VOICE OF THE VOLS
BOB KESLING TO RETIRE AFTER 26 YEARS
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Representative rundown: Who won Tennessee’s senate, districts
LOUIE PERRY Staff Writer
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As the election finally comes to a close, the local races in Knox County, the greater state and across the country have all been accounted for.
President
As of Wednesday, former President Trump came out victorious Tuesday evening, garnering 295 electoral votes against Vice President Harris’ 226. He took Tennessee’s 11 electoral votes. Trump was able to take all of the swing states including Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and others.
Harris won Maine but had no path to victory and called to concede to Trump on Wednesday afternoon. Trump also won the popular vote, making him the first Republican candidate to do so in the last 20 years, another huge blow against the Harris campaign.
Senate
For the Tennessee U.S. Senate seat, incumbent Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn defeated Democrat local Knoxville State Rep. Gloria Johnson. Blackburn garnered 63.8% of the vote, around 1,916,591 votes, while Johnson took in 34.2% around 1,026,294 votes. Although Johnson did lose the Senate seat, she simultaneously ran for her State House seat in District 90, which she won uncontested.
Congress
In the second Tennessee Congressional District incumbent Republican Congressman Tim Burchett won 69.2% of the vote with 250,002 votes, while his opponent Democrat Jane George took in 30.8% — around 111,094 votes.
Tennessee State House
State House 14
Republican incumbent State Rep. Jason Zachary beat Democrat Amanda Collins. Zachary won with 64.8% of the vote with around 27,106. While Collins took in 14,702 votes of the South East Knoxville district.
State House 15
Incumbent Democrat State Rep. Sam McKenzie won the election again with 68% of the vote over Republican candidate Justin Hirst. The district incorporates much of downtown Knoxville and some parts south of it.
State House 16
Incumbent Republican Michele Carringer also came out victorious, garnering 68.6% of the vote against Democrat Lauren Carver. Also involved in the campaign was independent candidate Sean Eastham, who took in 2.6% of the vote.
Rep. Tim Burchett in Market Square during a solidarity gathering supporting Israel on Nov. 16, 2023. File / The Daily Beacon
State House 18
One of the most highly watched races in Knox County was State House District 18 against incumbent Republican Elaine Davis against Democrat Bryan Goldberg. Davis won the seat in 2022, and Republicans and Democrats saw this district as a potential flip for the Tennessee Democrats this cycle. However, Davis won the seat with 53.8% of the vote over Goldberg’s 46.2%. She took in 18,599 votes compared to Goldberg’s 15,996.
In the campaigning cycle, Goldberg garnered two notable Republican endorsements, one from Janet Testerman, a former Knoxville City Council member, and the other from former State House Rep. Eddie Mannis in the 18th district.
This election also saw legal battles. Goldberg sued the Tennessee House Republican Leadership for false information on the mailers they sent out to residents of the district. He claimed that the mailers included information saying he didn’t pay property taxes on time. His lawsuit was unsuccessful but added to the tension of the race.
State House 19
Incumbent Republican State Rep. Dave Wright ran unopposed in his bid for re-election.
State House 89
Incumbent Rep. Justin Lafferty won with 66.6% of the vote over Democrat Cary Hammond who took in 11,914 votes compared to Lafferty’s 23,713.
State House 90
Although Gloria Johnson ran for U.S. Senate, she also ran for her seat in Knoxville in which she ran unopposed.
Amendment 2
In a 51-49% vote, Knoxville residents voted “no” to adopt the potential proposal which would change the representation of the Knoxville City Council elections. The proposal, Amendment 2, essentially asked residents of the city council of Knoxville should be made up of nine at-large members.
At the current moment, the members are voted in based on regional districts, plus three at-large members. This means each resident lives in one regional district and votes for a member who lives within their district (six members).
They also voted for three at-large members who were voted in by all members of the city.
The amendment would change the system to nine at-large members, with six of those members living within the six regional districts. This is to ensure that each district is still represented on the council, but they would still be voted in by the whole city.
Essentially, all members no matter if they are representing one district, would be voted on by the city as a whole.
Republicans argued that this amendment would put more liberal-leaning members on the council, and beyond partisan complaints, it would mean candidates would have to campaign in the entire city, not just in the district they live in. The amendment failed by a margin of less than 1,500 votes.
Students protest antiabortion organization on Ped Walkway
Why are they here?
SHELBY WRIGHT
News Editor
The abortion debate has struck Americans for decades. It’s an issue that college students in particular have always been very passionate about, whether they are for or against abortion.
Starting Monday, Oct. 28, the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform set up its large displays of graphic images of aborted fetuses on Ped Walkway once again. Here, CBR’s staff and volunteers handed out pamphlets to passersby, explaining what they believe about abortion and offering a space for students to express and discuss their opinions on the matter.
