These historical markers are part of a program started in 1949 by the in partnership with community members. The program has installed over 2,400 markers throughout the commonwealth to share the state’s rich and complex history. Several of them can be found across UofL’s campuses, each commemorating influential people, pivotal events and the evolving identity of the university.

Learn more about the significance of six of them:

Louis D. Brandeis

• Location: Near the steps to the right of the east front entrance of the .
• Significance: This marker honors Louis D. Brandeis, a prominent lawyer and Supreme Court justice, who graduated from the UofL School of Law in 1875. He actively supported the rights of speech and assembly, consumer protection and women’s rights. The law school was renamed the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law in 1997.

Brandeis Burial Site

• Location: In front of the law school
• Significance: This marker commemorates the burial site of Louis D. Brandeis and his wife Alice Brandeis, a social activist who supported health care and education.

Founding of Jefferson Seminary

• Location: Off 3rd St. near Grawemeyer Hall��
• Significance: This marks the site of the original Jefferson Seminary, which evolved into the University of Louisville. April 3, 1798, is the university’s symbolic founding date. On this date, eight Louisvillians pledged financial support for a new school. The Louisville Medical Institute opened in 1837 and merged in 1846 with Louisville College, an outgrowth of Jefferson Seminary. A law school was added, and the new entity was named the University of Louisville in 1846.

Charles H. Parrish Jr.

• Location: In the courtyard between Gardiner and Gottschalk Halls.
• Significance: This marker honors Charles H. Parrish Jr., a noted sociologist and a lifelong civil rights activist, who became the first black professor at UofL when it became integrated. His work as an activist yielded friendships with many Civil Rights era luminaries.

Belknap Campus

• Location: On Third Street in front of Oppenheimer Hall.
• Significance: The University of Louisville’s Belknap Campus was originally the site of the Industrial School of Reform and House of Refuge, founded in 1860. During the Civil War, Union troops used the institution as barracks and parade ground. In 1923, the University of Louisville took over the property, including its original buildings, and named it the University campus. It was renamed the Belknap Campus in 1927 to honor its benefactor, William R. Belknap.

Gottschalk Hall

• Location: In front of the building.
• �������Ծ��ھ������Գ���:��The most recent addition to the historical markers at UofL. From its completion in 1894 until 1923, the building served as a dormitory for African American girls at the Louisville Industrial School of Reform. UofL acquired the building in 1923 for the chemistry department, then social sciences. Today, it is fittingly the home of the history department. The hall is named in honor of Louis Gottschalk, a distinguished historian of the French Revolution who was a valued member of the UofL history faculty from 1923 to 1927. Learn more

• New main UofL website��

Students, faculty, staff and community partners can now more easily find important information on UofL’s , which launched just in time for start of the 2024-2025 academic year. This effort is part of the university’s . The site includes overview pages for departments and strategic areas linking back to their existing sites. All other websites will launch on the new Drupal system by Nov. 22.

• Building updates throughout campus

Major progress has been made on our next-generation engineering hub, and many of our longstanding facilities have upgrades aimed at improving their functionality, comfort and safety. Among these include the renovation of the Ernst Hall auditorium, with a new stage, seats, flooring, painting and lights. The corridor also received a refresh of lobbies and other student spaces. Work on an addition will get underway this academic year. The project, expected to be completed in summer 2025, will provide additional space for students to study and collaborate, along with more office space and archive space to preserve the history of the university and Commonwealth of Kentucky.

• Cardinal Marching Band to debut new uniforms
  

  

The will return to L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium this fall with a brand-new look.��Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, the band will step out in new uniforms. The design showcases a two-toned red and white jacket with a metallic gradient sash, accentuated by a small red gothic “L” on the right sleeve. Positioned prominently, the iconic Cardinal bird adorns the left chest, while the “Louisville” wordmark spans across the upper back.������

• University Safety App: Card Armor

UofL students, staff and faculty can now download the new��. This will allow access to several important resources. When visiting your preferred app store, search for the safety app by typing “cardarmor” as one word. Card Armor replaces the previous version of Rave Guardian but does not replace the Rave Emergency Notification System. All traditional methods of communicating with the also are still available.

