kentuckykernel ken-
Monday, February 15, 2021 est. 1892 | Independent since 1971
RUPP ARENA AND LEGACY
WHAT’S IN A NAME BILLS TO WATCH PG. 2, WEEK IN NEWS PG. 3, BASEBALL PG. 14
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EYES ON THE SKIES
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HOMEGROWN & GROWING
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HOT START FOR SOFTBALL
Monday, February 15, 2021
news
Legislature to watch By Haley Simpkins news@kykernel.com
The Kentucky legislature has been busy since resuming session on Feb. 2, introducing a number of bills and continuing impeachment proceedings against Gov. Andy Beshear. The legislature has also wrapped up business from the first half of its sesssion, when the legislature passed several bills to restrict the governor’s authority to respond during emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The governor later vetoed six of these bills. Both the House and Senate voted overwhelmingly to override vetoes, making bills like a limit on executive orders and expiry date on administrative regulations into law. Aside from COVID-19 related bills, there were also several other large impact bills on the record, ranging anywhere from dealing with animal cruelty to protections for student journalists. House Bill 57 Sponsored primarily by Rep. Chris Freeland, this bill focuses on making all violations of torturing a cat or dog a Class D felony, a change from the current Class A misdemeanor classification. The bill also adds specific definitions for torture against a dog or cat and expands it to include instances of neglect or abandonment. The bill also adds that each act of torture can constitute a separate offense. The only exception under this bill would be if someone was killing or injuring a dog without the intent to cause harm, such as self-defense in the case of an attack. Shortly after the bill was introduced, it picked up steam due to the heart-breaking case of Ethan, the dog who lived. Ethan was found abandoned in a parking lot on Jan. 29 and was rescued by the Kentucky Humane Society. He was severely starved, leading to a loss of muscle mass and inability to walk. He has since gained both weight and a following on social media. With more than 20 pounds gained, Ethan is on the road to recovery and the Kentucky Humane Society reported that he is “in a
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very playful mood.” The Kentucky Humane Society also praised Freeland and his co-sponsors on the bill in a post on Feb. 8. “We want to thank State Rep. Chris Freeland for sponsoring House Bill 57, which seeks to expand the definition of animal torture to include intentional gross neglect/abandonment. The bill currently has 39 co-sponsors, both Republicans and Democrats,” the post reads. The bill is currently pending action by the House Committee on Committees. Senate Bill 120 The KY Senate passed Senate Bill 120 on the legality of historical horse racing machines last Tuesday. The legality of these slot-like machines has been a major question in the last year, with the Kentucky Supreme Court ruling that at least one brand of the machine was not pari-mutuel, and therefore illegal under Kentucky’s Constitution on gambling. However, the court opinion on the case also stated that the justices understood the importance of the industry to the Commonwealth, and they suggested in route to preserve these historical horse racing machines. “If a change, however, in the long-accepted definition of pari-mutuel wagering is to be made, that change must be made by the people of this Commonwealth through their duly-elected legislators, not by an appointed administrative body and not by the judiciary,” the opinion reads. Senate Bill 120 does just that with its primary use being to define pari-mutuel wagering in a way that would include historical horse racing. With gambling up in the air, many significant figures in the horse racing industry were concerned that a ban would put them out of business. The bill passed the Senate with a pretty narrow 22-15 vote and headed to the House for discussion on Wednesday. House representatives passed the bill on Thursday 55 - 38 to the great relief of Kentucky’s horse racing companies, who said they expect Beshear to sign it into law.
MICHAEL CLUBB | STAFF The Kentucky State Capitol on Friday, Jan. 29, 2021, in Frankfort, Kentucky.
House Bill 273 This bill, known as the Bailey Holt-Preston Cope Victims Privacy Act, focuses on the exclusion of photos or videos of deaths, killings, rape and sexual assault from the Kentucky Open Records Act. However, the bill does state that those involved in what is depicted in the material can choose to release the records. The bill is named in memory of Bailey Holt and Preston Cope, the 15-year-old victims of the Marshall County High School shooting in 2018. This name choice came after Commonwealth Attorneys in Marshall County and the victims’ families were concerned a video that they were aware of from the shooting may be released to the public, said Rep. Chris Freeland, a sponsor of the bill, in a news release. This bill was unanimously passed by the House during last year’s session but was stalled from further voting as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill has once again passed the house and has now moved to the Senate for full consideration. House Bill 187 A major focus of this bill, known as the
New Voices Act, is to establish additional protections for student journalists and media advisers at public high schools. “It is the intent of the General Assembly to restore and protect freedom of expression through school-sponsored media for public high school students and the jobs of the teachers who appropriately support these rights, in order to encourage students to become educated, informed, and responsible members of society,” the bill reads. The bill states that students or media advisers should not be disciplined for media that doesn’t meet one of the exceptions outlined in the bill, such as libelous or slanderous media. It also calls on local school districts to establish a written policy to protect student journalists’ freedoms, establishes a time, place, and manner for how student media should be distributed, and establishes that student media speech is not representative of the school’s perspective. The bill is currently pending action by the House Committee on Committees. The 2021 Session of the Kentucky Legislature is set to conclude March 30.
Monday, February 15, 2021
LOOKING BACK, MOVING FORWARD
kentuckykernel
CONTACT Editor-in-chief: Natalie Parks editor@kykernel.com
WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT
Right off the heels of last week’s ice storm comes anoter set of cold weather fronts moving into Kentucky. Meteorolgists are predicting waves of sleet and other wintry weather beginning Sunday, Feb. 14 through Tuesday the 16th. Though eastern Kentucky is the area most at risk, experts warn that the threshold for dan-
gers like power outages is low due to the existing layers of ice on trees and power lines. Low temperatures over the weekend mean that slush from the ice storm may not have melted and could easily refreeze, adding another layer of risk to incoming storms. WKYT’s chief meteorologst Chris Bailey predicts a second storm front moving in Wednesday through Friday. Both winter warnings should bring a mix
of precipiation, including the chance for plenty of snow. University of Kentucky students say they did not experience power outages on campus in the previous wave of winter weather. Should the power go out, experts advise picking one room to stay in for heat reetainment and to open the fridge as little as possible. Cabinet doors should be opened to prevent pipes from freezing. Lexington officials have asked that drivers stay off the roads during severe weather so that first responders and street crews can safely do
receive a vaccine do not need to do so again. Those who have gotten their first shot but not their second should fill the request form out again and mark the “booster” option. “We will continue to play an important role, partnering with the state and Fayette County on helping ensure access to vaccines among people in traditionally underserved populations,” president Eli Capilouto said in the announcement.
their jobs.
