Volunteer, The

In fall 1940 a committee headed by Paul K. Walp, assistant professor of political science, and including Clyde Knisley, head cheerleader; James L. Pardue, Beaver Club president; and Jimmy Roberts, Beaver Club past president, led the search for an appropriate symbol in athletics to be used in connection with card tricks in the stadium. They chose a rifleman in a coonskin cap. The figure was revived by the Athletics Department in 1965 as the “Volunteer”—a student dressed in buckskin and a coonskin hat who assists in leading cheers at football games and carries a huge UT flag. In 2005 the “frontiersman” trademark was dropped by the UT Athletics Department.

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  • Title Volunteer, The
  • Author
  • Keywords Volunteer, The
  • Website Name Volopedia
  • Publisher University of Tennessee Libraries
  • URL
  • Access Date August 6, 2026
  • Original Published Date
  • Date of Last Update October 17, 2018