Volume 139, Issue 18
ALUMNI & GRADUATION 2021
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ALUMNI & GRADUATION
The 4,2020 2020 The Daily Beacon Wednesday, October 2020 TheDaily DailyBeacon Beacon ••• Wednesday, Wednesday,November April 14,14, 2021 Wednesday, October 7,
DAILY BEACON STAFF AND POLICY INFORMATION EDITORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Alexandra DeMarco MANAGING EDITOR: Calista Boyd COPY CHIEF: Allie Justis CAMPUS NEWS EDITOR: Sarah Rainey CITY NEWS EDITOR: Jake Yoder SPORTS EDITOR: Ryan Schumpert ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR: Josh Lane DIGITAL PRODUCER: Austin Orr OPINIONS EDITOR: Elijah Hunt PHOTO EDITORS: Sydney Goodsell PAGE DESIGNERS: Hannah Moore COVER DESIGN: Alexandra DeMarco,
Calista Boyd
ADVERTISING/PRODUCTION STUDENT ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brynn Close ADVERTISING SALES REPRESENTATIVES: Emily
Bishop, Seven Swain ADVERTISING PRODUCTION ARTISTS: Victoria
Wheelock, Davis Luna
CONTACTS
TO REPORT A NEWS ITEM, please email
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editorinchief@utdailybeacon.com LETTERS POLICY: Letters to the Editor must be exclusive to The Daily Beacon and cannot have been submitted to or published by other media. Letters should not exceed 400 words and can be edited or shortened for space. Letters can also be edited for grammar and typographical errors, and Letters that contain excessive grammatical errors can be rejected for this reason. Anonymous Letters will not be published. Authors should include their full name, mailing address, city of residence, phone number and e-mail address for verification purposes. Letters submitted without this information will not be published. The preferred method to submit a Letter to the Editor is to email the Editor-in-Chief. CORRECTIONS POLICY:It is the Daily Beacon’s policy to quickly correct any factual errors and clarify any potentially misleading information. Errors brought to our attention by readers or sta� members will be corrected and printed on page two of our publication. To report an error please send as much information as possible about where and when the error occurred to managingeditor@utdailybeacon.com, or call our newsroom at (865) 974-5206. The Daily Beacon is published by students at The University of Tennessee on Wednesdays during the fall and spring semesters. The o�ces are located at 1345 Circle Park Drive, 11 Communications Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-0314. The newspaper is free on campus and is available via mail subscription for $200/year or $100/semester. It is also available online at: www.utdailybeacon.com
The Daily Beacon is printed using soy based ink on newsprint containing recycled content, utilizing renewable sources and produced in a sustainable, environmentally responsible manner.
Letter from the Editor: Not quite a goodbye ALEXANDRA DEMARCO Editor-in-Chief
Somehow, my junior year of college is already coming to a close — as is my time as Editor-inChief of the Daily Beacon. To say that this year was not what I anticipated would be an understatement. I know that this narrative has been pushed since the beginning of the pandemic, but leading a newsroom virtually was truly the challenge of a lifetime. I took on this job at the end of my sophomore year, just as UT’s campus was fully closing. I thought that surely, by the time fall semester began, things would return to normal. Obviously, I was wrong, and alternatively, my time as editor-in-chief was full of surprises, as my team and I constantly learned to adapt to our new situation. During my time as EIC, I saw our campus undergo unbelievable changes. I saw my peers struggle to grapple with life during a pandemic, and I too learned to cope with the mental stress of life in isolation while still striving to complete a college education and lead our paper. And yet, here at the Beacon, we continued to report in the midst of it all. We continued to do our best, despite the difficult circumstances — to provide our campus with newsworthy and valuable content. Even though we missed out on some of the typical college newspaper experiences — in-person breaking news was hard to come by, as were days spent laughing in the office together
— we still worked hard to ensure that we wrote stories, took photos and filmed videos that we were proud of. At 20 years old, I have truly taken away a lifetime of lessons from this job, and the opportunities I have had at the Beacon are invaluable; one of the most memorable was just this year when I had the opportunity to interview activist Cyntoia Brown over Zoom, or last semester, when the Beacon coordinated with the White House Press Team — yes, that White House — because Dr. Deborah Birx was visiting campus (shout out to former Beacon staff writer Ben Winiger, who actually covered the event featuring Dr. Birx). Thank you to the following Beacon section editors, whose hard work and dedication has been invaluable during my time as Editor-in-Chief: Sarah Rainey, Jake Yoder, Allie Justis, Eli Hunt, Sydney Goodsell, Austin Orr, Ryan Schumpert, Ryan Crews and Joshua Lane. There are countless other Beacon team members who have worked long hours the past year to make our paper what it is, just some of them being Daniel Dassow, Jeffrey Russell, Barrett Walker, Ethan Stone, Lexie Martin, Kailee Harris, Seth Chapman, Keenan Thomas, Hugh DuPree, Braxton Ziolkowski, Lexie Martin, Hannah Cunningham, Claudia Gutierrez, Hannah Moore, Riley Woody, Olivia Hayes, Nahan Abubucker, Caleigh Rozmenoski, Izabella Weigand, Isabel Wells, Isabella Mangano, Jitu Arcot, Holly Fahy, Alexandra Ashmore, Ben Goldberger, Grant Mitchell, Mollie Chambers, Carlos Padron and more. I have to give a special thank you to our man-
aging editor and one of my closest friends, Calista Boyd. I truly could not have overcome all of the ups and downs this year has thrown at us without her. And of course, thank you so much to the Daily Beacon’s wonderful advisors, Jerry Bush and John Kennedy, who have received and answered frantic texts from me at all hours of the day this past year, and not complained about it once. Next year, I will still be hanging around to spend more time writing here at the Beacon. Sarah Rainey, the Beacon’s current campus news editor, is set to lead the paper as the next Editor-in-Chief. Sarah has been a fantastic member of our team as a copy editor, staff writer and editor, and I have no doubt that she will thrive as the next leader of our paper. I am so proud of all that our paper has accomplished, and I look forward to watching the Beacon continue to be a proponent of free speech and a voice for all on campus.
Letter from the Upcoming Editor: Hi Rocky Top SARAH RAINEY Campus News Editor
Hi everyone! My name is Sarah Rainey, and I am absolutely thrilled to be the next Editor-inChief of The Daily Beacon. I am a rising senior with a primary major in English with a concentration in technical communication and a secondary major in language and world business with a Hispanic Studies focus and international business concentration. That being said — and it is a mouthful — I have a passion for language, writing and working with others. I have been at the Beacon since my freshman year, which seems like forever ago and just yesterday at the same time. My journey with the Beacon is an interesting story. Before starting college, I was wary of applying to be a part of a student newspaper; I had never had any journalism experience beforehand. The great thing about the Beacon, though, is that anyone from any background can join. I was a small town girl in a big city with a knack for editing and catching grammar errors, and I wanted to get involved somewhere on campus. My dad suggested I check the Beacon out, so I
Sarah Rainey Alexandra DeMarco / The Daily Beacon
headed to their website and found a position for a copy editor, and the rest is history. When I started as a copy editor, I was terrified. I had only been at UT for a couple weeks and had never heard of AP style in my life, and everyone seemed so intelligent and so great at what they were doing. I have always loved writing and thought about doing that along with copy editing, but I was not so sure if I could handle it. It took me an entire year on Rocky Top before I built up the courage to start writing. I had only ever written academic papers and short stories back in high school, so it was pretty daunting, but
I soon got the hang of it and am so glad I decided to take that step. A little over five months later, I took another leap of faith by applying for campus news editor, and that bold move has brought me where I am today. This may be your sign to take that next step toward something you are passionate about or interested in, because something amazing could come of it. One awesome thing about the Beacon is the people. Even though this past year has been different because of the pandemic, I have loved getting to know and to work with the other amazing editors and our fantastic team of writers, along with other individuals I have had the privilege of working with. I have been able to meet so many people I never would have if I had not had these positions, and I am ecstatic and extremely grateful to hold the position of Editor-in-Chief for the 2021-22 school year. I cannot wait to work with the new editorial team and everyone else who makes up the Beacon — from photographers, to writers, to video editors and more. I am so looking forward to getting the word out to the UT and Knoxville communities and reporting on important topics, people and organizations. Let’s get to work!
