Little Kentucky Derby:The Tradition Lives On

This past year was full of innovation and change for the Student Activities Board (SAB). From re-structuring the organization to giving it a whole new look, SAB has made many changes to improve the organization and to better serve all UK students and the Lexington community. We strive to bring the best events to campus to enrich the lives of UK students, providing them with opportunities that they would not have outside of UK.

To kick off the year, SAB added 45 new committee chair positions making the Board's voting membership larger than it's ever been the past five years. With the addition of our wonderful new members, SAB was able to receive additional input from more students, expanding our programming capabilities. Just in the fall semester, SAB sponsored over 90 events including the annual UK Homecoming week and Finals Crunch Brunch. Being a committee member provides students with the opportunity to get involved in some of UK's largest traditions while having fun and meeting new people. With so many opportunities available, SAB is a great organization for anyone to join. Starting out as a committee chair can lead to other positions such as program directors or even being a member of the executive committee.

Another one of the big transformations SAB made was changing the logo and the overall branding of the board. Students will now be able to recognize SAB events by the signature "SAB Presents" stamp on the posters. This was only one part of the initiative to help students separate SAB events from other campus events. A life-size wall graphic was created to showcase the Board's office space in the UK Student Center. It is a great way to see how much fun students have at SAB events and being on the Board. We also plan to launch a new website in the fall of 2009 to cap off our new look.

We have also reach out to students to better inform them about upcoming events and to get more student input about what events they would like to see in the future in new and innovative ways. Through surveys, focus groups and one-on-one conversations, SAB sought out the opinions of our students to better serve the community. SAB is ensuring that that we bring the events that UK students want to campus, so that our mantra "there's always something to do" continues to reign true. As we look to the end of a great year, we can't help but to be excited for what is yet to come. We will be kicking off Fall 2009 in full force with your favorite welcome back events. There will also be more opportunities for you to get involved with SAB. We hope to see you all there!

To learn more about future events, give suggestions for events or to get involved with the Board, visit www.uksab.org. We promise--There is always something going on.