• Blackboard Ultra

UofL has transitioned to for all fall 2024 classes. Blackboard Ultra is more modern and mobile-friendly. Some features have changed. As you gear up for this semester, take a few moments to��.

• New immigration clinic at the law school

The will launch a new immigration law clinic this fall to provide critical legal services to the growing immigration population, teach law students necessary skills to successfully practice law, and develop a pipeline of immigration law attorneys.��The clinic will serve clients who are authorized to be present in the United States and the Commonwealth of Kentucky but do not have the requisite documentation to prove it.��Law students, working under the supervision of a licensed, full-time attorney with extensive experience in immigration law, will take responsibility to represent clients and assist them in completing the required paperwork. ��

• New outpatient clinic and simulation operating room at the nursing school

The is opening a new simulation outpatient clinic and simulated operating room to provide the most up-to-date tools and experience for students in its nurse practitioner and nurse anesthetist programs. The space located on the first floor of the school has been repurposed from a former pediatric clinic. The new rooms will provide a modernized hands-on learning environment for students preparing to enter these specialties. This space will add to the already existing simulation and clinical training labs within the nursing school and Health Sciences Center campus, bolstering the educational opportunities for our students.

As you navigate the college experience, UofL has your back. You’re never alone in the Cardinal Community. Whether your needs are related to academic success, personal wellness, general well-being or recreational activities, there are resources available to enhance your overall student experience and to ensure a thriving future. Check out these 10 helpful campus websites:

1. ��–��UofL hosts over 400 student organizations that cover a wide variety of student interests. These groups provide a wonderful opportunity to become involved in campus life and to connect with other students on campus who enjoy some of the same things you do. Find the list of contacts on the��.��
2. –The Student Recreation Center (SRC) offers the latest fitness facilities and equipment, complete with basketball and racquetball courts. Campus Recreation also offers activities ranging from group fitness classes to competitive intramural sports to sport clubs.
3. ��–��The Cultural Center supports and offers programs that acknowledge and reflect the experiences of underrepresented populations. It also provides educational opportunities for all members of the campus community to examine their individual and group experiences within a culturally diverse society.
4. ��–��The counseling center offers services such as individual or group counseling, workshops, couples therapy, urgent consultations and psychiatric referrals. Some of the services are covered by student fees and do not require additional payment. The website also provides a list of��
5. ��–��The Cardinal Station and Health Sciences Center (HSC) Campus Health Services (CHS) offices provide basic primary care including physical exams, immunizations, allergy shots, travel medicine, flu and COVID-19 shots, sexual health and contraception and more. CHS has an insurance advocate who assists students enrolled in the UofL student health insurance program.
6. ��–�����Ǵڳ�’s����provides community-building socials with other first-gen students, workshops and individual coaching. Participants can earn completion grants toward their UofL bill.����matches first-generation, first-year students with faculty and staff for individual mentoring in the��.��
7. ��–��The University Writing Center offers one-on-one or group consultations to both undergraduate and graduate students with a trained writing consultant. The center also provides a range of online resources.
8. ��–��This is where many students can find out about outside-the-classroom learning opportunities, whether they are work-related (internships, co-ops) or research-focused. The Center for Engaged Learning (CEL) is an on-campus resource for UofL, the community and industry partners that helps Cardinals better prepare for academic and success.
9. ��–��What’s going on today? You’ll find happenings from Belknap to HSC listed on the official UofL Event Calendar.
10. ��–��The ITS HelpDesk provides technology support to the Cardinal community. The ITS website features a Knowledge Base, Service Catalog and FAQ section with answers to questions like “What software is free for enrolled students?” and “What digital storage options are available?”