ALUMNI & GRADUATION
Wednesday, Wednesday, November April 14, 18,2021 2020•• The Daily Beacon
Letter from the Managing Editor: Ending 4 years with the Beacon CALISTA BOYD Managing Editor
I cannot think of a term that has been more entrenched in all of my routines for the past year than the word adaptation. Adapting has been crucial to not only my routines, but to those of my coworkers and peers and professors. Leaving the Beacon seems like a milestone in my academic and professional career as a graduating undergrad student. Working alongside Alexandra DeMarco has been my favorite part of my final year here, as we have had to problem solve and adjust to some difficult situations. On the topic of flexibility, being flexible is sometimes the only thing that you can count on. I know the whole pandemic part of 2020 and 2021 is always the source of blame for so many struggles, yet everyone has had to adjust to changing patterns in everyday life. With lacking physical interactions with people, it has affected everyone’s work ethics and motivation, and I am so proud of my editorial team and larger Beacon staff for continuing to contribute throughout this academic year because I know how hard it has been to simply survive. My team has visibly struggled but has con-
tinued to do their jobs. Meeting on Zoom can be so discouraging and detrimental to overall engagement, especially when every individual is reduced to a black rectangle on a screen. That is why as a manager, I try to be understanding, and I want others to be passionate about their work without losing their enthusiasm for it. Since beginning as a copy editor during my freshman year, I was always confused about how a unit made up of solely student journalists can function on its own without “adult guidance” — but growing up and maturing is a part of understanding teamwork. Communicating with each other and maintaining our responsibilities is how any team can come together and produce content and grow into workplace educators. Sometimes throughout my various positions at the Beacon, I was completely clueless, having no idea how to do some of my tasks. But the skill I became best at is burying my pride and just asking people how to do things. I was new to the world of journalism, and everything I have learned about media production is from my experience working in the Office of Student Media. In the future, I want to be more intentional than simply adapting and changing my behavior to benefit my goals is invaluable to achieving personal success. Moving on and
Calista Boyd continuing my education after graduation, there will be times when I know I won’t succeed. The legacy I want to leave behind at the Beacon and my parting message to my team is that making mistakes is absolutely essential to any process, whether it be a small task like writing a story or a larger project like designing a complete paper. Making mistakes is sometimes painful and something I beat myself up about all of the time, but I want to work on working through my mistakes, rather than letting disappointment in myself defeat my motivation.
PEER MENTOR PROGRAM Student Disability Services offers a peer mentor program to support first-year students with their transition to college. To sign up, or for more information, visit sds.utk.edu. BENEFITS • One-on-one pairings with experienced SDS students • Advice about campus resources such as student health, counseling, tutoring, etc. • Recommendations for using accommodations • Insight on transitioning to college life • Connection to campus events and organizations • Guidance about how to excel academically
100 Dunford Hall | 915 Volunteer Blvd | Knoxville, TN 37996 Tel: 865-974-6087 | VP: 865-622-6566
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In addition to working past discouragement, the biggest task I want the Beacon to focus on in the future is working hard to include more perspectives. Media is so dominated by white, wealthy people that propagate the status quo. It is time to include and uplift the voices of people of color and any individuals facing discrimination to give them access to spreading information and gain credibility among the larger, privileged community. This is my largest regret in my career with the Beacon, and creating connections with different organizations that do uplift these voices of marginalized communities is a great start to reaching the goal. Reading through the archives of Beacon papers, this organization has a long-rooted tradition for lacking diversity, and while breaching difficult traditions can be done, I am hopeful for change in the future. Ending this letter, I would like to give one piece of unsolicited advice in the form of a quote I found on a fortune cookie once. I keep the message of this fortune in mind when I am trying to be compassionate because some of the most important interpretations or judgements can be made from reading between the lines of what is already made clear. “The most important part of communication is to listen to what is not being said.” - A fortune cookie
“A great program that really helped me adjust to UT life.” “I really enjoyed having an experienced student to talk to weekly to better understand the university.” “I have loved my time through this program.”
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The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, 14, 2021 Wednesday,April October 7, 2020
ALUMNI & GRADUATION
ALUMNI & GRADUATION
Wednesday,November Wednesday, April18, 14,2020 2021 • •The TheDaily DailyBeacon Beacon
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Letter from the Upcoming Managing Editor: Stepping up, hello JAKE YODER City News Editor
Hey guys! My name is Jake Yoder and I’m going to be the Managing Editor for the Daily Beacon for the 2021-2022 school year. I’m a rising senior majoring in Journalism & Electronic Media with a minor in Japanese. Outside of working with the Beacon, I also freelance for multiple online publications such as But Why Tho? and am currently the president of the Vols Japanese Cultural Association. After graduation, I hope to work as an Assistant Language Teacher in the JET Program in Japan and eventually find myself in public relations or community management for an entertainment company. I’ve been with the Daily Beacon since my first month at UT. I quite literally had a story published the day I first walked into the Beacon, so it isn’t an understatement to say that the Beacon has been a major part of my college career. Though I started working mostly on entertainment content, I’ve been able to branch out at the Beacon and write tons of
articles I never thought I would have. At the Beacon, I’ve held the titles of contributor, staff writer and city editor over the course of almost three years, so I’ve been around the block a time or two. The Beacon does a ton of things amazingly, but also falters in some ways, and I hope that in my time as Managing Editor I can help the Beacon grow to new heights. While I still love covering entertainment, I’ve also come to love all of the other content that we put out at the Beacon. There is so much great stuff that comes out of the Beacon from tons of young, excited talent that deserves to be read by more eyes.
