“Fanny” originally haunted the Old Science Hall (completed in 1892). When the building was razed in 1967, Fanny was said to have moved her home to Alumni Memorial. Legend has it that she haunted the auditorium of Science Hall, which was used for plays, as well as for chapels, assemblies, and lectures, and that she … Continued

Bernie Martin, a member of Phi Kappa Psi, detailed the actions of “Ralph” at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house for the Daily Beacon in 1988. According to Martin, Ralph, who walks around upstairs while all the brothers are in chapter meetings, gives the fraternity the distinction of being the only haunted fraternity house on … Continued

A barghest (very large dog with huge claws and teeth) is said to guard the Hill, producing a low, mournful howl on moonlit nights and resulting in calls to UT Police. The dog’s eyes are said to glow ruby red and its long fangs to drip saliva. Some say that this is the ghost of … Continued

Sophronia Marrs Strong was the mother of Benjamin Rush Strong, whose will provided in 1915 that his sizable gift to the university would be used in part to build a women’s residence hall to be named for his mother. Born in 1817 in Shelbyville, Sophronia married Dr. Joseph C. Strong, a Knoxville physician, at the … Continued

Workers at Tyson House contend that the basement of the house (part of which is the original foundation of this residence much expanded by the Tysons) is haunted, and workers in the Alumni Affairs Office report hearing sounds of walking in corridors when no one is there, as well as low moans. The unidentified ghost … Continued

In the grassy area next to Perkins Hall, late on a clear, moonlit night, a group of eight men dressed as soldiers from the Union army of the Civil War can sometimes be seen looking over maps and talking to each other. This group is said to be the eight Union soldiers whose graves were … Continued

The apparition of a young man wearing a celluloid collar and bowler hat sometimes joins students in the evenings as they walk up the steps to the top of the Hill. He is generally seen walking with his head bent and his hands behind his back—he does not acknowledge those with whom he mingles. Legend … Continued

Bill Gibbs was coaching basketball at Fairborn (Ohio) High School when newly appointed head basketball coach Ray Mears hired him as an assistant in 1962. Gibbs received the bachelor’s (1951) and master’s (1952) degrees from Miami of Ohio and then coached at Paninsville (Ohio) High School in 1952–53. He then coached at a high school … Continued

Beginning with the Century Club in 1960 and followed by the President’s Club in 1969 (formally established in 1970), the university has instituted gift clubs and recognition societies based on the level of giving to the institution. The Tennessee Society was the first gift society, recognizing giving at a $2,500 annual rate or a $25,000 … Continued

Elizabeth Gilbert became a writer in residence at UT after an epic journey around the world chronicled in her 2006 memoir Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia (Viking, 2006), for which the travel was paid by a publisher’s advance. While at UT in spring 2005, she was a … Continued