KFC Yum! Center – UofL News Tue, 21 Apr 2026 21:06:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 After more than 20 years, this UofL grad made a longtime goal reality /post/uofltoday/after-more-than-20-years-this-uofl-grad-made-a-longtime-goal-reality/ Tue, 13 Dec 2022 17:00:44 +0000 /?p=57728 In 2001, Matt Crouch moved from the small town of Springfield, Kentucky, to Louisville to attend the University of Louisville. He settled into Unitas Tower with his friend, and they both decided they’d pursue a computer information systems degree.
Crouch loved UofL – especially the sports teams – but after a year or so, he took a well-paying full-time job and stopped taking classes.
“I decided, ‘I’m really not enjoying class anyway,’” he said. “I’m not sure this is for me. I’ll finish it later.”
Later turned into almost two decades of working full-time jobs around Louisville. He became a husband, then a dad. He remained a diehard UofL sports fan.
“I always told my wife, ‘I want to go back to school,’” he said. “My parents both graduated from college and I felt like the oddball without a degree. And obviously, I knew a degree would help me at some point. I just had this passion to graduate from UofL.”
With years to reflect on his interests and strengths, Crouch decided would be a perfect fit, and tested the waters by taking one class in the spring of 2020. When the pandemic caused him to be furloughed from his job that semester, he stayed home with daughter Lucy (day care had also shut down) and took his class while his wife continued working.
“I got an A in the class, which was really exciting because I don’t think I got many of those when I was initially there,” he laughed. So he plunged in, taking as many classes as he could.
By May of 2021, the Crouch family grew again with the addition of a son, Cooper, and dad Matt continued to care for the children while working on his degree. His goal was to finish by the time he was 40.
By the summer of 2022, an internship at Churchill Downs had blossomed into a full-time job in the human resources department. Determined to finish by August, Crouch spent the summer taking classes, caring for his family and working full-time. At the age of 40, he had earned a 4.0 GPA for the summer semester and completed his degree.
“It was honestly miserable, but I made it,” he said. “It makes me a little emotional to talk about it because it was tough.”
Crouch said he never could have achieved his dream without the flexibility of the all-online degree program. He also leaned heavily on the consistent support he received from his family – his wife, Jessica, is an optometrist who cheered him on – and UofL.
In his new role at Churchill Downs, he participated in a campus job fair and had the opportunity to visit Belknap Campus for the first time since he first attended UofL.
“It’s a great place,” he said. “It was actually surreal. It looked so different.”
He said he is excited to walk across the stage at December commencement with his family and friends watching from the stands at the KFC Yum! Center. He hopes his children, now 3 and 1, will remember the celebration.
“It’s going to be a moment for sure,” he said.
]]> UofL’s December 2022 commencement ceremony to celebrate 2,300 graduates /post/uofltoday/uofls-december-2022-commencement-ceremony-to-celebrate-2300-graduates/ Mon, 12 Dec 2022 16:57:51 +0000 /?p=57780 The University of Louisville’s December 2022 commencement ceremony for August graduates and December degree candidates will take place at 7 p.m. Dec. 16 at the downtown KFC Yum! Center. Of the approximately 2,300 students earning degrees, more than 900 have indicated they will take part in the ceremony.
Lori Stewart Gonzalez, interim UofL president, will preside at the event, and College of Medicine outstanding Ph.D. student Mariam R. Habil is the student speaker.

The ceremony will be broadcast live at.

In addition to commencement at KFC Yum! Center, the UofL Graduate School will host a doctoral hooding and graduation ceremony at 2 p.m. on the same day. About 55 graduates are expected at the ceremony, which will be on Belknap Campus in the Swain Student Activities Center Ballroom, second floor.

UofL’s U.S. Army ROTC cadre, Cardinal Battalion, will hold a commissioning ceremony at 10 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 15, in Ekstrom Library’s Chao Auditorium. Cadet Charlie Chen, who is graduating with a bachelor of science in chemistry from the College of Arts & Sciences, will be commissioned a second lieutenant at that time.

For more information, visit.

]]> UofL Athletics announces full capacity for all venues /post/uofltoday/uofl-athletics-announces-full-capacity-for-all-venues/ Tue, 29 Jun 2021 20:24:27 +0000 http://www.uoflnews.com/?p=53873 The University of Louisville announced today that advancements in state and national health guidelines will allow all home venues to return to 100% capacity next season, including men’s and women’s basketball games at the KFC Yum! Center.

“As the positive momentum continues around the local health climate, we are thrilled to welcome Card Nation back home to all of our venues for this upcoming academic year,”said, Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics.“As grateful as we are to our fans for sticking with us from their homes this past year, it’ll be incredible to see our teams competing in front of live, full, loud home crowds here in The Ville. We need you, Cards fans … no one cheers like us. Let’s have some fun.”

This announcement follows the news in late May that all football games at Cardinal Stadium would return to 100% capacity this fall.

Fans can purchase season tickets for the 2021 volleyball season now, while returning men’s and women’s basketball season ticket holders can renew season tickets through their My Cardinals Account. Admission will be free for regular season men’s and women’s soccer and field hockey matches during the 2021 season.

Visitfor ticket prices and more information.

]]> Commencement: UofL to graduate more than 3,100 students this weekend /post/uofltoday/commencement-uofl-to-graduate-more-than-3100-students-this-weekend/ /post/uofltoday/commencement-uofl-to-graduate-more-than-3100-students-this-weekend/#respond Thu, 11 May 2017 12:26:11 +0000 http://uoflnews.com/?p=36804 The University of Louisville’s spring commencement is Saturdayat the downtown KFC Yum! Center.

Of the more than 3,100 students on track to graduate this semester, 2,000 plan to take part in commencement. That’s about 70 more than last spring.

To allow time for each graduate to cross the stage and receive a diploma, there will be two ceremonies. The schedule is as follows:

  • 10 a.m. – College of Arts and Sciences, Kent School of Social Work, School of Dentistry, School of Interdisciplinary and Graduate Studies, Brandeis School of Law, School of Medicine and School of Public Health and Information Sciences
  • 2 p.m. – College of Business, College of ֱ & Human Development, J. B. Speed School of Engineering, School of Music and School of Nursing

A coffee and dessert reception for graduates and their families will be 12:30-1:30 p.m. in the main concourse.

Student speakers will be College of Arts and Sciences math and physics major , a native of Versailles, at the 10 a.m. event and J.B. Speed School of Engineering graduate of Louisville at the 2 p.m. event. Shontee graduated last spring with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and completed her master’s degree in the same major this year. Both Smart and Shontee are and have a long list of academic and community accomplishments.

UofL Interim President Greg Postel will preside at both ceremonies.

More information, including a full schedule, is .

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