Several of these resources are sanctioned by UofL’s or the . The Office of Student Involvement is a hub for cultural, social and recreational programs, while the Student Success Center provides resources related to advising, academics, financial well-being and belonging.

According to the UofL Student Success Center, whether a student is in need of a laptop, exploring a new major, facing a financial barrier or simply looking for a peer who’s been there before, the SSC is the place to turn.

We urge you to explore the wide array of programs and activities at UofL. We’ll be here every step of the way!

The traditional-style hall is the second to open in two years on Belknap Campus, providing modern, affordable housing that goes to the heart of student success.

Called New Residence Hall (NRH), the building will accommodate 450 primarily first-year students in one- and two-bedroom units on five floors. It will also be home to UofL’s new, where ��students can find hands-on job and research opportunities.

“We know students, especially in their first year, thrive when they are immersed in the college experience,” said Lori Stewart Gonzalez, interim president. “This new hall and its twin neighbor place 900 first-year students as close as they can be to the Swain Student Activities Center, the Interfaith Center, Ekstrom Library, numerous classroom buildings and our beautiful outdoor spaces.”

As part of its strategic plan, UofL has invested $87 million in these two Belknap Campus student housing projects over the past two years. Last year, UofL celebrated the opening of NRH’s neighbor and twin, currently named Belknap Residence Hall.

“The opening of this new residence hall is a culmination of over a decade of planning and implementing capital improvements to make the University of Louisville a vibrant learning and residential community for our students,” said Michael Mardis, vice president for student affairs and dean of students. “We at the university are excited to see a large number of new freshmen and returning students choosing to live on campus this year. Students who live on campus both here at UofL and nationally are more likely to be successful students.”

To make room, UofL demolished Miller and Threlkeld halls, which had been home to first-year students for close to six decades.

“Our new residence halls have the amenities students are looking for in the 21st century and will contribute to their success,” said Tom Hardy, executive director of university housing and the resident experience.

NRH was designed with input from students and offers common areas with abundant natural light, classrooms, private study rooms, a game room, a kitchen and several laundry areas. It also features private bathrooms.

Messer Construction was tapped to complete the project. During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Messer’s Jason Larkin said the company wanted to “meaningfully engage students” throughout the building process and created five co-ops for students to work on the project. Three of those students have since graduated and are now full-time employees at Messer.��

“I had the opportunity to tour the New Residence Hall shortly before construction was complete,” said Dorian Brown, 2022-2023 president of the UofL Student Government Association. “I thought it was pretty cool seeing a friend of mine who graduated from UofL after my freshman year, was on the construction team and was involved in bringing the New Residence Hall to life!”

A time capsule focused on the construction years of 2021 to 2022 was placed near the building’s dedication marker by the main door. It holds items such as the university’s strategic plan, a message from Gonzalez, Covid tests and masks, a newspaper marking the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine and sports updates.

In addition to these halls, UofL Athletics will soon celebrate the opening of the new 128-bed Denny Crum Residence Hall near the basketball practice facility.

The majority opted to continue to pay. Today, that loyalty has paid off.

The University Club reopened in September with a new catering partner, Aramark, which also provided $350,000 to replace worn carpet and furniture, redecorate and give the inside of the building a fresh coat of paint.

And while the pandemic’s latest victim – the supply chain – has delayed some of the new décor, the University Club is already hosting catered events, serving lunch along with a new menu of pub dinners and is offering Thanksgiving take-out meals.

“Slowly but surely, we’re getting all the pieces back in place,” said University Club President Jeanine Triplett. “We were able to open again because everyone stayed with us.”

The club is waiving initiation fees to encourage more to join. A partial membership costs $15 monthly and entitles the member to dine in for lunch or a dinner in the pub. Other levels allow members to host private events with no rental costs. All members can participate in members-only events, such as Trivia Night.

