By Jenny Wells-Hosley and Steve Shaffer

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 13, 2021) — At just 5 years old, Bisimwa “Jack” Nzerhumana saw things no human being, let alone a child, should ever have to see.

Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a country plagued for decades by civil war, political instability and exploitation, young Nzerhumana was exposed to horrific violence daily. At times, he and his family had to literally run for their lives.

“Witnessing the brutal maltreatment of women, sitting in rooms surrounded by bodies and hearing the never-ending cries of death unfortunately became a part of my daily routine,” Nzerhumana said. “(We were) running from bullets. It was pretty tough.”

With the help of a Catholic priest who took

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 10, 2021) — The University of Kentucky Appalachian Center is offering awards and funding opportunities for students involved with work and research in the Appalachian region.

Applications for the 2022 James S. Brown Graduate Student Award for Research on Appalachia and applications for the 2022 UK Appalachian Center Eller & Billings Student Research Award are both due Feb. 15. 2022.

Graduate students are eligible to apply for the James S. Brown Graduate Student Award for Research on Appalachia and both

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 9. 2021) — Studying for finals have you stressed? Come unwind (on some aerial fabric or a trapeze) with the University of Kentucky’s new Circus Club.

Circus Club, the first organization of its kind at UK, offers students  opportunities to learn about circus arts through firsthand experience of circus skills, including juggling, acro-balancing and aerial arts.

Jess Farace, founder and president of UK Circus Club, was inspired to start the organization after taking a course with Meg Wallace, associate professor of philosophy in the UK College of Arts and Sciences. The class merged circus arts with philosophical studies. Farace loved the class so much, she wanted to offer all students a chance to experience circus.  

“It's

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 1, 2021) — The University of Kentucky Appalachian Center will showcase the work of student researchers through its Sharing Work on Appalachia in Progress series starting next week. The series will run through the Spring 2022 semester.

Many of the presenting students are supported through the center’s James S. Brown Graduate Student Awards for Research on Appalachia and the UK Appalachian Center Eller & Billings Student Research Awards.

The presenting researchers represent four colleges and seven departments from across UK’s campus.

“We look forward to learning from these

By Jesi Jones-Bowman

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 23, 2021) — The University of Kentucky Office of Undergraduate Research recently announced 18 undergraduate winners of the 57th annual Oswald Research and Creativity Awards. Chad Risko, faculty director of the Office of Undergraduate Research, and several research ambassadors were on hand to congratulate the winners and distribute the awards.

Established in 1964 by then-UK President John Oswald, the Oswald Research and Creativity Competition encourages undergraduate research and creative activities across all fields of study.

Categories include biological sciences, design (architecture, landscape architecture and interior design), fine arts (film, music, photography, painting and sculpture), humanities (creative

By Ryan Girves

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 8, 2021) — Firsts can be scary. The first time riding a bike or learning how to drive, or a first job — all scary. Being the first in your family to do something — even scarier. 

Austin Huff, a first-generation University of Kentucky senior from Topmost, a small town in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky, knows this all too well.  

With a dream of making a change in his small town, Huff came to UK to make his dreams reality, despite his hesitations.

“My hometown has some of the highest poverty rates in the nation, and some of the worst health conditions in the nation,” Huff said. “My inspiration for coming to college was making a change for the place I call home. After graduation, I want to attend law school and I want to return to my community and

By Jesi Jones-Bowman

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 28, 2021) — The University of Kentucky Office of Undergraduate Research has announced the fourth annual 5-Minute Fast Track student research competition finalists. These undergraduates competed in the competition’s two preliminary rounds and were selected as Top 10 finalists to present their research during the final round on Thursday, Oct. 28, in the Gatton Student Center Worsham Cinema.

Finalists will present their research in five minutes in front of a panel of five judges and a live audience using only a single static slide. This challenges students to develop their academic, presentation and research communication skills while also allowing them to showcase their research in a captivating way.

The goal of this

By Richard LeComte 

LEXINGTON, Ky. – If you’ve never heard of the bands the Sunmates, Frigidkitty, Whalerus, Cindy or Please Save My Earth, don’t worry – Rae Bandy has you covered. From inside the studios in WRFL in the University of Kentucky’s Gatton Student Center,

By Jesi Jones-Bowman

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 9, 2021) — The University of Kentucky Office of Undergraduate Research has selected 23 undergraduates for the 2021-2022 Undergraduate Research Ambassador program.

The newly redesigned ambassador program’s mission is to increase awareness and create opportunities for students to actively engage in research and creative scholarship. Ambassadors must demonstrate academic excellence, leadership and be involved in mentored research or creative work. This year's ambassadors represent seven colleges, 15 disciplines and 19 research areas.

“Mentored research and creative work provide distinct opportunities for UK undergraduates to put to practice knowledge from the classroom and develop new skills,” says Chad Risko, director of the UK Office of Undergraduate

By Richard LeComte

LEXINGTON, Ky.. – The University of Kentucky College of Arts & Sciences has named its 2021-22 Student Ambassadors. Ambassadors have a wide range of responsibilities, including:  

Participating in such UK recruiting efforts at preview nights and open houses. 

Serving fellow students through programs including Merit Weekends, K-week and Admitted Student Day. 

Assisting with all College international initiatives. 

By Danielle Donham

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 17, 2021) ­— The University of Kentucky honored two winners for the Otis A. Singletary Outstanding Senior Award, Auburn Mattingly and Ngoc Phan, and two finalists, Lily Hurt and Courtney Wheeler, along with many other students and staff members during the hybrid Lead Blue: Student Organizations Celebration and Award Ceremony on April 28.

