Interview with Otis A. Singletary, July 7, 1988

Interview Summary

In Session Eleven, Dr. Singletary explains the environment of campus during his first year (1969-1970) at the University of Kentucky. During this time, students at Kentucky were just beginning to express their anti-war sentiments in the form of demonstrations and protests. A strong division was made between the administration and the students, making it more difficult to resolve any kind of issues. After coming to the university, Singletary was very up-front with the faculty regarding the way he operated his administration. At the time, racial issues were at a high, and he worked to make the University of Kentucky the type of environment in which any student or faculty member would feel comfortable. He ran into several problems in this area, because as hard as the school may have worked to ensure this on campus, there were difficulties with the community in Lexington.

Singletary also addresses the discussion of a merger between the University of Kentucky and University of Louisville. While it never materialized, he talks at length about the roles of universities in Kentucky and where opinions differed when it came to the merger. He mentions the problem of the budget and his interactions with campus, state, and federal government in order to work out the problems. He finishes by talking about his reorganization of campus and the newly appointed positions.

Interview LC Subject

Singletary, Otis A.

Interview Rights

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Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.