The UK Alumni Association recently recognized the outstanding contributions of its alumni clubs at the Alumni Service and Club Awards Banquet, held Friday, June 12, during the association’s annual Summer Workshop.
Alumni clubs play a vital role in connecting Wildcats across the country to their alma mater and to one another. This year’s awards celebrated clubs that demonstrated excellence in six key areas:
- Alumni Engagement – Honoring clubs that created opportunities for alumni to connect through in-person and virtual events such as dinners, luncheons, golf scrambles, game watch parties, bourbon and wine tastings, group outings and more.
- Community Service & Philanthropy – Celebrating clubs that gave back through UK’s Cats for a Cause program, including food and clothing drives, park cleanups, toy drives, and support for UK’s DanceBlue student teams.
- Most Improved – Acknowledging clubs that significantly increased alumni participation and strengthened engagement within their regions.
- New & Creative Programming – Recognizing clubs that reimagined traditional events and developed innovative programs to include more alumni in new ways.
- Scholarships – Highlighting clubs that raised funds to support local students attending UK. During the 2025-2026 academic year, clubs awarded 293 scholarships totaling $386,750 in financial assistance.
- Student Recruitment & Retention – Commending efforts to support future and current Wildcats through preview nights, book awards, send-off events and postcard writing campaigns.
Award recipients were selected by the Past Presidents’ Advisory Council. The following clubs were recognized:
In-State Awards
- Greater Ashland: Scholarships
- Big Sandy: Student Recruitment & Retention
- Boyle County / Mercer County: Student Recruitment & Retention
- Christian County: Alumni Engagement, Community Service & Philanthropy, Scholarships, New and Creative Programming
- Cumberland Valley East: New & Creative Programming, Scholarships, Student Recruitment & Retention
- Fayette County: Alumni Engagement, Community Service & Philanthropy, Scholarships, Student Recruitment & Retention
- Fulton County: Alumni Engagement, Scholarships
- Hardin County: Community Service & Philanthropy, Student Recruitment & Retention
- Hopkins County: Scholarships
- Greater Louisville: Alumni Engagement, Community Service & Philanthropy, Scholarships, Student Recruitment & Retention
- McCracken County: Alumni Engagement, Scholarships
- Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati: Alumni Engagement, New & Creative Programming, Scholarships, Student Recruitment & Retention
Most Improved In-State Club
- Christian County
Out-of-State Awards:
- Arizona: Alumni Engagement
- Greater Atlanta: Alumni Engagement, Community Service & Philanthropy, Scholarships, New and Creative Programming, Student Recruitment & Retention
- Central Indiana: Student Recruitment & Retention
- Central Virginia: Community Service & Philanthropy, Student Recruitment & Retention
- Charlotte: Community Service & Philanthropy, Student Recruitment & Retention
- Dallas-Fort Worth: Alumni Engagement, Community Service & Philanthropy, Scholarships, New and Creative Programming, Student Recruitment & Retention
- Greater Jacksonville: Student Recruitment & Retention
- Greater Nashville: Alumni Engagement, Scholarships, New and Creative Programming
- Kansas City: Scholarships
- Las Vegas: Alumni Engagement
- Nation’s Capital: Alumni Engagement, New & Creative Programming
- New York City: Alumni Engagement, Community Service & Philanthropy, New & Creative Programming
- Northeast Ohio: Scholarships
- Northern Alabama: Alumni Engagement, Scholarships
- San Diego: Alumni Engagement
- Sarasota-Suncoast: Alumni Engagement, Community Service & Philanthropy, New & Creative Programming, Scholarships, Student Recruitment & Retention
- Triangle Area, North Carolina: Scholarships, Student Recruitment & Retention
- Upstate South Carolina: Alumni Engagement
Most Improved Out-of-State Club
- Dallas-Forth Worth
Several clubs were recognized for innovative programming during the year, including Christian County’s community-wide game watch party featuring former Rupp’s Runts member Dr. Tommy Porter; Cumberland Valley East’s group tour of Boone’s Ridge Park & Wildlife Reserve; Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati’s Christmas Open House featuring Big Blue Santa; Greater Atlanta’s support of the UK vs. UGA Field to Fund technology innovation competition; Dallas-Fort Worth’s group outing to a UK women’s volleyball match; Greater Nashville’s joint networking event with Georgia and Auburn alumni clubs; Nation’s Capital’s partnership with the UK Nunn Center for Oral History for the Tales & Tastes from Bourbon Country reception; and Sarasota-Suncoast’s Bourbon Ball Bash game watch party.
Learn more about UK Alumni Clubs and how to get involved here.
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