“This is the place where people connect,” said longtime member Brian Buford, UofL’s executive director for university culture and employee success. “When you’re a young professional and you’re trying to find your way and establish yourself in your career, making those personal connections is really important. And so for the small price of membership, a lot of really valuable things happen here, a lot of important meetings happen here, conversations. I can think of so many times over the years that big transitions in my life or big moments in my career really happened over conversations here at the club.”

Matt Willinger, executive director of UofL Alumni, said the club is also great for recreation, especially for keeping tabs on the Cardinals when they’re on the road.

“Whether you’re coming down to campus to meet somebody for lunch or whether you’re joining a group of friends or family for a game to watch here at night, they’ve got a little bit to offer for everybody, no matter what you’re into,” Willinger said. “It’s just a great gathering place and the central location here in the middle of campus makes it really easy for everyone.”

Another longtime member, former UofL basketball player Phillip Bond, called the club the “best kept secret in town,” especially because of its variety of good food.

“I guarantee that you would enjoy it,” he said.

More information about the .��

Chief of Police Gary Lewis provided senators an overview of the current state of campus security. Lewis reported that the number of security cameras across UofL has nearly doubled over the past year. In addition to the increase in number, many of the new cameras are more advanced and offer a wider range of visual coverage. Lewis also informed senators of the continuing effort to standardize access control among all university campuses.

“On Belknap campus, only about 60% of the campus is access controlled. Health Sciences Campus is 100% access controlled. We’re improving some technologies [on Belknap] so that card readers will be able to provide you with the ability to gain access entry into all buildings,” Lewis stated. “Our goal is 100% access control on Belknap campus similar to HSC.”

Senators were also introduced to Kari Aikins, the recently appointed director of Total Rewards. Mary Elizabeth Miles, VP of Human Resources, informed senators that Total Rewards encompasses retirement, compensation and benefits. Aikins will also serve as co-chair for

Keith Sherman, chief operating officer and executive director of the , provided senators with an overview of the foundation’s record-setting portfolio. The UofL Foundation and the UofL Real Estate Foundation boasted combined Total Assets of just over $1.3 billion, the highest in the history of both foundations. Total Endowment Assets also reached an all-time high at $922 million. The main endowment pool, which serves as the source of nearly all available endowment funding across the university, also reached a record $817 million as of July 12.

Sherman stated, “We saw 33% returns in the stock market through May; for perspective, our goal is 6.2% a year. Over the last year, we’ve returned five times what we expect to get in the marketplace, which is unbelievable. That 33% return for an endowment will probably put us in the top 10% of all endowments across the country.”

Sherman credited the overwhelming growth of the main endowment pool to several changes made by the foundation over the past year.

“We made a lot of changes this year. We changed investment advisors, we changed our investment strategy, we simplified things and sometimes it is just important to be good as well as lucky. We made some good, thoughtful decisions and when the market went crazy after the COVID-19 drop last March, we were perfectly positioned to maximize our returns,” Sherman said.

Committee reports and a of the virtual meeting can be found on the .

The Staff Senate will not meet during the month of August in order to provide orientation for the 21 first-time Staff Senate representatives. The next Staff Senate meeting is scheduled for Sept. 8 via a hybrid format with the option of remote attendance via Teams, or in-person attendance at Ekstrom Library’s Chao Auditorium.

In preparation for the return to campus, President Bendapudi and Provost Gonzalez stressed the importance of in-person work through a .

“This fall, we expect to offer a majority of in-person classes and highly engaging experiences on campus that support the whole student body. To do that, we must have a strong, welcoming presence in our classrooms and student-service areas. This means front-facing and student-service positions will need to have a consistent presence on campus,” the communication noted.��

Although many have eagerly awaited the return to pre-COVID conditions, the impending transition back to in-person work has left employees throughout the nation feeling anxious. Over the past year and a half, individuals rose to the occasion and adapted to the difficulties of isolation and remote working conditions. Just as employees have fully adjusted to these changes, employers are now requesting personnel to return to in-person operations. Several universities have proposed stringent policies that will make remote work difficult for employees, which has caused mounting tensions and high turnover rates among university workers nationwide.

