The College Work-Study Program, made available under the federal Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, was begun at UT in 1964. Designed to provide part-time jobs for students from families that could contribute little or nothing toward college expenses, it was originally available for US citizens whose families had annual incomes of $3,200 or less for … Continued

A variety of college yells, essentially cheers, were popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The first printed reference to a college yell or cheer is a highly critical attack on the newly adopted cheer by the editor of the 1891 Tennessee Student. He criticized the cheer, Rah, rah, ree! / Bim boom … Continued

In 1823 most Christian denominations agreed to designate the last Thursday in February as a day to pray for the nation’s colleges and seminaries. Prayers in churches were echoed by those on campuses throughout the nation. The Collegiate Day of Prayer ended in 1910, and in February 2010 a national revival of the custom at … Continued

In 1946 UT alumnus Samuel C. Collins and his colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology finished designing and building the first Collins Helium Cryostat—the first liquefier of helium to operate without the aid of external refrigeration. One of the original Collins Cryostats—designed for Rice Institute—was presented to the Smithsonian Institution in 1963.

Record producer Bernie Tom Collins was born in Knoxville and received the baccalaureate degree from UT in 1965. He was a Sigma Chi at UT. Collins had enjoyed music from his childhood—he began playing the piano at seven years old and the trumpet at thirteen. He was a schoolteacher from 1968 to 1970 and then … Continued

Inventor Samuel Collins earned the BS and MS degrees in agriculture at UT in 1920 and 1924 and the PhD in chemistry from the University of North Carolina in 1927. He taught at Carson-Newman College, UT, Tennessee State Teachers College, and the University of North Carolina before joining the faculty of MIT in 1930 as … Continued

The Pride of the Southland Band’s color guard is the group of women who present the UT flags at halftime formations and appear in pregame formations. Originally, they wore band uniforms and engaged in no spinning or maneuvers with the flags, but in the 1980s the color guard adopted new uniforms and incorporated spinning the … Continued

The University of Tennessee ROTC color guard wears the uniforms of the Knoxville Dragoons of the Mexican War (1846–48). At least five of the Dragoons were East Tennessee University alumni—the two Roberson brothers, Lieutenant Samuel Bell, Corporal S. G. Swan, and Private William A. Lindsay. The color guard was commanded by Captain William R. Caswell. … Continued

The June 1, 1961, commencement speech by Dr. John Furbay, director of Air World Education for Trans World Airlines, aroused so much public interest that Columbia Records selected it for national release on a long-play (33⅓) record. Dr. Furbay assigned all royalties to the International Scholarship Fund. The cost of the record was $5.

A task force to review commencement practices and the ceremonies themselves was appointed by President Wade Gilley in summer 2000 with the goal of shortening the ceremonies, streamlining the process of applying for graduation, and improving the quality of the ceremonies. In July 2001 (after the resignation of President Gilley) changes to graduation procedures and … Continued