I heard a social media thought leader recently proclaim that Americans receive between 5,000 and 13,000 marketing messages a day.

So, why, add more messaging to an already busy and, arguably, cluttered media landscape?

Well, that amount of messaging — good, bad or otherwise – is one reason.

I work in public relations at the University of Kentucky. It also happens to be my alma mater. I believe passionately that UK is Kentucky’s indispensible institution, the one entity that touches every corner of the state and all of her people.

In that sense, UK is the state’s best hope for transformation — economically, educationally and in terms of our physical health.

I hope this blog, in some small way, provides some additional context and, at its best, some clarity to how UK is trying — every day — to be that force for positive change in Kentucky. Here’s just one example of what I mean. This story on www.uky.edu: http://uknow.uky.edu/content/uk-healthcare-turnaround-helping-lead-unive... describes how the growth of the health-care enterprise at UK under President Lee T. Todd has helped us make significant strides toward our goal of becoming a Top 20 public research institution.

Are we there yet? No. Are there significant challenges in our path? Absolutely.

But those challenges, as significant as they are and as daunting as they seem, shouldn’t overshadow the undeniable progress that’s being made.

Sometimes, I would argue, in the morass of messaging, that gets lost.

I hope to add a little context and clarity along the way.

In a world where thousands of messages come screaming at us each day, that may be too much to ask. But I also think it’s worth the effort to at least try.

I look forward, at the very least, to the conversation such efforts might engender.

Until next time, See Blue.