Established by the provost in 1994 as part of the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the chartering of UT (as Blount College), these scholarships were offered to entering freshman African American students, based on a minimum GPA established by the university and ACT composite scores (or the SAT equivalent). Recipients had to be fully … Continued
Until the 1964 passage of the Civil Rights Act, African American and Caucasian agricultural agents worked from different offices and separately served African American and Caucasian populations. In 1964 the agents were combined into one county extension office, serving populations in their areas of specialty.
The African American Hall of Fame was established at UT in 1994 to commemorate the achievements of UT African Americans. Twelve charter members were inducted from a nomination list of more than one hundred: Wilber Cherry, one of UT’s first African American varsity basketball players in 1971–72; Willie Mae Gillespie, one of the first three … Continued
The staff in the Minority Student Affairs Department conceived and initiated the annual African American Image Awards in 2006 and presented the first awards in 2007, with the assistance of the Student African American Brotherhood, the Diva Opals, and the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity. The awards serve as an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of … Continued
Begun in the 2002–3 academic year, the African American Incentive Grant program provided incentive grants to African American students who had demonstrated an ability to succeed academically by their high school records but whose scores did not qualify them for the African American Achiever Scholarship. Funding for the program came through contributions, and the state … Continued
As part of the Ready for the World effort to introduce UT students to cultures other than their own, an African Semester was held in spring 2003. The purpose of the semester, titled “Africa at Home, Home in Africa,” was to show how Africans and African elements have influenced cultures worldwide and how African artists … Continued
In 1987 the African Students Association was established for students from Africa who attended UT. The club sought to cultivate close cooperation, to promote Pan-Africanism, and to share African culture with the university.
The Africana Studies program traces its roots to two courses offered in 1968: the Afro-American Family and Black History. Later, in 1968, a Black Studies program, leading to a minor in the area, was established. Dr. Charles Reynolds, of the Religious Studies Department, was named chairman of the program, and a student and faculty committee … Continued
In 1998 Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe appointed a neighborhood task force for the Fort Sanders area, and from that grew the desire to have a park commemorating James Agee’s early childhood in the Fort Sanders area. A James Agee Park Steering Committee was formed. In October 2002 Paul Specher, the new trustee of the James … Continued
The UT College of Liberal Arts (now Arts and Sciences) commemorated the 50th anniversary of the publication of James Agee’s Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (photographs by Walker Evans) March 27–April 1, 1989. At the opening session, Dean of Libraries Paula Kaufman announced that Knoxville attorney, Lindsay Young, a 1935 law graduate, had given … Continued