May 16, 2024 - Maria Hatch and Kirsten Turner (Explore First and corporate engagement)

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 16, 2024) – Greystar is a global leader in the investment, development, and management of high-quality rental housing properties. Greystar is one of the largest operators of rental housing in the world, with properties including apartments, senior living communities, corporate, and student housing. In 2012, the University of Kentucky embarked upon an historic multi-phased partnership with Greystar to construct state of the art student housing facilities on campus. The development provided new housing to enhance the learning experience for students at the University of Kentucky. The multi-phased project replaced most of the existing student housing located across campus with modern state of the art facilities. Over the past two years, Greystar and the University have embarked on a new partnership – working with students through the Explore First: Careers, Cultures and Connections program. Explore First is an education abroad program designed to equip and empower First-Generation students through participation in a 3-week education abroad program in London and Dublin. Along with introducing career readiness within a global context, the program connects students with organizations, like Greystar, that have a global presence and employ UK graduates. On this episode of Behind the Blue, Maria Hatch, Greystar's Senior Director of Client Relationships, and UK's Vice President for Student Success Kirsten Turner talk about the Explore First program and the benefits to both students and corporate participants. "Behind the Blue" is available on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify. Become a subscriber to receive new episodes of "Behind the Blue" each week. UK's latest medical breakthroughs, research, artists and writers will be featured, along with the most important news impacting the university. Transcripts for this or other episodes of Behind the Blue can be downloaded from the show's blog page. To discover what's wildly possible at the University of Kentucky, click here.