Register now for this year's Ubuntu Orientation Celebration
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 24, 2023) — The University of Kentucky Center for Graduate and Professional Diversity Initiatives and the UK Graduate School’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion invites all graduate and professional students, staff and faculty to attend the seventh annual Ubuntu Orientation Celebration from 5-8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 31, in The Cornerstone Esports Lounge.
Ubuntu is a Nguni Bantu term meaning “humanity” and is often translated as “I am because we are.” In that spirit, one of the primary goals of Ubuntu is to connect diverse graduate and professional students (new and current) with university resources and support networks. The event is open to the UK community.
Students will have opportunities to network with faculty, staff, administrators and other students, and hear a powerful message from the keynote speaker Gaberiel Jones Jr., Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Louisville’s School of Public Health and Information Sciences. In addition to building a strong sense of community and belonging, Ubuntu aims to equip students with the resources and contacts to ease their transition into UK, the city of Lexington and life as graduate and professional students.
This event is free with free parking in the Cornerstone Garage. Spouses and children are welcome.
The schedule for the event is as follows:
- 5-6:30 p.m.: Food, resource fair and networking
- 6:30-6:50 p.m.: Keynote speaker — Gaberiel Jones Jr.
- 6:50-7p.m.: Q&A with Jones
- 7-8 p.m.: Ice cream social and games
To register for the year's Ubuntu Orientation Celebration, click here.
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.