Hope is on the horizon for UK’s fiscal woes - according to vice president Eric Monday, the university’s fiscal year 2021 shortfall could nearly be resolved with aid from Biden’s American Rescue Plan. “Should that pass, we would anticipate that that would be another set of funding that would help us achieve that $40 million expenditure,” Monday said at a faculty Senate meeting on Feb. 8. UK initially expected a $70 million budget shortfall. Losses this fiscal year were driven by the difference in tuition for primarily online classes - at least a $12 million decrease, Monday said. He expects the full state appropriation of $265 million and “feels good” about fiscal year 2021. Additionally, the university has reinstated its retirement contributions for employees to pre-pandemic levels. As part of a series of budget slashes in spring of 2020, UK halved the retirement rate from 10 to 5 percent. It will now return to 10% for the next fiscal year but retroactive payments will not be made, according to Monday.
VACCINES FOR ALL UK EMPLOYEES
MICHAEL CLUBB | STAFF Icicles hang off of a statue of James K. Patterson on Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021, during an ice storm at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.
Starting in the next few weeks, the University of Kentucky will begin an “earnest” effort to vaccinate all campus employees against COVID-19. Nearly 12,000 UK HealthCare employees were vaccinated prior to the opening of UK’s vaccine clinic, which has been in operation for one month. Another 8,000 UK-affiliated persons like professors and students in healthcare colleges were also vaccinated. All told, UK has administered more than 50,000 first and second doses to campus and Lexington community members. Now, the university will expand into Phase 1C or essential workers. According to spokesperson Jay Blanton, this phase will include student employees RAs and dining workers. Employees who wish to receive the vaccine should register at ukvaccine.org to be put on the appointment list. When their turn is queued, they will receive an email invitation. Those already registered to
UNIVERSITY BUDGET UPDATE
Managing editor: Michael Clubb editor@kykernel.com Asst. news editor: Haley Simpkins Sports editor: Braden Ramsey sports@kykernel.com Asst. sports editor: Eric Decker Opinions editor: Sarah Michels opinions@kykernel.com Asst. opinions editor: Gillian Stawiszynski Asst. photo editor: Jack Weaver Designer: Ryder Noah From Social media manager: Sarah Simon-Patches KENTUCKY KERNEL OFFICES 340 McVey Hall University of Kentucky Lexington, KY 40506
ON THE COVER: Kentucky plays a basketball game on Monday, May 2, 1977 at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky. Photo from UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY GENERAL PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTS
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sports
UK’s gymnasts have each others’ backs - and their eyes ahead By Natalie Parks sports@kykernel.com
Achievement unlocked for Kentucky gymnastics. In their Friday night meet against Arkansas, the Cats catapulted into the second half of the season by posting 13 individual career highs and a total score of 197.000 – their best performance of the season. Returner Cally Nixon said hitting 197.000 was a goal of the team’s juniors. If the Cats can continue to score that high in their three remaining meets, they could replace the lower scores for the first half of the season since gymnastics tallies only the top four performances. UK’s season high was buoyed by a career night from junior Josie Angeny, who took home the all-around and two of the team’s four event titles. Head coach Tim Garrison said the win was “validating”, especially following a bye week and narrow loss to Alabama to close out the first half of Kentucky’s eight-meet stretch. Friday’s victory was a matter of execution for UK’s gymnasts. They fell short by .375 in their last meet against Alabama, though sophomore Raena Worley said she felt like it was a strong performance. “The only reason we didn’t win is because we didn’t stick anything,” said standout freshman Bailey Bunn. Worley said Garrison took the team through the statistics multiple times to see where they could have made up over a point. “There’s a renewed emphasis
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on those little things, and really paying attention to the details that are going to get us to where we need to be. We can’t compete nationally, we can’t compete this conference unless you can do that well,” Garrison said, since the gymnasts have essentially cut all major errors. Paying attention to the details was enough to earn Kentucky the win against no. 5 Arkansas, its highest ranked opponent to date. Multiple gymnasts stuck the landing across all four apparatuses, which was more than enough to overcome Arkansas’s struggles on the beam where the Razorbacks dropped below 49.00. Garrison said it was a team effort to win. As is typical for the group, each athlete has a role to play. “Everybody has a shot at doing what they’re here to train to do,” Nixon said. Only two gymnasts, Bunn and Angeny, competed on all four apparatuses Friday night. UK’s gymnasts say an equal opportunity to compete is what makes the team tick. “I feel like the team also has a really good dynamic of everybody is fighting for their own spot, but like as much as they’re fighting for their own spot, they want someone else to compete for the same spot with them and try to add it to,” Worley said. Part of that competition comes from this year’s big freshman class who are eager to leave their mark. But that competition is as friendly as it is fierce. “I feel this team is the closest that I’ve ever been, like, I can trust these girls, so much with
like gymnastics with life, I can I have a shoulder to lean on,” Worley said. “I think that it’s been very nice to have the upperclassmen support us, and not be rude to us because we’re freshmen,” Bunn said. “They really like open their arms to us and like show us the ways.” Angeny said mentoring younger gymnasts has helped her get more comfortable with her own performance. “I told him just to clear their mind and have fun out there because that’s the whole point of college athletics, and that’s why we came here that’s why everyone came to watch so that’s the biggest thing I always tell them is, you earn the spot, have fun with it, don’t stress about it,” Angeny said after Friday’s meet. Supportive teammates have made all the difference this year, as the gymnasts – like all students – grapple with the pandemic and its accompanying struggles. “You want to be in the right mindset for gymnastics but then you’re in the mindset to follow the rules that are set and you’re trying to make sure that you’re making the right choices and you’re balanced in school,” Worley said. “It definitely is a little bit more of a mental strain, but it’s gotten like we’ve gotten used to it.” Nixon said staying safe is the top priority. Bunn, who had COVID-19 at the beginning of the year, added gymnastics has been a way to focus while everything else falls apart.
