Wednesday, August 25, 2021

Volume 140, Issue 2 Wednesday, August 25, 2021 utdailybeacon.com @utkdailybeacon

‘FIX THE DAMN PARKING’

Students see a ‘parking crisis,’ parking staff sees a ‘crisis of education’ DANIEL DASSOW CAMPUS NEWS EDITOR

Perhaps the pandemic made us forget what it meant to be on campus with nearly 30,000 other students. Perhaps too many people who could have walked to their first day of class decided to drive instead. Or perhaps, with one of the largest student populations in UT history, we have simply arrived at a breaking point.

But whatever the explanation, most students who have a car on campus agree: parking during the first three days of the 2021-2022 school year was a mess. With central garages full as early as 7:30 a.m., various students have reported driving in circles for over an hour, missing their first class or even parking downtown and walking to campus.

On the r/UTK subreddit, complaints about parking became so commonplace this week that a student dryly titled their post “Another Another Parking(and Bus) Post.”

Another student, a sophomore named Nadia Tippett, went so far as to write a

petition on Change.org titled, “Help STOP the University of Tennessee Parking Crisis.” Since it was posted last week, the petition has gained around 1,800 signatures and support for the petition continues to rise.

“Complaints from students across campus is actually what prompted me to write the petition,” Tippett said. “Many of the Ag Campus students in particular voiced their concerns. Walking can take them up to 40 minutes and many people can’t afford to use the LINK services in town.”

In her petition, Tippett called for the campus to get rid of the designation between non-commuter and commuter parking passes and to no longer charge non-commuting students over $100 more than commuting students for their passes. She also called on the university to provide “readily available, accessible to all, student parking at a fair, universal rate,” which she believes would entail the construction of a new parking garages.

The staff at UT Parking and Transit Services are accustomed to such petitions and to the complaints that roll in every year at this time, when more students drive to campus and attend class

than at any other point in the year.

Moira Bindner, communications and customer service manager for Parking and Transit, said that her office has been working to expand parking opportunities for students, including new daytime commuter parking at Fraternity Park lots and perimeter parking at Church Street United Methodist on Henley Street.

When asked if there was a parking crisis, Bindner reframed the issue.

“There is a get-to-know-wherethe-parking-areas-are crisis,” Bindner said. “There is a crisis of education.”

Even though this year’s issues seem to be more acute, Parking and Transit has a few unmovable facts in their arsenal, facts that they believe more students need to know. For one thing, they are an auxiliary unit which operates mainly off of permit and special events revenue and is not funded by the university. For another, campus is landlocked and there are few places to put more parking. Most striking, however, is the price tag for a new garage, which hovers around $25,000 per parking space.

Some of the issues Tippett brought up are being addressed by parking services.

The large Neyland commuter garage

now has live availability counters to let students know how many spaces are left. While they are given to occasional inaccuracies, these counters, which are also featured at the Terrace Avenue Garage and the Volunteer Boulevard Garage, give live updates on the parking and transit website and on the Tennessee app.

Parking and Transit also added a new T Bus route this year called the “Ag Express,” which runs to the infamously far Ag campus every six to eight minutes from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

But students have taken issue with more fundamental aspects of parking at UT, such as the ratio of permits to spaces, which caps at 1.85 permits per commuter space and 1.2 permits per noncommuter and staff space. These ratios are the result of calculations about how many students and staff are typically on campus at one time. Bindner said her office has not had to reach the maximum number of permits this year.

STORY CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

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The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, August 25, 2021

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STORY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Students see an overselling of permits and a clogged parking system, but Bindner says this view discredits the addition of alternate parking spots across campus.

“When I used to do orientation, I used to say, ‘we have enough parking places,’ and people would laugh at me,” Bindner said. “We don’t have enough convenient parking places, and that’s where people get really frustrated and that’s what the petitions are talking about. This is where the challenge is.”

Bindner said that resources like the T bus system and the parking maps on the Tennessee app are underutilized by a student body that is largely unaware of them.

“If you just take 10 minutes later on today, just to kind of go through my webpage, even just look at the navigation, I got a lot of questions, I got a lot of answers, I got maps there, but nobody looks. Nobody looks,” Bindner said. “They just send the questions saying, ‘why isn’t there parking next to Hess Hall?’”

Ben Pham, a junior who served as chair of the Student Senate’s infrastructure committee last year, believes the solution resides not in more parking, but in fewer cars.

“Is parking a mess? Yes of course, but the demands that some students are asking for aren’t the solution,” Pham said. “Making more parking is incredibly expensive, to the tune of $20,000+ a parking spot. Instead we should

be focusing on ways to get students away from cars. Carpooling incentives and public transit are the easiest way to alleviate our parking woes.

As for non-commuter students, the transport on campus, with T-bus and T-link, solves a lot of their problems of parking on campus in most situations, but not all.”

Frustrations with university parking go beyond not being able to find a spot. As an undergraduate senator, Pham authored a bill that would introduce a program in which the university would provide a free bike to on-campus students who pledge not to bring a car to campus. The bill was almost unanimously passed by the undergraduate senate, but no moves have been made by administration to push the program forward.

“This program would fix a lot of those parking problems for those living in dorms,” Pham said. “The university has gone absolutely nowhere with this bill, though, and it’s absolutely frustrating that even when our student leaders try to find ways to solve problems, UT still doesn’t act.”

Grace Ewell, a law student at UT, said that some of the parking issues are particular to the law students she advocates for as president of the Student Bar Association. For these students, who often must leave campus at a moment’s notice to meet with clients or attend various externships and clerkships, not having a conve-

nient parking spot might as well mean not having a parking spot at all.

“These students comprise a large portion of our student population,” Ewell said. “They are often unable to afford the extra minutes in walking to a garage on the other side of campus.

As a result, they will pay to park on the street or even park in restricted areas because they are understandably unwilling to sacrifice either their academic studies or client needs.”

“Many other law schools have dedicated parking garages for this reason, which also serves as a positive factor in recruiting for those schools. Although a solution may not be in the cards at UT, this is the source of many students’ frustrations with parking this year.”

For her part, Bindner believes that the solution to the parking problems lies largely with students. Her advice includes coming to campus an hour earlier to find a space, researching new perimeter lots to find a sensible (though perhaps inconvenient) place to park and taking full advantage of the T bus system.

It may not be the advice students want to hear and it may not encompass every solution, but to Bindner and to Parking and Transit, it’s what we currently have to work with.

“We are landlocked … we can’t expand,” Bindner said. “Otherwise, I would have built a garage on the river, you know, and just barged kids out there.”

Masks now required in all public indoor spaces DANIEL DASSOW Campus News Editor

On Aug. 23, the Office of Chancellor Donde Plowman emailed the UT community to announce that masks will now be required in all indoor public spaces on campus, except when “individuals are actively eating, drinking, or engaging in fitness activities.” The new policy does not require masks in private offices or dorm rooms.

This is an extension of the previous mask mandate announced on Aug. 2, which required masks in classrooms, laboratories and required indoor academic events. Students will now no longer be able to go mask-free in hallways of academic buildings or in other public indoor spaces such as Hodges Library or the Student Union.

The Office of the Chancellor explained that the expansion of the masking policy is driven by the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19.

“Because the delta variant is continuing to spread and is driving up hospitalizations in our community, we are adjusting campus health and safety guidelines,” the email said.

The new policy will stay in effect for two weeks and will be re-evaluated on Sept. 7.

