Ethan Morgan

Student Speaker, May 2025

Morgan, from Fairdealing, Kentucky, in Marshall County, is graduating with bachelor’s degree in biology from the UK College of Arts and Sciences. He is also a member of the Lewis Honors College. He will deliver the student address at the 2 p.m. Friday, May 9, ceremony.

During his time at UK, Morgan has taken on numerous leadership and service roles across campus. He is the president and co-founder of HealthCare Cats, which was named the 2024 New Student Organization of the Year, and the inaugural president of the Kentucky Rural Health Association chapter at UK. He has served as a Lewis Honors College orientation leader and as the Lewis Liaison for biology in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Morgan has also contributed to campus life as a member of the UK Student Conduct Hearing Board, a Visitors Center tour guide and a tutor at the UK Biology Learning Center. In addition, he has conducted research in Associate Professor David Rodgers’ lab in the UK College of Medicine’s Department of Molecular & Cellular Biochemistry, and is involved with several student organizations, including Phi Delta Epsilon, the Apollo Society and the Appalachian Health Initiative. Last fall, Morgan was named UK’s 2024 Homecoming King.  

Morgan says coming to UK was a “dream come true.”

“I grew up on a farm in far Western Kentucky, and while my first clothes were a UK onesie, no one in my family had ever had the opportunity to attend UK,” he said. “Being able to live out that dream has been the experience of a lifetime and something I’ll carry with me forever.”

Morgan is honored to close his UK chapter by addressing his fellow graduates — an experience he calls “one of the greatest honors of my life.”

“I hope they take away the power of resilience — that when life gets hard, they are tougher than anything they face,” he said. “I want them to remember the lessons they learned here at the University of Kentucky and the valuable connections they have made in the Commonwealth. Most of all, I hope they always stay grounded in where they come from.”

After graduation, Morgan will pursue an MD and MBA, with a goal of practicing medicine in Kentucky’s underserved rural communities.

“Kentucky has given so much to me, and I look forward to giving back to the place that built me,” he said.