Hopefully, through working with everyone at the Beacon, we can get more eyes on that content than ever before. When it comes to who I am, I’d describe myself as a nerd in more ways than one. I’ve always had a passion for video games, and I’ve loved bringing that passion to my work at the Beacon. While at the Beacon, I’ve put out tons of reviews, listicles and features surrounding gaming, cultivating relationships with professional games PR along the way. Hopefully, when I finally graduate college, those contacts will be put to good use by the next Beacon generation. Of course, I have more passions than just video games. Film and manga are huge parts of my life, and I have loved covering them at the Beacon. Seeing as how things have been so weird the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the city section has had to rely heavily on reviews for film, manga, and games, of course. Though some might not look at these pieces as “hard news” or “important,” I’d beg to differ; entertainment journalism is just as important as all other forms of journalism,
and that’s a point I’ll fight you on. I can genuinely say that I would not be where I am today without all of the skills I learned while working at the Beacon, and I hope that I can help those starting at the Beacon in the next year learn as much as I have. The next year won’t be perfect and I’m sure I’ll make plenty of mistakes, but bear with me. I have a genuine passion not only for journalism, but for the Beacon as well. I was lucky to join the Beacon when the world wasn’t going through a pandemic, however, so I can understand how joining while we are fully online might be intimidating. While we are obviously going to continue following safety guidelines, getting back in the office and as much of the team as possible in-person will hopefully make a big difference for morale next semester. This year has been hard, but we’re almost through it. Here’s to a great year of journalism at the Beacon.
CONGRATULATIONS GRADUATES! WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU AND SO HAPPY TO HAVE BEEN APART OF YOUR JOURNEY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE!
LOVE, YOUR FRIENDS AT THE JONES CENTER FOR LEADERSHIP & SERVICE
8 Wednesday, 28, 2020 • The Daily Beacon ALUMNI &October GRADUATION
Wednesday, April 14, 2021 • The Daily Beacon
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Opinions: The versatility of my college experience, coursework ELIJAH HUNT Opinions Editor
The past five years of my collegiate experience have been so wildly unpredictable, that I would have never guessed that I would be in the spot that I am in now. As a wide-eyed freshman at the University of Tennessee, there were so many things that I expected, awaited and was excited to begin interacting with in the collegiate world around me.
Eli Hunt Unlike many of my peers and friends around me, I did not come to the University of Tennessee because of a profound love for a sport, nor did I come to the school to experience a “classic” college experience full of partying. I came
to the university extremely excited to be a part of the computer science program and eager to finally begin taking Japanese language classes, which was something I had desperately been wanting to do since middle school. However, despite my excitement, I went through quite the rough patch in only my second semester of college. Feeling lost and drained already, I was not entirely sure if the major and career path I had initially been so focused on in the beginning were really for me, and that caused a lot of anxiety and conflict about what I was really doing here at UT. I went on to fail a part of that semester and dropped out of almost all of my engineering classes. It was then that I had decided that the path that I was on was not for me and thus began exploring other majors and opportunities that the school offered. The switch that I made to begin exploring what I was truly interested in, and not just what I was being pressured into, really made huge changes for my motivation and interest in my education. I was finally able to take Japanese language classes, begin writing more as a journalism major and eventually was able to begin working here at The Daily Beacon as an opinions writer. I chose to make a switch for myself, despite the intense stress of college, and that choice has led me to a point where I am much more
Commmunications Building File / The Daily Beacon confident and happy in what I am doing. I was also able to branch out and explore some clubs that spoke to my interests and was able to meet some of the most important people of my life because of it.
Being able to be a part of the esports club and the Vols’ Japanese Culture Association were some of the best times in my college experience, and I am honestly happy I took the chance to try them out. The path that I have been on over the past five years has been so full of twists and unexpected events, but I am truly glad to be able to say that I have come as far as I have.
ALUMNI & GRADUATION
Wednesday, April 14, 2020 2021 • The TheDaily DailyBeacon Beacon Wednesday, October
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Beacon alumnus Noah Taylor describes creativity in sports writing JOSH LANE Assistant Sports Editor
Noah Taylor graduated from UT in December 2019 with a degree in journalism. During his time at Tennessee, he worked as the sports editor at The Daily Beacon, which helped him land a job as the sports editor of the LaFollette Press. “My favorite part of the job would definitely be the writing,” Taylor said. “I know that’s kind of a lame answer, but I love writing stories.” Taylor had a background in sports writing for a local SB Nation site before he started at the Beacon in late 2017 before the end of the semester. His writing was closer to a fan’s blog, rather than your more professional sports journalism. This difference to Taylor caused him to seek out the Beacon with the idea of furthering his professional skills. Taylor remembers being nervous going into the interview at the Beacon and just hoping to get a sports writing gig. “I just walked into the Beacon office right before the end of the fall semester, just hoping I could get a job,” Taylor said. “I thought it would be extremely hard to get a job there. But I just walked in and got offered one after just a few minutes.” Taylor started on the track and field beat, where his work ethic and willingness to do whatever was put in front of him was noticed, and by February, he had been promoted to the softball beat. Taylor was a huge fan of SEC softball, so the exceptional work he did on the beat came easy to him. Taylor moved up the ranks of the Beacon, covering more popular sports like soccer and women’s basketball, before applying for and landing the job of sports editor. With that came more responsibilities, but also the reward of the football beat — something the diehard SEC football fan was looking forward to. Covering football as the sports editor, Taylor got several incredible opportunities, including the chance to appear on the Paul Finebaum Show ahead of a Tennessee football game. Finebaum is a college football commentator for ESPN and the SEC Network and also a UT alum. Finebaum worked at the Beacon and even held the sports editor title. The opportunity to meet a Beacon alum who is a titan in sports media was Taylor’s favorite memory from his time at the Beacon. Yet for all the amazing experiences Taylor had at the Beacon, it was only half the battle; he would still need a job in the real world. He constantly looked for jobs during his time at UT, knowing he could handle the responsibilities of a full-time job and his school work.
Taylor came across an ad for the sports editor position at The LaFollette Press, but he was unsure if he should take it at the time. It took encouragement from Lisa Gary, a journalism professor at UT, to convince Taylor that the Press was the right job for him. “It was actually (Gary’s) advice,” Taylor said. “She had mentioned it to me, and that was good enough to go after it for me. I thought since she said it, that was reason enough to take the job.” Taylor landed the job at the Press. He started in December 2019, and his first days were spent covering the local high school basketball tournaments around Christmas. He covered 12 games in three days, but the experience with meeting the coaches and becoming familiar with the area was invaluable to Taylor. Of course, his experiences wouldn’t stay normal for long. The COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench into everybody’s system, including the local journalism world. It created challenges for reporting, as local sports shut down, but also a chance for Taylor to branch out. He covered local news, from county commission meetings to elections, and it helped him grow as a writer. Taylor called the willingness to work hard and do whatever needs to be done one of the most important qualities of a good journalist. Writing and interviewing skills can be taught, but that passion that good journalists have, for whatever is assignment is given to them, is truly important to Taylor. He detailed an experience he had covering the Tennessee-Florida basketball game in March one day, and then covering an elementary basketball tournament in Jellico the next day. Though those two events are vastly different, Taylor said it is still important to treat everything the same, to not cut corners and cheat yourself out of an experience. “Everything I cover, I want to give that same type of coverage, and that same energy and passion that I gave to Tennessee basketball,” Taylor said. “That’s a big part of it. I think that’s helped me be successful in this field, viewing every opportunity as the same.” That belief extends from his experiences in local media, covering both Jellico and Campbell high schools and about eight middle schools. It is a very different experience in covering those sports versus college athletics at the Beacon. There is more Taylor has to do himself, from keeping his own stats to taking his own pictures. And he is the only one to ask questions in interviews, where at UT there is not the pressure to ask a question since there are many reporters covering one event. But the biggest difference for Taylor — and it’s his favorite part about his job — is
Noah Taylor Courtesy of Noah Taylor the creativity he gets to have in his writing. In covering mainly high school sports in a small area like Lafollette, Taylor is the only one that can tell those stories. He gets to decide, with the help of his editors, what
is worthy of a story, and how to creatively tell those stories. To Taylor, it is rewarding to be the one to share someone’s thoughts or experiences that otherwise wouldn’t be heard. And it all connects back to his time at UT and at the Beacon. Taylor can tell these stories, because his experiences in the past, like writing feature stories for Gary’s class, or covering track and field, have helped him grow as a professional. And that was the same message he gave to aspiring journalists. “Be willing to do anything,” Taylor said. “That first day in the journalism class, a lot of guys say they want to work at ESPN or Barstool. And those are great goals to have. But a lot of those guys would work at the Beacon and then quit when you gave them the track beat. They weren’t willing to cover high school or middle school sports. But I think, if you do that, it will pay off for you.”
PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N
For an interview, leave a message for Phil Hatcher
865-522-3353 phatcher@knoxvilletn.gov
ALUMNI & GRADUATION
The Daily October Beacon •28, Wednesday, April 14,Beacon 2021 8 8Wednesday, 2020 • The Daily
Trey Smith fulfills promise made to late mother, completes degree RYAN SCHUMPERT Sports Editor
Trey Smith earned a plethora of honors in his four seasons as a starting offensive lineman at Tennessee. Smith, who graduated from Tennessee in December of 2020 with a degree in sports and recreation management, was a member of the Freshman All SEC team, a two time First Team All SEC selection and a Second Team All American, according to the AFCA and FWAA. However, Smith’s impact went far beyond what he did on the football field in Knoxville, and for him nothing was more important than honoring his late mother and graduating from Tennessee. “My mom was sick. I promised that I’d receive my degree and diploma and that I would play in the NFL one day,” Smith said when he announced his plans to return to Tennessee for his senior season. “I wanted to be 100% sure of my decision. With that being said, I’ll honor my mother Dorsetta Smith. I’ve made up my mind, and I don’t expect to ever look back. I’m going to stay at the University of Tennessee.” Smith was widely considered one of the SEC and nation’s best offensive lineman following his junior season. Still, Smith opted not to jump to his professional career, remaining in Knoxville one final season to get his degree and to improve his NFL Draft stock.
“In the end, I hadn’t received my degree yet,” Smith said. “Of course, if I did make the decision to go to the NFL, the day I was done playing I’d come back to finish my degree. It’s one of the things she always emphasized growing up. You have to get an education. It’s something they can never take away from you.” The Jackson, Tennessee, native was revered in Knoxville from the moment he arrived on campus in 2017. Smith was a consensus five-star recruit and ESPN’s No. 1 high school player in the country. Smith could have played college football at any school in the country but instead opted to play for the home state, struggling Vols instead of going to national power Alabama. That alone was enough to win the admiration of Tennessee fans, but the 6-foot-6 offensive guard would earn the love of Vol fans over the next four years for his resilience, charitable heart and toughness on the field. After an impressive freshman campaign, Smith’s football career hit a snag as it was revealed he had blood clots following the season. For months it was unclear if Smith would ever play football again. Through a detailed plan that didn’t allow Smith to practice with contact while taking blood thinners, the Tennessee native returned to the field in 2018, playing in seven games before a medical setback sidelined him for the rest of the season. Still, Smith fought through the adversity to become an All SEC lineman in 2019 and 2020.
Off the field, Smith consistently gave back to the community, getting named to the All SEC Community Service Team twice, in large part due to his work with the Knoxville Area Rescue Ministry’s “Coats for the Cold” drive.
Trey Smith File / The Daily Beacon
Smith also helped plan Tennessee Athletics’ march on campus last August to protest against systemic racism. Smith’s work off the field helped make him the first ever Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award. In the classroom, Smith was just as excellent as he was on the field and in the community, being honored with the 2021 Tennessee Torchbearer Award, making him the first football player to earn the honor since Josh Dobbs did in 2016.
“I’m just so blessed and fortunate that I came to the University of Tennessee, that I made the decision to come to this school. I thank God for it every day, for the position in life because of Him,” Smith said in acceptance. “At the end of the day, if there’s anything I can do to help other people I’ll never hesitate to do it.” After graduating from college and honoring the first promise he made to his mother, Smith now turns to the next, to become a NFL football player. While the lingering health concerns with his blood clots will be a question, Smith’s talent will keep him as a sure fire draft pick. The versatile offensive lineman will look to bring the same thing to the NFL that made him successful in college: a tough-nosed, physical approach to the game. “I’m definitely going to be a tone-setter. I’m going to be a guy that when things aren’t going our way, I’m trying to be the most violent dude out there,” Smith said. “I’m trying to set the tone from play one to the end of the game. I’m going to try to be a mainstay on the offensive line for years and years and years to come. I’m not trying to give my position up either.” Smith is projected as a second or third round pick in this month’s NFL Draft. The Jackson native came to Knoxville as hyped as any recruit in recent memory. He leaves not only incredibly decorated on the field, but off as well, all while honoring Dorsetta Smith’s memory.
ALUMNI & GRADUATION 8 Wednesday, October 28, 2020 • The Daily Beacon
Wednesday, April 14, 2021 • The Daily Beacon
BIG OR ANGE WHERE VER YOU GO As of August 2020, there are more than 259,000 UT Knoxville alumni around the globe.*
NORTH AMERICA (OUTSIDE THE US)
289 ALUMNI
EUROPE 427 ALUMNI
FIND OTHER VOLS IN YOUR AREA.