The announcement also reflected Chancel-

lor Plowman’s push to get students vaccinated, even though the university is not requiring vaccination against COVID-19.

“With vaccines now widely available, we have better tools to fight this pandemic than we did last year,” the email said. “I encourage you to get vaccinated if you haven’t already.

This is the best defense against contracting and spreading COVID-19, and especially against severe cases of the disease. It is also the best way to ensure that we can keep our campus thriving and bustling throughout the fall semester.”

As the email reminds students, anyone in the UT community can schedule a vaccination appointment at the Student Health Center through the university’s COVID-19 website.

For the first week of school, confusion rather than clarity has dominated the story of masks on campus. With the previous mask policy in place, students were confused about why they were required to wear masks in classrooms, but not in hallways or in the library.

An even greater source of ire was what students believed to be inconsistencies stemming from administrators going maskless when meeting with students.

In one Instagram post on Plowman’s page of her meeting with a student leader on Aug. 12, there were 69 comments, nearly all of them disapproving of Plowman not wearing a mask.

Students wearing masks in class.

File / The Daily Beacon A UT student with the username @julia. nadeau wrote, “I thought we had to wear a mask? Practice what you preach.”

Another UT student, @gabe.eck, also commented on the post, saying “why do i have to wear a mask indoors if you do not.”

At the time, Plowman was following the mask guideline, since she was not in a lab or classroom or at a required indoor academic event such as orientation. But now, less than two weeks later, the Delta variant and the specter of a greater COVID spread have threatened the hope for a maskless campus that the post reflected.

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Wednesday, August 25, 2021 • The Daily Beacon

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The Band CAMINO, Moon Taxi help revitalize UT college life with free concert ISABELLA DIACONESCU Contributor

The sky grew darker, and still the crowd waited impatiently. Large orange and white balloon arches framed the small venue. Lights flared around wildly. The first-row bounced, waving their arms to energetically egg the performers on. The night was just beginning for many.

Just outside of Haslam Music Center in an unsuspecting parking lot, many UT students gathered around for the free outdoor concert featuring Memphis native band, The Band CAMINO and an opening performance from Moon Taxi.

People crowded around the dormitory windows of Fred D. Brown Hall, curiously trying to get a glimpse of the event. Many were seated on the balconies above and tables below, trailing around the enclosed, makeshift stage. Nearly an hour behind schedule, the bands slowly built the anticipation. Suddenly, Moon Taxi burst onto the scene with the first song of the night. Riling the audience with “Make Your Mind Up” off their “Daybreaker” album, Moon Taxi began with a strong start.

Moon Taxi, an all-American, indie-alternative rock band with strong Nashville roots

of the event and the hope for normalcy.

“I feel pretty good about it, it’s nice to have stuff going on again,” Fitzmorris said. “It feels more like a college.”

The Band CAMINO’s entrance song echoed far into Andy Holt Avenue with the bass surging into surrounding buildings and onlookers. With soft and hauntingly beautiful lyrics concealed by a heavy rock influence, The Band CAMINO’s mixed genre approach evoked heartfelt energy and sincerity.

Phones were lifted high and shone in swaying motions as the audience kept up with the energy of the performers, recording every moment.

The Band Camino and Moon Taxi put on a concert for New Vol Fest on Saturday August 21, 2021 From their roots in Memphis, Tennessee, behind Fred D. Brown Hall. Alexandra Ashmore / The Daily Beacon The Band CAMINO had its humble start as a few friends playing together in school. Now White.” made an electrifying performance, waking they have signed with Elektra Records, and However, the crowd was mixed. Intermina slumbering Saturday crowd. Singing a few with a rapidly expanding fan base, expect to gled die-hard fans and intrigued new listeners songs from their albums, Moon Taxi took an release a new album in September of this year. both shared a passion for the alternative-indie emotional step back, performing “Hometown Giving a dazzling performance to the mild genre. Out of the crowd, freshman Zach DeHeroes” and drawing parallels between the city town of Knoxville, The Band CAMINO certainly Carlisle, a computer science major, enjoyed his of Knoxville and their own hometown. left its mark. Given the orange and white theme first UT concert with his friends, saying he was Reluctantly, Moon Taxi passed the mic over consistent with UT Vols, the atmosphere revi“just excited overall” to be out and about on to the night’s focus: The Band CAMINO. talized the togetherness of UT students after campus.

Some of the attending UT students were big a year of isolation. Surrounded by darkness, Given the safety precautions and concerns fans of The Band CAMINO, eagerly hoping to purple blinding light exited the stage into the surrounding COVID-19, other students includhear the release of new songs in the set. Other night sky, leaving negative afterimages of the ing Maggie Fitzmorris, a junior pursuing a sofans hoped for some of the band’s older iconic show impressed on everyone’s mind. cial work degree, talked about the atmosphere songs like “Daphne Blue” and “The Black and

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CAMPUS NEWS

The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, August 25, 2021

Daily Beacon’s design editor reviews new West Campus Dining Hall BELLA HUGHES Design Editor

The new West Campus Dining Facility has fed thousands of students during opening week. With the rapid pace of students and numerous food options, it is no wonder the establishment is popular. It’s up to personal taste, however, if the food is that delicious or if the generated buzz is based around availability.

West Dining is the only dining hall open during the day and is based in an optimal location neighboring multiple dorms and Presidential Court providing easy access to the space.

The dining hall serves the double purpose of food service and maze. It is easy to get turned around among the many sets of stairs and incoherent scenery.

The building itself is very appealing — although the doors are difficult to open. The mood in the space is very homey and inviting.

Warm tone lighting contrasted with the cool toned walls creates a rustic feel. High ceilings bring more space to the layout, making each floor seem less crowded when lines are long.

The third floor has the most advanced interior design. Towards the back of the grill section, you can find a sectional couch and gas fireplace. This will be valuable in the colder

The new West Campus Dining Hall entrance facing Presidential Court on Monday Aug 23, 2021. Krish Dogra / The Daily Beacon months for an intimate dinner. After a few visits, navigating the dining hall will be much easier.

At the beginning of each food station, you can find a small plate to pile on food. It is important to know that at stations where someone serves you, the staff member cannot touch your plate. Either stop there first or plan to carry multiple plates.

There is plenty of seating. Whether you are dining alone or with a big group, you will be able to dine comfortably. For solo diners, I rec-

ommend sitting on the second floor towards the back windows. There are smaller tables and a view of the mountains. For larger groups, try sitting in a long booth on any floor. This is a great spot to catch dinner with friends.

Prime breakfast time is 8:30 a.m., with slow foot traffic and good eats! Waffles, hash browns, eggs and bacon are regulars on the menu. Don’t bother coming after 10 a.m. because food scraps are not fulfilling.

Lunch hours are the simplest time to dine here. The food is fresh, and the atmosphere is

laid back. Lunch hours run the longest between 11 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Flex seating gives people the option of working through lunch or taking a break and enjoying the ambiance.

Dinner rush happens around 7:30 p.m. This is the most overwhelming hour. Long lines lead to scavenging for food, tables get wiped down less often and anxiety heightens as students crave a burger. The food is hot, but oftentimes, it tastes hardly seasoned. Bring your own salt, pepper and hot sauce because West Dining will make you miss homemade food. If you are a first time visitor, start at the salad bar. This is a great way to get in greens and customize a plate to your liking with familiar toppings.

