The university celebrated its Sesquicentennial in 1944 with a daylong program on November 17. Dr. John B. Emperor of the Department of English composed a Sesquicentennial Ode for the occasion. Dr. Clifford E. Barbour of the Second Presbyterian Church wrote a Sesquicentennial Prayer. Activities began at 10:00 a.m. in the Alumni Memorial Auditorium. W. T. Cooper, chairman of the UT Board of Trustees (and father of Governor Prentice Cooper) presided. The history of the university was outlined by Walter C. Chandler, ’09 Mayor of Memphis, and President Hoskins, ’91, spoke on “The University’s Program—Present and Future.”
Official delegates from Tennessee’s industry, agriculture, business, law, and other fields attended a luncheon at the UT Cafeteria, at which Burgin Dossett, president of the Alumni Association presided and Harcourt Morgan of TVA (and former UT president) spoke on “The University and Public Agencies.” J. E. Burk, president of the Tennessee College Association, and Craig Caldwell, president of All Students Council, also made remarks. Governor Prentice Cooper was the speaker at an evening banquet, speaking on “The Place of the University in the State.”
Forums in engineering, business administration, education, medicine, law, home economics, and various disciplines in the College of Liberal Arts were held under the theme of “The University of Tennessee: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.”