Becomes First Kentucky University to Earn Highest Award for Inclusion

Special Olympics college programs connect young adults with and without intellectual disabilities to lead the social inclusion movement of Special Olympics on college campuses.  These programs are made up of the three components of Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools®: Special Olympics Unified Sports®, Inclusive Leadership, and Whole Campus Engagement.

Ultimately, through shared experiences, campus communities of acceptance and friendship are built.

This is a concept very familiar to the University of Louisville, who through the Campus Recreation Department, began building their official campus program in 2016.  While this was the start of dedicated Unified Champion Schools efforts, the University has been a part of the mission of Special Olympics long before that.

Through the decades UofL has welcomed athletes to campus by hosting official Special Olympics Kentucky (SOKY) competitions, having athlete leaders speak to medical students about inclusive health, partnering on MedFest events, and organizing golf scrambles to benefit SOKY, to name a few.

The college programming through Campus Recreation brought the addition of Unified Sports to campus which include annual opportunities for local athletes to participate with students at the Student Recreation Center, as well as opportunities to compete in national competitions.

The national competitions include sending a unified basketball team representing both SOKY and UofL to the 2018, 2019, and 2023 NIRSA National Basketball Championships and the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games.

Through the years many students have been given opportunities to help lead the efforts of the Campus Recreation Department resulting in inclusive youth leadership and whole school engagement opportunities, such as participation in SOKY Polar Plunge events.

Additionally, other areas of the university support Special Olympics, such as the Department of Health and Sport Sciences, who sent a class of Sport Administration students to volunteer at the 2023 Special Olympics World Games in Berlin.

These examples and many more illustrate the longstanding and continued support of our friends at the University of Louisville to welcome SOKY to campus and promote an inclusive campus environment.

Each year Special Olympics North America awards National Banner recognition to schools demonstrating commitment to inclusion by meeting 10 standards of excellence developed by a national panel of leaders from Special Olympics and the education community.

Recipients represent different academic levels including Elementary, Middle School, High School and Collegiate levels.

We are thrilled to announce the University of Louisville as part of the newest class of National Banner recipients!  This new class consists of just over 200 schools with UofL joining Regis University as the only college level recipients to achieve the honor this year.

This puts the University in very elite company, and we could not be more excited to officially celebrate the achievement with unveiling the national banner in person later this year.  Stay tuned!

For more information about Special Olympics Kentucky Unified Champion Schools programs or about the National Banner Award, contact Karen Michalak-Parsley at 502-326-5002 or [email protected].