However, their presence on campus always ruffles feathers and causes disturbances among students, sparking questions — What is CBR? Why are they here? Are their displays genuinely making a difference and is this healthy discussion?
CBR is a non-profit organization based in Knoxville that is dedicated to changing public opinion and creating cultural awareness about what they believe is the modern genocide happening in America — abortion.
Each school year, CBR campaigns through college campuses, and last week, they concluded their southeastern tour at the University of Tennessee. This year, CBR was hosted at UT by College Republicans to advocate for the justice and rights of the unborn.
In the past, they have been hosted by Ratio Christi and Vols for Life.
At UT, Ped Walkway is the most traversed area on campus. It is not uncommon to see protestors and campus organizations tabling about. Still, when CBR comes, students are always shocked by what they see.
According to Bryson Goss, a freshman chemistry major, CBR’s billboards are not only “disgusting” but also create an unhealthy environment for debate.
“They’re forcing graphic images on students while they’re trying to walk down Ped Walkway. And it’s just like, nobody wants to see that on their morning,” Goss said. “If they actually wanted to spread awareness for their cause, they would open up a booth with people that are educated enough to talk to you about it, and they’d want to talk about it.”
Students like Goss rallied across from CBR, holding signs that read, “My body, my choice” and “These guys hate women.”
Goss, in particular, held a sign that read, “Isn’t this billboard disgusting? If you actually want to talk, come to me. This is not healthy dialogue! You have a right to choose what you see and believe.”
Goss and other students agreed that CBR had the right to share their beliefs and protest against abortion, but they disagreed with the way CBR was doing it.
“I would much rather them do this in a more healthy way, like creating a booth that says, like, come talk to us about pro-life, or why you should be pro-life,” Melanie Fentress, a freshman exploratory major, said. “This is not the way to do it.
“In my opinion, it’s public indecency. … It’s no different than showing a picture of a corpse on a poster. Nobody wants to see that — it’s gore.”
However, according to Amanda Levi, CBR’s student outreach coordinator, the shock students feel from seeing these images is exactly the reason why they show them.
“We show (these images) for a lot of reasons, but the main reason is because abortion is a reality that’s so horrible that words alone cannot explain how bad it is,” Levi said. “You need a photo to show it.
We also have a historical basis for showing photos,” Levi said. “In the past, social reformers have exposed injustices rather than cover them up, and that’s what led to ending them.”
Levi graduated from Liberty University in 2023 but went to UT for two years before she transferred. While at UT, she and her nowhusband, Cody Levi, founded Vols for Life in the fall of 2020.
Through Vols for Life, Amanda and Cody Levi tabled on Ped, advocating for the rights of the unborn and comparing the injustice of abortion to slavery and genocide, just as CBR does.
Levi said that while they had plenty of civil conversations at these tabling events, the impact was never as large as CBR’s because it was easy for students who disagreed or didn’t know the realities of abortion to walk by.
Nick Gass, better known as UT’s notorious heckler, “The Pirate Guy,” also protested against CBR’s display. Dressed in his best pirate attire, he blasted sea shanties and sang
The large tarp that Nick Gass, also known as “The Pirate Guy,” brought in an attempt to block the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform’s anti abortion display on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. Courtesy of Amanda Levi
into a microphone — hoping to bring some “positivity.”
“This is obviously very traumatizing to many people,” Gass said. “Not only people who have had abortions, but maybe people ... from groups which have been subject to genocide. … I can’t stop them from doing it, but I can provide an alternate, you know, distraction, right? Something to keep people’s minds off of the horrible images that they have up there.”
As the CBR was invited by a campus organization, they had the legal means to express their opinions on campus according to UT’s
Free Speech Protection Act. Students are also allowed to peacefully, spontaneously assemble in outdoor spaces that “in no way obstruct vehicular or pedestrian traffic” and do “not interfere with classes, scheduled meetings, events and ceremonies or with other essential processes of the university.”
Despite this, on the second day of the protest, Gass tried to use a large black tarp to cover CBR’s display, and the university followed a response to address the disruption.
“CBR’s goal is not to traumatize women
STORY CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
Pro abortion student protestors stand in front of the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform’s display on Ped Walkway. Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. Malachi L. Jackson / The Daily Beacon
or to condemn them for past abortions, but to show the truth to hopefully prevent future abortions and the trauma that goes with it,” Levi said.
But since Gass’ tarp obstructed the view of CBR’s display, it violated their right to freedom of expression, and the university asked him to remove it — a request Gass obeyed.
