UK Alumni Association clubs honored for outstanding contributions
LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 29, 2023) — 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 Friday, June 16, at the Lexington Marriott City Center.
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 2022-23 academic year, alumni clubs awarded 187 scholarships totaling $210,275 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, Student Recruitment
- Big Sandy: Alumni Engagement, New & Creative Programming, Scholarships, Service, Student Recruitment, Most Improved
- Christian County: Alumni Engagement, Scholarships, Student Recruitment
- Cumberland Valley East: New & Creative Programming, Scholarships, Service, Student Recruitment
- Daviess County: Student Recruitment
- Fayette County: Alumni Engagement, New & Creative Programming, Service, Scholarships
- Fulton County: Alumni Engagement, Scholarships, Student Recruitment
- Hopkins County: Scholarships
- Greater Louisville: Alumni Engagement, Scholarships, Service, Student Recruitment
- McCracken County: Scholarships, Service, Student Recruitment
- Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati: New & Creative Programming, Scholarships, Service, Student Recruitment
Out-of-state awards:
- Greater Atlanta: New & Creative Programming, Scholarships, Student Recruitment
- Greater Birmingham: Alumni Engagement, Service, Student Recruitment
- Central Ohio: Scholarships, Student Recruitment
- Central Virginia: Service
- Charlotte: Student Recruitment
- Chattanooga: Service, Student Recruitment
- Chicagoland: Alumni Engagement, Service, Student Recruitment, Most Improved
- Dallas-Fort Worth: Scholarships
- Greater Dayton: Scholarships, Service, Student Recruitment, Most Improved
- Greater Houston: Scholarships, Service
- Knoxville: Service
- Greater Nashville: Alumni Engagement, Scholarships, Service, Student Recruitment
- New York City: Alumni Engagement, New & Creative Programming, Scholarships, Service
- Northeast Ohio: Scholarships, Student Recruitment
- Northern Alabama: Alumni Engagement, Scholarships
- Sarasota-Suncoast: Alumni Engagement, New & Creative Programming, Scholarships, Service, Most Improved
- Tampa Bay: Scholarships, Service, Student Recruitment, Most Improved
- Triangle Area North Carolina: Scholarships
- Upstate South Carolina: Alumni Engagement, Service
For more information about UK Alumni Clubs, visit www.ukalumni.net/clubs.
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.