Although not the official fight song, “Fight! Vols, Fight!” was played often by the band and sung at chapel. Gwen Sweet wrote the song in 1938, and Thornton W. Allen and Milo Sweet wrote the music. The song was first played January 2, 1939, at the Orange Bowl victory of UT over Oklahoma (17-0). The … Continued

The first African American basketball players were Wilbert Cherry, a walk-on who played junior varsity; and Larry Robinson, the first African American to receive scholarship aid and play varsity basketball in the 1971–72 season as a transfer from Ferrum Junior College. Larry Robinson was elected captain for 1972–73 and became the first African American basketball … Continued

Figi Island is the on-campus green space associated with Fraternity Park and located just in front of the fraternity houses.

Larry Robinson was elected basketball team captain for 1972–73, becoming the first African American basketball team captain at UT.

The Finance Club was a student affiliate of the American Finance Association, which was founded in 1912 in Philadelphia. In 1968 a Finance Association was formed to generate interest in the world of finance and economy. The association organized an Investment Club, with students whose paper portfolios did best receiving prizes of savings bonds from … Continued

Begun by the Muslim Student Association in 2001 to share the tradition of Ramadan with the student body, Fast-a-thon grew to serve also as an avenue to raise awareness about hunger and to raise money for the Love Kitchen.

In 1984 a committee headed by Dr. Warren Neel, dean of the College of Business, was appointed to examine computing and networking on campus. It recommended the establishment of a campus-wide communications network. Work on installation of a fiber optic network to provide campus communications was begun in fall 1986 under the direction of John … Continued

Native American Beattie Feathers was a halfback on the UT football team from 1931 to 1933. He was SEC Most Valuable Player in 1933 and was first team All-America the same year. During his football career at UT, he scored 32 touchdowns in 30 games. He was a campus leader, president of the junior class, … Continued

In 1932 Newman Hancock, a cotton breeder in the Agricultural Experiment Station, approached Dr. Kenneth Hertel, of the Physics Department, seeking assistance in measuring the degree to which characteristics that would make cotton crops more valuable were being bred into various cotton varieties. Hertel and associates in the Physics Department developed the random fibrograph that … Continued

David Fee graduated from UT in 1985 with a major in psychology and a minor in business administration. He is a well-celebrated magician and a lifetime member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians. When he was eight years old, a friend showed him a few sleight-of-hand tricks, and at age 11 he started practicing magic … Continued