-Derrick Graham, state representative
“It was a place where you could go and basically unwind for a moment,” Graham said.
When he remembers Underwood, Graham remembers being young— hanging out with his friends and his fraternity brothers. He also remembers, as a participant and an observer, when new pledges would march through the cafeteria and perform a step show at the end of Greek Week.
In the 1980s, Underwood was renovated to be a classroom and office building and renamed Atwood, after Rufus B. Atwood, who served as president of Kentucky State University from 1929 to 1962. Born in Kentucky as the son of formerly enslaved parents, Atwood attended and taught school in segregated school systems. Atwood secured Kentucky State's accreditation and remains the university's longest-serving president.
and taught school in segregated school systems. Atwood secured Kentucky State’s accreditation and remains the university’s longest-serving president.
By that time, Templeton had been relocated to another building, but after the 1986 renovation to make Atwood a research facility, Templeton moved back in. She was there until 2012, when plans for the most recent renovation began. Now that Atwood has reopened, Templeton will soon return to the building once again.
“It’s my Alpha and Omega,” Templeton said.
Templeton remembers getting her first personal computer while working in that building, and she remembers minor disasters— pipes bursting over Christmas break, for example. Mostly she remembers the people.
“It was a happy place,” she said. “People worked together. It was just good people.”
Graham spoke during the October 30, 2020, ribbon cutting of the renovated Atwood Research Facility. Afterwards, he toured the building.
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It’s changed a lot since he ate his meals there— though the brick arches that marked the dining hall entrance remain, one piece of evidence that both history and the future are celebrated in the building.
“It’s a beautiful building,” Graham said. “A beautiful facility for learning and research.”
The facility will “take us to the next step for research for the Commonwealth of Kentucky,” said Dr. Kirk Pomper, dean of the College of Agriculture, Community, and the Sciences and director of the Land Grant Program.
The resources in the building will give Kentucky State University professors, researchers and students more opportunities to continue to make Kentucky a leader in agriculture and agritech.
“The potential for [Kentucky] to become the ag-tech capital of the world is an exciting time. And that’s what excites me about this facility,” said Rocky Adkins, senior adviser to the Kentucky governor, during the ribbon cutting ceremony. Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles said he wants “that next Elon Musk, that next Thomas Edison, to come from Kentucky.”
Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles said he wants “that next Elon Musk, that next Thomas Edison, to come from Kentucky.”
“This,” he said, standing in front of Atwood during the ribbon cutting, “is where it’s going to happen, and I’m so happy that Kentucky State University received a seven-and-a-half million dollar grant through USDA to help sharpen that knife and invest in the future of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.”
Though it’s a state-of-the-art facility now, Templeton remembers when the building’s air conditioning and heating were never working properly in Underwood and Atwood— it was always too hot or too cold.
When she moves back in to the new Atwood, she hopes the temperature will be just right.
For more information about Atwood Research Facility, contact Dr. Robert Durborow at robert.durborow@kysu.edu.
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