Lindsey Wilson’s ‘step into the future’ grounded in ‘laser focus’ of serving students, President Luckey tells university’s supporters.
LOUISVILLE, KY. (07/02/2025) With warm congratulations from the governor of Kentucky and a packed room of well-wishers, Lindsey Wilson University celebrated an “incredibly historic day” at the Speed Art Museum on Tuesday evening.
After serving Kentucky for more than a century as Lindsey Wilson College, the school became Lindsey Wilson University on July 1. The unanimous decision to become a university was made in April by the Lindsey Wilson Board of Trustees.
Telling a standing-room only crowd to “remember that the best days for Lindsey Wilson University are still ahead,” Lindsey Wilson President William T. Luckey Jr. said the school might have a different name, but its focus remains squarely on students.
“Our only goal has been to provide the richest and the warmest possible environment for our students and faculty to excel,” said Luckey, who has been Lindsey Wilson’s eighth president since 1998 and is the longest-serving college or university president in Kentucky. “That has been our laser focus since 1903, and it will continue to be for the next 122 years.”
In a recorded video message to the audience, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear congratulated Lindsey Wilson on its “new level of success.”
“This change represents a step into the future,” he said. “It reflects a new chapter for the school while still upholding the same values. I look forward to continued success from Lindsey Wilson University.”
42 years ago
Luckey joined the Lindsey Wilson staff in July 1983 as an admissions counselor, when the school was one of a handful of private junior colleges in Kentucky and had an enrollment of 362 students and 16 faculty members. In fall 2024, Lindsey Wilson enrolled a record 4,147 students and awarded a record 1,780 degrees, and it had a full-time faculty of nearly 120.
“I find myself reflecting back on the Lindsey Wilson I was introduced to 42 years ago this month,” said Luckey, who is a Louisville native.
Luckey said that the Lindsey Wilson he first encountered in 1983 was “a magical place, full of love and committed to the success of its students.”
“I fell in love with Lindsey Wilson from the very first moment I arrived on campus, and that love and admiration has only grown exponentially,” he said.
Lindsey Wilson trustee Carrie Luker Farris of Versailles, Kentucky, said that Lindsey Wilson’s family atmosphere helped her lay the foundation for a successful career as an educator, public relations practitioner and as a clinical research professional.
“At Lindsey, I found my footing, my confidence, my belief in myself that no matter what career I chose, I could succeed,” said Farris, a member of the Class of 1967.
Farris said that after years of discussion and careful consideration among fellow trustees, members of the Lindsey Wilson board agreed “that a name change was not only appropriate, the time is right.”
“This means a lot to me personally, not only because I have been a part of the growth and development of Lindsey Wilson College to Lindsey Wilson University but because my love and commitment for this school has never faltered,” she said. “With each new advance into the future, I can visualize our commitment to our mission growing stronger.”
Trustee David Perry of San Marcos, Texas, told the crowd that a big reason so many alumni have stories similar to Farris’ is because Lindsey Wilson has “a mission to provide transformational experiences.”
Luckey referred to that as Lindsey Wilson’s “secret sauce, the institutional DNA, whatever this ethos is that makes Lindsey Wilson a unicorn, a universe of one.”
“It has only gotten stronger in the 42 years I’ve been here,” he said. “I didn’t create it, it was here long before I arrived.”
The Begley years
One of the people responsible for preserving Lindsey Wilson’s “institutional DNA” was among those who attended the July 1 celebration — John B. Begley, who served as Lindsey Wilson’s sixth president from 1977-97 and was a mentor to Luckey.
“We are so grateful for you and (his wife) Lucretia and all the sacrifices that you’ve made for our faculty, staff and our students at Lindsey Wilson,” said Luckey.
Founded in 1903 as a training school for Vanderbilt University, Lindsey Wilson became a junior college in 1923. The school was transformed into a baccalaureate degree-granting college in 1985, it offered its first graduate program in 1993 and a doctoral program was added in 2015. Lindsey Wilson now offers 28 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs and a doctoral program. Lindsey Wilson has more than 22,000 alumni.
Luckey said that a big reason there have been “so many dramatic, visible, tangible improvements in the last 42 years” at Lindsey Wilson is because the school’s leadership has always embraced change.
“We’ve always understood that at Lindsey Wilson, no matter the obstacles, no matter the challenge, there must be movement, there must be work, there must be progress,” he said.
Lindsey Wilson University President William T. Luckey Jr. addresses a standing room only crowd on Tuesday, July 1, at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, to celebrate the school’s first day as a university.
Lindsey Wilson University trustee Carrie Luker Farris ’67 discuses the impact Lindsey Wilson has made on students’ lives over the decades on Tuesday, July 1, at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, to celebrate the school’s first day as a university.
Lindsey Wilson University trustee Dr. Allan M. Parnell, left, and former Lindsey Wilson College President John B. Begley were among those who attended the Lindsey Wilson University celebration on Tuesday, July 1, at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky. An Adair County native, Parnell was the longest-serving chairman of the Lindsey Wilson College Board of Trustees, and Begley was Lindsey Wilson’s sixth president from 1977-97.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear congratulates the Lindsey Wilson University community on the school’s transition to university status in a recorded message played on Tuesday, July 1, at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, to celebrate the school’s first day as a university.
Lindsey Wilson University trustee David Perry addresses a standing room only audience on Tuesday, July 1, at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, to celebrate the school’s first day as a university.
Lindsey Wilson University is a vibrant liberal arts university in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the mission of Lindsey Wilson is to serve the educational needs of students by providing a living-learning environment within an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern where every student, every day, learns and grows and feels like a real human being. Lindsey Wilson offers 28 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs and a doctoral program. The university’s 29 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams have won more than 120 team and individual national championships.
(Duane Bonifer – Lindsey Wilson University)