Capilouto: Listening tour critical part of search for UK Athletics leadership
LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 11, 2026) — The University of Kentucky will soon begin a search for new leadership for UK Athletics. As part of that process, UK President Eli Capilouto has launched a website that details a listening tour he has initiated with stakeholders across the campus and country.
UK Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart will retire on June 30 after 24 years at the helm. He will transition to a new role, helping lead a sports workforce initiative at the university, part of a larger effort on campus to better prepare students for growing careers in the areas that most align with the state’s priorities.
The search comes at a pivotal moment for college athletics, as institutions nationwide adapt to significant change driven by evolving name, image and likeness opportunities, increased financial pressures, and new expectations related to student-athlete compensation and operational efficiency.
“UK Athletics has thrived for more than two decades under Mitch Barnhart’s leadership,” President Capilouto said. “As college athletics continues to change in profound ways, this search gives us an important opportunity to listen, to learn, and to ensure we identify the leadership needed to sustain excellence, support our student-athletes, and align athletics with the mission and values of the University of Kentucky.”
The site, which provides details of the listening tour, can be found at pres.uky.edu/strategic-plan/ensuring-greater-trust-transparency-and-accountability.
It includes the reading materials Capilouto provided to those he is interviewing as well as key questions he is asking, which revolve around a number of the central issues and challenges confronting collegiate athletics. It will be updated periodically as the listening tour and search progress.
Over the next few weeks, Capilouto will talk with campus leaders, athletics professionals and experts across the Commonwealth and the country. These discussions will focus on the priorities and challenges facing UK Athletics, the attributes needed in its next leader and perspectives on future operating models for collegiate athletics.
The listening sessions began this week with members of the UK Athletics team, whose work supports student-athletes, creates meaningful fan experiences and sustains excellence across the department. Updates on the search process and the broader collegiate athletics landscape will be shared periodically.
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.