The facility has a few hidden gems. The bakery consistently switches out fresh baked goods. And, the self-serve ice cream machine will make you want to visit again. The toppings bar is just two feet away with sprinkles, oreos, m&ms and more! Come for chicken nuggets, stay for the ice cream.

West Dining has become a new staple for a student’s daily routine. Be aware of what time you are dining and anticipate your specific dining experience. West Dining is the right place to go if you are looking for hot food fast — or somewhat fast, depending on the rush.

Knoxville happenings this week IZABELLA WIEGAND Staff Writer

writer.” Tickets are $49.50 and $29.50, and showtime starts at 8 p.m.

From craft beer to a Germanfest to hummingbirds, there is certainly something for everyone to enjoy in Knoxville this week.

Second Bell Fest Are you ready to “discover your new favorite local band, restaurant, retailer and comedian all in one day” in Knoxville’s new riverfront park? Also on Aug. 27-28, the Second Bell Fest will be in Suttree Landing Park starting at 5 p.m. both days.

Knoxville Craft Beer Week Knoxville Craft Beer Week is happening from Aug. 20 to Aug. 29 at local breweries around Knoxville. While this event may have already started, there is much more to come later in the week.

“The Odd Couple” Theatre Knoxville The Theatre Knoxville Downtown at 800 S. Central St. is showing “The Odd Couple (female version),” a Broadway contemporary comedy adaptation of the popular production and film adaptations. If you haven’t seen this one yet, the show runs Aug. 20 through Sept. 12 on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets are $20 and available through the Theatre Knoxville Downtown website.

Erick Baker Tour The Erick Baker: The Everybody Needs a Good Time Tour is coming to Knoxville’s Bijou Theatre on Aug. 27-28. According to the Bijou’s website, “Erick Baker is an Emmy Award-winning writer, TV show host and singer-song-

First Lutheran’s Germanfest It’s time to celebrate Germany’s culture, food and music at the First Lutheran Church and School. Experience what Germany has to offer on Saturday, Aug. 28 starting at 11 a.m., including beer, polka and much more. Prost!

Ijams Hummingbird Festival Last but not least, fly down to Ijams Nature Center for Ijams Hummingbird Festival: A Celebration of Wings. The festival is on Saturday, Aug. 28 from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tickets are $5 for children, $8 for general adult admission and $12 for the bird banding bundle. More information can be found here.

STORY CONTINUED ONLINE Read more at utdailybeacon.com

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Wednesday, August 25, 2021 • The Daily Beacon

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The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, August 25, 2021

Chancellor Donde Plowman reflects on past year at UT, offers clarification for students SARAH RAINEY Editor-in-Chief

manage the flow of information about what was happening.

What was your personal experience with COVID-19?

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Beacon on Aug. 17, Editor-in-Chief Sarah Rainey sat down with Chancellor Donde Plowman to ask a few questions regarding her personal experience with the pandemic, as well as to clarify university plans involving the COVID-19 pandemic and rising cases due to the Delta variant.

Editor-in-Chief Sarah Rainey speaks to Chancellor Donde Plowman about the mask policy on campus and other challenges she faced throughout the pandemic.

What was it like navigating how to lead a university during a pandemic?

It was crazy. We have a great team of people, and we were really fortunate that we have on staff an “emergency manager” and an “emergency management system,” so we put that right into place, which meant we had a policy group that I led. So, we were making the decisions, and then there was this operation called “emergency operations center.” They would track down data and bring it to us and then we would make decisions.

If you think back to what we did, the first thing was, we had to bring people home from study abroad. Then, we had to make the decision, “Don’t come back from spring break.” … So, I feel like I spent the year and a half managing a lot of logistics, and I’m proud of the effort we did, but it’s not what chancellors show up to do on a day-to-day basis, you know? But, we were all doing it. So, I have a really strong team and that makes a huge difference.

I think the other thing was, we wanted from the beginning for it to be clear what was going to guide us. So, we just set out those three values, which were: try to be creative, be compassionate and be flexible. We set those out because I knew it would be long and complex is what I figured, and I couldn’t be a part of every decision all over the campus, so that’s a way of guiding other people’s decisions. If you do that, you’re probably going to make a pretty good decision.

So, I think that was huge, and then trying to communicate. So, I think one of the things we learned last year was, wow, it’s important to be as transparent as you can, to communicate what’s going on, what your decisions are, why you made them. It’s also hard to figure out how to do that.

You send emails and people say, “It’s too many emails,” or certain groups don’t read their emails.

So, we just really tried about everything that we could. We landed on the weekly updates with Zoom, which proved to be pretty effective and useful.

So, it was like trying to manage logistics and

So, I never got COVID. I got vaccinated as soon as I could. There was one period where I was exposed to someone, so I had to quarantine for 14 days. That was the … I think that’s why I could really feel the pain of students who are having to quarantine, thinking back on it, like, stuck in my house for … Because it had happened after I had started coming back to work. I actually came back in July or August. But, we were mostly in a lot of Zoom meetings, but one of the people that reported to me later tested positive and we had had a meeting. We were socially distanced, but, in an abundance of caution, the chancellor’s got to be really careful.

So, my personal experience, just about the disease, I was so grateful once we finally got the vaccines. And, I would say, people in my family didn’t get (COVID-19), but I spent over a year not being able to travel to see my children who live in Austin. My parents are deceased so I didn’t have that worry. A lot of people my age were frustrated with not being able to be with elderly parents.

So, personally, that’s kind of how it touched me.

But, as a leader, just watching our community and

Get out, enjoy what this campus has to offer, ‘cause we’re back.

CHANCELLOR PLOWMAN

our campus go into a shape that we never kind of imagined, and watching you guys show so much courage. To be honest with you, the students, I’m just, I’m still impressed with what you all did in the last year and a half, and what you’re going to have to do this year. That’s going to look different, different kind of decision making, than this year, but, yeah.

If you had to choose one key takeaway from the past year, what would it be?

I think we learned that a university, a big organization, can pivot quickly and gear up and adapt to an unexpected situation. I think if you had told me three years ago that a place this big with 1,600 faculty, all these staff, could in 10 days time put all of our classes virtual, and there were many of us, including myself, who hadn’t used Zoom very much at that point in time, and now it’s our key tool.

So, I think the biggest takeaway was, “Wow, look what we did when we had to.”

So, I hope from that, it means we can have the confidence that we can pivot again on other things, not related to COVID. What are you most looking forward to during this new school year?

Well, it’s kind of already happened: just the students back. Last night, we had the Torch Night Ceremony outside in the stadium. It’s the biggest freshman class we’ve ever had, the largest enrollments we think we’ve ever had. So, just seeing the Daily Beacon Editor-in-Chief Sarah Rainey interviews students, just everybody’s so excited to be back, Chancellor Donde Plowman on Aug. 17, 2021. and I think that that’s the most exciting part for Kailee Harris / The Daily Beacon me, is re-engaging and being back to the classroom. Students are excited about it. especially -- when you come back to campus, you It doesn’t look exactly how we wanted it to. come with a plan.

We’re going to be back in there with masks on, So, what will you do? One of the things we obbut I’m hoping that it won’t be for long. I’m hopserved last year is that most students who had to ing that, if this thing peaks and drops -- the Delta isolate or quarantine, an awful lot of them did it variant -- that we’ll be able to adjust our policy. at home anyway. So, we told them that they need to be responsible for those plans. And so, we’ve In the case of an outbreak due to the Delta varishifted into managing it in a bit of a different way ant, does the university have a plan in place? than we were last year.

