At the spring 2010 SEC meetings, delegates voted to give the power to suspend coaches from coaching SEC games to the SEC commissioner. In November 2010 Commissioner Mike Slive first exercised the authority by suspending basketball coach Bruce Pearl from coaching half of the 2010–11 SEC basketball games—an eight-game suspension. The suspension came in addition … Continued

The first catalog was published in 1838 when the institution was East Tennessee College. Joseph Estabrook was president. An online catalog archive was established in 2004.

In 1958 Dr. Paul Cromwell, head of the Electrical Engineering Department, rented a Librascope General Purpose 30-bit computer (LGP 30). It was the institution’s first real digital computer and was restricted to use by Electrical Engineering. It took almost a second to multiply two numbers. The first computer for general university use was purchased in … Continued

Marc Cooper, a marketing major, founded the nation’s first catfishing club at UT in October 2013. While UT had had a bass fishing team, none existed for the plentiful catfish in the region. The club competes in tournaments, such as the East Tennessee Catfish Anglers Tournament Series.

In 1962 Jim Whipple, head of programmers for the UT Computing Center, used the university’s IBM 1620 machine to register 450 freshmen in the College of Engineering in 90 minutes. That saved an estimated two-thousand-person-hours of faculty and student time over manual registration procedures. In winter quarter 1963 the IBM 1620 was used to register … Continued

The first conference, sponsored by the Black Faculty and Staff Association, was held May 6, 1988, in Hodges Library. Keynote speaker was Dr. Molefi Kete Asante, professor and head of Afro-American studies at Temple University. Jeanette Barker served as conference chair.

Evelyn Wells was elected the first Barnwarmin’ Queen in 1923.

In spring 1942 freshman John Trent was granted permission to open a concession selling soft drinks, candy, and cigarettes at the bottom of the stairs in Ayres Hall. Trent, who established the concession as a means of covering his expenses while attending UT, was visually impaired and was assisted by his brother, who was totally … Continued

Number 3, worn by Todd Lynn Helton in 1992–95, was retired by UT on January 30, 2008. Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam declared January 30, 2008, as Todd Helton Day.

The first meeting of the board of trustees of Blount College was held on October 18, 1794. The trustees elected the Reverend Samuel Carrick as president; directed the president to open the college as soon as enough students had been admitted; and set January 22, 1795, as the deadline for applications for admission. Tuition was … Continued