According to anti-abortion organizations and people like CBR and Levi, the logic for comparing abortion to slavery and genocide comes from the subject of “dehumanization.”
Levi suggests that institutions have convinced people that the unborn are not human by using dehumanizing terms such as “fetus,” “parasite” and “blob of tissue,” removing the idea that unborn babies are actually human.
The anti-abortion movement is, according to Levi, a pro human movement. She argues that abortion is genocide, and it must be stopped. She believes a good way of influencing voters to change their opinions about abortion is by targeting young audiences because they are the ones most susceptible to unplanned pregnancies.
In 2023, despite new abortion bans in some states, researchers estimated that there were over 1 million abortions performed nationwide — the highest number of abortions in decades, and of those abortions, medicated abortions made up 63% of all abortions per-
Students gather with homemade signs to protest the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform’s antiabortion display on Ped Walkway. Monday, Oct. 28, 2024.
Ericksen Gomez-Villeda / The Daily Beacon
formed in 2023. Researchers and scientists also assume that these numbers are an undercount because they are not looking at abortions that were performed outside of the formal healthcare system.
Within the first 18 months since the Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court case overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, 14 states, including Tennessee, have passed new laws banning abortion. However, a report estimates that without these bans, over 144,000 abortions would have occurred since the overturning of Roe.
One student was Christian Aguiare, a sophomore civil engineering major, who saw CBR’s display and decided to join them. He sorely disagreed with the students who opposed the use of graphic images.
Aguiare argued that students see more violent things every day in TV shows and video games.
“I think this is a very good way of drawing public attention, though, so I think this is a pretty good idea. But of course, people are gonna oppose that either way,” Aguiare said. “I think some of them do have a right to say
that they don’t appreciate the images — and that’s OK — but to say this is hate speech is ridiculous, if you ask me.”
CBR targets college campuses for a lot of reasons.
Not only are college students the future leaders of tomorrow, but they are also more likely to be in situations where they may face an unplanned pregnancy. Levi told the Beacon that CBR hopes to change students’ opinions before they potentially find themselves in this challenging situation so that if the time comes, they will choose life.
CBR does compile a list of local resources that they hand out to women who are in situations of unplanned pregnancies to hopefully deter them from making the decision to have an abortion, and Levi stresses that anti-abortion does not make someone anti-woman.
CBR also curates resources for women who have had abortions and connects them with Deeper Still, a ministry that offers post-abortion counseling and a post-abortion hotline. By Wednesday, CBR had packed up their display, even though they had reserved the space on Ped to be there. This upset some students who had planned to protest on this day and led to the misconception that the protests scared CBR away.
However, Levi told the Beacon that this was not the case. They only had Wednesday reserved as a backup in case it rained on Monday or Tuesday.
Trump’s election reveals divisions amongst the Hispanic community
KLARYSSA DELACRUZ
Contributor
With all the talk of the 2024 election being the entirety of everyone’s feeds, one of the most shocking turnouts is the increased support Donald Trump has gained from Latino voters. While these voters were not the majority, there was still a significant shift in the Hispanic electorate, which usually sways towards the Democratic Party.
Despite harsh immigration rhetoric, Trump gained 13 points among Latino voters compared to his run against Joe Biden in 2020. Within the Hispanic community, Trump had the most support statistically from Latino men, with 47% of them in favor of Trump in office. In contrast, women were only 38% of Trump supporters, according to exit polls.
Polls show that 93% of Latino voters voted with economic issues in mind. However, economic policies that help businesses, such as tax cuts, can likely weaken worker protection and programs that these Latino families depend on under Trump’s term. In the Hispanic community, 77% described their finances as “fair” or “poor,” and some say that under Trump’s term, these policies may provide temporary relief but, in the end, will fail to change long term.
While many Hispanic voters felt like Trump’s
policies aligned with their plans and hopes for their futures, others felt that Trump’s racist rhetoric referring to immigrants as “criminals” and ethnic inequality, such as his negative responses to social justice movements, were not worth their votes. Kamala Harris won the majority vote from the Hispanic community regarding her stance on racial equality, healthcare and more.
Gina Sanchez, 22 years old, is a Latina who voted for Harris as the cause was close to her heart, being Puerto Rican.
“As someone who is Puerto Rican, it really upset me and my family seeing those distasteful comments at that Trump rally where (a comedian) called Puerto Rico a ‘floating pile of garbage.’” Sanchez said. “After years of neglect from the U.S., that felt like a slap in the face.”
This division of Latinos for Trump versus Latinos for Harris affected the community majorly, with fears that Trump’s policies could overlook the rights and equality of people of color.