While there is an emphasis on in-person work at UofL, leadership has been committed to providing flexible work options for employees when possible. The went into effect on July 1 and allows UofL employees to request remote work arrangements with their respective department leaders. To help supervisors and employees navigate the process, HR provided a series of training sessions during the month of May to review both the Remote Work Policy and Remote Work Agreement.

The flexibility offered through UofL’s Remote Work Policy intends to lessen the anxieties of both faculty and staff as they resume on-campus work. Employees like Kevin Ledford, enterprise systems programmer with Information Technology Services, see potential for lasting positive changes for employees at UofL.

“During COVID-19, our staff has been largely acting remotely and been doing a fantastic job in the face of challenges. We have proven that a number of our workers can work remotely and be as effective, if not more so, than they were before,” Ledford stated. “Allowing workers flexibility goes a long way towards making UofL a great place to work. Giving the worker the flexibility to request what works best for them and work with their department to come up with a plan is a good step forward.”

Despite the flexibility of working from home, many faculty and staff members have been yearning for in-person interactions with students and colleagues. Sherri Wallace, professor of Political Science, is among the employees eager to return to campus this August.

“I’m looking forward to the energy I get from my students during in-person instruction, the looks on students’ faces that indicate where they are and the dynamic discussions that emanate from being in the moment or in the room. I’m looking forward to the casual or vigorous intellectual exchanges that occur in the hallway or on the way to a meeting with colleagues and staff,” Wallace said. “I realize and appreciate virtual or electronic discussions are now part of the norm for communication; however, nothing can or will ever replace social interaction from working in-sync and in-person with those around you.”

Whether employees are returning to campus, continuing remote work or some hybrid fashion of the two, a cautious optimism is felt throughout as UofL begins transitioning back to pre-COVID operations. For more information on the Remote Work Policy and the return to campus, students and employees can refer to . All remote work requests should be submitted and finalized by Aug. 1, 2021.

The five-story, 452-bed building will house incoming freshmen and is expected to open in fall 2022. It is part of an $87��million project to replace two outdated, 1960s-era residence halls in the heart of campus with two new residence halls that mirror each other in design and structure.

The first residence hall, already under construction, will open in fall 2021.

Together, the two halls will promote student success by providing cost-effective on-campus housing that includes more Living Learning communities — where students who share common interests reside near each other — and is close to classrooms, libraries, dining options and the Student Activities Center.

The new halls are “what students of today expect and deserve,” UofL President Neeli Bendapudi said in a video message. The groundbreaking was live streamed due to safety concerns from the ongoing global pandemic.

In addition, to assist in the planning and design of the new halls.

“These halls are built in a way students asked for,” said Grace Beebe, a representative of the student Residence Hall Association. Henrietta Ransdell, a Student Government Association representative who is also advising the planning and design, said the two halls are breathing “new life” to Belknap Campus from the inside and the outside.

Campus Housing Director Tom Hardy said the world-class residence halls include highlights such as two-story student lounges and are being built with construction materials that will stand the test of time.

“This is a great time for the students,” said Mike Materna, UofL’s assistant director of university planning, design and construction.

More details about the construction are��. To view the recorded ceremony,��

The University of Louisville commemorates Black history every day through the Charles H. Parrish Jr. Freedom Park, created in 2012 between Second and Third streets on the Belknap Campus. That location is intentional, as it used to be adjacent to a monument erected in 1895 to honor Confederate soldiers who died during the Civil War. That monument has since been removed from UofL’s campus.

