{"id":72489,"date":"2025-11-19T08:39:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T13:39:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/?p=72489"},"modified":"2026-03-09T11:42:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T15:42:43","slug":"culture-community-and-200-tamales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/2025\/11\/culture-community-and-200-tamales\/","title":{"rendered":"Culture, community and 200 tamales"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A

Sam Burchett, left, leads a group of students in the Department of Health and Human Performance\u2019s Food Science Lab during a \u201cLet\u2019s Make Tamales!\u201d workshop. Photo courtesy of Hilary Browder-Terry.<\/p><\/div>\n

In Mexico and parts of Central America, D\u00eda de los Muertos is a day to welcome back loved ones who have passed. The tradition predates European arrival in the Americas and blends Indigenous observances with Catholic influences.<\/p>\n

For Dr. Nikolasa Tejero, associate dean of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga College of Arts and Sciences, the holiday\u2019s meaning is both cultural and personal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is believed that on this day, the souls of those who have passed before us are able to venture back into the land of the living,\u201d she said, \u201cso we make special preparations to welcome them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tejero described the holiday\u2019s purpose as a way \u201cto stop and reflect on your heritage, your lineage, those that came before you, the love and the respect and the honor that you feel for being a part of this larger family.\u201d It\u2019s also a moment \u201cto demystify death and see it as a natural part of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

That perspective became the foundation for two student-centered events held on Oct. 30-31: a hands-on tamale-making workshop and a D\u00eda de los Muertos celebration in Lupton Hall sponsored by three of Arts and Sciences\u2019 Residential Learning Communities (RLCs)\u2014Life Out Loud, Music Row and Helping Hands.<\/p>\n

The concept took shape when Tejero and Senior Lecturer of Spanish Hilary Browder-Terry realized that their courses and students aligned.<\/p>\n

Tejero teaches \u201cA Moc\u2019s First Year\u201d class titled Cuisines of Latin America\u2014which is paired with an Introduction to Latin American Studies course taught by Professor of Spanish Edwin Murillo\u2014and had recently held a tamale-making day for her students. Browder-Terry oversees the Life Out Loud RLC and teaches Spanish Language and Culture I, as well as World Cinema: Heroes and Villains.<\/p>\n

Both wanted their students to learn about D\u00eda de los Muertos, but they also wanted them to feel the meaning behind it.<\/p>\n

Browder-Terry remembered how successful a previous student-run gathering had been.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always thought that just the whole idea of Day of the Dead is a really cool thing that everyone can sort of relate to,\u201d she said. \u201cI wanted a way to bring that experience back.\u201d<\/p>\n

With their ideas in alignment, one student stood out as the ideal person to lead the cooking.<\/p>\n

\"A

Students and faculty relax after the tamale-making workshop. Photo courtesy of Hilary Browder-Terry.<\/p><\/div>\n

Sam Burchett is not your typical UTC undergraduate.<\/p>\n

Before enrolling at UTC, he spent years cooking in New York City kitchens, including some of the most competitive in the world.<\/p>\n

A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Burchett moved to New York in 2012 to go to culinary school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked at a three-Michelin-star restaurant called Per Se, owned by a gentleman named Thomas Keller. He\u2019s probably the most important American chef ever,\u201d Burchett said.<\/p>\n

From there, he cooked at several other top restaurants, including Cosme\u2014then the only Michelin-starred Mexican restaurant in the U.S.\u2014before going into business as a private chef for \u201cwealthy and high-profile clients.\u201d<\/p>\n

During those years, he would often travel to Mexico\u2014especially to Oaxaca and Juarez\u2014where he learned from home cooks whom he now considers family.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a network of several grandmothers who have more or less adopted me,\u201d he said with a laugh. \u201cWe hang out and we cook together, and they have me over for dinner and things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burchett eventually felt the pull toward the other career he had often considered: medicine. He returned to his native Tennessee, enrolled at UTC as a double major in Spanish and biology, and started selling homemade tamales on the side.<\/p>\n

When Browder-Terry and Tejero approached him about leading a \u201cLet\u2019s Make Tamales!\u201d student workshop, he immediately said yes.<\/p>\n

They scheduled an afternoon session in the Department of Health and Human Performance\u2019s Food Science Lab, with a maximum of 16 students per shift. By the end of the three-hour window, more than 40 students had rolled, filled and wrapped over 200 tamales.<\/p>\n