So, what we learned from last year, is that we know how to pivot, and I think one of the things I should make clear, too, is that the decision on our mask requirement in the classrooms, the labs and other required indoor events, the chancellors in the system and the president made that decision together, and we made the big decisions together last year. So, we’ll continue to do that, and I think we know that if we have to take other measures, we will.

But, this year, the advantage we have is we have the vaccine, and an awful lot of people are vaccinated. So, it’s not this … So, even if we peak, it’s not the same as it was last year when we didn’t understand it, we didn’t have the vaccine, we didn’t have a good portion of the faculty and staff vaccinated.

So, this year, we’ll be able to … You know, I’m vaccinated, I’m going to wear the mask in my class and carry on.

So, that’s kind of how we’re going to approach it. Our policy group is meeting regularly, we keep monitoring the situation, we’re just encouraging students to get vaccinated. So, I feel confident that if we need to pivot, we will. We’ve learned how to do that.

I understand that the university is no longer providing isolation and quarantine housing if students who live on campus get the virus.

So, we’re not doing isolation quarantine housing like we did last year. So, think about when we planned for students coming back to campus, we planned for a vaccinated population to be honest with you. So, what we did was make clear to students that -- the students living in the dorm,

Do you have a recommendation for students who may not be able to go home should they need to isolate themselves?

Absolutely. One of the things that they need to do is check in at the (Student) Health Center. We still have staff on, available who are going to help support students. Last year, they were doing a lot of contact tracings, the same folks who are very familiar with … This part of the virus, people’s aren’t, we’re not contact tracing like we were last year anywhere.

But, they are a support service, and we will work with students. If they’ve got an unusual problem and they can’t go home, we’ll help them figure something out.

What is one message or piece of advice you would like to share with students?

Grab a hold of this experience this year, make the most out of your time here at college. This is a great time for this university. I mean, people are wanting to come here; our enrollments are evidence of that.

So, get to know each other, step forward and, last night, at the Torch Night Ceremony, one of the (students), he’s a sophomore, he said, “Force yourself to meet someone you don’t know. Go talk to someone who comes from a different part of the country, who looks different from you,” and I hope people will do that.

Just make the most of it. Get out, enjoy what this campus has to offer, ‘cause we’re back.

NEWS

Wednesday, August 25, 2021 • The Daily Beacon

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Students from FUTURE program rush, join sororities for first time LEXIE MARTIN Contributor

For the first time, students from the FUTURE program went through sorority recruitment and received bids to join sororities.

FUTURE is a program on campus that strives to help students with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD) transition from high school life to college life and adulthood.

UT sophomores Zoe Messer and Faith Irwin, along with senior Elise McDaniel, became the first three students from the FUTURE program to accept bids and become members of sororities.

The unique story has garnered national attention. The Today Show’s Allison Slater Tate wrote a story on the recruitment of FUTURE members after a video of the students opening their bid cards become popular on TikTok, gaining nearly 900,000 views and over 150,000 likes.

“This week, a TikTok video from the FUTURE program at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville showed a different side of sorority bid day,” Tate wrote. “Students with disabilities were offered invitations to join Greek chapters there for the first time this

year.”

Junior Flora Mae Ayers, a member of the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority, worked with both FUTURE and Greek life to help make this year’s rush possible.

“From the beginning of my vision, I wanted the FUTURE students to have the most natural recruitment experience as any woman,” Ayers said. “While some barriers had to be broken down to make such happen, I am glad to say the FUTURE women who received a bid participated in recruitment each and every day and earned their way through based on themselves alone, which is something I could not be more proud of them for.”

“Once in their chapters, FUTURE women have the choice to participate in any activity desired, which is what I have strived for since the beginning,” Ayers said.

Ayers also went on to note how hard recruitment is for everyone hoping to receive a bid, but the girls from FUTURE managed it with “grace and poise.”

The process to try and bridge the gap between Greek Life and FUTURE started about a year ago. Ayers joked that she could sum up the process in “about 60 seconds.” It required a lot of communication with FUTURE Panhellenic and staff. There was also a workshop of sorts to help prepare the women of FUTURE for recruitment.

Emma Burgin, coordinator of the FUTURE program, spoke out about inclusivity on campus for IDD students and how there is still much to do.

“There are a lot of ways we hope to grow the FUTURE Program itself — larger student body, more mentors, campus wide training for working with students with IDD, involvement in all aspects of campus life to the full extent,” Burgin said. “But ultimately, I hope that FUTURE is setting a tone for a more inclusive campus for all marginalized groups.

We always say, ‘diversity is a fact, inclusion is an act.’ I hope we are showing that inclusion truly is an act of love. We need to break FUTURE student joins Alpha Delta Pi on Sorordown these barriers to allow for both sides — ity Bid Day, Fall 2021. students with and without disabilities — to Courtesy of UTK Future benefit from each other.” ments near campus.

FUTURE wants to help bring more focus to The program recruits nationally and localinclusivity on college campuses in regards to ly for their students. They look for students students with different disabilities and they “who want to go to college, pursue a career aim to help improve the quality of life for and embody the Volunteer Spirit,” Emma their students. The first FUTURE students Burgin, the coordinator for the program, were admitted in 2011, and this year marks said. their 10th year on campus.

If students want to get involved, there is a They are also currently in the third year chance to volunteer as a mentor to the FUof their Independent Living Program. This TURE students. program allows them to share life skills with their students. Currently, the program has 14 students who are on their own for the first time ever, some in dorms and some in apart-

Friday night’s show at Pilot Light delivers high-energy performances CULLEN MCCURRY Contributor

One of Knoxville’s most beloved alternative music venues, Pilot Light, hosted a sold-out show on Friday, Aug. 20, featuring Ashevillebased artists Indigo de Souza and Usually, and Knoxville-based band Temp Job. Despite a reduced capacity due to the pandemic, the venue felt as full as ever because of the energetic performers and audience.

Chris Rusk, Temp Job’s bassist, described Pilot Light’s significance in the Knoxville music scene.

“I can never say enough about how important Pilot Light is to Knoxville’s music scene,” Rusk said. “For over 20 years, they have been the city’s most consistent source for experimental and independent music.”

Concertgoers started pouring in around 8 p.m., with proof of vaccination and a mask required at the door. The venue’s anomalous decorations, including a paper-mâché dragon head peering over the door, a David Bowie poster and an eagle wearing a medal, gave audiences something to observe as they excitedly awaited the performers.

After about a half hour the of audiences socializing and acquainting themselves with the venue, Indigo de Souza — who was re-

cently profiled in music publication Pitchfork — opened the show with an emotive performance. Dressed in an oversized Harley Davidson T-shirt, de Souza appeared comfortable and intimate on the stage, matched with her unique vocal stylings.

Some of the loveliest moments of her set occurred when she switched between her raw, raspy vocals and the softer, sweeter side of her voice — each one equally compelling. Perfectly matched with the intimacy of the venue, de Souza was unafraid to show the inner workings of a live performance, occasionally asking the sound engineer to adjust her microphone and sweetly interacting with her band.

By the time de Souza performed her latest singles, “Hold U” and “Kill Me,” the audience was clearly enamored with both her and the band. The chemistry between the band was evident throughout the set as they bantered with one another and allowed their instruments to harmoniously flow together.