The park also pays homage to nine civil rights champions with ties to the University of Louisville, who are featured on glass panels on the pergola. Some of these names may sound familiar, including:

• Anne M. Braden– A journalist and nationally known civil rights leader, Braden taught civil rights history for the decade before her death. The Anne Braden Institute at UofL carries forward her legacy.
• Rufus E. Clement– The first dean of Louisville Municipal College in 1931, Clement built a strong faculty before leaving to become president of Atlanta University in 1937.
• Lyman Tefft Johnson– Johnson was the plaintiff in the lawsuit that forced the desegregation at the University of Kentucky Graduate School in 1949. He then launched a campaign to desegregate UofL, which led the Kentucky General Assembly to end racial segregation in all Kentucky colleges and universities in 1950.
• Lucy Freibert– A faculty member from 1971 to 1993, Freibert taught UofL’s first women’s studies course in 1973 and helped establish the Women’s Center and the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies.
• Charles Henry Parrish, Jr.– UofL’s first African-American professor, he joined the university in 1951, the first African-American appointed to the faculty of a historically white university in the south.
• Eleanor Young Love– Dr. Love was the first African-American librarian at the University of Kentucky in 1955. A decade later, she became the first director of Project Upward Bound and an assistant dean at UofL.
• Joseph H. McMillan, Sr.– A 1950 UofL graduate, McMillan returned in 1976 as an assistant provost, professor of education, director of the Office of Minority Affairs and founder of the National Conference on the Black Family in America.
• Woodford R. Porter– A community and business leader, he was the first African-American chair of the UofL Board of Trustees. He served four terms as chair.
• Wilson W. Wyatt, Sr.– Former Louisville mayor and Kentucky lieutenant governor, Wyatt also was a UofL trustee and made the first motion to desegregate the university in 1949.

J. Blaine Hudson, who ideated Freedom Park, is also featured on a glass panel. Hudson was a student leader of UofL’s Black Student Union in the late 1960s and was once arrested for occupying an administration building as part of a call for creating a Black studies program. Years later, his advocacy came full circle as he joined UofL as an employee, working his way from staff to history instructor to tenured professor in the Pan African Studies Department – one of the first such departments in the country and the first in the south. Hudson eventually served as dean of the College of Arts & Sciences before his death in 2013.

His idea of Freedom Park came about to provide a complete historical account, balancing out that once proximate Confederate monument. In addition to those glass panels, the park also includes 10 black granite pillars detailing Louisville’s history in chronological order:

• , 1750
• , 1775-1865
• , 1830-1860
• , 1815-1865
• , 1863-1865
• , 1865-1877
• , 1865-1900
• , 1900-1940
• , 1940-1970
• , 1970-today

Notably, the park itself surrounds the Playhouse, which was constructed in 1874 as a chapel for the House of Refuge, a municipal institution for orphaned children. It was first used as a theater in 1925. In 1977, the Playhouse was dismantled and placed in storage to make way for Ekstrom Library. It reopened in 1980 at its current location. With 344 seats, the Playhouse is home to performances by UofL’s acclaimed African-American Theatre Program.��

Editor’s note: What does Black History Month mean in the context of the University of Louisville? Some highlights from “University of Louisville Belknap Campus,” by Tom Owen and Sherri Pawson, and “The University of Louisville,” by Dwayne D. Cox and William J. Morison illustrate part of this history. We’ve distilled some information from those two books into a story depicting our history and how it was shaped by the contributions of African American community members, faculty, staff and students.

Did you know that UofL’s current Belknap Campus location was determined in large part by Louisville’s African American voters?

When Arthur Ford was the university’s president (1914-1926), one of his major initiatives was to seek increases in city appropriations for the university, citing inadequate physical facilities and increasing enrollment. By the fall of 1920, student enrollment exceed 600, and the college had outgrown its home at Second and Broadway streets downtown.

The family of William R. Belknap, a local hardware dealer who had recently died, donated funds for the school to acquire a 79-acre tract in Louisville’s Highlands neighborhood, prompting the university to submit a $1 million municipal bond to develop the campus. But voters, especially African American ones, defeated that 1920 bond proposal at the polls.��

At the time, African Americans were prevented by state law from attending the university, despite paying city taxes. Essentially, black Louisvillians who cast the deciding votes refused to support an institution they could not attend.