The Otis A. Singletary Outstanding Senior Award was established in 1978 as the first award recognizing overall student leadership at UK. The award is named after former University of Kentucky President Otis A. Singletary.

Students nominated for this award have displayed outstanding leadership while attending the University of Kentucky, made significant contributions to academics and are dedicated to service through campus

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 13, 2021) — Per University of Kentucky tradition, UK President Eli Capilouto has selected student representatives to speak at the UK Commencement Ceremonies May 14-16, at Rupp Arena. 

Five speakers were selected. Each speaker will address two of the 10 ceremonies. Given limitations on the number of people allowed on the stage, the speeches will be pre-recorded. One is a College of Arts & Sciences major, and two have minors in the College. 

Among them is Bilal Shaikh. Shaikh, from Louisville, Kentucky, is graduating with a bachelor's degree in political science from the UK College of Arts and Sciences, and a minor in biology. He is also a student in the 

By C. Lynn Hiler and Savina Williams

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 13, 2021) — The University of Kentucky chapter of Phi Beta Kappa inducted 19 new members into the prestigious academic honor society. This year’s induction ceremony was held virtually Thursday, April 15, 2021. 

“I want to congratulate all of our students who are being honored here today for their hard work, their grit, their determination and continuing to maintain the highest standards in their coursework and their campus engagement, even under these extraordinary circumstances,” said Anna Bosch, chapter president, associate dean for undergraduate programs in the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of linguistics, during the induction ceremony. “All of us who join you here today

By Richard LeComte

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky’s Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps Detachment 290 commissioned 15 students May 13 in the Gatton Student Center Ballroom. The detachment is part of UK’s College of Arts & Sciences. Photos of the event can be found here. 

“Our mission is to develop exceptional leaders of character for tomorrow's Air and Space Force,” said Lt. Col. Richard K. Harrop, commander of the UK detachment. “At the University of Kentucky, Detachment 290 it is important we develop stronger leaders for tomorrow while

By Richard LeComte

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Disparities in Appalachian property tax assessments – and the inability of counties to raise them because of a Kentucky law – has drawn the ire of Michelle Starkey, who delved into the subject with all the passion an undergraduate history major could muster.

The resulting essay, “Bleeding Eastern Kentucky,” received the first Ireland Paper Prize in History at the University of Kentucky. The award, from the Department of History in the College of Arts & Sciences, carries a $10,000 prize.

The prize honors Robert M. Ireland, a retired UK history faculty member who taught at UK for 41 years. Wm. Joseph Foran, a UK alumnus who was a student of Ireland’s, established the award to encourage and reward outstanding historical research and writing by history students.

Although Starkey, who graduated as a history major in

By Lindsey Piercy

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 10, 2021) — It’s 3 p.m. in Lexington, and class is in session for the 19 students enrolled in the ANT 536: Global Appalachia course taught by Professor Ann Kingsolver.

Meanwhile, it’s 8:30 p.m. across the Atlantic in County Kildare, Ireland, where Chandana Mathur, a professor at Maynooth University, began her own course. A few moments — and a few clicks later — students in Lexington and in Ireland are connected.

Through the innovation of Zoom, a rich exchange ensued around the politics of water.

Kingsolver, a professor in the Department of Anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences, regularly intertwines her own courses with various classrooms across

By Jenny Wells-Hosley and Brad Nally

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 7, 2021) — If you ask Matthew Farmer what inspired him to pursue a degree in chemistry, his answer is simple:

“My childhood.”

Farmer, from Harlan, Kentucky, would often play outside as a child, exploring his surroundings and observing how things worked in nature. For him, it wasn’t enough to be told that something “just happens” — he had to know the mechanisms behind why it happened.

“I became interested in chemistry because it deals with the minutia of how things interact with other things, and also themselves,” Farmer said. “Chemistry is the best way to explain how things happen at the ground level, and then work your way up.”

Farmer grew up

By Susan West and Danielle Donham

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 4, 2021) ­— The University of Kentucky Beta Iota Chapter of the national leadership honor society Order of Omega inducted its largest class with 59 new members Sunday, April 18. Order of Omega recognizes juniors and seniors who have attained a high standard of leadership within the fraternity and sorority community.

Membership selection is usually conducted each semester, but no more than 3% of the total number of enrolled full-time fraternity and sorority undergraduates may be initiated into membership in any one year. The Beta Iota Chapter was established at the University of Kentucky March 28, 1978.

“This year, Order of Omega has expanded as an organization on campus, and I am so excited we

By C. Lynn Hiler and Savina Williams

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 21, 2021) — The University of Kentucky Nu Circle of national leadership honor society Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK) inducted 71 new members at a virtual ceremony Tuesday, April 13, 2021. ODK recognizes superior leadership and exemplary character and encourages collaboration among members across the five phases celebrated by the society: scholarship, athletics, service, communications and arts.

The Circle was established  May 2, 1925, and was recognized with a Superior Circle award from the national organization in 2018.

“Being able to serve as the president of the Nu Circle of ODK has been a privilege and a blessing,”

By Whitney Hale

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 29, 2021) — Emily Andreasson, a University of Kentucky interiors and modern and classical languages, literatures and cultures/French and Francophone studies senior in the College of Arts & Sciences and Lewis Honors College member from Williamsburg, Michigan, has been selected to deliver the 26th Edward T. Breathitt Undergraduate Lecture in the Humanities beginning 7 p.m. Thursday, April 1, on Zoom. Andreasson’s lecture will focus on use of space for expression and healing brought on by displacement.

Established to honor an eminent