‘The Kentuckian’ yearbook is back
UPDATE: Portrait dates have been moved to Feb. 17-21. See latest information here: https://www.kernelyearbook.com/student-portraits
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 25, 2024) — After a 10-year absence, “The Kentuckian,” the University of Kentucky’s yearbook, is returning to campus.
Through a partnership with Main Campus Publications, a new and improved “The Kentuckian” will offer students the opportunity to submit portraits and personal photos for inclusion in the yearbook. Parents and friends of graduates may also submit congratulatory messages.
Up until 2015, “The Kentuckian” was a yearly tradition since 1938 for students to remember the student life, campus traditions and accomplishments of the UK community. Like traditional yearbooks, “The Kentuckian” includes photos and information on students, academic successes, sports, Greek life events, organizations and more. The yearbook serves as a memento for all students to remember their time at UK.
Hannah Stanley, a senior majoring in marketing and digital and mass communication and former editor-in-chief of the Kentucky Kernel, is now working with other students and faculty to bring “The Kentuckian” back to UK students.
“Being a December graduate, I am over the moon to have such an opportunity to not only promote the yearbook, but also have the chance to see and share my own photos and memories from college,” she said. “I was fortunate enough to be a part of the Kentucky Kernel all throughout my time at UK and had the honor of leading the newsroom last year where I shared the campus’ own stories, but the idea of having a college yearbook to do that for each student creates a personal narrative in a way the Kernel’s coverage could never.”
All undergraduate and graduate students are invited to submit a portrait photo online, but seniors and graduate/doctoral students have a special opportunity to have a free professional portrait taken, by appointment, on the following dates and times:
- Nov. 4-8
10 a.m.-7 p.m.
12A Blazer Dining on the lower level
- Nov. 11-15
10 a.m.-7 p.m.
12A Blazer Dining on the lower level
Make an appointment at https://www.kernelyearbook.com/student-portraits.
In addition to the yearbook, seniors are welcome to use their portrait photo for graduation announcements, LinkedIn, internship applications or resume photos.
Students can also submit party pictures and selfies from throughout the year for the yearbook’s scrapbook section.
Parents can get involved by submitting congratulatory messages to their students for their successful year at UK. Photos and congratulatory messages for “The Kentuckian” can be submitted online at https://www.kernelyearbook.com/.
Stanley says having a yearbook is particularly meaningful for her graduating class, whose freshman year was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Many of the 2024-25 seniors lost out on their senior year of high school from COVID. Our yearbook was cut short, alongside our graduation ceremony and so many other things to follow, that this final chapter of school means a bit more to us than some,” she said. “College is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I'm looking forward to having something of a physical copy to keep these memories close to me and reminisce on them when I wish I could go back and do it all over again.”
For questions about the yearbook, email editor@kernelyearbook.com.
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.