At one point, the space was Debbie Bell’s office. Now the room is officially adorned with her name on it.
The Debbie and Michael Bell Library was officially dedicated during a March 2 ceremony in the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Guerry Center, honoring a couple who provided a combined 85 years of service to the University.
Debbie spent 44 years working for UTC, the last 23 in the Honors program, before retiring in June 2020.
Her husband, Michael, joined the UTC Library staff in 1980, progressing from reference librarian to head of circulation services to head of acquisitions to acting dean to assistant dean before retiring in April 2021.
Debbie and Michael met on campus in 1981 and were married in 1982.
The Guerry Center is home to the UTC Honors College and Dean Linda Frost served as mistress of ceremonies for the event that included remarks from UTC Chancellor Steven R. Angle; Greg O’Dea, associate dean of the Honors College; Carmen Carson, a 2003 UTC graduate, Brock Scholar and current member of the Honors College advisory board; and Kim White, vice chancellor for development and alumni affairs.
“I want to formally welcome you to the Debbie and Michael Bell Library in the UTC Honors College. The names are in that order because that’s what Michael said, ‘It’s always Debbie first,’” Frost said, receiving laughter from the audience.
The official unveiling of the Debbie and Michael Bell Library included signage telling of the Bells’ shared history at UTC and a portrait of the couple.
Following their retirements from UTC, the Bells decided to include the Honors College in their estate plan, creating a planned gift naming the UC Foundation as a 40% beneficiary of their estate. Those funds, when received, will be used to support the Gavin Townsend Memorial Travel Scholarship Endowment, named after the former late professor of art history and assistant director of the UTC Honors Program at UTC.
Debbie received a bachelor’s degree in English and American language and literature in 1976 before being hired as an administrative assistant in the UTC Department of Psychology. She earned a master’s in education in 1990. In 1997, Townsend hired her to work in what was then known as the University Honors program.
The Bells accompanied honors students on Townsend’s annual travel-abroad summer seminars. They have attended 26 Honors program weddings, including 11 in which honors students/alumni married each other.
Angle said the Bells didn’t just sit back. They were active participants.
“As a student goes abroad for the first time, it is such an eye-opening experience and it transforms them. And to have been a part of that with so many students, I can only imagine,” Angle said.
Carson said she met Debbie during her initial interview with the honors program.
“My parents dropped me off and my mother cried all the way home, but she felt so comfortable knowing I was with who she called ‘Little Debbie.’ Little Debbie was here to take care of me,” she said.
Carson attended the library unveiling with her husband, Antoine, a UTC Student Support Services specialist. The two have been married for 15 years and aspire to follow the Bells’ lead, she said.
“They relentlessly showed up together to support students and the staff at UTC,” Carson said. “Together, they became our advisors, our confidants, our family, our friends. Such a career and life dedicated to making an impact in humble service over so many years is really rare in this day and age.”
Debbie Bell handled the speaking duties for the couple.
“We never dreamed that we’d actually retire here, and we certainly never imagined that our names would be attached, so this is really a great honor for us,” she said. “Putting our name on this library seems to bring us full circle.
“Naming this for us is very meaningful. It’s very special. I once said we would remain here in spirit, and we will, but now we feel like we truly have a permanent connection to UTC and the Honors College. We’re grateful for everyone who has made that possible.”
