Ashley Judd, former Gov. Steve Beshear honored by UK as distinguished alums
Actress Ashley Judd, former Gov. Steve Beshear and 25 other University of Kentucky alumni were inducted into the UK Hall of Distinguished Alumni on Friday night.
Delayed because of the pandemic, the event is normally held every five years. It honors alumni for meaningful contributions to Kentucky and beyond.
“The 2020 class is diverse in its range of accolades and achievements, but they each share a common characteristic: they make us proud to call them UK alumni,” President Eli Capilouto said on Friday night.
Among the inductees are journalists, engineers and lawyers. A full list of the 2020 inductees is available on UK’s website.
Judd, a 2007 alumni, said she spent time with members of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority on Thursday, where they discussed social justice, sexual and gender based violence and equality, among other topics.
Judd also reminisced on her time as a student, working for the campus radio station and the activism she got involved with.
“The light that is in me was sparked by my education at the University of Kentucky,” Judd said.
During her time at UK, she has memories of professor Susan Abbott-Jamieson encouraging her after class one day.
“I was 10 feet tall after that. It just helped my self-esteem as I was figuring out that I did have something to contribute and that I could learn, and that this was a space in which I did belong,” Judd said. “Professors should never underestimate the impact they can have on students’ lives.”
Earlier this year, Judd was placed in the ICU after suffering serious injuries to her leg while in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In an Instagram post in February, Judd said she nearly lost her leg after she tripped over a log and broke her leg in four places. Judd had to be carried out of the forest and has undergone extensive recovery since then.
“My injury is recovering very well and I really appreciate everyone’s good wishes and thoughts,” Judd said. “They meant a lot to me.”
People with peroneal nerve injuries like Judd’s can lose the ability to move their feet. Judd, however, was able to move hers after four months, she said.
She is now able to walk again, and her fractures have healed, she said. She has torn her meniscus, but is undergoing treatment for that and is planning on returning to the Congo at the beginning of 2022, she said.
“The good people of the Commonwealth of Kentucky sending me messages and praying for me and letting me know that they were with me in spirit meant a lot,” Judd said.
Beshear is a 1966 and 1968 graduate of UK. UK was a place where Beshear was able to learn and build new relationships, he said. It was also where he met his wife, Jane.
“The University of Kentucky has played a huge role in lots of lives all over the Commonwealth, and it certainly played a huge role in my life,” Beshear said. “It gave me the foundation for whatever success I’ve had. It gave me the self-confidence that you need to have in order to get ahead in life.”
One of the most important things he took from his time at UK was the relationships he made while there, he said. That included people from different parts of the world, and also people with different beliefs than him.
“That relationship-building that you received while you were here at UK is one of the most important things that any student gets,” Beshear said.