UofL is one of only 21 universities nationwide to earn both the Research 1 (R1) and Opportunity College & University (OCU) designations in the .

In April, UofL was named an OCU in the Student Access and Earnings Classification, the latest recognition in the redesigned system of Carnegie Classifications from the Carnegie Foundation and the American Council on ����ֱ��. OCUs “can serve as a model for studying how campuses can foster student success,” according to the Carnegie Foundation.

“UofL is dedicated to redefining student success, ensuring our Cardinals have access to an outstanding education that prepares them for the careers and challenges of tomorrow,” said President Gerry Bradley. “We are honored to be recognized as an Opportunity College and delighted for others to recognize what our students, our alumni and their employers have already discovered – the incredible value of a UofL degree.”

The Student Access and Earnings Classification measures whether institutions are enrolling and creating opportunities for students in communities they serve, as well as whether students earn competitive wages after they attend.

UofL was classified “higher access, higher earnings” to give it the OCU title. It is the only ACC institution to receive the OCU rating and one of only two public colleges in Kentucky, the other being Eastern Kentucky University. Bellarmine University, a private institution, also made the cut.

There are 479 OCUs across the country and 187 R1s. UofL received its reaffirmation as an R1 in February. The Carnegie Foundation and the American Council on ����ֱ�� set out to update the Carnegie Classifications this year to better reflect the current nature of higher education and its benefits.

“With this redesign of the Carnegie Classifications, we set out to measure what matters,”  Mushtaq Gunja, executive director of the Carnegie Classification systems and senior vice president at ACE, said in a press release. “Nowadays, institutions can’t be reduced down to the highest degree they award because they exist to serve a wide range of students in a wide variety of ways. Using multiple factors in how we classify institutions is an essential step toward making the classifications more useful to researchers, policymakers, funding agencies, and others.”

UofL also is one of 369 institutions nationwide classified as a Carnegie Community Engaged University, earning recognition for its multifaceted . Together, the three Carnegie Classifications highlight how UofL creates and applies knowledge and innovation that makes a positive impact on students, community and society.

Learn more about how UofL helps students for opportunities in college and their beyond.

The university and UofL Health joined Junior Achievement of Kentuckiana to enhance students’ understanding of health care, financial literacy and career pathways in the health care industry.

The interactive exhibit at JA Finance Park includes real-life scenarios and will highlight the journey from being a UofL student to becoming a professional in the health care industry, with UofL Health serving as a key employer in the region.

According to Junior Achievement of Kentuckiana, UofL and UofL Health are joining a network of community-minded organizations committed to equipping young people with the tools and knowledge needed to succeed in an ever-evolving economy.

“We are excited to work with the University of Louisville and UofL Health to provide students with a unique and inspiring learning experience,” said Jennifer Helgeson, president of Junior Achievement of Kentuckiana.

UofL Online Learning received a five-star rating and came in it at No. 53 in America’s Top Online Colleges 2025 listing. Of the four Kentucky universities on Newsweek’s list – UofL, University of Kentucky, Somerset Community College and Western Kentucky University – UofL came out with the highest ranking by just over 40 spots. UofL is the third-highest Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) school on the list following Stanford University and the University of Virginia.

This is the fourth annual list produced by Newsweek and Statista to recognize the top 250 colleges in the country that offer online undergraduate and graduate programs. The research was based on a survey of more than 10,000 individuals across the U.S. who participated in online courses to earn academic degrees or boost skills for their jobs. According to Newsweek, schools were ranked “based on organization, support, price, reputation, success, recommendation, practical relevance and overall satisfaction.”

The award is the latest in a long list of accolades for UofL Online Learning. For more than a decade, UofL has been recognized among the “Best Online Programs” by U.S. News & World Report, with two of the ranked online programs – business and psychology – cracking the top 20 nationally in 2024.

The university currently offers more than 70 programs completely online.

Senior Jayden Ulrich is the first Cardinal track and field athlete to represent the U.S. at the Olympics. She’s competing in the women’s discus throw.

“I couldn’t be more excited to represent Team USA at the Olympic Games,” Ulrich said. “It means so much that all the work I’ve put in is finally paying off!”

She won her spot after finishing second in the discus throw at U.S. Olympic Team Trials with a throw of 63.61 meters in the preliminaries and a 62.63 toss in the finals.

