Camille R. McMullen, a 1996 alumna of the UT College of Law, was appointed Tennessee’s first African American criminal court of appeals judge in 2008. Prior to her appointment, she served seven years as an assistant US attorney for the Western District of Tennessee. Before that, she was an assistant district attorney for Shelby County … Continued
Tennessee linebacker Jackie Walker, a graduate of Knoxville’s Fulton High School, was named All-American in 1970 and repeated in 1971 by being named to four All-America teams.
Derrick Brodus, a walk-on freshman from Alcoa who played on the practice team, became the first African American kicker for UT when he was called from his apartment to take over kicking duties in 2011 because both the starting and back-up kickers were injured.
In 1968 wide receiver Lester McClain was the first African American varsity player at UT and the first in the Southeastern Conference. He and Albert Davis of Alcoa were recruited by Doug Dickey to play football for Tennessee. Davis did not enroll, leaving McClain as the sole African American on the varsity team. (When he … Continued
Condredge Holloway was the starting quarterback for UT in 1972, becoming UT’s first African American quarterback and the first in the SEC.
Linebacker Jackie Walker was elected team captain in 1971, becoming the first African American SEC football captain. (Gary Theiler and Phillip Fulmer were elected alternate captains.)
Charles B. Fancher Jr., a junior journalism major from Nashville, was one of 39 pledges tapped by Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity in fall 1968. Fancher indicated that he went to a lot of houses, was asked to return to several, but decided to go only to ZBT.
Lillian Jenkins received the MS in special education in August 1954. Harry S. Blanton earned the first doctoral degree, the EdD in educational administration and supervision in 1959. R. B. J. Campbelle Jr. was the first African American to earn the LLB (Law) degree in 1956. Brenda Joyce Peel was the first to earn the … Continued
The first African American head coach at UT was Wade Houston who was appointed head basketball coach in 1989. He was also the first African American head coach of a major sport in the Southeastern Conference.
Myrtle Chester Ferguson, who served as head Track and Field coach from 1998 to 2002, was the first African American head coach of a women’s intercollegiate sport.