magical puzzle transforming this remarkable place. With two more pieces in place, the vision of
our future becomes clearer.”
President Capilouto then asked the Board to “imagine in your mind’s eye” what north
campus might look like in the fall of 2017. Acting as a tour guide, the following is what he
hopes a prospective student or a UK alumnus would see. He began:
“We are going to travel down the Avenue of Champions from Rose Street to Limestone
and back. Our present will meet our past when we walk. For generations who came before,
memories will be unleashed. For the next generation, engaging new spaces will grip the
imagination. For all generations, college must be a time when passions soar, values take root,
minds roam the hills of discovery and promise, character grows, and most importantly, we learn
the most about ourselves in the most disproportionate ways. But from generation to generation,
those of us in leadership, to keep this promise, must be willing to evolve the ways and places in
which we learn and create.”
“The first stop on our tour is Memorial Coliseum, designed by the noted architect Ernst
Johnson. For 25 years it was home to our men's basketball team. During that time, they won
89% of their home games, two national championships, and 16 SEC championships. Today the
court of the Fiddlin' Five and Rupp's Runts is now that of the Queens of the Hardwood. Our UK
Women's Hoops team and several other women's programs, including gymnastics and volleyball,
come alive in this arena. Yes, there are prominent banners and trophies to honor athletes of
yesterday and those of today. But let us not forget who Memorial Coliseum was most designed
to honor, those Kentuckians who fought and died in World Wars I and II, the Korean War and
the Vietnam war. Recognition of their duty, courage, honor, service, are values we must cede to
this next generation, and what we do there must be more fitting and more instructive by 2017.
Today if you go there, the print of their names fades in dimly-lit cases, barely noticed by the
thousands of people who walk by. We can do better to honor their memories. We must do so, to
let their past triumphs illuminate our future path.”
President Capilouto continued, “crossing Lexington Avenue, we're going to arrive at
Champions Court I and II that you approved just 15 months ago. Now, they are magnificent
buildings, and space does matter. But the life that you breathe into that space matters more.
Later this afternoon, the Provost will tell you about the most rapid scale-up of imaginative living
learning communities in the nation, all designed with one goal in mind: enhancing and
maximizing student success. Our deepest hopes and most profound dreams are invested in this
space, not just for what they're going to do for retention and graduation rates, but what they will
mean as a house for all peoples, first generation Kentuckians, men and women from east and
west. There will be Pell Grant recipients from hard scrabble hills and farms to under-served
urban corridors. There'll be people from affluent homes and those from all 50 states and well
beyond our country's borders. And there'll be students of different religions, cultures, colors,
family structure, sexual orientation, and points of view. In these new houses, we hope to grow
what the economist Noah Smith has called the ‘equality of respect.’ American journalist Mickey
Kaus wrote this past week that ‘this social equality must lie at the root of our worries about
economic equality.’ He [Kaus] quoted President Reagan, who said:

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