Ulrich is the second female Olympian in the history of UofL’s track and field program after Chinwe Okoro ’11 competed in the women’s discus throw for Nigeria at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

UofL is well-represented in Paris, with current student-athletes and alums taking part in swimming, diving, golf and basketball competitions.

Swimming

• Junior Denis Loktev competes for Israel in the 200 free and the freestyle relays.
• Junior Denis Petrashov represents Kyrgyzstan in breaststroke events.
• Junior Murilo Sartori competes for Brazil on the 800 freestyle relay team.
• Graduate student Ilia Sibirtsev swims for Uzbekistan in the 800 free.
• Nicolas Albiero ’21,’22 joins Sartori on the Brazilian team and competes in the 200 fly.
• Andrej Barna ’22 represents Serbia in freestyle events.
• Evgenii Somov ’22 was granted neutral status to swim at the games and competes in the 100 breast.
• Daria Golovaty, who will be a first-year student at UofL in fall 2024, swims for Israel in the 4×200 freestyle relay.

Diving

• Senior Else Praasterink competes in 10M platform for Netherlands.

Golf

• Matthias Schmid ’21 represents Germany.

Basketball

• Former men’s basketball player Carlik Jones represents South Sudan.

A few Cardinals also are working at the Olympics – associate head swimming coach Reed Fujan is coaching the Uzbekistan swimmers in Paris while former field hockey player Suzanne (Irwin) Bush ’06 joins the broadcast team as NBC’s field hockey analyst for the games. Kara Kessans ’03, a former women’s basketball player at UofL, is the head physical therapist and athletic trainer for the U.S. women’s national volleyball team.��

The Paris Olympics run July 26-Aug. 11. Check for more information on Cardinal Olympians.

The gift, from former Speed School alumni fellow Scott McReynolds ’86 and his wife Jennifer ’84, also represents the kickoff to Raise Some L, UofL’s annual day of giving.

Beginning at 6:02 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 18, and continuing through midnight, Wednesday, Oct. 19, Raise Some L runs for 1,798 minutes in honor of UofL’s founding year. The 30-hour drive, traditionally held during Homecoming Week, is a chance for the Cardinal Community to support students, research and campus initiatives that help build a better world.

The opportunities created by the gift will help underprivileged youth gain critical skills to tackle the world’s problems. The $450,000 donation will provide last dollar scholarships, tutoring and bridge programming, Robotics Research Fellowships within the Louisville Automation and Robotics Research Institute (LARRI), summer research experiences for Central High School students at LARRI and an immersive learning experience trip to Boston, Massachusetts, the hub of robotics research and innovation.

“Gifts like these are inspiring and life-changing,” Interim President Lori Stewart Gonzalez said. “This generous support and other funds raised during our annual day of giving will help fuel the success of our students, advance our research and innovation initiatives and improve our community.”

There have also been several sizable donations that have already been pledged in advance of the day including:  

• Three gifts to the School of Medicine designated for research in the amounts of $1 million, $400,000 and $100,000 from anonymous donors
• $50,000 gift to the Community Band in the School of Music from an anonymous donor
• $33,675 gift to the Breonna Taylor Memorial Scholarship Endowment by Jill Whitten in memory of her parents Ann W. and Donald J. Roth
• $25,000 gift to establish the Karlynn BrintzenhofeSzoc “Scholars in Healthcare Social Work” Scholarship, funded by Ronald Z. Szoc and Karlynn BrintzenhofeSzoc
• $15,000 challenge match that will support various areas across the university by Hank and Rebecca Conn
• $10,000 gift to the UofL Health Brown Cancer Center by Jason Chesney
• $10,000 match gift for the LGBTQ Center by Steve Bass

“UofL’s Day of Giving Campaign is a great way to support the continued success of the Cardinal community by making a gift to an area that inspires you,” Interim Vice President for Advancement Julie Dials said. “This year’s Day of Giving is especially critical as we navigate challenging times to help create thriving futures for our students.”

Raise Some L 2022 begins at 6:02 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 18 and runs through midnight, Wednesday, Oct. 19. Interested participants can make a gift to any area of the university at .

In addition to online giving, in-person donations may be made at the Raise Some L Belknap Campus and Health Sciences Campus headquarters from 10 a.m.- 2 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 19.

The Student Organization for Alumni Relations will be stationed at Raise Some L headquarters at the quads of both campuses with snacks, activities and additional information.�� Share the word about Raise Some L by using #RaiseSomeL.

For information on other UofL Homecoming Week events, please visit the .

