Join the UK Office for Intuitional Diversity and the UK Office of Student and Academic Life for a panel discussion moderated by Mr. Theodore Berry. Mr. Berry will lead Dr. Blanche Hughes, Vice President for Student Affairs at Colorado State University, and Dr. George Wright, former President of Prairie View A&M University and current visiting scholar at the University of Kentucky, in a discussion about growing up in Lexington, Kentucky in the 1960s and 1970s. They will discuss how their early experiences in Lexington shaped them and ultimately led them to distinguished career paths in higher education.

Dr. Blanche Hughes received her bachelor’s degree from Earlham College and both a Master’s of Education degree in Student Affairs and a doctorate in Sociology from Colorado State University.  She is currently in her 13th year as the Vice President for Student Affairs at CSU.  She is also  Lead Administrator of the Race Bias and Equity Initiative under CSU President Joyce McConnell. Before becoming Vice President, Dr. Hughes spent six years as the Associate Vice President for Student Affairs, eleven years as the Director of Black Student Services, and chaired the Sociology Department at Pikes Peak Community College.

UK alumnus and former president of Prairie View A&M University George Wright is a distinguished visiting professor at UK for the 2019-2020 academic year. A Lexington native, Wright received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UK in history and his doctoral degree in history from Duke University. In 2004, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from UK and was later inducted into the Hall of Distinguished Alumni in 2005.