Dr. Yvette Hairston, Dr. Delight Yokley and other UTC community members greet Brown Academy students as they arrive for the first day of school. Photo by Angela Foster.
Students arriving at Tommie F. Brown Academy on Wednesday, Aug. 5, for the first day of school received a blue-and-gold welcome from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
From 7:30 to 8 a.m., about two dozen UTC faculty, staff and students helped greet students and their parents as they returned for the new school year. The group waved blue-and-gold pom-poms, cheered and held signs, including one reading, “UTC Loves You.”
Dr. Brittany Fatoma, UTC’s community schools coordinator, wore a cap and gown and used a gold UTC megaphone to welcome students. Dr. Yvette Hairston, assistant professor and literacy director, and Dr. Delight Yokley, assistant provost for student success, held the “UTC Welcomes You” sign. Dr. Stephanie Brennan, apprenticeship coordinator in the School of Education, and elementary education majors Camila Perez-Martinez and Ashlee Davis held a sign reading, “Welcome Back Noble Knights.”
“Happy first day of school,” the group sang as students arrived.
“This was fantastic,” Fatoma said after the event. “I believe that one of the best ways to celebrate children is by cheering, letting them know that they are special, the hugs, the cheers, the songs. I think it was one of the best ways to not only welcome back students, but also to signify that we have such a beautiful partnership between UTC and T.F. Brown Academy.”
Dr. Valerie Rutledge greets a student entering Tommie F. Brown Academy.
Brown Academy sits on UTC’s campus at 718 E. Eighth St., placing the elementary school just steps from the heart of the University. That proximity gives UTC students and faculty a direct connection to the school through teaching, field experiences, tutoring and other school-based work.
Dr. Valerie Rutledge, dean of the College of Health, Education and Professional Studies, said Brown Academy has long been an important partner for UTC and that the University is strengthening that relationship.
Rutledge said the school is home to UTC’s Children’s Center and serves as a site for School of Education students completing residency hours. Programs in physical therapy, occupational therapy, social work, counseling, school psychology and health and human performance provide additional opportunities for involvement.
“Last year we launched a very successful Literacy First program there and we’re expanding that this year,” Rutledge said.
That work is already personal for Davis, an elementary education major from Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee, who begins her student-teaching placement at Brown Academy this semester. Davis was among the UTC representatives who welcomed students Wednesday morning.
“This is where I’m going to be student teaching, and I’m so excited to see some of the faces that I’m going to see in my own classroom,” Davis said. “So that’s going to be really fun for me.”
Davis said she has been helping set up classrooms at Brown. She will begin working with students on Monday and completing training for the Literacy First program the first week of school.
The first-day event was part of a broader effort to strengthen UTC’s connection to Brown Academy, which serves students from prekindergarten through fifth grade.
Helping lead that work is Fatoma, who joined UTC in April. Fatoma works through the Center for Excellence and Innovation in Education in the College of Health, Education and Professional Studies and has been helping shape the University’s next phase of engagement with the school.
Community Schools Coordinator Brittany Fatoma joined the UTC faculty earlier this year.
Brown Academy Principal Roxanne Anthony is part of that work as well. She became principal of Tommie F. Brown Academy for the 2024-25 school year after more than two decades in education, including previous leadership roles in Hamilton County Schools.
The school carries the name of one of the most significant figures in UTC history.
Dr. Tommie F. Brown joined the UTC faculty in 1971 and later became the founding head of the University’s social work program. In 1980, she became the first person of color to lead an academic department at UTC, and she served on the faculty until 1998.
Her influence extended well beyond campus. Brown represented Tennessee’s 28th District in the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1992 to 2012 and played a central role in major civil rights efforts in Chattanooga. She was the lead plaintiff in Brown v. Board of Commissioners of Chattanooga, the federal lawsuit that ended the city’s at-large voting system and helped lead to a mayor-council form of government with single-member districts.
Brown died Jan. 20, 2026, at age 91, but her work and legacy remain deeply woven into UTC and Chattanooga. Earlier this year, UTC Special Collections completed an 18-month, grant-funded project to process and open Brown’s personal and professional papers for public research. The 172-box collection documents her academic, political and civic life and is available to students, scholars, journalists and community members.
Carolyn Runyon, director of UTC Special Collections, said in February that Brown understood the importance of preserving that record.
“Without collections like this, entire chapters of history remain incomplete,” Runyon said. “Dr. Brown understood that, and she made a deliberate decision to ensure her work could be studied and understood in full.”
That legacy will again be front and center Thursday, Sept. 3, when Brown Academy holds a back-to-school night and recognition event centered on Brown’s life and impact.
Fatoma said the event will include a resource fair and welcome Brown Academy students and families along with the broader UTC community—including current students and alums—to celebrate Brown and learn more about the work taking place at the school.
Learn more
College of Health, Education and Professional Studies
Photo gallery by Angela Foster
