Alumni Association clubs honored for outstanding contributions
LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 2, 2024) — The University of Kentucky Alumni Association recently recognized the critical role clubs serve in connecting alumni in their local communities to their alma mater during the Alumni Service Awards and Club Awards dinner during the association’s annual Summer Workshop on June 21.
Clubs were recognized in the following six categories:
- Alumni clubs that excelled in Alumni Engagement provided opportunities for members to connect and interact with fellow alumni, both in-person and virtually. Clubs planned and hosted events such as dinners, luncheons, golf scrambles, game watch parties, bourbon and wine tastings, group outings and much more.
- New & Creative Programming is at the heart of what the UK Alumni Association strives to provide its alumni each year. Programs that reimagine traditional events and activities and work to include more alumni are welcome.
- Many alumni clubs work to raise Scholarship money to ensure students from their local club area can succeed at UK. During the 2023-2024 academic year, alumni clubs awarded 112 scholarships totaling $163,450 in financial assistance to UK students.
- Alumni clubs provide invaluable Service to the community through the Cats for a Cause program, where alumni collect food and clothing, clean up local parks, sponsor toy drives and support student teams for UK’s annual DanceBlue marathon.
- Student Recruitment activities include summer send-off events, preview nights, postcard writing campaigns and book awards.
- The Most Improved category recognizes clubs for their extraordinary efforts to increase alumni participation in their areas and keep members connected to each other and to the university.
Awards are determined by the Past Presidents’ Advisory Council.
The following clubs were recognized:
In-state awards
- Greater Ashland: Scholarships, Alumni Engagement, Student Recruitment
- Big Sandy: Scholarships, Student Recruitment
- Christian County: Scholarships, Student Recruitment, Service
- Clark County: Scholarships
- Cumberland Valley East: Alumni Engagement, Service, Student Recruitment
- Danville/Boyle County: Student Recruitment
- Daviess County: Student Recruitment
- Fayette County: Alumni Engagement, New & Creative Programming, Service, Scholarships
- Fulton County: Alumni Engagement, Scholarships, Service
- Hardin County: Service
- Hopkins County: Scholarships
- Greater Louisville: Alumni Engagement, Scholarships, Service, Student Recruitment
- McCracken County: Scholarships, Service
- Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati: Alumni Engagement, Scholarships, Service, Student Recruitment
Out-of-State Awards
- Greater Atlanta: Alumni Engagement, Scholarships, Student Recruitment
- Greater Birmingham: Alumni Engagement, Service, Student Recruitment
- Central Ohio: Scholarships, Student Recruitment
- Central Texas: Alumni Engagement
- Central Virginia: Service
- Charlotte: Alumni Engagement, Student Recruitment
- Chattanooga: Service, Student Recruitment, Scholarships
- Chicagoland: Alumni Engagement, Student Recruitment
- Dallas-Fort Worth: Alumni Engagement, Scholarships
- Greater Dayton: Alumni Engagement, Scholarships, Student Recruitment
- Greater Houston: Alumni Engagement, Scholarships, Service
- Knoxville: Alumni Engagement, Student Recruitment
- Greater Nashville: Alumni Engagement, Scholarships, Service, Student Recruitment
- New York City: Alumni Engagement, New & Creative Programming, Scholarships, Service, Student Recruitment
- Northeast Ohio: Scholarships, Student Recruitment, Service
- Northern Alabama: Alumni Engagement, Student Recruitment
- Northwest Ohio: Scholarships, Student Recruitment
- San Diego: Student Recruitment
- Sarasota-Suncoast: Alumni Engagement, Scholarships, Service, Student Recruitment
- Tampa Bay: Service, Student Recruitment
- Triangle Area North Carolina: Scholarships, Student Recruitment
- Upstate South Carolina: Alumni Engagement, Service, Student Recruitment
Most Improved Clubs
- In-state: Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati
- Out-of-state: New York City
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.
In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.