Fourteen astronauts (one [Dunlap] a payload specialist) have attended UT—two (Seddon and Dunlap) attended the UT Medical Center in Memphis, and twelve attended UTSI. The first UT connections to the astronaut program were the appointments of Henry (Hank) Hartsfield and Donald Peterson in September 1969. See also Ashby, Jeffrey S.; Dunlap, Alexander William; Edwards, Joe … Continued

In 2006 the NCAA implemented a system designed to hold athletics programs accountable for student athletes’ classroom performance by compiling an Academic Progress Rate to replace the standard that uses graduation rates. Each player on a team was eligible to receive two points each semester—one for being academically eligible to play and one for staying … Continued

Gifted senior football quarterback Kenneth Altona (Tony) Robinson and senior running back Kenneth Ray “B. B.” Cooper were arrested in January 1986 for the sale and delivery of cocaine. Robinson had sustained a season-ending injury in the Alabama game and was three quarters from graduation. Both athletes had been notified that they were academically ineligible … Continued

Yahoo! Sports reported on September 11 that five SEC football players, among them UT defensive lineman Maurice (Mo) Couch and former quarterback Tyler Bray, had received cash payments and other benefits from Luther Davis, acting as a go-between for the players with agents and financial advisers between December 2011 and December 2012. Couch was the … Continued

Police found two receipts and a Gulf Oil credit card belonging to allergist Bob Overholt’s firm in the glove compartment of Tony Robinson’s Grand Prix following his January 8, 1986, arrest for selling cocaine. Newspaper allegations suggested that Overholt, a longtime athletics booster, had provided the car to Robinson, loaned cars to other athletes, allowed … Continued

In September 1987 UT reacted by “categorically denying” charges that Sport magazine indicated were forthcoming in its November issue, claiming a “cover-up” in the UT internal investigation of extra benefits and comp ticket sales made in 1986. The magazine further charged that the infractions were made with the knowledge and assistance of UT officials. Reggie … Continued

The NCAA established guidelines in January 2005 that required college sports teams to maintain a 50 percent graduation rate among its athletes to avoid the risk of losing scholarships.

In 2002 Head Coach Phillip Fulmer, a former UT assistant football coach, and a Nashville booster were admonished by UT for violating NCAA rules in dealing with football player Eric Locke. The university’s probe into reports of wrongdoing in the transfer of Locke from Alabama to Tennessee was completed in spring 2002. Fulmer received an … Continued

Multiyear allegations of academic fraud were levied between 1995 and 2002, stemming from charges of tutors assisting male athletes to plagiarize between 1995 and 1998. In 1991 Linda Bensel-Meyers, head of composition for the English Department, and Carmen Tegano, head of academic services for men’s athletics, created a satellite tutoring facility in the men’s Athletics … Continued

A. J. Johnson (senior linebacker) and Michael Williams (redshirt sophomore cornerback) were charged on November 16, 2014, with the forcible rape by a 19-year-old UT student. Johnson, an all-SEC linebacker who had started all 10 football games in 2014 and who led the team in tackles, became the first Vol since Andy Spiva (1974–76) to … Continued