MICHAEL CLUBB | STAFF Raena Worley tumbles down the mat during her floor routine during the University of Kentucky vs. Arkansas gymnastics meet on Friday, See GYMNAST on page 5 Feb. 12, 2021, at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky.
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“We’re still in the gym at 7 a.m. lifting weights and we’re still going to practice whenever we can because we never know when it could be taken away from us,” Bunn said. “So it was definitely a struggle, still a struggle because we don’t know if we’re going to be able to finish the season or not, but we just like keep getting in there every day and working as hard as we can because we love the sport and this is what we want to do.” COVID-19 has brought changes to gymnastics just as it has to everything else. One aspect most affected by the pandemic has been the environment at Kentucky’s meets, which are known for having entertainment and enthusiastic fans. “The crowd really does bring the energy and all that stuff so to have that limited it’s weird, but Bailey said perfectly like our team really brings the energy. We motivate each other,” Nixon said. Bunn recounted a story about meeting two young fans in the stands who had driven hours to see UK’s gymnasts. “I was like, ‘oh my gosh, this is like crazy.’ I’ve never had anyone just want to come and watch like me do gymnastics, so it was really nice to see that they’re supporting us, even with COVID going on.” Changes have come within the team too, especially in regard to how they support each other. “We can’t really like hug each other after like we stick something. Even though Cally pretty much does every time,” Bunn said. “But now we’ve really adapted to it and we are starting to get more comfortable with all the rules.” Worley said she thinks the adaptions have made the team stronger.
“Not being able to fully support each other after a skill or run up the same as we had with the same enthusiasm, we have been able to build off of the weird things that happened, and just make it work,” Worley said. All of the changes and the precarious season have given UK’s gymnasts a new appreciation for the sport. “It really has made at least me personally, try to learn to really appreciate every moment that I’ve had out on the floor and out with the girls,” Worley said. Angeny shared a similar sentiment following Friday’s meet. “It made me realize like I only have two more years here, and I only have so much time with gymnastics left, and this is the thing I’ve loved my entire life so it really hit me like a truck.” The realization inspired her to double down on training, a change Garrison said is evident in her improvement. Angeny’s cumulative 39.50 on Friday night was a career high – and also meant that she dropped an average of .125 points on each event. “I feel so much different, and I think the biggest thing that has made the difference is my team trust me now, and outside the gym and inside the gym,” Angeny said. Returners like Angeny, Nixon and Worley remember the 2020 season being abruptly shut down when COVID-19 struck the country. “It’s definitely like a wakeup call that you just never know what can happen. Anything can happen at any moment so you just got to have fun with it,” Nixon said. Kentucky was on its way to a meet in West Virginia when the season was called off. Nixon was asleep on the bus and woke up to find the team still in Kentucky. See GYMNAST on page 16
MICHAEL CLUBB | STAFF Mackenzie Harman strikes her landing pose after her bars routine during the University of Kentucky vs. Arkansas gymnastics meet on Friday, Feb. 12, 2021, at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky. UK won
JACK WEAVER | STAFF Kentucky junior Anna Haigis performs her floor routine during UK’s meet against Alabama on Friday, Jan. 29, 2021, at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky. Alabama won 196.775-196.350.
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features
Local focus, global stage for Kentucky AgTech company By Natalie Parks features@kykernel.com
Turn left off of 1-64 exit 133 onto Kentucky 801, and your eyes will immediately look north, where a warm bronze glow occupies much of the horizon. That glow is no illusion – it’s the $15 million LED light display inside AppHarvest’s flagship facility. At over 2 million square feet, the greenhouse is the largest of its kind in the world and can grow 50 million pounds of produce a year. AppHarvest was founded by UK alum Jonathon Webb in 2017. The Morehead greenhouse was fully operational In October 2020 and in January 2021 they harvested their first round of tomatoes, which went retailers like Kroger, Publix and Wal-mart. Two weeks ago the company went public on the Nasdaq and is now trading at $33.26 a share. “The fact that we were able to do this, in the middle of a global pandemic, has been just a true testament to the region, and the ingenuity, tenacity and grit of the region, who really helped make this possible,” Webb said. But Webb and his team don’t want to peak in public stock options. The physical glow from their greenhouse’s cutting-edge design could
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very well serve as a metaphor for AppHarvest’s mission – to be a warm beacon of light for all Kentuckians. “When people are talking about rebuilding agriculture, using technology, aligning with nature, and the fact that they’re talking about more in Kentucky, it’s just phenomenal. And that energy, you feel it,” Webb said. “There’s support from community members across the region.” AppHarvest has support beyond the local community – Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear also gave his stamp of approval to the business. Beshear and a crop of university and industry experts toured the Morehead facility on Feb. 9, 2021. “They believe in this industry. They believe in feeding the people of America with clean, efficient, nutritious produce. And they believe in bringing more jobs to this part of our great state because it’s the right thing to do,” Beshear said in a press conference following the tour, calling the greenhouse a “technological marvel.” AppHarvest expects to bring several hundred more jobs to Eastern Kentucky in the next year after breaking ground on a similarly large facility in Madison County and a 15-acre leafy greens farm in Berea. With a goal
NATALIE PARKS I STAFF LED lights shine through the walls of AppHarvest’s flagship greenhouse, which produces tomatoes year-round, on February 9, 2021. The company plans to build 12 similar facilities in Kentucky by the year 2025.
