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UK Student Center Opening Honors Bill Gatton

The official opening of the University of Kentucky’s new Student Center Monday included honoring a key contributor to the $200 million project.  The UK Board of Trustees is expected to name the state of the art facility the Bill Gatton Student Center.

Bill Gatton made a $20 million gift toward the construction of the 378,000 square foot facility in 2014.  Gatton, who made his money in real estate, banking, auto sales, and investing is UK’s largest philanthropic supporter, giving nearly $60 million to the school. 

UK Student Government President Ben Childress believes the student center can play a role in addressing social media isolation. “Got so many options now where it can be easy to kind of stay in your dorm room by yourself and just interact that way and I think we miss something when we do that,” said Childress.

UK’s new Student Center contains retail and residential dining, a two story commercial bookstore, high tech office and meeting space for student organizations and staff, plus living and learning spaces.

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