Alumni Commons is located along the primary pedestrian pathway on the campus of The University of Kentucky in Lexington.
Patterson Office Tower serves as a backdrop for The Wildcat, Bowman, on The University of Kentucky campus in Lexington, Kentucky.
The amphitheater behind Memorial Hall serves as a gathering place on the campus of The University of Kentucky in Lexington.
Memorial Hall is one of the most recognizable buildings on the campus of The University of Kentucky in Lexington.
A popular feature of the student center is the giant stone UK on the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington.
Last Sunday, our morning walk found my husband and me on The University of Kentucky campus. We’d stayed in a downtown hotel after attending a performance at The Lexington Opera House (Sidebar: Catch Justin Willman: Illusionati Tour in person if you can, or soon on Netflix).
At 6:30 a.m. and underneath a still gray sky, we feel more comfortable walking the familiar sidewalks of campus rather than those of the unfamiliar city streets. So we head up High Street, turn onto Upper, then Maxwell, then Limestone and then onto The Avenue of Champions.
It’s here where we acknowledge the many campus transformations, certainly since I was a student there in the 80s and since each of our three sons attended not so long ago.
New dorms climb higher than the ones they replaced. A new student center is home to the bookstore, cafes and restaurants, offices, gathering spaces and is complemented by a lofty stone UK, obviously designed to be a popular photo stop. Another great addition and photo-worthy stop is the statue of the university’s mascot Bowman, The Wildcat.
A section of Rose is now reserved only for foot traffic, and here, my husband and I discover a tribute to alumni, a stone wall accented with blue-lit fountains.
But, along with the new, some of the university’s iconic structures still stand. Memorial Coliseum, although undergoing a facelift, remains. Patterson Office Tower is still in place, as is Memorial Hall. So too are many of the classroom buildings.
And while my husband and I take note of these changes, as well as the enduring landmarks, we also recollect memories inspired by our setting. Profoundly meaningful memories from our seemingly brief, but treasured, time at the university.
When we return to campus just before 9 a.m. to attend mass at The Newman Center, we are rerouted past the streets we normally drive. Past the streets that are home to residence halls. Sunday is a move-in day, and the streets are now barricaded to allow the dorms to receive their newest occupants.
“Hey!” my husband exclaims. “They are blocking my trip down memory lane.”
Together, we laugh. We know no physical barricade can accomplish that feat.
Besides, we are excited for those students and their families who are embarking on creating indelible memories of their own.
(Note: Marjorie Appelman is a retired English, communications and journalism teacher from Mason County High School and co-founder of the travel blog Tales from the Trip, which is on Instagram and Facebook. She can be reached at marj.appelman@gmail.com.)