“Awareness of the growing political and economic strength of African Americans during and after WWI had eluded UofL officials. Just as they had not reckoned with this black renaissance, they also had failed to take account of the rise of a new generation of black leaders, who relied on fellow blacks, rather than influential whites, for support,” the Cox and Morison book notes.

After this defeat, President Ford assured black opponents that if the issue were passed on a future ballot, a portion of the money would be set aside to support higher education for African Americans. The bond passed in 1925, but Ford died shortly after and his promise went unfulfilled, save for a provision of extension classes at Simmons University.

Discouraged by their defeat at the ballot box, university officials in 1923 sold the Highlands property acquired through the Belknap family, which was quickly developed as a University Park – a residential area that now includes Princeton, Yale, Harvard and Sewanee streets.

The university’s Plan B was to purchase property at Third and Shipp streets, which disappointed the Belknaps, the book notes. However, President Ford believed he lacked the resources to develop a completely new campus, even if the bond was resubmitted and approved.

As such, the Belknap Campus today is largely accessible via Third Street, while the formal address of the Belknap Academic Building is 201 E. Shipp Street Walk.

Louisville Municipal College for Negroes

President Raymond Asa Kent (1929-1943) fulfilled President Ford’s earlier pledge to provide higher education for African Americans by establishing the Louisville Municipal College for Negroes in 1931.

This was the period of the mass migration of blacks out of the rural South. By this time, “The University of Louisville” book notes, school segregation had been burned into Kentucky law, fueled by the 1904 Day Law prohibiting the teaching of both whites and blacks in the same school.

The Day Law, which survived an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1908, “effectively and devastatingly ended black higher education in Kentucky” with the exception of the State Normal School for Colored Persons in Frankfort, and Simmons University in Louisville.

Simmons, originally the Kentucky Normal and Theological Institute, opened in 1879, and eventually offered training in medicine and law. Charles H. Parrish Sr. was named president in 1918, and the school was renamed in honor of the school’s first president, William J. Simmons. However, the school struggled to secure funds necessary to meet accreditation standards.

Black leaders met with UofL officials in 1926 and 1927, urging them to revisit Ford’s promise to provide higher education to African Americans. Eventually Kent acted in 1929 with the establishment of the Louisville Municipal College.

Louisville Municipal College for Negroes opened in 1931 on the site at Seventh and Kentucky Streets. The first students – 83 of them – enrolled in Louisville Municipal College for Negroes on Feb. 9, 1931.

The first graduate was Florence Johnson, who received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1932.

Functioning as a “separate institution under the administration of the board of trustees of the University of Louisville,” it was the only full-fledged black liberal arts college in Kentucky and the only one in the nation supported by city funds.

In 1936, LMC was granted full accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. In 1942, the UofL board of trustees removed the words “for Negroes” from the school’s name after LMC students petitioned for the revision.

Additionally, it was at that point when the students’ diplomas were changed to read “University of Louisville,” rather than “Louisville Municipal College for Negroes.”

For two decades, however, LMC would remain a segregated undergraduate division of the University of Louisville.

The school bustled with student activities, including clubs, debate teams, theatre arts, fraternities, sororities and athletics. In fact, On New Year’s Day in 1947, LMC played its first college bowl game, which means it was the first bowl game played by any UofL squad.

A number of factors led to the closing of LMC and the integration of all UofL academic units in 1950 and 1951; namely, the high cost of running two separate colleges and the idea of integration gaining favor. Following WWII, the Louisville chapter of the NAACP pressed UofL to open its graduate and professional schools to blacks.

