In the early commonwealth of Kentucky, higher education was limited to children from prominent families, disciplined apprentices, and young men seeking entry into clerical, legal, and medical professions.

[16] Three years later, the college formed the Agricultural Experiment Station, which researches issues relating to agribusiness, food processing, nutrition, water and soil resources and the environment.

Residents had to cross a swampy depression, where the now demolished Student Center later stood, to reach central campus.

[16] On March 15, 1948, Lyman T. Johnson applied to the University of Kentucky Graduate School for a doctorate degree in the Philosophy of History.

Johnson, citing Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 filed suit against the university for wrongful discrimination and failure to maintain equal learning intuitions.

[22] Citing the Fourteenth amendment, Ford ruled that all qualified individuals, regardless of race, be allowed to attend the university's graduate program until an equally academically acceptable institution is established for the use of African Americans.

[16] Two years later, the board of trustees implemented the legislation and established the Community College System, creating centers in Covington, Ashland, Fort Knox, Cumberland, Henderson and Elizabethtown.

On April 3, 1998, work began on the William T. Young Library, which was the largest university project at the time of completion.

Nine years after the completion of the William T. Young Library, on April 13, 2007, an entire city block of neighborhood homes were demolished and ground was broken for the Biological Pharmaceutical Complex Building, the largest academic building in the state of Kentucky, and one of the largest in the United States.

[35] Other recent announcements include the construction of the new $450 million Albert B. Chandler Hospital, which will was one of the largest projects in the state's history in terms of size and economic impact.

[36] The plan would also spur technological advancements due to university-based research and increase the marketability of the state to investors.

[36] Currently, the William T. Young Library book endowment is the largest among public universities in the United States.

In recent years, the university has focused expenditures increasingly on research, following a compact formed by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1997.

UKSGA also exists to protect and expand student substantive and procedural rights with the university and surrounding municipalities.

Finally, UKSGA exists to better represent the student body in relations with faculty, administration, Board of Trustees and the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

[71] In the early twentieth century, a group called The Strollers consisted of performers either studying or employed at the university or nearby.

A group of performers and their benefactors, led by Carol M. Sax, raised more money to make the church into a theater, calling it Romany.

[76] After leaving Lexington, Sax staged Arthur Wilmurt's The Guest Room on Broadway in 1931; it ran for a respectable 67 shows.

[77] Frank C. Fowler was the second director of the Kentucky Guignol; he had received his master's degree from Brown University in 1928 and was hired by UK that same year.

[84] The Electrical and Computer Engineering Department was the home of one of the earliest college amateur radio stations in the United States, beginning with W4JP that began continuous operation prior to World War I.

[87] In 1971, WBKY was one of the first to carry NPR's "All Things Considered" and helped debut National Public Radio, changing its call letters to WUKY in 1989 to better reflect its affiliation with the university.

The campus is also served by the Kentucky Kernel, a student-run, financially independent daily newspaper, with the first issue published in 1915.

[94] FarmHouse's chapter was suspended in 2021 for four years by the university, after a pledge died while attending a party in the fraternity's house.

(Not an NCAA recognized championship)[33] After defeating number-one ranked Oklahoma 13–7 in the Sugar Bowl under legendary coach Bear Bryant, Kentucky was also a co-national champion for the 1950 season.

[99] The school also has a popular club-level men's ice hockey team and a rugby program that competes at the Division 1 level.

[14] Among them is the William T. Young Library, which houses a general undergraduate collection and social sciences, humanities, business, biology, and agricultural materials.

[109] The University of Kentucky Alumni Association is the primary affiliation for former students and faculty, and is located at the corner of Rose Street and Euclid Avenue.

The building, dedicated in 1963, is named for Helen G. King, the first permanent director of the association and a former "Miss University of Kentucky".

The association also meets at Spindletop Hall, a large mansion along Iron Works Pike, which serves as a central alumni gathering point.

Randall Cobb, a wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers; Josh Hines-Allen, a defensive end for the Jacksonville Jaguars; Anthony Davis, a power forward and center for Los Angeles Lakers; and Derek Bryant, a former outfielder for the Oakland Athletics from 1973 to 1981, are a few sports alumni from the university.