The College of Law’s tax assistance program was established in 2004 by the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA). Volunteers are certified by the IRS. Special services for non-US citizens, as well as general tax help, are provided.

Initiated in 2008, the Volunteer of the Year-Distinguished Alumnus/Alumna award is the single highest award given by the UT Knoxville Alumni Office and recognizes alumni who have excelled at the national or international level. This award replaced the former Volunteer of the Year Award. The purpose of this award is to recognize an alumnus or … Continued

Director of Women’s Intercollegiate Athletics Gloria Ray, Anne Furrow, and others created the Volunteer Parents Program in 1979. Upon admission to UT, a female athlete was assigned to a Knoxville family that provided her with a “home away from home.” The program ended in 1981 in anticipation of needing to comply in 1982 with NCAA … Continued

The Home Economics Club compiled a cookbook, Volunteer Recipes, in 1948 as a means of raising funds for a graduate scholarship in the college. Recipes were contributed by Clare Boothe Luce, Mrs. Harry Truman, Mrs. Calvin Coolidge, Lynn Fontanne, and Jeanette MacDonald, as well as by UT faculty, students, and staff. In fall 1955 the … Continued

The Volunteer Scholarship program was created in 2002 (with funds available for fall 2003) to attract outstanding Tennessee high school graduates, as an extension of the Bicentennial Scholarships, which required students to present an ACT score above 30 to be considered. The Volunteer Scholarships required ACT scores of 29 or 30 on the ACT (or … Continued

As early as 1919, students discussed the idea of having a statue that symbolized the “Volunteer Spirit.” The class of 1928 collected $430 toward a fund to be $1,000 in gold for a prize to the sculptor preparing the best model representative of the Volunteer Spirit. The classes of 1929 and 1930 also contributed to … Continued

In the announcement of the contest to design a symbol for the university, the following guidance was provided to sculptors: Back of all traditions of Tennessee is the spirit of the State as symbolized by the word “Volunteer.” The term has always been used to honor the State whose men have so readily responded to … Continued

In 1973 the flame of the torch in the Volunteer Statue was extinguished to save energy during the Arab oil embargo, partly because of student protests. A group of students took action against the wasted energy by roasting marshmallows in the flame and sticking them on the statue. From then until 1979, the torch was … Continued

In March 1936 the UT committee appointed to popularize the Volunteer Statue symbol announced that five-inch reproductions of the statue would be cast in bronze and be made available for purchase in the bookstore, Alumni Office, and at the YMCA. The profit from the small statues went into a fund that was to provide for … Continued

In 1931 the university did not have the estimated $60,000 required to cast the contemplated 26-foot high statue (including appropriate marble base) and pay for its setting of a semicircular background of pink Tennessee marble on the front lawn of the Hoskins Library. The Volunteer was, however, adopted as the official symbol of the university, … Continued