Ground was broken on September 22, 1964, for the new Music Building, the first building to be built in the Yale Avenue Urban Renewal Project area. Dr. A.W. Humphreys, professor of music education, and Alfred Schmied, chairman of the building committee, removed the first shovelfuls of dirt from the building site, with crane and tractors … Continued

See Fine Arts Department; School of Music.

See Library, George F. DeVine Music.

In the 1920s upperclassmen warned freshmen to be prepared for the “Freshman Special,” a mythical train that returned students home who had failed in college. Reservations on the train, freshmen were told, would be acquired after receipt of a C.O.D. (Call on the Dean) letter.

This myth is partially true, partially not. The building, constructed as a residence hall, is named for Dean of Women Harriet Greve, a dignified, strict disciplinarian and academician. She never married and was definitely not “granny-like.”

On November 15, 1903, the New York Times reported that in a secret meeting the preceding day, the board of trustees of the University of Cincinnati had declared the position of President Howard Ayers to be vacant, but that he would remain until a successor was found. From 1871 until 1899, the University of Cincinnati … Continued

This is a variant of the myth that a cave runs under the river from the bluffs on the south side of the river to Chilhowee Park. There are caves under all of Knoxville, since the city is built on karst, but there is no known cave that runs from UT to Chilhowee Park or … Continued

The myth would have it that in 1964 Doug Dickey, UT football coach (later athletics director), stood musing on the field about how better to tie athletics to academics. As he gazed across the stadium toward the Hill, the myth goes, his eye lighted on the band of checkerboard bricks that surround the tower of … Continued

Colorful, respected, and generally accorded “outstanding teacher,” Dr. George “Tony” Spiva (1928–2013) came to UT in 1958 as economics professor. Known for taking expeditions to end-of-the-earth wilderness in search of adventure and distance (true), it was not true that he worked for $1 per year because of his great wealth and great enthusiasm for teaching. … Continued

Alpha Tau Omega, Pi Kappa Alpha, and (possibly) Sigma Kappa fraternities operated as sub rosa (secret) societies in the 1870s. It has been widely rumored that Tennessee law prohibited fraternities until the ban was removed in 1881, but no such legislation existed.