ASIA 2,002 ALUMNI
AFRICA 204 ALUMNI SOUTH AMERICA 151 ALUMNI
AUSTRALIA & OCEANIA 68 ALUMNI
1,468 203
228
53
249
119 192
604
805
687
74
2,396
119
1,301 362
190
451 2,147
1,166
482
578 6,868
2,834
4,082
ACTIVE CHAPTERS & AREA REPS IN THE US
4,127
1,020 1,342
60
8,747
149,236
513
495
1,431
1,185
1,314 238 2,377 DC–538
12,639
6,642 1,101
167
8,520
U N IT E D S TAT E S
167
Robertson 688
Pickett 15 Fentress 136
Marshall 255
Macon 95 Sumner 2,730 Trousdale 61
Clay 22
Jackson 36
Overton 125
M ei gs 22 4
Montgomery 1,116
Che 401 ath am
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ALUMNI & GRADUATION
The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, 14, 2021 Wednesday,April October 14, 2020
Rhodes Scholar Grant Rigney plans for medical school after Oxford KEENAN THOMAS Staff Writer
UT graduate Grant Rigney has been a lot of things: an engineering student, a professional musician, a Rhodes Scholar and now, a prospective medical student. Rigney graduated from the University of Tennessee in spring 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in chemical and biomolecular engineering. He then received the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship and began graduate studies at the University of Oxford in fall 2019. He has obtained one master’s degree and is set to finish a second degree by fall 2021. He plans on going to Harvard Medical School to become a neurosurgeon afterward. Rigney spoke about his time at UT prior to becoming a Rhodes Scholar. “My time at UT was amazing,” Rigney said. “I was fortunate to have several kind mentors and many great professors who went out of their way to help me. I met my wife at UT and some of my best friends there, too. All things considered, my four years at UT were some of the most formative (and fun) of my life thus far.” He selected UT out of convenience in terms of finances and location. However, he said that he made the right decision in attending the university. He was stressed at times but pulled through
with friends by his side. “I also think about how UT, and especially the Haslam family through the Haslam Scholars Program, provided me with access to resources that helped me succeed and prepared me for life after UT, for which I am incredibly grateful,” Rigney said. Although his current studies aren’t fully related to chemical and biomedical engineering, Rigney said that his experience at UT helped prepare him to become a better student at Oxford. While at UT, Rigney led the Pursuit research journal as the editor-in-chief after acting as a board member. “I joined the journal because I wanted a better understanding of how the research process worked, specifically from the publisher’s side,” Rigney said. “I really enjoyed working for and leading Pursuit. I worked with Dr. Moazen in the office of undergraduate research, who was incredibly helpful and kind when guidance was needed.” Rigney added that it benefited his current studies, because he understood research articles from the publication point of view. He said that it gave him a more analytical and critical viewpoint that he applies to his work. The Rhodes Scholarship is one of the oldest and most prestigious scholarships available, and Rigney was the eighth UTK student to receive the award. Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships Andrew Seidler said that
Grant Rigney Courtesy of Kylie Hull Rhodes is a very competitive scholarship, as only 32 students in the United States can receive it every year. The scholarship accommodates for several types of research that students can pursue. “There are several things that make it distinctive,” Seidler said. “For one thing, it’s fully funding study, whether it’s for a second bachelor’s degree or to do graduate study, at Oxford. But they really try to take into account the whole person in
terms of their selection process.” Seidler helped Rigney figure out his application for the scholarship. They met together several times to discuss scholarships and Rigney’s future. “He’s a multi-talented person,” Seidler said. “He’s like an internationally competitive musician and an exceptionally strong student. I think, though, he is just so extraordinarily driven, but not in the sense that he’s steam rolling over other people. … But his drive and his sort of maturity is just extraordinary.” Seidler and his office pushed Rigney toward the Rhodes Scholarship, which has fully-funded Rigney’s studies at Oxford. In his two years at the university, Rigney has earned a master’s of science in evidence-based social intervention and policy evaluation. He is currently working on a second master’s of science for clinical and therapeutic neuroscience. He will finish this second degree by fall 2021. He hopes that the Rhodes Scholarship and his time at Oxford will prepare him for Harvard Medical School. “Ultimately, I hope this scholarship will give me the resources to be a great neurosurgeon involved in health policy and health equity research throughout my career,” Rigney said “I am really excited to help people by being a neurosurgeon, and I hope to conduct policy-focused research that improves health outcomes and makes specialty surgical care equally accessible for all.”
ALUMNI & GRADUATION
10 The 14, 2021 TheDaily DailyBeacon Beacon• •Wednesday, Wednesday,April October 7, 2020
Entering the workforce from the perspective of peer career advisors CALISTA BOYD Managing Editor
Graduation — an onset for rejoice and also a nerve-racking time for most college students. After graduating, students go on to less sheltered lifestyles full of paying off loans, finding jobs or possibly continuing their education past the undergraduate level. Sometimes figuring out how to start pursuing your goals can be difficult, and sheltered by the structure of the university, not everyone is prepared for applying their fields of study to practical situations. At UT, the Center for Career Development and Academic Exploration is a resource students can use to shape their career goals and work on ways to achieve them. Lucas Pilla, a senior studying supply chain, is also a peer career advisor and described the services offered by peer advisors. “The process has changed since COVID happened. My essential role as a peer career advisor is we help students with their resumes, interviews,= and really in general, just their career readiness skills to help them prepare for their future careers,“ Pilla said. “The process how it typically works is we have drop-ins, so students can come in, ask us questions about if they’re job searching or if they want us to critique their resumes. We do all kind of jobs: full-time jobs, part-time jobs, whatever the student is looking for.“ Pilla has worked at the center for about two years now and said he noticed a bit of a difference with how students feel about
getting jobs since the start of the pandemic made finding jobs a more daunting task, with the economy taking a turn for the worse. “You definitely see the mental shift with students coming in. There is an increase in ‘I can’t find anything,’ and you will see just an upset mentality. … It is our job to let them know that there is light at the end of the tunnel; there is always going to be an opportunity available. So if you do hear rejection, just keep on looking for the next opportunity,” Pilla said. Pilla advises students who are feeling overwhelmed with the current situation to keep searching for opportunities when faced with rejection. Rejection is of course discouraging, but sometimes others’ skills are just more compatible with what some employers may be looking for. One way to think of it, according to Pilla, is that patience is key to following through with your plans. “You have to realize there are other candidates that are just as qualified and are looking for the same opportunity, and eventually your time is going to come where you are going to get that opportunity,” Pilla said. As a career advisor, part of Pilla’s job is making sure students don’t feel dejected or defeated by the job-searching process. Jackson Boling, a junior studying journalism, works as a peer career advisor and serves as the marketing team lead. Boling described that fall semesters tend to see more students visiting the center for the services offered, especially before career fairs. Boling mentioned that fall semester is typically a busier time for students to build their application plans and strategize ways
The Center for Career Development and Academic Exploration is located on the second floor of the Student Union File / The Daily Beacon
to get jobs and stressed the importance of thinking ahead and lining up your plans early, rather than last minute. “I always see we get an influx of people for practice interviews and resume reviews before then. In the fall semester, we really see seniors coming to get career advice because that is when they need the push,” Boling said. “People like to get their summer internships lined up — not even just the students, but the employers as well.” As the marketing team lead, Boling works on publicizing the Career Center’s resources on various social media platforms. Boling said that the career center focuses on pushing the Handshake website, which helps students look at internship and job availabilities. In regard to practicing interviews with peer career advisors, Boling explained the STAR method for the difficult questions that require personal reflection. “There is always so much practice you can get for an interview. The behavioral questions are pretty important because
they give specific experiences. We suggest the STAR method: Situation, Task, Action and Result. That can give a specific answer to those behavioral type questions,” Boling said. Going in prepared to answer these types of interview questions can give students an extra edge to impress employers. As a senior graduating in May, Pilla described his own personal career plan working out in his favor and how he now has a job lined up for after graduation. “I had an internship with Wal-Mart, prior, and before COVID, we didn’t know what would happen with internships. They had a great process, they made it completely virtual, but they made sure every intern had a great experience. Working through with my department I got an offer at the end of my internship,” Pilla said. “I am very fortunate. I do have a job lined up after graduation. It is definitely something I am really proud of and am looking forward to.” By getting an internship and a job offer following the end of it, Pilla saw a smooth transition where he can apply his learned skills and experience and build upon them. Like many seniors, Pilla is excited and also nervous about leaving behind UT and moving on to “the real world” after graduation. “It’s something I have been looking forward to since this year started because it is the culmination of all your hard work. I am also excited and a little bit nervous about the next step, moving to a different state and really starting life on my own,“ Pilla said.
The past, present, future of college student loan debt in America
ALLIE JUSTIS Copy Chief
For many college students, one of the biggest anxieties weighing on their minds during graduation is their mountains of impending student debt. Although many students can rely on their parents to help them pay for college, most students end up having to take out their fair share of federal loans before their college experience comes to a close. So with the spring semester ending, many students around campus have been left wondering if it was even worth it to get a degree. Has student debt always been like this? Will it continue to be like this? Let’s look at some of the facts.