of opening 12 facilities by 2025, AppHarvest could bring nearly a thousand “high tech” entry level jobs to the region if scaled similarly to the Morehead location. They currently employ more than 300 people at the flagship and provide a living wage and full healthcare coverage to everyone. Those benefits are part of what Webb calls
“redefining the dignity of work in agriculture.” “If they can continue down the path that they are going on, and they expand at the rate that they’re talking about the workforce that they’re going to need is substantial. And so it creates great job opportunities, and you know, it really could be transformative in agriculture in our state to
have this,” said Mark Williams, the chair of UK’s horticulture department. Williams was part of the AppHarvest contingent that traveled to the Netherlands in February of 2020 to learn about the nation’s approach to high intensity agriculture. Denmark exports the second most food by dollar value in the world despite
its small size, and that’s due to their technological approach. “We were all of course blown away and saw that there was a great opportunity for doing the same kind of thing in Kentucky,” Williams said. Denmark also attributes its success to what Williams called a “triple helix” See FARM on page 7
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– a partnership between industry, government and education. “We had a lot of shared interest in thinking about ways that we can help to develop farming systems that that push the needle towards a more sustainable way of thinking about food production,” Williams said. As an education partner, the horticulture department at UK has since had room to hire a faculty person, Garrett Owen, specializing in controlled environment research that can address avenues that would directly impact AppHarvest. UK employees like Owen, Williams and even computational science experts are forming a research group to target the AgTech industry. “We’re trying to look at, you know, reducing their waste stream and things like that as they get going,” Williams said. “There’s leakage in some of the wastes, the way they harvest things and stuff. So we’ll focus in on specific questions, and then we’ll pull the right people together at UK to put together teams to be able to do research to help them.” Williams also said it would be a “no brainer” for horticulture students at UK to work with AppHarvest and that his department is looking at an internship program. “It should be easy for UK students that with a little bit of training to go get jobs there,” Williams said. “So it’s definitely on our
horizon of using this as a recruiting tool, but also as a as a pipeline for students to come get degrees in horticulture science and then go work at AppHarvest.” Higher education outreach isn’t the end of the road for either Williams or AppHarvest. They also want to work with students at the high school level. Following the greenhouse tour, Webb and Beshear announced an expansion of AppHarvest’s container farm program to two more high schools in Kentucky. The containers are a joint project with financial services company Cowen and, at 2,880 cubic feet, can grow more than 8,000 mature plants at a time. Rockcastle High School was named one of the new recipients of a container farm. Agriculture teacher Mark Whitaker said they expect it to be ready for next school year. “On Monday we had come to an agreement and had it all all in motion and everything so it happened very quickly,” Whitaker said. “Obviously we’re really excited about it and so is the superintendent of the school, she was very supportive, and Mr. Bussell the principal he was very supportive and they just ran with it.” Whitaker said he does not know yet what they will grow but the container farm can support lettuce, spinach, kale and root vegetables like carrot and radish. “Whatever produce we grow will be used in school lunches in our district. I know in Row-
APPHARVEST PROVIDED PHOTO An overhead view of AppHarvest’s Morehead greenhouse, one of the largest in the world, on January 22, 2021.
an County, they were one of the first schools to do this and they were growing enough lettuce for their entire school district out of the container so that it will be something similar to that,” Whitaker said. Feeding Kentuckians fresh healthy food is a goal of the container program, Webb acknowledged, along with steering high school students to the AgTech industry. “I hope that we will have students that will seriously look at that as a career, and consider going into that field and possibly working for that company,” Whitaker said. I think their motivations for doing this, are partly based on training potential workforce for the See FARM on page 12
NATALIE PARKS I STAFF Gov. Andy Beshear and AppHarvest CEO Jonathon Webb hold a press conference announcing an expansion of AppHarvest’s high school outreach program on February 9, 2021, at the AppHarvest campus in Morehead, Kentucky.
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features
UK community grapples with Rupp name and legacy By Braden Ramsey sports@kykernel.com
On July 23, 2020, the faculty of UK’s African American and Africana Studies (AAAS) program wrote a letter to president Eli Capilouto calling for actions to be taken that “would have an immediate impact on racial equity” and “demonstrate that Black lives truly do matter at the University of Kentucky.” The majority of the items were non-controversial, barely garnering attention from those outside of Lexington and the surrounding areas. But one of the requests snagged headlines all over the nation: renaming Rupp Arena. “The Adolph Rupp name has come to stand for racism and exclusion in UK athletics and alienates Black students, fans, and attendees,” the letter read. “The rebuilding of the arena and the convention center offer an opportunity to change the name to a far more inclusive one.” The character of Kentucky men’s basketball’s all-time winningest head coach has repeatedly been brought into question. As UK’s most celebrated coach, he has his share of both hard-hitting critics and staunch defenders. Some of the most opinionated voices on the issue have not been recent
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attendees or employees of UK. As those most directly affected by the policies and decisions of Capilouto and others, the student perspective is perhaps the most important to consider on the topic - and they agree that Rupp is more than just a name. No matter the stance on renaming, those who hail from the Commonwealth agree the word “Rupp” holds a certain lore in Wildcat society. “It’s a cultural thing,” senior business communication major John Cole said. “It is more than just a name to students, faculty and staff.” But does that mean everyone thinks of the same characteristics when it comes to mind? Certainly not. Cole and plenty of others associate Rupp with the “pride” of championship glory. But there is a large contingent that sees it as a symbol of an old guard; one that may have been tolerable back in Rupp’s heyday, but certainly isn’t so in the modern age. “The name holds racism,” said senior journalism major Neha Yousuf. “If UK truly believes in equality and inclusivity, especially for its Black students and athletes, then I hope they would change it.” What has caused this apparent divide amongst
FILE PHOTO Fans in the student section celebrate during the game against Louisville on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2019, at Rupp Arena in
the Wildcat population? It’s possible this specific issue is simply black and white. “I don’t think white students are aware of the scale of racism or hate that goes on,” Yousuf said. “It just doesn’t pertain to them directly, and often times they don’t put themselves around people who have to face it.” For the Black students on campus, the story is different.
