Few people may know that Morehead State University was the first state university in Kentucky to desegregate its residence halls and athletic teams – or that the school became a naval training center during World War II.

Facts like these are at the heart of a new documentary about the university entitled Far Above the Rolling Campus: A History of Morehead State University, airing Monday, June 19 at 9/8 pm on KET.

The documentary covers the history of Morehead State from 1887 through today, highlighting the historical events and cultural and societal issues that helped shape the campus and its students.

“A small school in the foothills of Appalachia broke the color barrier for all state schools in Kentucky, and for the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC),” said Steven Middleton, the film’s producer, referring to Marshall Banks, who enrolled at Morehead State University in 1958 as the first black athlete to play basketball in the OVC. “That is a history I want to share with the world through this film,” Middleton said. “After 130 years, the school’s original mission is still as relevant as ever. If viewers take anything away from the documentary, it should be how important this mountain institution has been to its now over 65,000 alumni and our region.”

Far Above the Rolling Campus: A History of Morehead State University is a production of State Run Media Productions, produced by Steven O. Middleton.

KET is Kentucky’s largest classroom, serving more than one million people each week via television, online and mobile. Learn more about Kentucky’s preeminent public media organization on Twitter @KET and facebook.com/KET and at KET.org.

Contact:

Todd Piccirilli
Senior Director, Marketing and Communications
859-258-7242
tpiccirilli@ket.org