In 2009, during the aftermath of the recession, the Federal Reserve found that individual student debt sat comfortably at an average of $23,765 per student in America. However, not even six years later in 2015, that number skyrocketed by 118%, bringing the average to roughly $28,000 per student in loans. Then more recently in 2019, just before the pandemic, that number once again gradually increased by 107%. As it stands right now, the amount of federal loans taken out by the average college student is over $30,000. So what does this mean going forward? Well to start, it means that conclusively, student loans are only going to get more expensive. It also doesn’t help that paying them off may not be as easy as one might think. Students have six months to find a job in their desired field post-graduation, but if
they can’t, then that could spell bankruptcy for the unlucky. Fortunately, because of the pandemic, all student debt loan payments have been paused and will continue to be paused until September 2021. But what’s more is that there may be hope on the horizon for the college students of America. There have been numerous whispers in Washington D.C. about student loan forgiveness bills making their way through the House and onto the floor of the Senate. However, the debate is ongoing. In the U.S. alone, students have racked up a grand total of $1.71 trillion. So in response, on his road to the White House President Joe Biden promised to cancel $10,000 of student loan debt. Some are pushing the envelope even further, calling for $50,000 to be forgiven per student. Sen. Elizabeth Warren held a key hearing
on student loan debt April 13 for the purpose of gathering information on how best to proceed with crafting better public policy that addresses the issue of excessive student loans. These policies could include student loan cancellation, student loan repayment and much more. For now, debt is high, morale is low and help may or may not be on the way. So what should students do? Keep hustling just like always. Getting the degree is only half the battle, so keep on fighting and explore the options available for paying off that student loan debt. Whether it’s renegotiating to get a lower interest rate or taking part in the dozens of the current loan forgiveness opportunities available, it’s important to keep in mind that there is more than just one option open to college graduates.
ALUMNI & GRADUATION
Wednesday, October Wednesday, April14, 14,2020 2021 • The Daily Beacon
Rhodes Scholar Hera Jay Brown continues studies at Oxford ALEXANDRA DEMARCO Editor-in-Chief
in a country that doesn’t have the same kind of levels of access because of historical and colonial and neo-imperial undercurrents that are always at play,” Brown said. Alternatively, Brown has been focused on engaging with developmental ideas and refugee issues in a more digital context, such as working to engage bureaucracy to make work permits more accessible for ref-
In 2019, Hera Jay Brown became the first Transgender woman Rhodes Scholar. Now, she is fully enveloped in her master’s studies at Oxford University across the pond. Brown graduated from UT in 2018 as a Haslam Scholar with a degree in socio-cultural anthropology and migration studies. Prior to being elected as UT’s ninth Rhodes Scholar, she also received a Fulbright Award, another prestigious recognition. Brown’s areas of interest focus on issues pertaining to refugees, people seeking asylum and general issues regarding development, and at Oxford, she is pursuing a master’s of philosophy in developmental studies, a program known for its rigorous coursework. She is particularly interested in forced migration in regions of the world such as Jordan, the European Union and the United States and said that her studies at Oxford have been crucial in encouraging her knowledge of the subject. “The program has been pivotal in expanding and pushing my own understanding of how to think about those issues related to other things, like land acquisition and displacement planning as states engage in mega projects, gender disparities and economics, and so on, and so the program has really facilitated a broader and better view for me to continue the work that I’m passionate about,” Brown said. The current pandemic has, naturally, complicated the future of Brown’s international studies. For one, she arrived at Oxford in Hera Jay Brown. Courtesy of Hera Jay Brown the midst of the pandemic and lockdowns in the United Kingdom, which have only been lifted for brief periods of ugee families. time since her arrival. Brown is also focused on getting to know Additionally, she has not been able to the local refugee community by engaging work on-site with refugees in other counwith groups where those populations are tries, such as Jordan, where she says she represented. would love to eventually visit and work. “I’m really wanting to focus on getting to “Right now, there are many rightful, ethknow Oxford and its local texture and conical concerns about what it means for people text to really try to understand a lot of the — especially when thinking about the global issues that are present here, so right now disparity in vaccine distribution and access that’s looked like trying to engage in a lot — what it means for someone, especially a of community organizing and direct action researcher like myself coming from, one, spaces here,” Brown said. the United States and now being in an elite After she completes her master’s degree, institution like Oxford, going and engaging Brown plans on entering a Ph.D. program at
Oxford before heading to law school. “I’ve stayed committed to this path, because I really do think this is the way that I can contribute and use the extreme platforms and privileges and privileged platforms to really think about how to push and represent and advocate on behalf of people that are seeking asylum and seeking refuge in the United States,” Brown said. Brown added that as white woman in an elite academic program, who spoke English as a first language, she was afforded prvileges that many in the Trans community don’t have. “I think that the true power in thinking about liberation comes from the strength of the diversity of the Trans community, thinking about how can we as a community, and with all of our component parts and relationships to other communities, what can be done in solidarity together, what can be done to make sure that the Trans community is accountable to the broad diversity that it has, that it’s not just privileged white women from America that are taking up these elite scholarships, making it seem that liberation is coming when I think all of that has to be inherently contextualized and made accountable to the broader diversity that exists,” Brown said. Professor Tricia Redeker-Hepner, who founded the Disasters, Displacement and Human Rights Program at UT, mentored Brown during her time as a Vol and spoke very highly of her achievements. Redeker-Hepner said that she and Brown, along with other UT faculty members, took a trip to Germany to study the refugee crisis in 2015. After the trip, Brown visited Oxford on her own, where she was able to stay with Barbara Harrell-Bond, the founder of Oxford’s Refugee Studies Centre and RedekerHepner’s colleague.
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Redeker-Hepner said that while Brown was constantly working to further her education, the opportunity to be a student at Oxford was particularly important. “The opportunity to go to Oxford was particularly meaningful because Oxford university has probably one of the most famous, if not the most famous, and certainly one of the earliest, refugee study centers,” Redeker-Hepner said. Redeker-Hepner said that Brown was a wonderful colleague, both in and out of the classroom. “She’s the kind of student that every professor dreams of having, and we continued our relationship long after she’s graduated,” Redeker-Hepner said. “She’s as much a friend and a colleague, and I get choked up even thinking about it because I just have so much affection and respect for her.” Although she has her eyes set on the future, Brown is also determined to take stock of the present moment. “I think COVID has really demonstrated, for me personally, how quickly and how ephemeral life and the things that we assume we have are taken for granted at times, and so I’m really trying to be present in the degrees and the paths that I’m on right now,” Brown said.