“I’m very familiar with the ways, and particularly the ways in which the black community in Lexington has traditionally viewed Adolph Rupp,” UK associate professor of History, African and African American studies Derrick White said. “That trickles into the ways in which the Black community and black students who grew up in this town in particular [and] across the state imagine
their experience at the University of Kentucky.” White said people have to remember the context of the era Rupp participated. This is typically something the longtime coach’s defenders point to in their arguments, but White goes down a different path. “Adolph Rupp was the leading and most powerful coach in college sports… there are very few coaches, in fact, there are literally no
coaches who had the kind of a power that coach Rupp had,” he said. “[With] the support from both the governor and the state for integration at this time, there was no better positioned coach to break the color blind in the Southeastern Conference.” But Rupp dragged his feet, White said, not putting forth his strongest effort to recruit Black players See RUPP on page 9
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features
PORTRAIT PRINT COLLECTION (UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY) Payne, Tom, first African American basketball player at University of Kentucky. He signed in 1969 to play for Coach Adolph Rupp.
and provoking a student protest on the matter. “If you’re the most powerful college basketball coach in America, and you are not moved by this civil rights movement… if you’re not actively trying to be part of what we would say now, ‘on the right side of history’, then you are not using your power and position to really facilitate change in terms of race relations and integration,” White said. Rupp signed his first African American player in 1969, six years after UK desegregated its other sports. Most of the other
basketball programs in the state, Division 1 or not, had integrated a full two years earlier by 1967. Louisville had “accomplished the feat” by enrolling three players in 1962, including Wade Houston, who later became the SEC’s first African American head coach when he took the job in Knoxville in 1989. As Washington notes, the only Black recruits Rupp attempted to secure were the biggest available. Rupp didn’t directly meet with Unseld or Perry Wallace, who broke the SEC men’s basketball color barrier with Vanderbilt in
CLAY LANCASTER KENTUCKY ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHS Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky. Nov. 1975.
1967, during their recruiting processes. At the same time, there were countless white players who received offers that were not as highly regarded as some of Kentucky’s own African American prospects. “The history doesn’t suggest that that was done in good faith,” White said. “It was done more of a way of saying, ‘look’ to the president and others, ‘I tried, but I didn’t really try that hard.’” Kentucky’s eventual integration happened in spite of Rupp, White believes. Critics might say White’s statements color
Rupp as an inactive participant in a changing society. They’d add that while he may not have been the most vocal advocate for African American players, he did recruit the period’s high-profile African American names, such as Wes Unseld and Butch Beard, but was unable to land them. The Undefeated’s Jesse Washington spoke on this fact and more in his own piece on the “Man in the Brown Suit,” including how Rupp “helped Black high school star Jim Tucker get a scholarship to Duquesne in 1951… coached a Black
player in high school in Illinois in 1929, helped place Don Barksdale on the U.S. Olympic team in 1948 and sought advice on integration from then-Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey, who broke baseball’s color line with Jackie Robinson.” Were these few incidents enough to balance the scales? White doesn’t think so. “Former white players on these almost all white teams, they’re like ‘oh, he wasn’t racist,’” he said. “[But] there’s a lot of evidence that moves a different way when you talk to
other elite players from the 1960s.” Records also note many instances of Rupp using derogatory language. In his book Adolph Rupp: As I Knew Him, former assistant coach Harry Lancaster recounts a story where Rupp, after the infamous 1966 NCAA Championship loss to Texas Western told him, “Harry, that son of a b---- (UK president John Oswald) is ordering me to get some n-----s in here. What am I going to do?” Sports Illustrated writer Frank Deford, who was in the locker room when KenSee RUPP on page 10
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tucky trailed the all-black starting five his opponent brought, reported Rupp saying “You’ve got to beat those coons” to his players at halftime. Nevil Shed, the tallest man on the Miner roster, stated Rupp didn’t shake any Texas Western player’s hand at the game’s conclusion and gave them no credit for their victory. Anecdotes like these give a lot of credence to those who say the man who upon his retirement was the winningest college coach of all-time was not the man most Wildcat fans choose to see. Rupp’s alleged or proven racism aside, UK’s legacy of hostility towards Black athletes and students had a real effect on the university and its athletic programs. “One of the reasons [UK] struggles with this recruitment is that there’s this kind of legacy… [a] legacy of being hostile to black students,” White said. “I’m the Lexington native, had plenty of opportunities to come to the University of Kentucky... I didn’t even apply.” White studies the intersection of race and sports. For him, the conversation about changing the name of Rupp Arena hints at a key conflict of the university - its reliance on Black athletes to promote and make money for a predominantly white institution. “We really want them to ‘shut up and dribble,’ right, and so they cannot raise claims about the very
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places, under the very banners that they have to play under 15 or 20 times every season,” White said of fans’ approach to majority Black basketball players. Current UK forward Keion Brooks Jr. witnessed that contradiction in August of 2020, when his statement that he supported a Rupp Arena name change was met with harsh backlash from fans. The team’s attempts to stand up for racial injustice have met with similar vehemence, including legislative retaliation from a Kentucky county after the team kneeled for the national anthem. “They have the right to use this platform to challenge things because one of the things I think they are very aware of is that it’s not like being a University of Kentucky athlete will not stop them from police harassment,” White said. “It will not stop them or their friends from being possibly killed under these terrible pretenses.” The university has in recent years drawn criticism from its Black students for its lack of support for minority initiatives and recruitment. Though Lexington’s Black and African American population is 14.6% of the city as of 2019, Black students accounted for less than 7% of UK’s student population this year. Rupp’s legacy was also affected by his reluctance to recruit Black athletes. “[Under Rupp], they did not ever get back to the Final Four after 1966. One could make the claim that one of the reasons is
RUSSELL RICE COLLECTION ON UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY SPORTS Tom Payne, his parents, Joe B. Hall and Adolph Rupp. June 9, 1969.
because they had no ability to recruit the elite pro talent that was African American coming through the state of Kentucky,” White said. “That went other places, and starred at other institutions. It took Joe B. Hall, really, to change tide back in the favor of the University of Kentucky.” With that kind of influence, perhaps the arena should be renamed after Hall. AAAS faculty also suggested “Wildcat Arena” as a potential moniker. But raising the idea of a change and seeing that change implemented are wildly different prospects. See RUPP on page 11
RUSSELL RICE COLLECTION ON UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY SPORTS Adolph Rupp and Harry Lancaster.
