Jim Powell grew up on a 110-acre farm in rural Cub Creek, Tennessee. Through the efforts of his agriculture teacher, G. E. Horne, he received a hardship scholarship given by Sears and Roebuck and became the first member of his family to attend college when he entered UT in 1955 as an agriculture major (later … Continued

The United Residence Halls Council and the Office of Sustainability annually conduct the October POWER (Programs of Water, Energy, and Recycling) Challenge as a competition among residence halls to see which facility can conserve and sustain the most energy. The Office of Sustainability awards points through monitoring electricity and water use and weighing recyclables turned … Continued

Nickname for the Andy Holt Tower.

At the 1991 National Collegiate Powerlifting Championships in Oklahoma City, two UT students set a total of six collegiate world records.  Gabe Hannah, a senior in wildlife and fishery sciences and a cheerleader for women’s intercollegiate athletics, set four records in the 165-pound weight class. His lifts totaled 1,299 pounds—he had a 518-pound squat, a … Continued

The 1869 Act of the Tennessee General Assembly conveying the 1962 Morrill Act Land-Grant endowment to the university required that all “physically able” students work on the university’s farm, “not exceeding two hours per day, except in the way of punishment.” Although this requirement had not generally been enforced, with the new president (Dabney) came … Continued

In 1886 the disappearance of the bell from the tower of Old College was discovered on a Monday, and it was Thursday before the commandant of cadets located the bell at the bottom of the campus cistern.

In 1894 students on campus were anxiously awaiting word of the outcome of the baseball game between UT and Cumberland University. In the first recorded student prank, a student contrived to steal a blank telegraph form from the local telegraph office and prepared a bogus telegram announcing a UT victory. The news led to an … Continued

The first recorded Halloween prank occurred in 1904, when a freshman’s furniture was moved from his room to the top of a lumber pile on the crown of the Hill and perfectly rearranged, complete with a dummy to represent him and bottles on the table. The same year, a small stick of dynamite was ignited … Continued

Ringing the bell in the tower of Old College was a favorite prank. The bell had been left in the tower after an electrical system was installed in the 1890s. One year, two students attached a long wire to the bell, carried the wire to a distant point, and amused themselves by awakening the campus … Continued