The Student Government Association formed a task force in 1983 to study the existing refrigerator policy for dormitory rooms, which required that students rent refrigerators directly from a company with which UT had a contract. The contract with Consolidated Products Incorporated was to run out at the end of the school year. Students contended that … Continued

Jamie Susan High, a sophomore in interior design, was pushed to the ground and fatally shot by MTSU student Walter Karell in the parking lot north of Massey Hall on October 30, 1983. After murdering High, Karell fired a shot at a witness before killing himself. High had been Karell’s girlfriend for a time when … Continued

Graduate students voiced disapproval of a new policy that would eliminate the ability to receive graduate credit for 3000-level classes. C. W. Minkel, vice provost and dean of the Graduate School responded that the policy had been enacted to better delineate the lines between undergraduate and graduate programs of the university and would not be … Continued

Residents of Dunford Hall presented a petition signed by 153 students and angrily voiced their concerns to Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Phil Scheurer about construction in Dunford to convert the first floor to space for relocation of the Undergraduate Library. The construction had been scheduled to take place in the summer but was … Continued

In January 1984 all residents in dormitories were notified that the prepayment fee would rise to $100 (from $50 the previous year). Students protested the $50 increase, which, along with the $50 previously paid with their housing applications, was not refundable for students who cancelled after May 1. Housing Director James Grubb explained that the … Continued

With the raising of the legal drinking age to 21 on August 1, 1985, students and the Daily Beacon were highly critical of what they perceived to be inconsistencies in UT’s “no alcohol on campus” policy. Students pointed to the fact that liquor was allowed at the Faculty Club and cited inconsistencies in application of … Continued

In February 1985 Acting Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Philip Scheurer confirmed what students had already recognized—UT was unable to attract major entertainers to perform in Stokely Athletics Center because of the 17 percent amusement tax that had to be paid. Scheurer indicated in a Daily Beacon interview that prior to the imposition of the … Continued

Approximately 50 law students demonstrated in front of the Taylor Law Building on October 25, 1985, charging that the UT College of Law had not made sufficient progress in eliminating racism. The protest was sparked by a letter in the college’s newsletter, the Forum, written by second-year law student Gary Cruciani, asserting that African Americans … Continued

In summer 1985 UT imposed a mandatory health insurance policy for all international students, replacing a previous policy that also required proof of health insurance but offered a variety of plans with varying premiums and levels of coverage. A committee of international students formed in opposition to the new policy in August and generated a … Continued

Members of the Tunisian Student Organization picketed at the university center in the fall in protest of the Israeli bombing of a Palestine Liberation Organization camp in Tunisia. They were protesting both the Israeli raid on their country and the failure of the United States to condemn Israel for the bombing.