Seventy years ago, Lyman T. Johnson became the first African-American student enrolled at the University of Kentucky. He bravely opened doors that were closed to too many, for too long.
Earlier this year, in front of 500 community members at the banquet bearing his name, we shared excerpts from his biography – The Rest of the Dream. They are words darkened by adversity, but illuminated by hope:
“When you say if I don’t like this country then why don’t I leave it, then my classic illustration is: if my house is leaking, I don’t get mad at it and leave it. I just get the ladder and get me some tools and I get up on the house and I patch the leak. And that is what I’m going to do for my country – I love it; I like it. And when I see its imperfections, I’m not going to get mad at it and leave. I’m going to get mad at its imperfections.”
As we think about our next steps in creating a community of belonging – a place where every voice matters – there is both promise and challenge to be found in Johnson’s admonition. The words apply today as much as they did decades ago when he wrote them.
Today, we still feel the sting of racism; our “differences” – often framed around race, identity, ethnicity and orientation – too often are used as a wedge between us, rather than points of distinction to collectively celebrate.
Tremendous progress has undeniably been made over the last several years at UK. But we’ve also experienced the disappointment of moments where our divisions seem to overwhelm us: where our efforts do not fully yield the results we desire.
Two recent conferences held on our campus reflect both the progress we’ve made as well as the work that remains.
