that it would "[e]nsure that all search committees and hiring managers have completed required training, especially unconscious bias training."
Program and Research Funding
  • $10 million in funding allocated for a research alliance on racial justice. Seed money given for the establishment of the Commonwealth Institute of for Black Studies. Partnership with the NAACP on educational access research.
  • In the Fall of 2023, the Office for Institutional Diversity awarded over $35,000 in grant funding for new diversity proposals as part of its "Inclusive Excellence Program Grants." The program is funded by student fees and "should also educate others on issues of social justice and diversity, increase belonging and engagement of marginalized groups and increase opportunities for collaborative learning around issues of inclusive excellence."
Resources
  • A professor at the teaching college authored a textbook for future teachers with lessons focusing on how "bias, prejudice, stereotypes and microaggressions affect the relationships between teachers, students and families."
  • According to the Young America's Foundation, University of Kentucky separated Resident Assistants into two training groups, “one for RAs who identify as Black, Indigenous, Person of Color and one for RAs who identify as White." The university later condemned the training and said it should not have happened.
  • According to the Young America's Foundation, the University of Kentucky paid thousands to the Center for Healing Racial Trauma (an assistant professor’s private company) to host an “anti-racist” workshop for school administrators in January 2021. The center's training tells administrators to “replace white supremacy with the more accurate white inferiority complex.”
  • The university's library has compiled a collection of anti-racism resources and Black Lives Matter resources.
  • The University of Kentucky announces the 2021 Inaugural Class of the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Certificate Program.
  • The College of Arts and Sciences Philosophy Department links to an article written by one of its professors, Arnold Farr, titled "Critical Race Theory: What It Is and What It Is Not." The article was published on the Academic Influence website where Farr states the he would "'attempt to rescue CRT from several misunderstandings or false interpretations by its critics'."
  • The College of Arts and Sciences posted a video titled "Passport to the World: Critical Race Theory."
  • On February 23, 2022, the College of Arts and Sciences hosted an online event titled "The State of Education: A Conversation about Public Schooling, Critical Race Theory, and Political Polarization" which is described in part as follows: "We will discuss what exactly critical race theory is, seek to understand why legislation affecting school curriculum is being introduced in Kentucky, and explore what its impact might be."
  • The College of Arts and Sciences hosts the "Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies."
  • On May 17, 2024, City Journal published an article titled "DEI Dominates the University of Kentucky" which reads in part as follows: "Though a conservative state legislature has been in power for more than a decade, university administrators have created a sprawling DEI bureaucracy that encourages racial discrimination in hiring and scholarships, attempts to control students’ 'unconscious thoughts and behaviors' through mandatory diversity training, and even requires new building projects to allocate up to $1 million toward public artwork that pushes left-wing ideology."
  • On May 17, 2024, City Journal published an article titled "DEI Dominates the University of Kentucky" which reads in part as follows: "Though a conservative state legislature has been in power for more than a decade, university administrators have created a sprawling DEI bureaucracy that encourages racial discrimination in hiring and scholarships, attempts to control students’ 'unconscious thoughts and behaviors' through mandatory diversity training, and even requires new building projects to allocate up to $1 million toward public artwork that pushes left-wing ideology."
Symbolic Actions
  • In April of 2021, professors jointly wrote a post on the university's blog discussing "A Public Health Approach to Anti-Racism." The professors described a symposium in September of 2020 on "Racial and Ethnic Health Inequities in the United States."
  • Recommendation made by the “faculty group seeking to remedy racial inequities across the university” to remove the name Adolph Rupp from the University of Kentucky basketball arena.
Last updated October 7th, 2024
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