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features RUPP CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11
UK’s athletic director Mitch Barnhart already said at a press conference that Rupp Arena’s name could not be changed because it “sets apart” the team. Public opposition to the idea is also powerful. “Fans are just fans,” White said. “They don’t like change. They think that, based on the politics of this state, they see any of these kinds of claims as challenging.” Onlookers’ inability to see racism as a spectrum prevents them from acknowledging accusations against Rupp, White believes. “We have to move beyond this clownish caricature of racism… we imagine that the only people that can be racist are Klansmen,” White said. “Anybody who’s looked at this knows there’s a tremendous amount of fluidity and actions that are contradictory, yet still maintain is the institution of racism.” Historically, Kentucky has been a slow mover in these sorts of moments. UK was the last Division I program to integrate its basketball team. Current students have sponsored a number of protests in recent years and feel that their input is not received. “Black voices on UK’s campus are notably hushed,” Yousuf said. But UK is not the only campus grappling with its history. In the last few years, universities across the country have been forced to confront their racist leg-
acies. Protests by UNCChapel Hill students led to the tumbling – and eventual removal – of its iconic “Silent Sam” monument in August of 2018. The University of Texas-Austin is in an ongoing battle over the “Eyes of Texas,” the school’s historic song that some band members refused to play in 2020 due to derogatory origins. White said reckonings like these are a question of who holds the power on university campuses. Some schools, like the University of Maryland, have even voted to change their stadium names when the existing name was tied to a former president who “opposed admitting Black students.” These instances demonstrate both a campus-wide discussion of what equality means and follow-through on reparative actions, which White says Kentucky has to do to be a fully inclusive educational academy. “If we’re going to be a flagship institution, we have to take on these hard conversations head on,” White said. “We can’t just that they don’t exist and that they’re not meaningful.” White said he and other faculty have offered to work with athletics on racial justice trainings. The muffling of Black voices that Yousuf alluded to is not the only factor working against minority students; they also make up a small percentage of the student body. While the percentage of fall enrollees that were African American hovered between 6.5% and 6.9% in the 2010s, White
says UK has historically been viewed as a place with malevolence toward its African American population. “One of the things that this country really struggles with is an inability to acknowledge and face its past… generations [of] black folks in the state really didn’t root for the University of Kentucky,” White said. “No one’s stopping [UK] from keeping a relationship… to [properly] hold on to this relationship, they have to acknowledge… Rupp did not give people a welcoming sign they were going to be protected and wanted at the University of Kentucky.” Some current students say they don’t feel welcome either - even when it’s not about Rupp. “There are a lot of issues of current racism on campus that need to be addressed,” said communications major Bailey Hurley. “For starters, I don’t think there are enough Black professors to begin with. I’m a senior and I have only had one black professor my entire time being here. My roommate, an education major, has only had one black professor as well.” Hurley said he feels like student diversity groups on campus do not receive support from the university, and that national politics are highlighting the divide on campus. “A student was at the Capitol on Jan. 6 during the riots… Kendall Johnson is still at UK after posting videos in the summer asking why the cops didn’t shoot Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend. There are far more serious issues that
RUSSELL RICE COLLECTION ON UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY SPORTS Portrait of Adolph Rupp
UK needs to deal with instead of Rupp Arena,” Hurley said. With COVID-19 and other large scale issues exhausting students’ mental and emotional reserves, some students say renaming Rupp Arena is lower on their priority list than meaningful change in their day to day lives. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter to them.
“Since UK’s population is predominantly white, it would show that those in charge stand for equality and hearing all voices,” Yousuf said. “It’s more than a name change; it’s showing they genuinely care and are accepting of their black and people of color athletes, students and fans.” And as the university seeks ways to improve
its institutional diversity, White brought up that communities have to know their history in order to build upon it. “It is an important step in having the kind of reconciliation and accountability for the kind of things that happened in the past,” White said. “We can’t just sweep it out in the rug, just as we celebrate his 800 plus wins.”
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Monday, February 15, 2021
features FARM CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7
APPHARVEST PROVIDED PHOTO CEO Jonathon Webb speaks to Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear during a tour of AppHarvest’s Morehead facility on Tuesday, February 9, 2021.
APPHARVEST PROVIDED PHOTO An interior view of AppHarvest’s greenhouse displays the rigging used to elevate the tomato vines as they grow in January 2021.
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future. Whitaker said that Rockcastle already has a greenhouse program at the school where they grow starter plants and bedding flowers as a fundraiser, but only in the spring. “The big thing as far as curriculum and stuff that that the container farm is going to do for us is we’ll be able to do stuff year round, because really the greenhouse sales that we do are pretty much a spring only thing,” Whitaker said. Webb hopes the booming AgTech wave in Kentucky will inspire students to invest in the Commonwealth. “That’s nearly $100,000 investment of physical equipment,” Webb told Rockcastle students during the presser. “We believe in you. You are the future. Me, people like the governor, political leaders in Frankfort, we’re going to come and go. You’re the leader. This is your state.” Webb called on federal government to put its money where its mouth is in sustainlotby goals, including funding for higher education so that appharvest can recruit the best technicians. Beyond education, Webb plans to make an impact on the state by supporting non-profits with healthy fruits and vegetables, especially during COVID-19. “CDC has reported one in 10 Americans do not eat enough fruits and vegetables,” Webb said. “So whatever we can do to play our part and make sure that good, healthy, affordable, fresh fruits and vegetables are available to everyone is a core part of our mission.” How AppHarvest grows its food matters to the company too. As Webb explained during the tour, the Morehead greenhouse is not connected to the community water system because they didn’t want to take resources or push in waste. Instead, they have a 1.8 million gallon tank that collects water from the roof. AppHarvest uses 90% less water than traditional agriculture but has up to 30 times higher yields. Vice president of production Tim Robinson explained how that thoughtfulness relates to the growing process.