It was an especially tough blow for the Class of 2020 who didn’t get to celebrate the end of their final year as Cardinals with a traditional Commencement ceremony or even get a chance to bid farewell to their favorite campus spots.

A new space near the center of Belknap Campus now stands in their honor; the fulfillment of a promise made by the university to the Class of 2020. It’s an oasis from the regular hustle and bustle, where all students can reflect and relax and where the Class of 2020 can return to celebrate their place in UofL’s history.

The university dedicated the 2020 Pavilion on Tuesday, Oct. 11. The space was designed “in honor of the Class of 2020 whose dynamic blend of passion, innovation and resiliency sustained them on their academic journey and through their final days as students, which were irrevocably altered by the COVID-19 pandemic and its historic impact on our world.”

Plans for a commemorative space were announced in May 2020 to mark sacrifices made by students after the pandemic forced the university to deliver all classes virtually during part of spring 2020 and to offer commencement as a virtual rather than in-person experience that year.

Jasper Noble ’20 served as 2019-20 Student Government Association president and well remembers the jarring effect the pandemic had on his senior year.

“The Class of 2020 got hit in a very strange way with [the pandemic]. It came out of nowhere and completely changed how we were going to school and how were living our lives. We were the first graduating class to deal with this new problem,” he said.

The pandemic, while a struggle, did also provide a chance for UofL to truly show it is a Community of Care and to demonstrate its resiliency.

“I think there were a lot of lessons we learned,” Noble said. “How to be flexible, how to be a little more empathetic to those around us. In my experience, people were very patient and very caring right there at the end of the semester. It was a time when we were all very far apart, but we all came together. I think it’s great that there’s a place we can come back to and celebrate the time we had at UofL and, I bet for a lot of people, get that closure that they’re looking for and maybe never got.”  

The original idea to honor the Class of 2020 began with a renaming of the grassy area bordered by the Belknap Academic Building, Lutz Hall, Shumaker Research Building and Schneider Hall to the “2020 Quad,” but with thanks to University Planning, Design and Construction (UPDC), planners began to think bigger.

“We talked about creating a structure with seating so students could use the space to socialize and be on campus – exactly what students in 2020 could not do at the time,” UPDC assistant director Mike Materna said. “We all believed in the vision of making sure students felt heard and supported after a time when that voice was not able to be present.”

Along the way primary donor Messer Construction Co., and supporters Whittenberg Construction Co. and ID+A Inc., along with the Office of the President, provided funding to make the pavilion come to life. With K. Norman Berry and Associates as the architect and Miranda Construction as the contractor, construction began in earnest during the summer of 2022 and was completed at the start of the fall semester.

Embracing the idea of a comfortable gathering space was critical in the design process, Carrie Whitmore, project manager with UPDC, said. “So we specifically picked furniture that would encourage people to stick around – like lounge chairs and communal tables.” Along with the furniture, the pavilion also includes a living wall “so the legacy can live on,” Whitmore added.

The backside of the living wall features a Cardinal logo that can be used as a spot to take a UofL-inspired photo, designed in part to give the Class of 2020 an opportunity to take a picture that could replace the traditional shot they would have taken as they walked across the stage at graduation. And of course, there is a plaque with the dedication to the Class of 2020. Since its completion, students and other members of the campus community can be found lounging in the chairs, studying or grabbing a quick bite.

Noble, who is currently in his second year of law school at Georgetown University, was able to return to UofL last year when his sister was a freshman. He visited as construction was beginning on the recently completed Belknap Village South residence hall and his sister has been keeping him up to date with all the latest campus improvements. As an alum, Noble is proud to see where UofL is going and is honored that through the pavilion, the Class of 2020 is able to  share what makes UofL so special with the classes that followed them.  

“I think one of the points of being a part of a community like UofL is that you put all this work in, you donate so much of your time to the community because you’re grateful that other people have come before you and done that,” he said. “I’m very excited there’s another place for people to relax and really soak in being in this place.”

In 2021, UofL’s Interfaith Center received a makeover, thanks to the couple’s $250,000 gift that funded renovations including paint, lighting, furniture and a new roof.

The Interfaith Center on Belknap Campus provides a welcoming space for students who may be embarking on their first time away from home or their religious community or who seek spiritual enrichment in university life. Built in 1974, the Interfaith Center houses the offices of Hillel, the Jewish organization on campus, as well as the campus ministries for Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian and United Methodist faiths.

