Go inside UK’s newest spaces with President Eli Capilouto
Video produced by UK Marketing and Strategic Communication. To view captions for this video, push play and click on the CC icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. If using a mobile device, click on the “thought bubble” in the same area.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 24, 2026) — Today, students are beginning the 2026-27 academic year on a campus that is in the middle of yet another transformation.
During the past 15 years, the University of Kentucky has invested more than $8 billion in facilities designed to support students, faculty, staff and patients. Projects to support healthcare, enhance academics, improve infrastructure and boost quality of life and community are helping the institution focus on advancing the Commonwealth.
In the early days of this transformation, UKNow started a Campus Walks series where our cameras captured UK President Eli Capilouto strolling through campus to show off new spaces and talk about why they were so important to our community and Commonwealth.
With so many new buildings opening for the first time this semester, several more spaces moving closer to completion and still other projects on the horizon, UKNow is bringing back the Campus Walks series to kick off the new academic year and provide an update on this latest phase of UK’s campus transformation.
In the latest Campus Walks video, UK President Eli Capilouto walks through some of these new spaces, connecting more recent projects to the mission of the University of Kentucky.
Watch the video above to experience these new places and to learn more about the people — from donors to elected officials to construction workers — who make all this possible.
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 healthcare. 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 $1.02 billion research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.