In 1928 the University Church Workers and the Christian Associations began a tradition, which lasted for 40 years, of having a midwinter convocation at UT. The first convocation was held in 1929, and Dr. Henry Hitt Crane was the initial speaker. He returned as speaker in 1939. The convocation consisted of three one-hour periods devoted to inspirational talks of a religious nature by an outstanding speaker. Classes were suspended during these periods to provide for “an interlude of personal thinking for each student and faculty member.”
Each year the UT Christian Association invited a leading theologian “to preach to students about the importance of Christian values in their lives.” The Tennessee School of Religion and the campus YMCA assisted in selection of the speaker and in planning the annual event. In response to 1967 convocation speaker William Elliott’s talk, Dr. Richard Marius, UT history professor and an ordained Baptist minister candidly expressed his disappointment that Dr. Elliott did not address how Christians should react to the pressing social issues of the day, such as racism and Vietnam. When YMCA secretary Ralph Frost complained to Academic Vice President Spivey, Spivey responded by questioning the propriety of an institutionally sponsored religious event. The Presbyterian Student Center submitted a petition to the Student Government Association calling the convocation an “absurd piece of nonsense and a meaningless tradition.”
The issue of the convocation became embroiled in the broader issue of institutional policy related to speakers on campus, and in fall 1968 UT announced a liberalization of its policy concerning speakers and the termination of the midwinter convocation.