Once her set came to a close, the audience was appropriately energized for the upcoming band. The next band, called Usually, delivered a high-energy punk rock set. Having just performed their first live show less than a month ago, they seemed extremely comfortable on the stage, like they had been performing for many years.

During their set, audience members could be

the hard rock of the guitar, bass and drums. seen jumping up and down and head-banging, One of Temp Job’s singers, Mia Lucas, exclearly inspired by the rowdy expressiveness plained what it feels like performing at the Piof the performance. Instruments and microlot Light. phones seemed to be turned up to the highest “There is a unique sense of community volume during their set, which may feel slightsince the venue is so small and intimate,” Luly abrasive to more casual listeners but perfect cas said. “The music there is unparalleled as far for hardcore rock fans. as its uniqueness. Even if not every band is my The songs they performed seamlessly cup of tea, I still go there for the experience.” blended into each other, like a punk rock DJ set Once their set had finished, audience memturned up to the maximum volume. By the time bers left the venue feeling liberated and entheir set ended, onlookers were sufficiently chanted by a night of dynamic, genre-bending engulfed in the unique energy that both bands music. had brought to the stage, eagerly awaiting the final set of the night, from Knoxville’s very own Temp Job. Hitting the stage a little after 10:30 p.m., Temp Job brought their unique blend of funk, rock n’ roll and punk rock to the stage in a highly energetic set that drew the most rambunctious crowd of the night. The group maintained its high level of energy throughout the 40 minute set, forming a symbiotic relationship with the audience as they fed off of each other’s energy.

Audience members were entranced by their groovy style of music, some standing on top of the benches as they danced along passionately. The true highlight from the performance was the chemistry that the band brought to the The Pilot Light in the Old City, Knoxville delivers stage. Impassioned saxophonists and energet- high energy on Friday night, August 20, 2021. ic vocal performances meshed perfectly with Alexandra Ashmore / The Daily Beacon

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CITY NEWS

The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, August 25, 2021

Purposeful coffee: Treetop Coffee Shop opens physical location KEENAN THOMAS Staff Writer Treetop Coffee Shop opened next to The Plaid Apron at 1206 Kenesaw Ave. in Sequoyah Hills. Treetop Coffee focuses on coffee, specialty seasonal drinks and non-profit donations. They are open from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Mondays through Fridays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays. It occupies the location that Wild Honey Records used before they moved to Oak Ridge.

Treetop started in March 2019 as a coffee truck. Co-owners Courtney Peters and Rachel Casstevens moved in 2018 from Texas, where they both graduated and worked in a grilled cheese food truck. They came to Knoxville to take part in the growing food truck scene.

After two years, they have opened a physical location. They talked about what it’s like to be operating a shop that isn’t in a truck.

“I don’t know that it’s hit me yet, really,” Peters said. “It was like a goal for such a long time, that ... it hasn’t sunk in yet.”

“Well, too, we were kind of keeping our heads down and trying to work through (COVID-19) and book the trucks for events coming out of (COVID-19) to meet the bottom line,” Casstevens said. “I feel like we were working so long with our heads down, just trying to make it through, and then we looked up one day and we’re here, which is crazy.”

They talked about the shop acting as a place to gather. They want people to feel more connected to the shop in a way they previously couldn’t capture, without abandoning the truck altogether. “… it’s an addition that we’ve really, really wanted,” Casstevens said.

“It’s also an addition that we can invite people into,” Peters said. “The truck it’s like, ‘I’m more coming to your space,’ whereas the shop is now, ‘I can have you in mine.’”

They serve a variety of drinks, including drip

Keenan Thomas / The Daily Beacon

coffee, espresso and latte drinks. They outsource their coffee beans from local roasters.

Currently, they use the Arkansas based Onyx for their espresso, which they sell by the bag in store, and Honeybee Coffee for their regular black coffee.

Treetops serves seasonal drinks in addition to their other drinks.

Casstevens said that they make these drinks because she personally likes them, but these drinks are also a way to set Treetop apart from other coffee shops. They make most of their syrups in house, like the syrup they use for their Blueberry Lavender Latte, which is a spring drink they serve until September.

Each purchase made at Treetop will go towards a larger cause. They set aside 10% of their profits at the end of the month towards one of their non-profit partners.

“The literal mission statement is, ‘Coffee for the people that are near us and comfort for the people that aren’t,’” Casstevens said. “We partner with different organizations every month that support foster care and adoption in Knoxville, but also kind of everywhere.”

“The idea is that we just come alongside organizations that are already doing work with foster care and adoption and support them in any way that they need,” Casstevens said.

Casstevens added that this support alters from organization to organization. Some organizations need a monetary donation, whereas others need more specific needs like school supplies or books. They have helped with fundraisers, sponsored a family and held drives for different needs. They also work with the Department of Child Services to provide supplies.

They want to bring attention to the systems that people can use and to, hopefully, further improve them over time. They will continue to do this along with donating their time and services to organizations. For example, they will provide coffee for the Knox Area Foster Care

Keenan Thomas / The Daily Beacon & Adoption Ministries (KAFCAM) conference next weekend on Aug. 28.

They will use their truck mostly for events.

As for their shop location, they were able to get everything up and running due to the help they received from Home Girl Knoxville owner Shawn Owens. Owens also designed the inside of the store, giving it a somewhat retro look.

“She calls herself a concierge service almost, because she puts us in touch with contractors and tile people,” Casstevens said. “I mean, everything that was done in the shop was because she knew and was sending it to people. So she does that, but she also helped literally design things, and she has a really great eye for the flow of things, and her style is great. She’s kind of an all-in-one total package.”

They also were able to get the store running thanks to help from Honeybee Coffee along with Real Good Kitchen and its owner

Keenan Thomas / The Daily Beacon

Bailey Foster. They hope to provide a space for small businesses to grow similar to what these businesses did for them.

“That’s something else I’m excited about,” Peters said. “Just working with local businesses that were in the same boat as us before this, that were wanting to have something, but kind of needing that leg up.

I really hope that we’re a place that can provide that for local people.”

As they settle into a routine, Treetop Coffee Shop hopes that this new location will become a staple in the Sequoyah Hills area, especially as an educator for good coffee.

Casstevens ended our discussion with her visions for the future of Treetop in the surrounding community.

“I think initially, my hope for this shop is that we get a bunch of regulars, and it’s just the neighborhood spot,” Casstevens said.

CITY NEWS

Wednesday, August 25, 2021 • The Daily Beacon

‘Free Guy’ review: above average ‘Guy’ KEENAN THOMAS Staff Writer

Sometimes, the main character doesn’t have to be special. He can just be a normal, milquetoast, regular guy.

An action comedy set inside a video game, “Free Guy” was directed by Shawn Levy, who also directed the “Night at the Museum” movies. It was written by Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn, the latter of which wrote the “Ready Player One” film adaptation.

The film follows Guy, a non-playable character (NPC) in the fictitious game Free City. Inside the Grand Theft Autolike game, Guy lives on a path: wake up, get coffee, go to work, ad infinitum. But after running into the player Millie, AKA Molotov Girl, Guy begins to think for himself, breaking from his set path in the game.

“Free Guy” is an enjoyable enough film filled with fun video game aspects.

It has a deep enough level of complexity, which makes it a little more interesting, especially in its discussion of artificial intelligence. But altogether, it’s a typical Courtesy of IMDb film set inside of a computer that doesn’t dle of the film, when Guy realizes that do enough to make it special.