Students picked up new skills quickly, including \u201cnappe\u201d\u2014a French culinary term for coating food with sauce that Tejero joked she had never heard until Burchett explained it.<\/p>\n

He wasn\u2019t surprised by how fast the students caught on.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t believe how many tamales they made,\u201d he said. \u201cThis would\u2019ve taken me an entire day and they just crushed it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this just reinforces the fact that cooking is important. Food is important. There\u2019s something incredibly human about cooking and cooking with other people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tejero said she found it meaningful watching Burchett guide students through something that required patience, technique and collaboration.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe embodies this idea of a lifelong learner,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Burchett said he hopes to work in global health after completing medical school, ideally through an organization like Doctors Without Borders. His long-term goal is to live in Mexico and continue working in communities that first shaped his culinary perspective.<\/p>\n

\u201cEducation and health care go hand in hand,\u201d he said. \u201cBoth are an opportunity to enrich the lives of others.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A

A D\u00eda de los Muertos ofrenda created by students includes photos, candles, and traditional decorative items honoring loved ones. Photo courtesy of Hilary Browder-Terry.<\/p><\/div>\n

The next day, the tamales made in the kitchen became lunch at the D\u00eda de los Muertos celebration in the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Language Lab in Lupton Hall.<\/p>\n

Students watched short films, discussed the cultural and historical roots of the holiday, and built ofrendas\u2014altars honoring loved ones\u2014complete with photographs, marigolds and favorite foods.<\/p>\n

Tejero said the event brought together students from multiple RLCs, \u201cA Moc\u2019s First Year\u201d classes, the Spanish Club and HOLA. Faculty and staff from Latin American Studies, Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures, and the College of Arts and Sciences Dean\u2019s Office came by as well.<\/p>\n

Browder-Terry said she could feel the energy when students arrived.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a little nervous when I first walked in the room and everybody was there and I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh no, but oh yay,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Students from the workshop stopped by to taste the tamales they helped make. Others came out of curiosity.<\/p>\n

One moment stuck with Browder-Terry: A student who had met a classmate for the first time while wrapping tamales arrived at the celebration asking, \u201cHey, where is this person? They had already become friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tejero witnessed the same result.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really, really cool,\u201d she said. \u201cThere were people around the table talking, talking about the tamales, talking about other things, making friendships.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learn more<\/h4>\n

Visit UTC<\/a><\/p>\n

College of Arts and Sciences<\/a><\/p>\n

Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures<\/a><\/p>\n

A&SRC: The Arts and Sciences Residential College<\/a><\/p>\n

How to apply<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo gallery courtesy of Hilary Browder-Terry and Tyce Terry<\/h4>\n
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Two very interesting and successful activities celebrating the D\u00eda de los Muertos holiday brought together numerous groups\u2014and a UTC undergraduate who spent years cooking in New York City kitchens, including some of the most competitive in the world.<\/p>\n

Continue Reading <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1493,"featured_media":72490,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_slider":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_featurette":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,70,123864,15,56,3,7712,12806,12881,64,661],"tags":[122404,126348,123827,123826,126351,99191,126353,125527,122925,123828,122464,124776,119154,7228,122104,123829,126349,126350,126352],"class_list":{"0":"post-72489","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-academics","8":"category-advancement-and-alumni","9":"category-campus","10":"category-college-of-arts-sciences","11":"category-college-of-health-education-and-professional-studies","12":"category-community","13":"category-faculty-and-staff","14":"category-health-and-human-performance","15":"category-modern-and-classical-languages-and-literatures","16":"category-news","17":"category-students","18":"tag-a-mocs-first-year","19":"tag-arts-and-sciences-residential-college","20":"tag-creating-the-mocs-experience","21":"tag-cultivating-a-culture-of-innovation","22":"tag-dia-de-los-muertos","23":"tag-edwin-murillo","24":"tag-helping-hands","25":"tag-hilary-browder-terry","26":"tag-hola","27":"tag-leveraging-our-special-place-as-chattanoogas-university","28":"tag-life-out-loud","29":"tag-mocs-learn-mocs-do-mocs-lead","30":"tag-music-row","31":"tag-nikolasa-tejero","32":"tag-niky-tejero","33":"tag-operating-with-excellence","34":"tag-sam-burchett","35":"tag-spanish-club","36":"tag-tyce-terry","37":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nCulture, 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