Randy Boyd was named interim UT President by the UT Board of Trustees on September 25. President Boyd was a special advisor to Governor Haslam in the development of the Drive to 55, Tennessee Promise and Tennessee Reconnect programs. He has proven himself to be committed to higher education, and we look forward to working with him. He will visit campus on November 27, his second day on the job.
Our Mocs football team will play Wofford on Saturday, October 6, at 3:00 p.m. Come early and enjoy tailgating and pre-game festivities. Go Mocs!
In other Mocs Athletics news, congratulations to Mocs Volleyball Head Coach Travis Filar, who earned his 100th career win after a 3-0 sweep over Southern Conference foe Furman on September 22. The team returns to campus tomorrow night, Friday, October 5, to play the Citadel and on Saturday, October 6, to face off against Mercer. Both games are in Maclellan Gym. Come to cheer on our team at home!
In golf, sophomore Oliver Simonsen, a Chattanooga-area native, shot 63 (-9) in the final round of the Memphis Intercollegiate tournament, leading the team to its first tournament victory since the 2013 Southern Conference Championships. Well-played, Oliver!
As I am sure most of you have seen, the beautification project for Vine Street is underway. Unfortunately, this construction project will make things inconvenient for a few months, but the end result will be beautiful, and it will enhance the area around the Library as well as our national reputation as an urban arboretum. As the Vine Street project moves forward, work will begin on phase two, Oak Street. I have had many questions as to why we chose to begin this project at the start of the fall semester. I can assure you we did not choose the start date – the project was originally set to begin summer 2017, then May of 2018, and in spite of our best efforts, we were faced with starting in August or pushing it back to summer 2019. We chose to get it done since we had an on-budget bid. You can see a rendering of the project here: https://blog.utc.edu/construction/project/campus-site-improvements/.
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2019 UT President’s Awards, which recognize the finest faculty and staff in the UT System. Nominations in five categories — Educate, Discover, Connect, Support and Diversity — can be made by faculty, staff and students. If you know someone at UTC who exhibits the qualities that exemplify the best of the UT system, go to: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WBYF99S, read the criteria for each category and submit a nomination by November 5. Good luck to all nominees.
For the next three months, our campus is offering events, lectures and concerts to commemorate the end of World War I in 1918. Five students from the University of Chattanooga died serving in the war. For a complete schedule of events, go to: utc.edu/wwi.