A Day of Firsts at Lindsey Wilson University

Prof. Bloyd's first day COLUMBIA, Ky. (08/25/2026) — The Lindsey Wilson University community rang in a new school year on Monday, Aug. 24, proclaiming that 2026-27 will be the best academic year in the school's 123-year history.

More than 100 Lindsey Wilson students, faculty and staff gathered around the Victory Bell on the Campus Quadrangle, which turns a decade old this school year.

"We believe 2026-27 is going to be the best year ever," Lindsey Wilson Executive Vice President Dean Adams said a few moments before Vice President for Academic Affairs Ray Lutgring stepped up and rang the Victory Bell four times to symbolically begin the school year.

For more than 500 new students and nine new faculty members, Monday marked their first day of school at Lindsey Wilson. To help the day go smoothly, members of the Lindsey Wilson Office of Admissions were spread throughout campus during the morning to make sure new students -- and faculty -- knew where their first classes were located, as well as where key support offices are housed.

Freshman Kendall Melton of Columbia said her first day as a Blue Raider "was a good experience." Melton said she had little trouble finding her three Monday classes, which were located in either the Goodhue Classroom Building or the Jim and Helen Lee Fugitte Science Center, especially after receiving a little help from admissions counselor Tanner Pooler.

"It was very mellow compared to everything else," said Melton, who is also one of the first students to join Lindsey Wilson's new agribusiness major. "I wasn't expecting it to be so smooth, but everything was very smooth."

The same was true for fellow freshman Abigail Elmore of Burkesville, Kentucky. Both of the psychophysiology major's Monday classes were held in the Fugitte Science Center, and she said both of her professors did a good job connecting with students.

"I like my professors," said Elmore. "They are very interactive with the kids, and I think that makes for a perfect learning experience."

First day for faculty

One of the nine faculty members who also had a first day at Lindsey Wilson was Macaela Bloyd, who is an assistant professor of business. Bloyd, who taught two classes, said her first day as a Lindsey Wilson professor "takes me back to being a student myself."

"It brings back memories for me as a student -- that excitement of the first day and that shared experience in the air," said Bloyd.

Lindsey Wilson School of Professional Studies Dean Curt Lee, who marked his 27th first day of Lindsey Wilson classes, said that one of the tasks for a professor on the first day is to measure the classes' personalities.

"Different classes have a different personality, and we have to learn that each year," said Lee, who taught two Christian belief classes in the Fugitte Science Center on Monday.

Lee also observed that the Lindsey Wilson freshmen of 2026 may be the first group to enroll relatively unscathed by the COVID pandemic of 2020.

"In my experience, I find that every five years we have a culture shift among students," said Lee, who has spent all of the 21st century at Lindsey Wilson, first as a staff member and then as a professor. "As professors, we need to keep adjusting. And this may be the first cohort of students since the pandemic that was the least affected by it. They could be part of our 'new normal' of students.'"

Monday was also a final Lindsey Wilson first day for some undergraduates, including seniors Houston Cloud and Emmalee Miller.

Cloud said the start of his senior year was like "a breath of fresh air being back on campus."

"It was also a sign of relief knowing this was my last first day," said Cloud, who is a business administration major from Lancaster, Kentucky. "Because of my hard work, I've made it to my senior year of college."

Miller said the day was a little bittersweet for her because it marked her last semester of classes on campus, even though it keeps her on the path toward her career goals. The elementary education major from Louisville, Kentucky, will be off campus in the spring as a student teacher.

"I will get to be in the classroom and live out my passion and do what I came here for," she said.

Pictured: Lindsey Wilson University business professor Macaela Bloyd was one of nine new members of the Lindsey Wilson faculty who celebrated their first day of classes on campus on Monday, Aug. 24.