By Ryan Girves 

This week marked the start of online learning for University of Kentucky students across campus following the announcement from President Eli Capilouto suspending all in-person instruction through the end of the spring semester in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. 

UK is one of many universities to move its classes online using channels such as Zoom — a video conferencing platform — as part of an effort to de-densify campus. 

When Isabella Morales’ older sister Maria was a high school student in Lexington, she noticed a lack of mentors who looked like her or who had lived her experience – that of a Latina student in a majority-white school. As a student at UK, she decided to do something about it by founding Leading Latinas, a student organization that mentors Latina high school students and encourages them to apply to UK.