U of L to collaborate with UK, says Board of Trustees

By Baylee Pulliam

The University of Louisville Board of Trustees held a special meeting on Thursday, Oct. 14 to discuss a possible alliance between U of L and the University of Kentucky. In the meeting, the board agreed to establish an ad hoc committee, which will further explore possibilities for collaboration on educational goals and research.

“We believe both schools can partner to achieve top ranking for the state in many areas,” read a statement released by the board.

According to U of L spokesman Mark Hebert, U of L and UK have, in the past, often found themselves competing for these rankings.

“For example, we often compete for recognition from the National Institute of Health,” said Hebert. “Instead of competing against each other, now we can file jointly and increase both our chances.”

The collaboration between the two universities would also help to compensate for the cutbacks made to state funding. With the collaboration, the costs of research would be lessened for both sides.

“Research universities are very expensive,” President James Ramsey told Business First of Louisville. “Any way we can work together to move forward, I’m very open to.”

According to Hebert, this is not the first time U of L has collaborated with UK on research.

“We’ve already worked together on over 100 projects,” said Hebert. “We’ve worked with everything: agriculture, environmental science and cancer research. The committee will serve to make sure that continues.”

Dr. Mark Lynn, the owner of a Dr. Bizer’s VisionWorld franchise, and Jonathan Blue, the chairman and managing director of the Louisville firm Blue Equity, LLC, were appointed to lead the ad hoc committee. According to the Board of Trustees statement, Lynn, Blue and the committee will seek to begin formal collaboration with UK immediately.

Students at U of L are embracing the partnership, seeing it as an opportunity to work together for common goals.

“I don’t know about UK, but U of L is doing some pretty amazing research,” said Chandler Gies, a sophomore history major. “If working together can further the work each of us is doing, I’m all for it.”

At both U of L and UK, many have agreed that the benefits of joining forces far outweigh the costs.

“I think there are a lot of people, both at UK and U of L, who want to see this happen,” said Hebert. “It’s a good arrangement for everyone.”