12 The Daily ALUMNI & GRADUATION Beacon • Wednesday, October 14, 2020
Wednesday, April 14, 2021 • The Daily Beacon
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Knoxville to Tokyo: Teaching abroad with the JET Program JAKE YODER City News Editor
The time immediately following college graduation is an incredibly stressful period for most students. Most find themselves desperately searching for jobs, internships or other opportunities that allow them to utilize their shiny new undergraduate degrees. For some, however, the decision of what to do after college is an easy one: drop everything and move nearly 7,000 miles away from home. The Japan Exchange and Teaching Program is a Japanese government initiative designed to place native English speakers within Japanese schools and businesses. Those with less Japanese language experience are usually placed as Assistant Language Teachers in Japanese kindergartens, elementary, junior high and high schools, while those with more knowledge of Japanese are sometimes placed as Coordinators for International Relations in local governments. “I highly encourage people to spend some time working or studying abroad while you’re young, before you have a ton of commitments holding you to a certain place,” Tye Ebel, a program coordinator for the JET Program, said. “College graduates are starting with a bit of clean slate anyways, so post college graduation is the perfect time to go.” For those interested in Japanese culture, Ebel notes that the JET Program is the best way to get to Japan in terms of pay and benefits. “Generally speaking, right out of school, the best way to get to Japan is through JET,” Ebel said. “Other teaching programs usually have certain kinks that don’t exist in JET … JET employees get pretty good pay — at least enough to save some and pay down loans pretty aggressively.” Those with an interest in Japan without any Japanese language knowledge may be scared away from JET. Ebel noted, however, that you don’t necessarily need to know any Japanese to get into the JET Program, though it would help. “Strictly speaking, you don’t need to have any Japanese language experience to be accepted into JET,” Ebel said. “If this is something that people are interested in doing, however, I highly encourage them to pick up a little Japanese ahead of time.” Ebel noted that there are three main groups that apply for JET: Japan enthusiasts, educators and “internationalists” seeking adventure. No matter the group, they usually are willing to commit a large amount of time to the program as each person accepted into JET must stay in the program for at least one
year. Each year, a number of UT students that fall into these categories apply to the JET Program. Brynna Williams, a UT alumnus that graduated in 2019 with a degree in language and world business with a concentration in Japanese, falls into the “Japan enthusiast” category. After being accepted into the JET Program in 2020, Williams readied herself to begin an international adventure. That was, until a global pandemic put the world into a standstill. “The application for JET is really long,” Williams said. “The application process begins in October and ends in April, so by the time we were accepted, the pandemic was already in full swing. Typically, they send people in around August or September, but we obviously still can’t go over.” The main thing holding Williams — and every other JET that was accepted for the 2020 program — back from going to Japan is the closure of its borders. Though they opened for a time in late 2020, Japanese borders closed to international visitors once more in January. Now, the JET Program is simply waiting for them to reopen to send new JETs abroad. “I’m still optimistic about the program, but right now it still feels like something I made up … something that isn’t actually going to happen. It feels like our departure is always right on the horizon. … Sometimes thinking that I’ll even make it to Japan at all feels crazy,” Williams said. Currently, the JET Program is finishing up the selection process for 2021 applicants and intends to send those accepted in the coming months, depending on when borders reopen. With vaccinations making the rounds worldwide, many are hopeful for borders to reopen soon. Though the application process for this years’ JET applicants is already closed, interested parties can begin applying to be sent in 2022 later this year. “Any sort of exchange or teaching experience that future applicants can get under their belts before applying would really help them out,” Ebel said. “Studying abroad, getting involved locally with different cultural events, any sort of club leadership … all of these look great for applicants. I encourage folks to do a three-pronged approach: polish up your knowledge on Japan, get involved with the local and international community and get some kind of teaching experience.” Those interested in the JET Program can find more information on its website. Applications for 2022 applicants will open up this fall.
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ALUMNI & GRADUATION
The 14, 2021 TheDaily DailyBeacon Beacon •• Wednesday, Wednesday,April October 14, 2020
Torchbearer, Women of Haslam founder Taylor Boyer details time at UT SARAH RAINEY Campus News Editor
Every member of the UT community is familiar with the Torchbearer Statue in Circle Park on campus. This statue is a famous symbol for the university, bearing the Volunteer Creed, which reads, “One that beareth a torch shadoweth oneself to give light to others.” It also holds a torch whose flame never goes out. The statue holds great significance at the university, and the award named after it is the highest honor any undergraduate student can receive at UT. The Torchbearer is given to outstanding students who have used their talents and hard work to accomplish amazing things during their years at the university. One of the six students to receive the award this year is Taylor Boyer. Boyer, a Knoxville native and senior marketing student with an international business collateral, has accomplished numerous feats in her time at UT. Her appreciation for the university is evident, and, being from Knoxville, she felt that her choice to attend the university was evident, as it was already home. In her four years at UT she has been involved with numerous organizations. From attending the Ignite Leadership Summit prior to her freshman year, to serving in the Student Government Association, to holding several different leadership roles within the Haslam College of Business, Boyer has dipped her toe in many corners of the university – and these are only a handful of her involvements. Things came full circle when she was selected as a Haslam College of Business Smith Global Leadership Scholar, as this was what drew her to the business college in the first place before she decided on attending UT. Further, Boyer has also studied abroad in Cuba, England and France through several honors programs. Along with her many involvements and traveling abroad, Boyer decided to take things a step further – she founded and is the president of the up-and-coming Women of Haslam organization. “I fulfilled a personal dream when I founded Women of Haslam in 2019, which is a women-in-business organization, open to business and non-business majors alike,” Boyer said. The idea came to Boyer during her time with the Smith Global Leadership Scholars program in London, as she thought fondly of her peers and organizations back on Rocky Top. “I really took what I had learned from being a part of a sorority, a business fraternity
and the president of South Carrick Residence Hall and wished there was a similarly structured group, but one that was focused academically and professionally on women in business,” Boyer said. When starting the organization, Boyer knew she wanted to emphasize that both business and non-business majors could join. She craved an inclusive and beneficial experience for all majors. “It was important to the mission of Women of Haslam that all felt welcome to learn and grow together. I believe that everyone could benefit from gaining certain professional business skills, regardless of your major, so that’s why we made sure to include that in our mission,” Boyer said. “It was also valuable for Women of Haslam to maintain a UT focus, so we invited women as guest speakers or to lead activities who had a direct or supporting connection to UT. Role modeling goes a long way for students in helping them see the possibilities for their own career and life goals, and we have certainly had the opportunity to listen to many such women who were once students on our UT campus.” Boyer mused over the memory of sitting in a hotel room in Italy during her time abroad – eating an exceptional to-go pizza and watching an Italian soap opera in the background – as she wrote the first draft of the constitution and mission statements for Women of Haslam. The founding of Women of Haslam has had a profound effect on Boyer, and she has no doubt that the organization will continue to influence UT’s community after she graduates. “With the leadership already in place to carry on, I am certain Women of Haslam will be a place where students can grow their leadership, professional and personal skills, as well as get to know other students they wouldn’t have met otherwise and add to their overall collegiate experience,” Boyer said. One individual who has been personally impacted by both Boyer and Women of Haslam is sophomore business analytics student Paige Dierks. “We’ve worked closely the past two years I’ve known her, and she has been such an inspiration and mentor for me,” Dierks said. Dierks is especially proud of Boyer’s receiving of the Torchbearer award and thinks she is highly deserving. “When I heard that there was a Torchbearer award, her name immediately came to my mind. She was so deserving of that award, as she is one of the most kindhearted and sweetest people I know,” Dierks said. Boyer said it was extremely humbling to receive the award, as she has always
