The University of Kentucky offers a variety of choices to students. The choices range from a number of dining options, residence halls, and athletic facilities to student organizations, religious groups, Greek-letter organizations, and intramural competitions/campus recreation.
Reopened in 2018 after a major expansion and renovation project which saw almost all of the previous Student Center demolished, with only the original 1938 Student Center remaining from the pre-renovation complex. During this project, the temporary "Bowman's Den", located next to the Singletary Center for the Arts, served as the student center.
There are also two convenience stores, located at Blazer Dining and at The 90.
The meal plans for on-campus students no longer utilize a declining-balance system, similar to a debit card. In 2005, a new "all care to eat" plan was initiated to the disfavor of 84.9% of the student body.[2] The cheapest meal plan for on-campus students is $949 per semester, extending upward to $2,013 per semester. These plans also include $300 in "flex dollars" which can be used at all on-campus dining locations, convenience stores, and also Starbucks.
Students can also use their Plus Account to eat at a few select off-campus restaurants, such as McDonald's or Fazoli's.
The construction of The 90 was completed in 2015 by a design team which included Aramark, RossTarrant Architects[3] (Architect of Record & Lead Project Manager) and Tipton Associates (dining services designer). The 82,000-square-foot facility features seating for 1,000, including bar, family, traditional, active, indoor and outdoor seating, as well as student support spaces such as meeting spaces and technology-rich collaborative learning classrooms.
The university provides several facilities for unwinding from the daily campus grind. The Johnson Center, a 12,000-square-foot (1,100 m2) two-story structure located at South Campus, features basketball, volleyball, badminton, racketball, and wallyball courts, along with weight-lifting facilities, and rock climbing walls. It is also the home for some group fitness classes utilizing a large aerobics studio.
The Lancaster Aquatic Center, located next to the Johnson Center, opened in 1989 and features 10 lanes for lap swimming and has shallow space for other water activities.
The Seaton Center, now part of the Johnson Center, features facilities for basketball, volleyball, badminton, jogging, squash, table tennis, and racquetball.
In 2018, the north campus' first recreational facility in decades, Alumni Gym Fitness Center, opened as part of the Student Center expansion and renovation project. The facility is a major renovation of the historic Alumni Gymnasium, which had been home to UK men's basketball from 1924 to 1950.
Residence Halls
The North Campus residence halls, with downtown Lexington in the background.The Kirwan-Blanding residence halls complex.
Name
Location
Notes
Dale E. Baldwin Hall
South Campus
Constructed in 2005. Co-ed.
Ball Hall
South Campus
Opened in the fall of 2014; known as Woodland Glen II before the 2020–21 school year.
Blanding I, II, III, IV, Tower
South Campus
This, along with the mirror-image Kirwan complex, was home to nearly 5,000 students, most of them freshmen. Blanding Tower was 23 stories tall. The tower was decommissioned as student housing after the 2015–16 school year, with the four low-rises decommissioned a year later; the entire complex was demolished in 2020.
Blazer Hall
North Campus
Female-only dorm. Decommissioned as housing in 2013; since partially renovated into classroom space, with the existing dining facility expanded and renovated. The building is now known as Blazer Dining.
Georgia M. Blazer Hall
North Campus
Opened in Fall 2014.
Boyd Hall
North Campus
Demolished in 2014.
Cloona Belle Matthews Boyd Hall
North Campus
Opened in fall 2016 on the site of the former Keeneland Hall.
Chellgren Hall
South Campus
Opened in the fall of 2014; known as Woodland Glen I until 2017.
Donovan Hall
Central Campus
Female-only dorm, closed in 2014. The Jacobs Science Building currently stands on the site.
Opened in the fall of 2014 at the site of the original Haggin Hall. Part of the UK Honors Quad.
Holmes Hall
North Campus
Ended its service as a coed dorm, though it was female-only and male-only at different times in the past. Demolished in 2014; its site is now occupied by most of Sarah Bennett Holmes Hall.
Sarah Bennett Holmes Hall
North Campus
Opened in 2016. Occupies the site of the former Holmes and Jewell Halls.
Margaret Ingels Hall
South Campus
Constructed in 2005. Co-ed.
Jewell Hall
North Campus
Demolished in 2014. The site is now occupied by part of Sarah Bennett Holmes Hall.
This, along with the Blanding complex, was home to nearly 5,000 students, most of them freshmen. Kirwan Tower was 23 stories tall. The tower was decommissioned as student housing after the 2015–16 school year, with the four low-rises decommissioned a year later; the entire complex was demolished in 2020.
Lewis Hall
South Campus
Opened in fall 2017; serves as both a residence hall and office space for UK's Lewis Honors College. Part of the UK Honors Quad.
Pigman Hall
South Campus
Opened in Fall 2015; known as Woodland Glen III before the 2023–24 school year
Co-ed dorm. Originally constructed as the UK's first women's dormitory in 1904.
John T. Smith Hall
South Campus
Constructed in 2005. Co-ed.
University Flats
South Campus
Opened in fall 2017 as graduate/professional student housing.
Woodland Glen IV, V
South Campus
Opened in Fall 2015; to be renamed. The first two Woodland Glen dorms opened in 2014, while the third Woodland Glen dorm also opened in Fall 2015; one was renamed in 2017, the second was renamed in 2020, and the third was renamed in 2023.
Campus Safety
The university has had issues with safety on campus. In a survey of 1000 female university students, conducted in the spring of 2004, 36.5% reported having been victims of rape, stalking, or physical assault while at campus.[4][5] While campus law enforcement statistics do not match the survey results, campus officials have taken steps to increase safety.[6]
In response to the survey, University President Lee T. Todd, Jr. launched an initiative in September 2005 titled the Campus Safety Imperative, which included a quadrupling of annual expenditures on safety.[7] Todd specifically linked campus safety to the goal of becoming a top-20 public research institution, stating that "We will never make gains toward becoming a top-20 public research institution if our students are unsafe or if they lack a sense of physical security. It is part of our fundamental mission, then, to create a campus that provides a safe place to live, to work, and to learn."[5]
^Rose, Sean. "Despite vote, meal plan unchanged." Kentucky Kernel [Lexington] 24 August 2006, sec. Campus news. 5 September 2006 [1][permanent dead link].