Ryan Reynolds stars as the titular he’s in a video game. The movie explores character, Guy. Reynolds does his usual the implications of Guy’s fictitious nashtick, playing the average Joe white guy. ture and what it means to be alive, reBut he does it so charmingly and with sulting in one of the better scenes in the enough charisma to carry the film, es- film- a scene with two characters just pecially as he becomes more aware and having a conversation. It’s not as well powerful throughout the film. It’s the thought out or sophisticated as similar films like “Toy Story” or “The Matrix,” role he’s perfect for.

Along with Reynolds is Jodie Comer but it works well here by adding more to as Millie/Molotov Girl. She does a great the film than just funny video game refjob, especially in switching between her erences.

Speaking of, there are a handful of fairly regular real self and her badass online persona. She stands well next to references and design choices centered Reynolds as the secondary lead, holding around video games. One of the more prominent examples is during the cliher own opposite of Guy. Finally, there’s Lil Rel Howery as Guy’s max of the film, so it won’t be spoiled NPC friend Buddy, Joe Keery as Millie’s here. But the ending pulls out all the ex-game partner Walter “Keys” McK- stops, and it utilizes those references eys, Utkarsh Ambudkar as programmer well.

There are several visual jokes and deMouser and Taika Waititi as the bombastic game designer Antwan. Everyone tails when the film is inside the game does a good job, especially at creating that work well. For example, player fun and relatively interesting characters characters will sometimes keep jumping around in the background-which is within the film.

The film follows a pretty standard plot more accurate than you would think.

I’ve been struggling to decide if this line. It does everything well enough, especially at staying easy to follow. There’s decision was ironic or not. If it is, then not much complexity within the struc- it’s a clever gag about the pervasive moture or order of events in the film, and bile game ads that plague everybody. But that’s fine. It doesn’t need to be overly if it’s not, then it seems like they didn’t know how else to make the game look complicated to be enjoyable.

However, there’s a decent amount of like a real video game.

Generally, this aspect seems to be a weighty conversations towards the mid-

clever gag, but it still doesn’t sit quite right, especially since every other video game aspect is handled well. It could’ve worked better if all of the video game parts of the movie were stylized or if the game looked different in the real world, but it just looks weird as is.

Moving on, the rest of the film is well designed, specifically when it begins to show the world of the video game as seen by the players. There are some eye-catching visuals and special effects at points, as well as a few times where it appears off putting. But, it’s consistently good.

The rest of the technical aspects are good enough for the movie, even if they weren’t mind blowing. The cinematography is good, especially when the camera focuses on Guy while crazy events happen around him. The editing was unnoticeable, with a few moments that worked well for a joke. Finally, the sound and music were fine, with some excellent usage of songs thematically with the rest being forgettable.

“Free Guy” is sure to be a crowd pleaser. It’s an enjoyable film filled with fun references, a good premise and excellent lead performances. Although some aspects like how the game looks could be better, it’s still a fun movie.

This is the kind of movie that Ryan Reynolds is perfectly cast for. It’s quite possible it wouldn’t work as well without him. That being said, Jodie Comer holds her own surprising well. If both of them were to return, they could boost a sequel up pretty well.

For now, “Free Guy” is just above average.

3/5 Torches

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10

SPORTS

The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, August 25, 2021

Mitchell, Banks looking to prove doubters wrong at linebacker ETHAN STONE Assistant Sports Editor

Only one linebacker (LB) on the current 2021 roster recorded double-digit tackles last season in a Tennessee uniform – redshirt junior Jeremy Banks.

Technically speaking, anyway. Tyler Baron, listed on Tennessee’s official roster as an outside linebacker, recorded 21 tackles as a freshman yet will likely retain his role as an edge defender this season.

All the same, one thing remains clearthe Vols seem to have an experience problem at the LB position.

Head coach Josh Heupel chooses to see it differently.

“I think there’s a great competition in the linebacker room,” the first-year head coach said after Tuesday’s open practice. “There are a lot of guys who can play at a high level in that group.”

Despite the offseason departures of Henry To’o To’o, Quavaris Crouch and J.J. Peterson, Heupel feels Tennessee’s linebacker corps is prepared to address the change of scenery on the depth chart.

“Yeah, it’s a completely different room (from) where we left it in the middle or at the end of spring ball,” Heupel said. “We have a bunch of guys, some that have played at a really high level and are coming back into the fold.”

One high level player Heupel was referring to could be Texas transfer Juwan Mitchell, who became the number one option at inside linebacker the moment he stepped foot on campus.

Mitchell led the Longhorns in tackles last year, recording 62 tackles and a fumble recovery. He also contributed well in his freshman year at Texas, totaling 27 solo tackles and three sacks.

It didn’t take long for the rest of the linebacker room to catch on to what Mitchell is bringing to the table.

“He’s a dog. A straight dog,” outside linebacker Roman Harrison said. “I love the way he plays. He plays fast, he plays aggressive and plays smart as well. It’s going to be really fun seeing that on Saturdays.”

Mitchell mentioned Banks’ name as someone to watch in terms of playing with a similar mentality.

Banks has had an up and down career at Tennessee. The halfback-turned-linebacker from Cordova was limited in spring prac-

Kentucky wide receiver Allen Dailey Jr. (89) tackled by Tennessee linebacker Jeremy Banks (33) at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020. Calvin Mattheis / Pool via News Sentinel

tice following offseason surgery, yet sits in prime position to strengthen his role in the middle of the defense this fall.

The rest of the room knows he can only get better.

“He’s changed a lot and gotten a lot better,” fellow linebacker Solon Page said of Banks. “(He’s) playing under more control and he’s been flying around.”

Defensive coordinator Tim Banks may look to Mitchell and Banks for experience, but the Vols are far from short on athletes.

Aaron Beasley and Aaron Willis are two options who Vols fans can expect to see in a major capacity this season. The junior and

freshman linebackers, respectively, were both suspended from spring practice for reasons off the field.

Willis especially has a chance to jump out to a hot start this season to kick off his Tennessee career. He will enter the 2021 campaign as the Vols’ highest-rated commit in the 2021 cycle, and one of two top-300 ESPN prospects left in the class alongside wide receiver Kaemen Marley.

Every squad has their fair share of athletes. It will be up to Banks and Heupel to translate that talent to the gridiron this fall.

Pensky secures 100th win as Lady Vols top Miami ANDREW PETERS Staff Writer

Tennessee soccer picked up its second win of the season Sunday at Regal Soccer Stadium over Miami (Ohio), 2-0.

“It was tough,” head coach Brian Pensky said. “Our kids put it out there Thursday night, it’s our first two game weekend, it’s obviously hot, you’re playing against a team that just sits back and keeps the game in front of them and they made it hard.”

Tennessee’s win was not just any ordinary regular season win. It was also Pensky’s 100th win with the Lady Vols.

“We’re proud and excited to be a part of that memory and that history for him,” senior defender Wrenne French said.

After the game, Pensky was unaware of the accomplishment he had just achieved.

He was reasonably confused when his team dumped a cooler full of Gatorade over his head.

“He didn’t even know it was his 100th win,” junior Brooke Wilson said. “He had no idea that he got it.”

French said. “He looked really mad when we poured the Gatorade on him.”

Once made aware of his accomplishment, Pensky was able to reflect on his career at Tennessee.