“We’re recycling the whole time,” Robinson said during the tour. He walked the visitors through the greenhouse’s use of integrated pest management, a sustainable and chemical-free way to balance crops. Robinsion described it as using good bugs to get bad bugs and good fungi to get bad fungi. They control nutrients down to the microbe, and bee hives are scattered throughout the greenhouse to help pollination as well. “They’re friendly,” Webb told the governor as the peeked into a hive on the tour. AppHarvest has a computer program that can update employees on IPM. The system runs at night and can forecast the weekly harvest down to the exact number of heads and flowers. According to Robinson, they harvest two or three times a week since different sections of the greenhouse ripen at different times because the light comes in at different wavelengths. Tomato heads are kept under light yearround and grow a foot a week, Robinson said. Their growth is supported by wires that employees cinch higher as need, since Webb said the vines can be almost 45 feet tall. Webb described AppHarvest’s approach as “driving nature from behind with technology.” Tech extends past the farming itself; robotic carts transport produce through the facility. Ergonomic lifts keep employees from crouching down to work AppHarvest aims to cut down on food waste by using a digital model to inspect its supply chain. The company relies strongly on KentuckyWired, a state program to improve fiber optic connection, to support its analytics. “That’s an important sorry that needs to get there as well - KentuckyWired has been a Herculean effort that hasn’t always been well-received,” Beshear said. Beshear and Webb discussed the need for emerging industries funding to support more AgTech in the state. “What we’re doing matters,” Webb said. “The way we’re working to transform agriculture matters, but the place in which we’re doing it might be the most important and that’s the exciting thing is that we can continue to build and grow the company inside of the region that we love.”
Monday, February 15, 2021
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spring 2021 | 13
Monday, February 15, 2021
sports
Mix of new and returning players has UK baseball braced for immediate impact By Eric Decker sports@kykernel.com
Just under a year ago, Nick Mingione and his team were preparing to head off to Nashville to kick off conference play against the reigning national champions. But a now-familiar story played out: COVID-19 shut down the season, and those games were never played. Now, Mingione and his veteran-laden squad enter the 2021 season confident they can build off last season and be serious competitors in a loaded SEC. “This team is high trust, low maintenance,” Mingione said. “They’re unbelievable from the standpoint of they do everything that they’re asked. They are totally committed to the task at hand.” Because the NCAA granted all athletes an extra year of eligibility, Kentucky was able to return seniors at key positions while underclassmen are able to play with slightly less pressure to accommodate the strength of the schedule. Some of the more highly touted players on this team have still yet to see SEC level com-petition, including maybe their best overall player. “We’re led by John Rhodes,” Mingione said during a media day. “He was the co-freshman national player of the year, he was an All-American last year, he’s an All-American in every poll you see here. This guy is the package.” Rhodes is now MLB draft eligible after the event was moved to July. Coming off one of the most
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prolific freshman campaigns in Kentucky history, where he batted .426 and led the SEC in doubles during the limited season, Rhodes seems to be focused on the potential that the team has for this season. “I just want to win, in the end of the day you can be a first rounder, you can be a second rounder, you can do whatever you want but if we win then that’s what’s going to matter,” Rhodes said on the pressure of his future. “These are my brothers; these are my teammates and I’d go to war with them.” Joining Rhodes in draft buzz is utility man Austin Schultz,who had a break-out sophomore season. After only hitting two home runs in 44 games as a freshman, the Nebraska native compiled a .754 slugging percentage while belting 5 home runs in only 16 games in 2020. Schultz’s position, much like Rhodes, is not yet solidified as Kentucky has competition for multiple positions. T.J. Collett returns to Lexington as a grad student still looking to provide veteran leadership. Voted as a first-team preseason all-SEC by the coaches prior to this season, Collett looks to continue on his pace from last year when he went for five home runs in 17 games. Zeke Lewis should start the season alongside Collett. Lewis batted .378 and posted a perfect fielding percentage at second base. However, Mingione said players like Reuben Church have been impressive during fall and winter sessions.
FILE PHOTO Kentucky junior Mason Hazelwood pitches during the game against Norfolk State University on Saturday, March 7, 2020, at Kentucky Proud Park in Lexington, Kentucky.
At middle infield, Mingione hinted the rolee is Ryan Ritter’s to lose. Ritter, who Mingione has been gushing about all offseason, was one of the highest ranked JUCO transfers last season after he posted a .905 OPS in his one season at Division III John A. Logan. “This guy can really defend at shortstop.” Mingione said. “He’s as talented, if not the most talented, defensive shortstop I coached and I don’t say that lightly.” Mingione also made it seem like Chase Estep had a pretty good hold at the third base po-
sition after a promising freshman campaign. At catcher, there seems to be real competition between Coltyn Kessler and newcomer Alonzo Rubalcaba. “This guy can really, really receive,” Mingione said of Rubalcaba. “Those two guys have helped solidify us better defen-sively.” Outfield may be nearly identical to last year’s line-up - Jaren Shelby is back again at center, and Rhodes and Schultz may make sense at the corners for Mingione. Cam Hill, who Mingione said “has really stood out” in
training, would be the fourth outfielder, returning from a fractured wrist after only seven games last season. Coach Mingione also expects changes in the pitcher game. The only guaranteed returner looks to be Mason Hazelwood, who went for a 1.64 ERA and a .91 WHIP while leading the team in strikeouts. After moving completely into the rotation last season to mixed results, Jimmy Ramsey, who saw mixed results after fulling joing last season’s rotation, is moving back into the pen to See BASEBALL on page 16
Monday, February 15, 2021
sports
Wildcats ready to play ball after 11-month delay By Barkley Truax sports@kykernel.com
Kentucky softball has been sidelined for nearly a year and is now ready (and eager) to take the SEC by storm this season. Rachel Lawson, in her 14th season as Kentucky’s head coach, is looking forward to the upcoming season after the extended break caused by the pandemic. “It’s been a long 11 months for spring sports and the softball team,” Lawson said during media day on Tuesday. “Really excited to get out there Friday and play someone other than ourselves.” Kentucky kicked off their season Feb. 12 and 13 in a three game series at Samford University. The Wildcats swept Samford in Friday’s games, 4-0 and 15-3, as Erin Coffel scored three runs and Autumn Humes pitched a shutout in the opener. Due to early season tournaments, however, the Wildcats won’t play a home game until March. Last season was ended prematurely due to the pandemic. In their final game, then-freshman Miranda Stoddard hit a walk-off, three-run home run to give Kentucky the 16-15 victory. Kentucky finished last season with a 20-4 overall record and ranked no. 13 by USATODAY. Many other teams did not have the luxury of ending the season on a win like that. While the cutoff season was bittersweet, Lawson said she has redirected her attention to this year. “I spend all of my time, ener-
gy and focus on this current team and I want to make sure our seniors go out and have all the moments and the experiences they hoped for,” Lawson said. Kentucky also welcomes six newcomers to the roster: Coffel, Victoria Fragoso, Meeks Harrison, Vanessa Nesby, Stephanie Schoonover and Erica Thulen. Coffel, a freshman infielder, was a two-time Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year (2019, 2020) and was ranked as high as the No. 7 player in the country. Kentucky is returning seven starters along with five pitchers, including super senior Humes who took advantage of the NCAA’s extended eligibility. Junior catcher Kayla Kowalik leads the way among returners., hitting .373 last season with 31 runs and 13 RBI’s. Coach Lawson said that there was a chance that Kowalik could be the best leadoff hitter she has ever coached at Kentucky. “I am a very confident person in my abilities and my skills,” Kowalik said. “Very rarely do I look at a challenge when it comes to offense and I’m like deterred from it.” She made an impact early in Kentucky’s second game with her first career home run. Returning along with Kowalik is senior infielder, Mallory Peyton. She comes into this season having led Kentucky in home runs (11) last season, batting .379 with 35 RBI’s. Peyton, who plays first base, is going to be the only infielder returning to her natural posi-
FILE PHOTO Kentucky freshman Rylea Smith bunts the ball during the home opener against Texas A&M on Saturday, March 7, 2020, at John Cropp Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky.