In 1949, President John W. Taylor and the trustees were split on the issue. Taylor favored integration and student sentiment toward integration was also growing. The Student Council permitted a vote on a referendum on racial discrimination. A total of 2,136 out of 5,000 eligible students voted, the largest number in a campus election to that point. The measure failed by 46 votes, despite support from the student newspaper.

However, following challenges from the NAACP and with the support of the governor and lieutenant governor, legislation to add an amendment to the Day Law to integrate the university carried on March 2, 1950. With that passage, blacks could attend any Kentucky college so long as the institution’s trustees approved. At UofL, faculty and administrators, with the exception of the dental school, favored integration.

In April 1950, UofL trustees approved a schedule for the desegregation of the university, including the integration of graduate and professional schools by the fall of 1950.��The Municipal College closed in the spring of 1951, and the college of Arts & Sciences enrolled its first black students in September of 1951.

President Taylor’s report claimed that the University of Louisville was “the first in the South to open all of its facilities to Negroes.”

Before it closed in 1951, the LMC had enrolled 2,649 students, 512 of whom graduated with degrees. Notably, “many more women than men attended.”

Only Charles H. Parrish Jr., a sociologist, was retained from the LMC, becoming UofL’s first black faculty member. Parrish retired in 1964.

Parrish Court, named in honor of him and located in the heart of the Belknap Campus, opened 1977.

Student unrest in the 1960s and 70s

Despite full integration, UofL was not immune to the racial tensions that proliferated in the U.S. in the late 1960s. In April 1968, UofL black student protesters urged the university to do more than highlight its few African American faculty members and high profile black athletes.

On March 4, 1969, the Black Student Union submitted a plan calling for more efforts to recruit minority students and teachers, increase financial aid for black students and offer new courses in black history and literature.

After the university failed to meet all of the BSU demands, on April 30, 1969, a group of students and other sympathizers occupied President Woodrow Strickler’s office for a few hours, then quietly left. The next day, 21 black students took over the A&S dean’s building and were forcibly removed by police. Some were arrested.

Blaine Hudson III, one of the black student leaders, later recalled that Strickler wanted to remedy past injustices, but couldn’t fully appreciate that the black students had legitimate complaints, rather expecting unrealistically quick results.

A the time of the confrontation, trustee Woodford R. Porter Sr., UofL’s first African American board member, warned that if moderate protesters were denied victories, more militant leaders would seize control of the Civil Rights Movement. One direct result of this series of protests was the creation of the Office of Black Affairs to assist in the recruitment of more black students and faculty, create tutoring programs and coordinate black studies in the curriculum.

The creation of the Multicultural Center

Although the specific plans and funding for the Multicultural Center were a direct result of discussions arising out of the 1991 Fiesta Bowl controversy (), that unit’s roots can be traced to the aftermath of an incident of racial prejudice which had occurred a year earlier.

In November 1989, a student reported she had been the target of racist notes to the effect that she did “not belong” in the Panhellenic dormitory. A freshman from Ohio, she was the only African American resident of that building at the time. In support of the student, more than 100 students conveyed a list of demands to President Swain, including calls to eliminate “the segregation of the Panhellenic dorm,” to increase the number of African American resident assistants, to institute penalties for racial harassment, to remove the Confederate Monument and rename the Confederate Apartments, and to create a facility for black students.

Swain responded that: “UofL will not tolerate any form of racial harassment. We must assure that UofL is a welcoming, supportive place for people of all races and ethnic backgrounds.”

Swain promised students the following:

• The Panhellenic dorm would be fully integrated.
• The number of resident assistants who were black would mirror the percentage of black students living in the dorms.
• The affected student’s dorm fees would be remitted.
• A multicultural center would be developed.
• The Confederate Apartments would be renamed University Tower Apartments.
• Those found guilty of racial harassment would be severely punished.

Swain noted that the university had no authority to move the monument, which had built on city property long before the university moved to the Belknap Campus site.

Nearly 30 years later, in��UofL and the city of Louisville removed the Confederate statue from Third Street on the western edge of campus.