The K Book traces its history back to 1901, when it was a small pocket-sized booklet published for students by students. It contained freshman rules, school traditions, athletic schedules, and school songs. At that time it was called the Freshman Handbook.
The K Book was distributed to new University of Kentucky students to help them become aquainted with school life and to familiarize freshmen with UK's campus. The K Book was published annually until 1917, when it was discontinued because of World War I. Publication of the book began again in 1921 and continued until 1966.
In the 1928-1929 edition of the K Book, the editors referred to the student handbook as the "freshman bible" because it held all the necessary information a freshman at UK needed. In the same edition, the editors presented the K Book with "the hope that the freshmen will read it carefully, preserve it during coming years, and cherish its memory forever."
Even though the freshman handbook has been published under different names since the 1960s,
we felt as students that it was our obligation to resurrect the K Book and fill it with important information that every UK student needs to know. The K Book should be used as a reference manual all your years here at the University of Kentucky.
K Book 2007: Guide to Four Years at UK
- University of Kentucky Public Relations
Coming to UK can be a challenging experience, especially for new students, but a group of UK's brightest student leaders have brought back an old tradition to make the transition to college life a little easier.
As students prepare to come to campus for the first time, the K Book will be arriving on their doorsteps. The K Book, written by students for students,
is a guide to life at UK and is the "go-to" resource for incoming students. Its 96 pages are filled with everything you'd ever want to know about UK, and a little more, and highlights the wealth of opportunities available to every UK student.
"We wanted to make a book that really covered every aspect of student life and told a new student everything we wish we had known when we moved into the dorms for the first time," Drew Trimble, editor of the K Book, said.
Reviving the K Book was born out of the University Leadership Summit. The Summit, a year long leadership experience for the top 100 student leaders at the University of Kentucky, began with a 3 day leadership conference last September to brainstorm different projects to enrich the UK community. A group of eight leaders took on the project of writing, editing and designing the K Book.
K Book editorial board members are: Drew Trimble of Paintsville, editor; Megan Herde of Louisville; Jessica Huber of Glasgow; Scott McIntosh of Lexington; Grant Mills of Frankfort; Britt Pennington of Crittenden; Leslie Simpson of Frankfort; and Ashley Woodruff of Henderson.
"Since last September, we have been meeting weekly to write and edit content, to organize and arrange the flow of the book and to decide how the book should look. We wanted the book to reflect UK; it's fun, informative and classy, just like our student body," Herde said.
The 2007 version of the K Book, the first in 50 years, rolled off the presses in late July.
"Seeing the book for the first time was amazing," said Pennington. "If the book is half as informative as it was fun to work on, then our incoming class will be the best ever!"
The K Book traces its history back to 1901, when it was a small pocket-sized booklet published for students by students. It contained freshman rules, school traditions, athletic schedules, and school songs. It continued until 1966, when the name was changed and it began to be published by various campus departments.
"Even though the freshman handbook has been published under different names, we felt as students it was our obligation to resurrect the K Book and fill it with important information that every UK student needs to know," said Mills.
The K Book brought together several offices on campus including the Office of Public Relations and Marketing, New Student and Parent Programs and the University of Kentucky Federal Credit Union.
"I am so proud of the work and effort put into this project by our editorial board," said Nancy Stephens, assistant director of new student and parent programs. "The K Book, combined with participating in K Week activities, gives new students the best start we've ever been able to offer at UK."
Only time will tell the impact that the K Book has on the student body, but for eight leaders, it has already left a lasting impression on them.
"We have seen nothing but support for this project from every level at the University," said Trimble. "The K Book would not have been possible without the support of the faculty, staff and administration. Dr. and Mrs. Todd have been supportive from the very beginning, and it means a lot to know that they want to make UK the best it can be for every student."
