Team:
Kentucky Wildcats
Stadium: Commonwealth Stadium
Conference: SEC
Sport: College Football
Background: The University of Kentucky
(mascot: the Wildcat) is Kentucky's largest university,
with over 32,000 students. Located in Lexington, Kentucky
the state-supported school was founded in 1865.
UK has 98 bachelor degree programs for undergraduates,
96 master's degree programs, and 62 programs in PhD
and other doctoral degrees.
History:
John Bowman founded the Agricultural and Mechanical
College of Kentucky, a publicly chartered department
of Kentucky University, as a land-grant university in
1865. In 1869 the first degree from A&M was awarded.
In 1878, A&M separated from Kentucky University,
which is now Transylvania University. For the new school,
the city of Lexington donated a 52-acre park and fair
ground, which became UK's present campus. The college
was initially for men only, but women were admitted
beginning in 1880. The first female degree recipient
was Belle Gunn in 1888. The school's name was changed
to "State University, Lexington, Kentucky"
in 1908, then to "the University of Kentucky"
in 1916. The University of Kentucky became racially
integrated in 1949 when Lyman T. Johnson, a black man,
won a lawsuit to be admitted to the university.