25-04-2025
Southern Kentucky college to become a university: Why leaders made the decision
COLUMBIA, Ky. (FOX 56) — From humble beginnings in 1903 as a training school for Vanderbilt University, Lindsey Wilson College is getting a name change over 120 years later.
The unanimous decision was made on Thursday afternoon by the Board of Trustees, according to a news release.
University leaders said the change was necessary because the school is far more dynamic than it was even 10 years ago.
'I've always been convinced that the best teaching and learning in the world happens at small, private colleges across the United States,' said President William T. Luckey Jr, who is reportedly the longest-serving college or university president in Kentucky higher education and has been Lindsey Wilson's eighth president since 1998. 'That is why this move does not change our mission, who we serve or what we do, but rather it reflects the dynamic nature of who we have become.'
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Before the proposal to become a university made it to the Lindsey Wilson Board of Trustees, officials said President Luckey Jr talked to deans and faculty members across the university's six schools, along with the National Alumni Board and the Student Government Association (SGA). The alumni board and SGA both unanimously endorsed the change, and the Lindsey Wilson faculty voted for the change 77 to 2 with 10 abstentions.
'There is something unique and special that's part of our institutional DNA and has been since 1903,' President Luckey said. 'We are a universe of one with an institutional culture that cannot be replicated or duplicated.'
Lindsey Wilson SGA President Zachariah Lawson said that he and his fellow students are excited about the change, especially after meeting with Luckey earlier this school year to discuss it.
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School leaders said the university now offers 28 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs, and a doctoral program.
Lindsey Wilson College will become Lindsey Wilson University on July 1. More information can be found at the school's website.
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