By Wes Kerrick–

President James Ramsey addressed prospective students at Kentucky high schools last week while on his annual Presidential Outreach Tour. Ramsey also spoke at charity meetings and met with a military official.

The main purpose of the tour, Ramsey said, was to recruit students. “We want to get our name in front of them,” he said in a phone interview. Ramsey said that his goal for the tour is to make U of L “not the biggest, but the best.” U of L is not “purposely trying to grow,” he said. Instead, he wants “to continue to build a quality student body,” by looking for students who are academically prepared.

Traveling with Ramsey were Mark Hebert, Director of Media Relations,; Jenny Sawyer, Executive Director of Admissions; and Dana Mayton, Senior Associate Vice President for Government Relations.

According to Hebert, there are 99 current U of L students from Christian County, where Ramsey spoke last Tuesday at Fort Campbell High School. That accounts for a mere 0.4 percent of U of L’s total student population. Hebert said U of L hopes to “start a pipleline” there of students who will graduate from U of L and then inspire their friends back home to come to U of L too.

Ramsey visited high schools in Owensboro on Wednesday and in Madisonville on Thursday. He also spoke for 25 minutes on Thursday to the 1,100 juniors and seniors at Hendserson County High School.  “You could have heard a pin drop in there at times,” said Nathan Grace, a guidance counselor at the school. “We were very honored to have Dr. Ramsey and his staff.”

In addition to high school visits, Ramsey spoke in Hopkinsville and Owensboro at meetings of the Rotary Club, a charitable organization. Mayton said this gave U of L access to community leaders who can advocate for U of L.  Cuts in state funding to the university was a major issue when Ramsey fielded faculty and staff concerns at the town hall meeting on Sept. 20. Hebert said that Ramsey hoped that through conversations on the tour, he would be able to convince leaders to rethink these cuts.

At Fort Campbell, Ramsey spoke to Maj. Gen. James McConville. Hebert said U of L is looking to expand its medical program there to include brain trauma study and other research.

Ramsey will also visit high schools in Lexington this Thursday and Pikeville High School on Oct. 22.

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Photos: Courtesy of U of L Today