Members of the student group Friends with Benefit Equality painted the Rock and delivered a letter to Chancellor Cheek’s office requesting benefits for homosexual and heterosexual domestic partners of UT Knoxville employees.
Students lobbied for the proposal introduced in the legislature by Representative Doug Overbey, state senator from Maryville, to change the HOPE scholarship cap to eight semesters rather than 120 hours. Chancellor Cheek was also in favor of the move. Because of requirements in the various disciplines, many students who finished in eight semesters completed their … Continued
In 2013 students were incensed that Chancellor Jimmy Cheek pulled contributions to Sex Week from state funds, citing the fact that some of the activities were not appropriate expenditures of state tax dollars. The funds were pulled following a threat to UT’s appropriations made by state Senator Stacey Campfield. On March 12 a protest called … Continued
In 2013 more than three hundred students signed a petition on Change.org asking the Interfraternity Council to allow fraternities on social probation to hold, participate in, and donate to philanthropy events while on social probation.
The Progressive Student Alliance marched into President DiPietro’s office on September 24, 2014, requesting a meeting as the first step in a statewide, coordinated campaign called “Put the People First.” The objects of the campaign were to prevent further tuition hikes, have a detailed budget constructed that raised university workers’ salaries to at least $15 … Continued
More than 20 supporters of the campaign to have UT divest fossil fuel companies from its investment proposal gathered at the Volunteer Statue and marched to the Andy Holt Tower office of Chief Financial Officer Charles Peccolo on February 6, 2014. The students presented their response to the rejection letter received from the board of … Continued
The national Ebola scare in fall 2014 and student questions about whether UT was prepared in the event of an Ebola case on campus led to the creation of a pandemic plan to be implemented in the event of an outbreak of the disease. The Student Health Service sent a blanket e-mail on October 29 … Continued
Students walked out of classes at noon on December 2, 2014, gathering in the Humanities Amphitheater for a short workshop on how to deal with police in everyday life and then marching to the intersection of Sixteenth Street and Cumberland Avenue. Approximately one hundred students blocked all traffic at the intersection for 40 minutes, except … Continued
The November 2014 announcement by Dave Hart that the Lady Vols name and logo would disappear except for the women’s basketball team, replaced by use of the Power T logo for all sports, caused an outcry among students and the general public. Facebook pages and petitions were quickly initiated and gained thousands of followers/signers. Former … Continued
More than 30 students representing the Living Wage Coalition staged an action on March 5, 2014, gathering in Circle Park and then marching to the Chancellor’s Office to deliver a petition calling for UT to raise the minimum wage at UT to $12.50 per hour plus benefits. Neither Chancellor Cheek nor his secretary was in … Continued