HAPPY BIRTHDAY UK

February 22, 2020, the University of Kentucky celebrates its 155th birthday.  Over the years the celebration has included parades, dances, and in 1965 and 2015 year-long celebrations with special speakers, programs, and publications.

The 1949 Founders Day celebration focused around what would become one of UK's most iconic buildings, Memorial Coliseum, then under construction.

Memorial Coliseum

The 1949 Kentuckian highlighted the events noting that, "Following an address by Governor Earle C. Clements, a processional moved from the Armory to the fieldhouse where the cornerstone was laid."  University president Herman Lee Donovan spoke on "The Meaning of this Memorial."

Governor Clements wields a trowel in a ceremony at Lexington marking the laying of the cornerstone for the University of Kentucky's new field house.

The new fieldhouse was eagerly anticipated as the Kentuckian noted that, "On their present home court, Alumni Gym which has a seating capacity of only 3,200, the Wildcats were unbeaten in 74 consecutive games.  But seats were so precious, attendance had to be limited to all-student audiences, barring townspeople from ever seeing the Big Blue play."

During the ceremonies Coach Adolph Rupp even apologized to his current championship team noting that, "You were promised that you would play the dedication game in our new field house, and I would like nothing better than to have you play that game, but you'll all be graduated before its ready.  I'm sorry."  The Kentuckian added that, "[Cliff] Barker, [Ralph] Beard, [Wallace 'Wah Wah] Jones, [Alex] Groza and [Dale] Barnstable---will never wear Kentucky's Big Blue in the house they helped Rupp build."

Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium, dedicated 10 years earlier, could seat nearly 9,000 fans and was known as the largest basketball arena in the south.  Memorial Coliseum, by comparison, boasted a capacity of over 11,000 for basketball. 

After only 26 seasons in Memorial Coliseum the men's basketball team would move to the downtown, 23,500 seat Rupp Arena.  The UK men have now played 43 seasons in Rupp but for some of us who attended that first game in Rupp it is still a little jarring when the television announcer welcomes everyone to "historic" Rupp Arena.

Duke stayed in the cozy on campus confines of Cameron Indoor while UK somewhat reluctantly left the fan friendly (for those who could get a ticket) Coliseum.  I often wonder what might have been if UK had continued to play in Memorial Coliseum until the present when every game is on HD television?  Might UK men have the best home court advantage in basketball? 

Fortunately, the UK women now benefit from that advantage and are carrying on the winning basketball tradition. In addition, UK Gymnastics and Women's Volleyball also benefit from competing in a fan-friendly, on campus arena.  Memorial Coliseum is scheduled for much needed renovation which for the first time will include air conditioning.

But any sentimental remembrance of Memorial Coliseum must also include the stark reality that it was built on the site of a vibrant African-American neighborhood, Adamstown.  Today an historic marker stands on the site to remind people that every history requires transparency regarding the good and bad that make up that history.  It was very appropriate this basketball season that both the men's and women's basketball teams honored the former Adamstown community and the people who lived there, many who spent their adult lives working for the University of Kentucky.

Adamstown

Perhaps, following the renovation, a Memorial Coliseum "rededication" might be held on an upcoming Founders Day when we can celebrate a UK that has become more diverse, more cognizant of the surrounding communities, and strives to embrace all Kentuckians while offering world-class public higher education to the Commonwealth.