looked up to Torchbearer recipients during her time at the university. “To me, being a Torchbearer means being recognized as someone who has given their all to the university, living out the Torchbearer’s Creed which we were taught at [freshman] orientation. That Creed means so very much to me, and as a member of the Volunteer Family, I know our Creed is a guidepost for so many of us on campus: faculty, staff, administration and students,” Boyer said. “I love being a Volunteer, and now to be selected as a Torchbearer is still surreal. I am excited to continue, and will forever be, an enthusiastic and intentional ambassador for the University of Tennessee.” Additionally, Dierks emphasized Boyer’s accomplishments and spirit, and said that she will be greatly missed upon graduation. “She always puts others before herself,
goes the extra mile to get things done on time and truly embodies what it means to be a Tennessee Vol. … Taylor is seriously one of the most accomplished people I’ve come across,” Dierks said. As for her plans after graduation, Boyer will be back on Rocky Top in the fall to attend the UT College of Law in August, and she hopes to attend a couple UT football games in the midst of her hectic law work. In 10 years, Boyer still sees herself in the Scruffy City, but the sky is the limit. “I would like my future self 10 years from now to be a resident of Knoxville and already a corporate General Counsel or a strong, contributing member to a legal team with a strong emphasis in business,” Boyer said. “Having said that, I am always open to where the corporate legal world may take me, but my heart will always be in Knoxville and at UT.” Courtesy of Taylor Boyer
12 The Daily ALUMNI & GRADUATION Beacon • Wednesday, October 14, 2020
Wednesday, April 14, 2021 • The Daily Beacon
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UT ranks high in Fulbright awards as students tell their own stories DANIEL DASSOW Staff Writer
With 17 recipients for the 2020-2021 school year, UT ranked highest in the SEC for the number of students accepted into the Fulbright Program and placed higher on the list of top Fulbright producing institutions than several Ivy League universities. The Fulbright, a prestigious scholarship funded by the U.S. Department of State, sends around 2,200 U.S. students to over 140 countries each year in order to do research or teach English with the goal of cultural exchange and empathy building. The success that UT students have in applying not only to the Fulbright, but to other top scholarships including the Rhodes Scholarship and the Goldwater Scholarship, is due in large part to the Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships, which works with applicants over the course of many months to refine their applications through in-depth conversations, strategic plans and essay revisions. Andrew Seidler, director of OURF, and his colleagues begin the application process by asking students personal questions about where they’ve been and where they’d like to go. The purpose of these conversations, he said, is to get a sense of an applicant’s passions and how best to package the various elements of their life story into a compelling application. “You need mentors and coaches and champions, people who are helping to ensure that students’ drive and ambition is focused and maximized and pushed into productive directions,” Seidler said. “I think our office has done a good job in pushing students to expect more of themselves.” Of all the application processes that he helps facilitate, Seidler said the Fulbright, with its choose-your-own-adventure approach, is his favorite. Students are encouraged to develop a unique program for how they will share their life experience with citizens of another nation, whether Taiwan or Norway or Israel, and what they want the experience to mean for them. Seidler said that part of helping students realize their potential is drawing out the parts of their story that set them apart. “I think that often students will come into our office and come into these processes with overly modest ways of framing what they’ve done and what they hope to do,” Seidler said. “Sometimes the very small thing that represents a piece of their hometown or a piece of their family history or some small thing they’ve done in their community, we’ll kind of latch on to and say, ‘Wow, that’s really cool.’ ... We have a way of kind of teasing out what makes students special.”
The Fulbright is concerned above all with a student’s sense of place, and the OURF staff is perhaps uniquely equipped to help UT students understand where they come from. Seidler himself is from the Chicago area, and Michael Handelsman, senior faculty director of OURF, is from New Jersey. RK Fauth, a Fulbright alumna and writing specialist in the office, is originally from Long Island. Fauth, who won a Fulbright award to South Korea in 2016, said that not being from the South has enabled her and her fellow staff members to help students develop their sense of place. “I’m from New York and I was a newcomer in Tennessee, so everything was new to me, everything was fascinating to me. Like cows were fascinating to me because I didn’t know anyone who had cows, you know?” Fauth said. “So I was kind of seeing my students with these fresh eyes that I think that they really couldn’t always see themselves with.” Fauth specializes in coaching Fulbright applicants through the same writing process she went through as an undergraduate at Pace University in New York City, and she says the best part of her job is being surprised by UT students’ life stories. One applicant she helped wrote about growing up with a mother who worked as a bar singer. Another wrote a Cormac McCarthy-style description of a summer spent bailing hay. “[The Fulbright] wants their applicants to be different than other applicants in the U.S. They want you to play up and talk about how where you come from is a place that’s interesting and beautiful and a place that can be appreciated and should be shared,” Fauth said. “You are the expert in where you come from and someone else is not and I am not and Andrew is not and Michael is not, so you can teach us and we can teach you how to put it in an interesting package.”
We have a way of kind of teasing out what makes students special. ANDREW SEIDLER DIRECTOR OF OFFICE OF UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH AND FELLOWSHIP
The Fulbright is open to students who have finished their bachelor’s degree or four years of training for creative and performing arts careers, and even students who have graduate degrees, as long as they do not have a PhD. Fauth said it is designed
for young students who don’t necessarily have their lives figured out yet, but are open to experience. “The Fulbright is not looking for people who are in their late 30s and have three degrees and profess to be experts. They’re looking for young people who want something developmental, young people who want something to happen to them,” Fauth said. “Fulbright wants you to be someone who’s open minded and wants to grow and change and become an empathetic person so you can return to your community and inject that empathy back to where you came from.” Neeley Moore, a 2020-21 Fulbright grantee to Romania who graduated from UT last May, said the application process, with all of the self-knowledge it requires, changed her life’s trajectory. Before going through the process with the help of OURF, she wanted to pursue a teaching career. Now, she is hoping to work in the nonprofit sector. “Honestly, I had a complete career shift while applying for the Fulbright,” Moore said. “I’m really grateful for the process because otherwise, I think I’d be on track for a career that wasn’t necessarily what I’m supposed to do, what I’m called to do.” Moore was elated to learn that she had been accepted into the prestigious program, but she found out shortly thereafter that her year teaching English in Romania would be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to graduating into a public health and economic crisis, Moore said that the 12-month delay of her Fulbright experience taught her an important life lesson. “In life, it’s better to be on your toes and be chasing the next opportunity that’s right for you as opposed to the safety lie that you
Andrew Seidler Rodrick Tooles / Daily Beacon
get tricked into in college,” Moore said. “The right opportunities in life will present themselves to you, and I think I’ve had to literally live that out to see that.” Rather than going straight into her Fulbright program or to graduate school, Moore spent the year working for Thrive Lonsdale, a local after school program for at-risk youth. She believes her year spent in uncertainty will help her to savor her time in Romania, a country she first visited as a freshman in college. Along with her 16 fellow UT Fulbright grantees, Moore will head to her Fulbright destination in the fall, where she hopes to start a creative writing club for university students in addition to teaching English. She believes that UT students benefit not only from the assistance of the dedicated staff at OURF but also from having a wealth of experiences outside of the academic world. “We have all these life experiences, and we want to do something with it as opposed to being stuck in an academic career mindset,” Moore said. “I was very surprised with my time at UT at just the amount of people who were pushed through their college experience to change the world and who want to do great things.” Students who are interested in applying for the 2022-2023 Fulbright competition are encouraged to begin the process in April, though the campus deadline for applications is not until the fall. Potential applicants can fill out the Fulbright interest form on the OURF website or speak with OURF staff to get started.
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