Tyce Hall stood close enough to “The Niagra of the South” to feel the mist on his skin as he gazed up at the arc of white light across the night sky. The moon was full, he had just finished up a football game at Union Commonwealth University, his mother was visiting from his hometown of Louisville, and it was the first time either of them had seen a lunar rainbow.

“The word beautiful doesn’t do it justice,” Tyce says of this moment. “It helped remind me that I’m blessed.”

Witnessing the moonbow at Cumberland Falls State Resort Park is just one of many unexpected opportunities Tyce has discovered as a student at Union. A junior, Tyce is an aspiring entrepreneur majoring in Business Management who plays two sports, is highly involved in the theatre program, and works as a resident assistant, a student ambassador, and a peer mentor. He was crowned Homecoming King of 2024 and is excelling in academics and athletics, bonding with the tight-knit campus community, earning money, and developing leadership skills that he knows will serve him later in life.

“Union is giving me a taste of the real world before I have to take the real steps into it,” Tyce says. “It’s setting me up to go on the right path.” 

From the natural beauty of southeastern Kentucky to the warmth of the local people to the low student-to-faculty ratio, Tyce sums up his experience of Union in one word – opportunity. He says it’s the small campus and family atmosphere that make the difference.

“We may not have 300 professors, but the professors we do have will care for you, and they will genuinely give you their time. You have a chance to excel the day you come in.”



When Head Football Coach John Luttrell first recruited him, Tyce believed a private education would be financially out of reach. “I come from a one-income household, and I thought there was no way,” Tyce says.

However, the way Luttrell and the financial aid office worked with Tyce to come up with a package showed him that, in fact, a Union education was not only affordable, but that as a Union student, he would be truly cared for by faculty and staff.

“I had the opportunity to be a big fish in a little pond, and I told myself, ‘why not?’,” Tyce recalls.

That little pond turned out to be full of even more opportunities than Tyce had imagined.

“If you come to Union, you will become something. Union gives everybody the chance to become the best version of themselves,” Tyce says.

Donor-funded scholarships made it possible for Tyce to attend Union. You can create more opportunities for students like Tyce by contributing to the Union fund today.