OPPORTUNITY

Being A Steward

This year, JP pledged a $500,000 gift to UK Athletics. Giving back is a spirit that JP has cultivated throughout his life, from coaching youth basketball to making gifts to his alma mater. He told himself a long time ago if he ever had the resources to make a difference that he would. The happiest people he has known throughout his life have been givers — of their time, their talents, their treasures.

He remembers attending a church service in college. A man was talking about how to develop the habit of giving early in your life. “‘If you can’t give $10 out of $100, if you ever have $10 million, you won’t give $1 million,’” JP remembers the man saying. That sensibility stuck with him for many years after the service.

“UK is a place where I lived out a dream,” says JP. “Most of the dearest friends of my life I met at UK.”

JP recognizes the grace in the opportunities he’s had — he had two hardworking parents who loved him, a basketball career that opened doors early in his career and found himself in the right room with the right people over the years.

Making a difference at UK is the culmination of years of hard work that began on the basketball court and continues today on the stock exchange. To be able to give back in this way is an honor for JP.

“When you give to things that have meaning to you, that are bigger than you, that outlive you, it does something different for your heart and soul that no personal achievement can do.”

In Edmonton, JP is in the process of building an endowment that will create more opportunities for kids from his hometown.

JP thinks often of his father, who didn’t have a father present in his life. He borrowed money from the church to put himself through law school and became the Metcalfe County Attorney for 34 years.

“My dad changed the trajectory of our family,” says JP. “I want to help kids like him, who had talent, but no opportunity and weren’t exposed to new things.”

In his downtown Lexington office, JP had a mural painted of his childhood basketball court, where he spent the first part of his life putting in the work every day in pursuit of his first dream. It’s a concrete slab set back into a clearing of towering trees that have been there since before JP was born. It reminds him of what’s possible — that he can start small and achieve something great by working hard and being patient. For JP, it’s a simple equation — hard work = success — but it’s nonetheless powerful.

He reflects on his childhood at big junctures in his life, a humble beginning in Edmonton, Kentucky. In his parents he saw models of work ethic, big-heartedness and being a part of something bigger than yourself.

“You don’t get to pick your parents,” says JP. “And I had two great ones.”

JP is still dreaming big dreams, but those dreams have changed. ■

$ UK INVESTS

JP Blevins understands the value of starting small and investing early in yourself — with time, with money and with action.

In 2022, UK launched UK Invests, a program that supports and incentivizes students’ pursuit of financial awareness, education and security through a holistic wellness initiative.

JP believes that students have a tremendous opportunity to cultivate strong habits while they’re still in school and learn about the power of time and compound interest.

“The habits that students learn through this initiative will carry them into successful careers more prepared financially,” says JP. “The earlier students can start, the more powerful they will be.”