“I certainly had no idea,” Pensky said. “It feels good, 100 wins means you’re able to stick around for a little bit, and keep plugging away. I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of good players here, a lot of great coaches working with us. It means longevity, and I’m proud of that.”

Pensky’s 100th win came after a highly defensive, physical contest. Tennessee

limited the Red Hawks to just three shots, compared the Lady Vols 17 shots. The two teams also combined for 18 total fouls for the game.

Playing a physical team like Miami gave Tennessee a chance to prepare for the kinds of teams it will see in SEC play.

“They competed hard and most importantly got out with no injuries,” Pensky said.

“We need to play against physical teams.

The SEC is unforgiving in the physicality category, so they brought that to us, and I

The Lady Vols Soccer 2-0 defeat of Miami (OH) on Sunday August 22, 2021 marks the 100th win for Head Coach Brian Pensky. Courtesy of @Vol_Soccer

thought we responded pretty well.”

Scoring for the Lady Vols today were freshman Jordan Fusco and Brooke. Both goals for Tennessee came in the first half.

“Obviously we scored two good goals,” Pensky said. “We were trying to do that more but it just wasn’t happening.”

Tennessee’s defense has seemed to be impenetrable so far this season, posting two shutouts in its first two games and limiting its opponents to 11 shots total.

“The teams defense this season is really exciting because of the depth we have, how many people who are willing to go out there and contribute and try and put it all out on the line for the team,” French said. “Not allowing shots and not allowing goals are our two main priorities. It’s our main focus every single day and every single game, die to prevent those goals and die to prevent those shots.”

Following the win today, Tennessee will hit the road for the first time on Thursday to take on Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tennessee. Thursday’s game will kickoff at 8 p.m. EST.

SPORTS

Wednesday, August 25, 2021 • The Daily Beacon

11

Quarterbacks shine through rainy scrimmage JOSH LANE Sports Editor

The Tennessee football team took the field at Neyland Stadium Tuesday morning for its second and final scrimmage of the preseason, just over two weeks ahead of its season opener.

To simulate the gameday experience, the Vols dressed in the locker rooms at Neyland and went through the typical pregame warmups. The pouring rain- remnants of Tropical Storm Fred- that continued for the entirety of the scrimmage also contributed to its SEC Saturday feel.

“It was great for our program (and) our players. We got a chance to get out there in the rain and some adverse weather there,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said after the scrimmage. “Offensively (we) handled it pretty well for the most part of the day.”

Last week, Tennessee’s defense dominated the first scrimmage, but this time around, the offense and quarterbacks in particular, shone through the heavy rain, providing a ray of sunshine on the still murky Volunteer quarterback race.

“The weather really had very little effect, for the most part,” Heupel said. “I thought the quarterbacks handled the weather (and) were

able to throw the ball efficiently and effectively.

I thought our wide receivers did a pretty good job. (We) didn’t have any center-quarterback issues. It was really pretty good.”

Despite the strong play of Tennessee’s quarterbacks, Heupel has not seen much separation between the bunch, or at least he doesn’t plan to make it public knowledge at the moment.

Sophomore Harrison Bailey, Virginia transfer Hendon Hooker and Michigan transfer Joe Milton all suited up for the scrimmage, each competing for the starting gig.

“That group has continued to compete and handle things the right way, and I like the growth of that group from day-to-day,” Heupel said. “You just look from the first scrimmage to the second scrimmage who they are and over the course of the practices leading up to today, that group is continuing to trend in the right direction.”

Heupel does plan to update the quarterback battle when he is ready, but for now, it’s an open race.

Brian Maurer, the fourth signal caller on Tennessee’s roster who at one point had a leg in the race, did not play in the scrimmage. Maurer has been absent from practice since Aug 11, and the redshirt sophomore also missed the first scrimmage on Aug 12. Heupel met with Maurer late last week on how the quarterback reps would be divided up, but he did not give an up-

date on Maurer’s status Tuesday.

Another bright spot from the scrimmage was the Vols’ offensive line, a group plagued by inconsistency and underperformance last season. Despite last season’s struggles and a vast turnover of linemen over the offseason, the group, led by new offensive line coach Glen Elarbee, hopes for a turnaround. Tuesday’s scrimmage was another step in the right direction, as the line improved at its pre-snap responsibilities.

“I thought they were more efficient from the whistle to getting lined up and getting ready for the next snap,” Heupel said. “I thought they created good vertical movement at times over the course of the scrimmage and did a good job of protecting the quarterback.”

Heupel in particular had high praise for junior Darnell Wright and his work ethic. Wright figures to anchor down the right tackle position for the Volunteers in 2021. The 6-foot-6, 335 pound lineman has made 14 career starts at right tackle.

“Athleticism, he’s got a tremendous upside,” Heupel said of Wright. “He’s only going to continue to get better, and I think his purpose and the way he has practiced throughout training camp has been more focused and intentional in the way he takes every single rep.”

The Vols will kick off the Heupel era on Thursday, Sept. 2 against Bowling Green in

primetime at 8 p.m. ET. The game will open Tennessee’s 125th season of football, as well as the 100th season in Neyland Stadium. training camp has been more focused and intentional in the way he takes every single rep.”

The Vols will kick off the Heupel era on Thursday, Sept. 2 against Bowling Green in primetime at 8 p.m. ET.

Dec 5, 2020; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Harrison Bailey (15) warms up before the game

Takeaways from Heupel’s press conference: No quarterback decision, offense learning new system JOSH LANE Sports Editor Tennessee head football coach Josh Heupel met with members of the local media Monday afternoon, to discuss the Vols’ final week of fall camp.

Here are three takeaways from what Heupel said.

No QB decision yet The most pressing question for the Vols is who their starting quarterback will be when they take the field for the season opener against Bowling Green next Thursday. With today being Heupel’s last press conference before game week, there was some thought that he might announce the decision.

Instead, Heupel punted once again.

“No decisions have been made,” Heupel said.

“Those guys have been great, continue to compete.

We’ll see where we’re at at the end of this week.”

Tennessee’s quarterback battle is a three-man race between Michigan transfer Joe Milton, Virginia Tech transfer Hendon Hooker and sophomore Harrison Bailey. The most recent development in this race came last Thursday, when Brian Maurer announced his decision to enter the transfer portal.

Maurer was at the bottom of the depth chart and a long shot to actually start, but according to Heu-

pel, none of the top-three quarterbacks have pulled away. Vols’ fan, not to mention the teammates and even the quarterbacks themselves, will have to wait a little longer to learn who the signal caller will be come Sept. 2.

Payton learning the offense Entering the season, one of the biggest challenges for the Tennessee players was learning the new offense Heupel brought with him to Knoxville.

The fast-paced, spread-offense that Heupel runs is vastly different from what the Vols executed under Jeremy Pruitt last year, and a learning curve is expected throughout the spring and summer.

Now, three full weeks into fall camp and just 10 days ahead of the season-opener, Heupel is pleased with how his team has learned the offense, thus far.

He also believes as the team transitions into game preparation for Bowling Green, running the complicated offense will become easier.

“I think our kids do grasp what we’re doing,” Heupel said. “I think during training camp, because you’re constantly installing, when you get to game week a week from now, and you put in your package, in some ways it becomes easier for them. I think they have a good understanding of what they’re doing.”