tion, according to Lawson. She clinched the win for Kentucky in their third game against Samford over the weekend, bringing the final score to 12-9 and improving the Cats to 3-0 to start the season. The ultimate goal for this squad is to make it to Oklahoma City for the college softball World Series. “That’s why you picked Kentucky,” Lawson said. “You don’t come to Kentucky if you don’t want to be in the World Series.” Kentucky made their first ever World Series in 2014, but haven’t been back to the tournament
since. “Win or lose, that is always the goal. That’s why they work so hard in the offseason,” Lawson said. “That dream of going to Oklahoma City is still dangling out there.” Veteran leadership will help Kentucky on that path, though not necessarily in their usual roles. “I look for Autumn [Humes] to get a significant number of atbats and be in the meat of our order,” Lawson said. She said that Humes was one of the hardest workers over the pandemic and anticipates Humes
as being one of the anchors for the team moving forward. Kentucky is also bringing back leading pitchers in Meghan Schorman and Grace Baalman. Sophomore Sloan Gayan also took the mound for Kentucky this weekend. With players new and old hungry to return to competition, it’s anyone’s ball game. The key will be finding a balanced rotation. The Cats will look to improve on defensive struggles that Samford took advantage of in Saturday’s series as they head to North Carolina for their next series.
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Monday, February 15, 2021
BASEBALL CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14
provide experience in tough situations. Ramsey pitched a decent ERA last season but struggled with his walk rate, something that he likens to trying to be too perfect while being on the mound. Dillon Marsh is out of the line-up due to an oblique injury, Mingione said. There’s still room for someone to leap into the starting spot, which newcomer Ryan Hagenow seems to have control of. The highest ranked freshman in Kentucky’s 2020 class and a top-10 recruit nationally, the 6-5 Hagenow has the talent to make an immediate impact.
GYMNAST CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5
“We were preparing like that whole week, like going hard, because we knew that we had to hit the competition that was coming up because the last competition we had didn’t go as we planned,” Nixon said. “It was crazy. I just honestly I did not expect it to end that fast.” “I remember standing outside of the bus, before we left and like everybody was talking about the case and how it was like becoming a bigger deal,” Worley said, recalling how Garrison’s announcement just an hour later was a kind of “reality smack.” The pandemic’s ripple effects played out for the gymnasts over the summer. “I didn’t really have a gym to work in. Everything was shut down, so basically for me it was just kind of maintaining the skills that I have right now and just being more consistent with it,” Nixon said. For Bunn, whose high school senior season was cut off midway through, the loss inspired her to come into college as strong as she could be. Now, she feels like Kentucky can finish what last year’s seniors never got to. Bunn described Friday meets as a payday for the hard work put in during the week. “Knowing that I’m not doing this
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“Ryan is a straight A-student, he is an unbelievable teammate and he’s super talented… Opening weekend he will not be in the rotation, but you can just see that guy coming,” Mingione said. Opening weekend for the Cats will be later than anticipated - Kentucky’s planned season opener against the University of North Carolina was canceled on Sunday. Feb. 14 due to COVID-19 contact tracing in UK’s program. The following game agaisnt Miami University on Feb. 23 remains on schedule, according to the team. Barring more COVID-19 cancellations, the Wildcats will then have 18 straight home games.
for myself at all, I’m doing this for the team has been like such a change,” Bunn said. “It’s been so amazing, like I know I’m competing all-around but I don’t really care like for myself how I do, I only care about how I do for the team.” As a collective, Kentucky notched its first 197.000 against Arkansas but also surpassed 49.000 on all four apparatuses earlier in the season against Alabama. But the gymnasts are quick to commend each other’s individual achievements, even over their own. “Reyna won the last three all-around titles, let’s talk about that,” Nixon said after Bunn brought up Nixon’s 9.925 career high vault on Jan. 15. Nixon won the vault event in all four of Kentucky’s matches before the bye week. Worley took home three allarounds and two floor titles, adding another against Arkansas. The athletes agreed that they aren’t thinking about those honors when they’re competing. “I don’t even remember like what I do. Like I just like it’s all a blur. Like I just do the vault and I just get so excited, that I don’t know what happens,” Nixon said. What’s happened so far has been a season built on sisterhood and growth. What happens next? An away meet against no. 1 Florida on Friday, Feb. 19, where the team will aim to match its season high 197.000 – and maybe have a little fun along the way.
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