History and Tradition

The climax of Southern university desegregation came in the early 1960s with rancorous confrontations and even riots on some campuses of the Deep South. The white leadership of the University of Tennessee was reluctant, but its path to racial integration was quieter and less acrimonious.

Ask what it means to be a Vol, and chances are you’ll hear a lot about serving others. Service is one of the strongest elements of our shared identity—it’s literally what makes a Volunteer a Volunteer. That strength is reflected in the many campus initiatives aimed at giving students, faculty and staff, and alumni opportunities to serve.

Betsey Creekmore possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of University of Tennessee history and traditions—that she has translated into an enduring gift to present and future Vols: an online encyclopedia of university history, facts, legends, and traditions.

From early classrooms to our first cheerleader, take a look at these snapshots of life at the university.

With the purchase of the Hill in 1826, our institution began building and expanding. Here are the 10 oldest buildings that are still standing on campus today.

Likely the country’s oldest theatre in the round, when the Carousel was built it was not even on any campus.

Imagine a financial wizard who enabled the first subway tunnel under the Hudson River, teamed up with actors to cofound United Artists, served as secretary of the US treasury and a US senator from California, and ran for president twice.

For 25 years, visitors to Hodges Library have been transfixed by what appear to be the bones of a mythological creature. The installation, a work of art, reminds viewers to remain skeptical of what may appear to be true.

Though Clarence Brown had two UT engineering degrees by 1910, he set his sights on Hollywood where he directed stars like Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, and Elizabeth Taylor before leaving his legacy on UT’s campus through the Clarence Brown Theatre.

In September 1922, the Vol football team boarded a logging train and retreated to the Great Smoky Mountains and Elkmont’s Wonderland Hotel to train with long hikes in the woods and dips in the ice cold river.