Dear Thorobred Family,
This week marks an important and historic moment for Kentucky State University.
As you know, Senate Bill 185 is now before the Kentucky General Assembly. While the
legislative process is still underway, the proposed law reflects a broad effort to
reposition Kentucky State University with a polytechnic focus and to sharpen how the
University serves students, industry and workforce needs, and the Commonwealth.
Because that term may be unfamiliar to some, it is worth pausing to define what a
polytechnic-focused university actually is. Simply put, it is an approach to higher
education that pairs strong academics with hands-on and applied learning, rigorous
research, and career-focused programs that prepare students to solve real-world problems.
Many people already recognize that emphasis through institutions such as MIT, Caltech,
and Georgia Tech, where rigorous study is closely tied to innovation, practical application,
and workforce relevance.
Our repositioning along these lines will be part of a much longer history of evolution
at Kentucky State. Since our founding in 1886 and our designation as an 1890 land-grant
institution just four years later, the University has continued to grow and change
in response to the needs of Kentucky. From a normal school, to a land-grant college,
to a university, Kentucky State has never stood still. Relevance has always been part
of our DNA.
In that context, this moment should be understood not as a break from who we are,
but as another chapter in who we are becoming.
As a land-grant university with longstanding strengths in agriculture, food security,
clean water, and other applied areas of public need, Kentucky State has already been
moving in this direction. That momentum is complemented by our visible growth and
strengths in STEM, nursing, and health science; in new pathways such as manufacturing
engineering technology and biological and agricultural engineering; and in expanding
opportunities in aquaculture and aquatic science, sports analytics, geospatial and
drone technology, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, online learning, and other
emerging fields.
Kentucky State’s 2025 Carnegie classification as a Research Colleges and Universities
institution, together with its standing as home to the Commonwealth’s third-largest
university research portfolio — behind only the University of Kentucky and the University
of Louisville — underscores that progress.
A polytechnic focus will not just affirm the University’s current trajectory by strengthening
the connection among research, academic opportunity, and workforce preparation for
the benefit of students and the Commonwealth. It will also expand Kentucky State’s
mission as a strong HBCU and leading 1890 land-grant university and provide us with
an important opportunity to help define what this model can look like for institutions
with that distinctive heritage and public purpose.
Such a transition calls for seriousness. Public universities are sustained by trust,
and Kentucky State’s path forward must continue to be shaped by accountability, stewardship,
and a clear sense of responsibility to the people of Kentucky. As we pursue new opportunities,
we must do so in a way that is worthy of the confidence our students, families, employees,
alumni, lawmakers, and fellow citizens place in us.
Much remains to be done, and the legislative process will take its course. Even so,
I believe this week deserves to be recognized for what it is: one more historic moment
in a long history of purposeful change at Kentucky State University. Through each
era, our mission has endured while our form has continued to evolve. Our capacity
for growth — rooted in mission, shaped by relevance, and directed toward service —
remains one of the great strengths of this institution.
Thank you for your continued commitment to Kentucky State University and to the future
we are continuing to build together.
Onward and Upward,
Koffi C. Akakpo, Ph.D.
President
Kentucky State University