“The university is exceptionally thankful to Brian and Mary Lavin for their generosity in supporting major renovations and improvements to the Interfaith Center,” said Michael Mardis, dean of students and vice president of student affairs. “The family has a long history and connection with the University of Louisville, and we are grateful for their ongoing involvement.”

The Lavins also have a strong relationship with a former UofL Catholic Campus Ministry chaplain, the Rev. Martin Martiny, who officiated the weddings of four of the Lavins’ children. When the Lavins found out the Interfaith Center needed updating, they felt it was an important way to help support students.

This story originally appeared in .��

The Cardinal Commitment Grant is a last-dollar scholarship that pays for the remainder of a student’s UofL tuition after they have received and applied federal and state grant awards and additional institutional aid.

“Kentucky students deserve a high-quality and life-changing education, and the Cardinal Commitment Grant allows us to provide that while eliminating the stress of wondering where the money to pay the bill is coming from,” said interim President Lori Stewart Gonzalez. “College affordability is a priority for our university and we are continuously looking at ways to increase access to education.”

To be eligible for the Cardinal Commitment Grant, students must be Kentucky residents with at least a 3.25 weighted GPA who are first-year students enrolled full time at UofL for the fall 2022 semester. Students must have filed the 2022-2023 (FAFSA) and be eligible for a Pell Grant.

“We are proud to serve many Pell-eligible and first-generation students,” said interim Provost Gerry Bradley. “The Cardinal Commitment is another chance for us to redefine our students’ success and do our part to improve social mobility.”

The Cardinal Commitment Grant is renewable until a student earns their first bachelor’s degree; however, the initial award amount is locked in for that time frame regardless of changes to state or federal aid.

Eligible students should by May 1 to be automatically considered for the Cardinal Commitment Grant. Additional details on the scholarship are available at .

Last-dollar scholarships are designed to award additional aid to cover the cost of tuition. The award amount is calculated by taking the cost of tuition minus all federal and state grant awards minus all university/institutional aid. The Cardinal Commitment Grant will cover tuition and bundled fees.

Now, the university is furthering that message past our campus borders. Here & Beyond, UofL’s newest advertising campaign debuted Jan. 17 with a and national advertising presence.

“The Here & Beyond campaign is the culmination of a multi-year effort to evolve the university’s brand, getting to the core of who Cardinals are, what we do and why it matters,” said Interim President Lori Gonzalez.�� “The campaign is especially critical in challenging times like these to celebrate the university’s progress and distinctiveness, and to highlight the brand attributes – including resilience, passion and innovation – that help us create thriving futures for our students, our community and our society”

After extensive research with input from thousands of students, faculty, staff, alumni and Kentuckians, the university centered its campaign around showing UofL’s impact in student success, research and innovation and connection with local and global communities. That message blends together with a striking new look for the campaign, which can be seen in national television commercials, billboards, digital advertising and more.

More than 200 students, faculty, staff and alumni participated in brand video and photo shoots last fall, in front of the cameras and behind the scenes. Throughout the year, stories of the Cardinals featured in our brand anthem and advertising materials will be available on the Cardinals like Andrea Behrman, professor of neurological surgery, a leader in the field of pediatric spinal cord research, or Lexi Raikes, a first-generation student and triple major who is Kentucky’s only 2022 Truman Scholar, or alum Connor May ’16, a trumpet player who composed the music for the campaign.

“We know that people want to engage with brands that stand for something. Here & Beyond amplifies our efforts to improve lives through education, research and community service, and it illustrates those efforts through our people,” said Kim Butterweck, executive director of brand and marketing for the Office of Communications and Marketing.  “It’s our people who power our progress.”

UofL worked with multiple partners to bring the campaign to life, including the university’s creative agency, BVK, along with their production partners including Quriosity Productions, Sheldon Candis, Finn O’Hara, Natalie Faye, Nimble Content and May, the composer.

Visit to explore more and look for the campaign on television, social media and billboards throughout Louisville, Lexington and Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Read about in the latest edition of , along with other stories that illustrate how UofL’s alums, students, faculty and staff are making their mark.��  

• : Alumna Frankie Lewis ’11 returns from “Project Runway” to brighten up Louisville.
• : It’s The Thinker’s 70^th anniversary on campus. Find out where UofL students think the university will be in the next seven decades.
• : Cardinal connections litter the city’s revitalized waterfront