Students gathered at the Volunteer Statue in spring 1987 to protest high UT parking permit costs and citation fees. Richard Pope, president of the Graduate Student Association, burned a parking ticket. The rally protested alleged misuse of funds by the Safety and Security Department by paying for police officers not associated with parking enforcement from … Continued

The Philosophes, a UT student group named after a group of progressive eighteenth-century French thinkers, held a protest on April 27, 1987, on Cumberland Avenue in front of the university center. Teri Rhodes, the group’s founder and a senior in psychology, explained that the issues were combined because a protest involving people from both groups … Continued

Precipitated by an April 1987 incident in which a student African American couple was walking through the SAE Fraternity courtyard and was subjected to threats and racial slurs, the Black Faculty and Staff Association met with students to urge formation of better support infrastructures for African American students, faculty, and staff. Other incidents of perceived … Continued

Students complained that the move of 130 residents of Bill Gibbs Hall to the Apartment Residence Hall while renovations on Gibbs were made forced other students to forfeit single-room rights.

In January 1988 members of both the General Union of Arab Students and the General Union of Palestinian Students held a peaceful demonstration on the University Center Plaza to raise awareness of the plight of Palestinians in Israeli-occupied territories in the Middle East. Members of the Muslim Students Association were also present at the demonstration. … Continued

In November 1988 students assembled at various campus locations, among them the Volunteer Statue, to urge UT to divest itself of holdings in companies doing business in South Africa. Treasurer David Martin explained that UT followed the legislature’s guideline that companies held should not have more than 1 percent of their holdings in South Africa … Continued

In January 1988 students complained that National Telephone Service, the company that had a six-month trial contract (signed in March 1987) with UT for providing long-distance service had provided poor service and made charges in excess of their published rates. NTSC provided refunds to many students who complained to the company, and UT issued an … Continued

In 1988 the Student Government Association, reacting to concerns of their constituencies over use of the Student Programs and Services Fee to fund Women’s Intercollegiate Athletics, voted formally to request that the administration and board of trustees transfer funding of Women’s Intercollegiate Athletics, which was consuming $19.58 of the fee each quarter, to sources other … Continued

The issue of affordable, quality child care for students was brought to the attention of UT and the governor by the Student Government Association and concerned students, particularly Jamey Ellis, the student-mother who brought the problem to the SGA’s attention. The SGA conducted a poll and found a significant demand for childcare. The Chancellor’s Office … Continued

On January 25, 1989, students marched from the university center to Andy Holt Tower in protest of UT investments in corporations doing business in South Africa. The Anti-Apartheid Coalition of Tennessee (ACT) organized the march. The SGA passed a bill shortly thereafter establishing a committee to “open dialogue with University officials . . . who … Continued