Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you are able to enjoy the holiday, sharing the warmth of family and friends. As Abraham Lincoln said: “I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual.” I am so fortunate to be part of this wonderful university. Working together, UTC faculty, students, staff, alumni, and community partners touch many lives each and every day. Thanks to each and every one of you for what you do to help our students and enrich our community.
Please extend a huge “thank you” to Mike and Amy Walden of Walden Security, who have given an extremely generous bequest of $1 million to our Veterans Entrepreneurship Program (VEP). They have also increased their lead gift to the program to $250,000, providing substantial funding for the next five years. Both donations will help continue the VEP program, which has graduated 95 veterans since it began years ago, many of whom now own their own businesses. Dean Robert Dooley, our generous donors and volunteers, and the entire College of Business epitomize the spirit of generosity and Thanksgiving with the VEP program. This program transforms the lives of veterans and is completely self-supporting.
Congratulations to our Mock Trial teams, which recently took home several tournament trophies. Our Blue Team, composed of seniors, took home third place in the Grand Ole Tournament, one of the top three competitions in the country. In a separate tournament, the Gold Team, whose members are mostly first-year competitors, came away with a second-place finish.