Heupel mentioned Mississippi State transfer JaVonta Payton as someone who has made great

strides in learning the new offense. Payton did not transfer to Tennessee until May 5, meaning he did not practice with the team during the spring. But, the senior wide receiver has come on strongly in his few short weeks on Rocky Top. “(Payton’s) a guy that’s only got 14, 15 practices in what we’re doing,” Heupel said. “He’s a guy that’s really come on here the last four or five practices, as far as comfort and understanding how we want to play and then being able to play the play.”

Linebackers improving Outside of the quarterback race, the next biggest question surrounding the Vols were their linebackers. The group lost key contributors Henry To’o To’o, Quavarius Crouch and J.J. Peterson, and Jeremy Banks – a former running back converted to defense – became the most experienced linebacker by default.

Despite the uncertainty, Heupel praised the progress the linebacking corps has made from the end of spring until now — largely made possible due to improving health. Banks, in particular, is returning to a larger role after off-season surgery.

“Just who we had, number of bodies,” Heupel said, on the improvement. “Our lack of number of bodies at that position during the course of spring ball. Getting a couple of guys back healthy off of in-

juries. They’ve come back and have competed at a really high level.”

Tennessee received another boost at linebacker after spring practices when Juwan Mitchell transferred from Texas. He was the Longhorns leading tackler a year ago and is now the Vols’ most talented option. The addition of Mitchell, plus new linebacking coach Brian Jean-Mary, has made a noticeable difference in the room.

“The additions that we’ve brought into that room, the culture inside of that meeting room is completely different than it has (been),” Heupel said. “Coach (Jean-Mary) has done a fantastic job of leading those young men. They’ve had real buy-in, competition has been a huge help in creating that type of culture as well.”

I think our kids do grasp what we’re doing.

Josh Heupel Tennessee head football coach

12

SPORTS

The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, August 25, 2021

Fifth-year Lady Vol French brings experience, consistency to back line ANDREW PETERS Staff Writer In her first four years with Tennessee, defender Wrenne French has gained experience, skill and leadership abilities. Now, entering her fifth season with the Lady Vols, she hopes to use all she has gained to guide the team’s defense.

French didn’t plan to play five seasons with the Lady Vols, but an eligibility rule change that came with the COVID-altered season allowed her an extra season with the team.

“Usually, kids get four years to play their sport,” head coach Brian Pensky said. “Well, because of COVID she’s getting five years to play her sport. With one additional year of experience, she had to step up in such a big way. It forced her to be absolutely in the heat of it and in the brunt of it.”

French enters her fifth season having played 5,069 career minutes for the Lady Vols, the most of anyone currently on the team. Last season, French played 1,265 minutes and led the defense to five shutouts on the season. French also scored the gamewinning game goal in the SEC East Division championship.

While French has been a great defender for the Lady Vols in her four seasons, she

has also been the one consistent in a defense that changes from year to year.

“She’s been a big of a picture of stability in the back there,” Pensky said. “An organizing voice, a voice of reason. She offers so many things because she communicates, she prevents situations from going bad, she picks kids up when they need to be picked up.

“She’s always kind of got her head on a swivel trying to solve issues. It’s that kind of management that makes a back line good, but it also makes a team good.”

French also has recognized the role she has stepped into as a leader and has seen the way it has grown over the years.

“Taking a leadership role has been a lot of fun,” French said. “The role has definitely grown over the years the older I’ve gotten.

Now I have five other players as a part of the leadership group with me, so I have tremendous support around me.

“It has been challenging at times, but it’s also been a lot of fun because I have so much support around me from my teammates and my coaches who all make great leaders as well.”

Tennessee’s defense this year consists of four seniors, four sophomores and two freshmen, a diverse and deep defense. Having this kind of depth means practices are

competitive, as each player is trying to earn their spot in the starting lineup week in and week out.

“For the first time in a long time we have a lot of depth,” French said. “We have a lot of really talented players who can play in a lot of positions, so competition has been great during practice. Everyone is working their tail off trying to get a spot, trying to get minutes, which creates a really good practice environment. At the same time everyone is supporting each other, and everyone cares about each other and we all want each other to succeed.

“It’s really competitive but it’s also a really supportive environment. That really forms a tight-knit bond within the defense, and I’m really pumped about our backline this year.”

French and the Tennessee defense began their season in dominating fashion, winning in shutout fashion against Florida Gulf Coast and Miami (Ohio). The Lady Vols’ back line has allowed just 11 shots on goal through the first two contests.

The Lady Vols are back in action Thursday, Aug. 26 for their first road match of the season against in-state rival Tennessee Tech. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. EST.

Wrenne French (15) running the ball against Xavier in Regal Stadium on Feb. 28, 2021. Alexandra Ashmore / The Daily Beacon

Tennessee volleyball excited, ambitious as season-opener nears NATE TOSSADO Contributor

Ava Bell (20) and Jasmine Brooks (23) celebrate at the UT vs Missouri volleyball game held at Thompson-Boling Arena on Feb. 12, 2021.

Nathan Lick / The Daily Beacon

The Tennessee volleyball team is amping up for the 2021 season, with its first games scheduled for next weekend.

The Lady Vols look to improve this year after finishing off last season with a record of 12-8. Last year’s shortened season consisted of 20 games that were all held in the SEC in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, Tennessee volleyball returns to a normal schedule with 28 matches slated for the regular season.

In addition, ThompsonBoling Arena will welcome fans back with no restrictions after operating at limited capacity the season prior. The Lady Vols are set to compete in 15 home games throughout the 2021 season.

“I think Vol Nation is going to be ready to come out. We have a big arena that we want to pack as much as possible,” head coach Eve Rackham Watt said. “The product that we put on the floor is fun to watch.

Our players play hard and are disciplined. It’s a great sport for people to come out and bring their families to watch.

Our hope is to grow attendance numbers every season and we’ve been doing that.”

Rackham Watt is entering her fourth season at the helm of the volleyball team. While at Tennessee, Rackham Watt has led the program to an impressive record of 53-27 (36-19 SEC). Rackham Watt and company ended last year on a high note, winning six of their last eight matches, and have high hopes to retain that momentum coming into the new season.

One thing that separates Tennessee from the pack is its vast lineup, including five returning starters, five freshmen and two graduate students, Breana Runnels and Nicole Shanahan.

“This is our deepest team we’ve had in a while, as well as our biggest roster with 20 play-

ers,” Rackham Watt said. “It’s our deepest in terms of numbers in each position but also experiences on the floor.”

Perhaps the most impactful player on the court is senior Lily Felts. Felts is a four-year starter who will be key for the Lady Vols going into the 202122 season. The Knoxville native earned All-SEC honors in 2020-21 as a junior.

Despite Felts’ personal accolades, she is more focused on how the team performs overall.

“You know I would love to make All-SEC every year, but ultimately the goal is to get the team to where we want to be and get to the NCAA tournament,” Felts said.

Another player that was an influential part of the Lady Vols’ success a year ago was junior Morgahn Fingall. Fingall had a breakout year, setting career highs in kills (23), attacks (63), aces (2), solo blocks (6), and digs (13).

Looking ahead to the season,

Tennessee volleyball is scheduled to match up against some of the top schools in the country including Florida, Kentucky and LSU. Before the regular season gets underway, the Lady Vols are set to compete in an exhibition match against Appalachian State on Friday, Aug. 20 at Thompson-Boling Arena at 6 p.m. ET. Tennessee will also have its annual Orange and White scrimmage Saturday, Aug. 21 at 12:30 p.m. ET at ThompsonBoling Arena.

Both of these games are free to the public.