LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville’s only historically Black college or university (HBCU), Simmons College of Kentucky, announced a partnership with the University of Kentucky. The announcement came on the campus of Simmons inside the Heritage Room. A space devoted to reflecting the rich history of the institution through photos.
Simmons College President Kevin W. Cosby and UK Provost Robert DiPaola sat together at a table and signed a “Memorandum of Understanding (MOU),” which outlines how this partnership will work.
“The magnitude of this partnership’s potential to make change is unprecedented,” said DiPaola. “We know tremendous promise in the idea of the University of Kentucky and Simmons College of Kentucky working together, guided by our shared commitment to students and service. This agreement’s collaborative, transdisciplinary, interconnected nature stands at the core of how we will move forward together.”
UK and Simmons College have entered into a dynamic “mission meeting moment” collaboration to open and broaden pathways for more students as they pursue educational and career goals and further professional and personal development, per the MOU.
Key focal points of the partnership include:
- UK and Simmons College establish collaborative opportunities for students of both institutions to further professional and personal development.
- The collaboration will initially focus on educational and career opportunities for Simmons College students through programs with three UK colleges: The J. David Rosenberg College of Law, the College of Arts and Science and the College of Education.
- Examples of potential collaborative opportunities for discussion with the J. David Rosenberg College of Law Include:
- An exploration of a series of invited keynote speakers, live courtroom proceedings and selected student organization events with Simmons.
- Hosting Simmons students for potential pre-law programming by the Law Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Student Advisory Board.
- Participation in UK’s “Law Student for a Day” event.
- J. David Rosenberg College of Law faculty and administrators’ attendance at Simmons for seminars and presentations on topics such as Civil Rights and Constitutional Law.
Simmons Chief of Staff J. Michael Brown, who served as executive cabinet secretary under the administration of Gov. Andy Beshear and justice secretary for eight years under former Gov. Steve Beshear’s administration, will lead the pre-law and constitutional studies concentration at Simmons. He says the purpose of this collaboration is to not teach law, but to get students to start thinking about it.
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