Age is an asset for UK’s Donovan Scholars
In many ways, W. Blaine Early III is a typical University of Kentucky student. He attends classes, takes tests and enjoys learning from his professors and classmates. There is one significant difference, however. His career is drawing toward its end rather than just starting out.
Early is one of UK’s Donovan Scholars, a program that pays full tuition and fees for students over 65. Scholars can choose to audit courses for personal enrichment, take classes for credit or even seek a degree as an undergraduate or graduate student. The program benefits the scholars and, by supporting the studies of those with a broad range of experiences, the campus community as a whole.
The Donovan Scholarship program is named for 1950s UK President Herman L. Donovan. While serving the university, Donovan attended a gerontology seminar that convinced him of the value of lifelong learning. In 1964, UK honored his service by establishing the scholarship in his name.
“It was pretty much the first of its kind in the country,” says Trey Adkins, Donovan Scholarship registrar.
The program gained national attention in 1966 through an article in Time magazine. Amanda Hicks became the first Donovan Scholar to receive a degree in 1967, and Alfred D.G. Arthurs became the first to earn a doctorate in 1975. In 1976, the Kentucky General Assembly expanded UK’s program to cover tuition students 65 and up at all state-supported institutions of higher learning.
In the UK program’s 60 years, participants have ranged from 65 to 91. Adkins says that 131 Donovan Scholars are currently taking classes at UK.
The scholars: Blaine Early
Early holds two doctoral degrees and worked as a biology professor at the University of the Cumberlands. He currently works part time in his second career as an environmental lawyer. He says he loves learning and thought the Donovan program was too good to pass up. He’s taken classes on topics like climate change that help him understand the issue in a systematic fashion.
Early, of Lexington, is now focused on earning a Distillation, Wine, and Brewing Science certificate at UK’s James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits, attributing his interest to continuing education for his work.
“As an attorney, I represent entities in the alcoholic beverage industry,” he explains. “The certificate’s formalized context helps me better understand the technical aspect of their work and their business challenges.”
A highlight of the program for Early was the rum studies course. It began with an online component covering sugar cane cultivation, fermentation and rum production. The group then spent a week on St. Croix studying three distillery operations. At Cruzan Rum, they learned about unique island issues like business planning and efficient supply chain operations.
“The host distillery professionals answered all of our questions and gave us a lot of access,” Early says. “The other students were asking interesting questions about developing their own businesses. It was just delightful.”
Since the mid-1960s, Donovan Scholars have been creating a community within the community at UK. Photo: UK Donovan Scholarship program
The scholars: Lenora McGrath
Lenora McGrath retired after 44 years as a high school math teacher but decided she wasn’t done with education. Her personal goal was to finish what she started over 20 years ago: her doctorate in education. As a Donovan Scholar, she has completed her qualifying exams and is starting work on her dissertation.
“My kids encouraged me to go back, and I am glad,” she said. “It has been an awesome experience.”
McGrath, of Lexington, is grateful that the Donovan staff helped her navigate the process. Instead of having to redo the coursework she has already completed, the school required her to take just four classes. Then she was eligible to take the exams and complete her dissertation.
Classes like Family and Community Literacy have introduced McGrath to new research and teaching techniques she didn’t know before. She says she has been inspired by lessons on financial literacy and how to bring students’ cultures into class through ethnomathematics. For her dissertation, she is studying how to present geometrical concepts using project-based learning. The students she tutors in a local high school benefit from her newfound knowledge.
“These are things I wish I had known years ago,” she says. “I could have incorporated them into my math classes.”
McGrath has a passion to pass on to fledgling teachers some of what she has learned in her teaching career and in her graduate-level classes. She recently became the UK sponsor for three student teachers she first met through a tutoring project in her classes. When she completes her doctorate, she hopes to teach college-level classes in math or education, while continuing to mentor early-career teachers.
Donovan Scholar Jeffrey Jones has taken classes in music theory and composition. Photo: Jones family
Part of the campus community
McGrath admits she was nervous about going back to school because of her age; she is old enough to be the mother of most other students and even some professors. But in her first class, she realized her years of hands-on experience were an asset that others didn’t have. She also saw how she could learn from their fresh perspective.
“I made an agreement with a guy in one of my classes, that he would help me with computer work and I would help him with math,” she says. “It has happened in every class, that we work on projects together and help each other out, and it has been very powerful for me.”
The Scholars themselves have banded together to form a campus student group. In monthly meetings, they exchange stories, share their frustrations and celebrate successes. In addition, they pay it forward to help new Donovan Scholars get acclimated to campus life.
Early believes that as a group, the Scholars hold promise for making a difference in the campus climate. “I hope we can be examples for those students coming in at 20 years old,” he says. “We can show them that an education is not something to rush through, but truly a lifelong experience.”
Donovan Scholar Blaine Early, third from right, studied rum production in St. Croix with other students in UK’s Distillation, Wine, and Brewing Science program. Photo: Ilka Balk
Donovan program fulfills lifelong dream
“From the coal mine to the classroom” is how University of Kentucky headlines the story of Donovan Scholar and retired coal miner Jim Adams. Adams graduated with his bachelor’s degree this spring.
