WATCH: Favorite Moments From UK's 1st Week of Fall Semester
Video produced by UK Public Relations and Strategic Communications and Marketing and Brand Strategy. 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. 27, 2021) — From watching fireworks to making friends at K Week to meeting new professors — it's been a momentous week on the University of Kentucky campus.
Watch the video above to see some of our favorite moments from the first few days of the 2021-22 academic year.
Be sure to view the photo gallery below for a look at some of our favorite photographs from this week.
![First day of the 2021 Fall semester on August 23, 2021. Photo by Pete Comparoni | UKphoto This is a photo from the first day of the 2021 Fall semester on August 23, 2021.](https://uknow.uky.edu/sites/default/files/styles/uknow_story_image/public/210821FirstDay134.jpg)
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.