While many are looking forward to the outcome of Trump’s promises and proposals, others are looking at this election as a step back for the Hispanic community. The popularity of Trump in the Latino community puts doubts on the idea that Latino identity has an unbreakable connection to progressive ideals of diversity and equality.
Many fear that Trump’s re-election could risk normalizing a type of leadership that can cause harm to civil rights. This could also signal a normalization and acceptance of divisive rhetoric toward the Hispanic and Latino communities, which could ruin the community’s sense of unity that has been resilient in the face of long-time discrimination.
Looking forward to today, it seems like the Hispanic community is at a dividing point when there should instead be a call for unity. As far as Trump’s policies, while they resonate with some, there are still many Latino communities that will
be affected negatively by these actions, leaving families torn, financial struggles and further racial inequality for the rest who feared this election outcome.
Austin Faith Nevarez, a Hispanic student studying vocal performance, said she realized the urgent need for help for the Hispanic community as she witnessed her father’s battle for Latino families in heartbreaking cases as an immigration attorney in Texas.
“Some may not understand what lifestyle a Hispanic lives versus a white American, but gatherings, traditions, dances and celebrations are completely based on love,” Nevarez said. “I have hope that one day we all can come to a place of love, but unfortunately, history seems to be repeating itself and not for the better.”
Nevarez ends on a positive note, calling for unity and community from the country as a whole.
“If we want change, it has to be done together and not in a dictatorship way. The only way to make a unified country is to work together and believe that we can get there someday,” Nevarez said.
The results of this election could be used as a call for Latino unity during what seems to be a divide within the community. Voters who identify as Latino have the ability and chance to shape a future based on representation, change and equality for all.
A protest march against the proposed policies of President-Elect Donald Trump in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Nov. 23, 2016. Courtesy of Fibonacci Blue / Creative Commons
‘Destination for the college experience’: Advisory board talks enrollment, flagship expansion
BELLA HUGHES, SHELBY WRIGHT Editor-in-Chief, News Editor
The UT advisory board met Friday morning to discuss campus program expansion, recordbreaking enrollment, parking and overall success of the university. Looking ahead, the board wants to continue pathway programs for transfer students and partner with peer institutions.
An everything school
UT saw great success in each sport last season. Tennessee placed third in the Learfield Directors’ Cup — an all sports competition that grants a title to the school with the best athletics program. Each sport at Tennessee placed in the postseason as 11 teams placed in the top 10 and six placed in the top five. The term “everything school” is used by many on campus, and athletic director Danny White agrees.
“We have 20 teams at Tennessee — every single one of them was in the postseason,” White said. “That’s the first time that has ever happened.”
The success of athletics is closely tied to increased application rates — the more successful the sports teams are, the more interest the school receives. Chancellor Donde Plowman noted that “every 17-year-old in the country wants to come here.
“When you are on the national stage for one thing, you are on the national thing for everything, and that’s a great opportunity for all of us,” Plowman said.
Enrollment and application rates
As of Nov. 5, UT has received over 52,500 applications for the fall 2025 semester and has seen a 6.3% increase in first-year applications overall.
Of this amount, over 12,000 applications are from prospective in-state students, and almost 40,000 are from prospective out-of-state students.
“We’ve become a destination for the college experience,” Kari Alldredge, vice provost for enrollment management, said.
Last year, enrollment was down nationwide due to FAFSA changes that made it harder for students to receive financial aid.
Despite this, UT has fared well and held over 2,000 students struggling with financial aid harmless as they began the semester, allowing them more time to receive aid without negatively impacting their academic advancement.
At a population of 38,728, UT set an institutional record this fall. Within the current population, first-generation students are persisting at a higher rate, and transfer students are connecting to campus quicker.
“(This is the) second-largest transfer class ever at the university, and we see transfer growth as a strategic opportunity area for us,” Alldredge said. “That’s one of the reason we are investing in growing our own transfer through pathway programs.”
Flagship expansion
In September, UT announced the addition of 14 new high schools in Tennessee to be added to the Flagship Scholarship Program, granting the graduates of these schools to attend UT free of admissions and fees.
To qualify for the flagship program, Tennessee public high schools must have been a statedesignated distressed county in four of the last five years, have an economically disadvantaged resident population of at least 25% and have received Title I funding.
UT now has 52 flagship schools which aim to make UT more accessible to Tennesseans. These schools are funded through institutional funding from state budget allocations and tuition revenue.
“As the flagship land-grant institution for Tennessee, it is our mission to ensure higher education is available to all in-state families,” Fabrizio D’Aloisio, associate vice provost for enrollment management and executive director of undergraduate admissions, told The Daily Beacon.
“By expanding the Flagship Scholarship Program to include communities in state-designated distressed counties, we are furthering our reach and impact to areas where financing a college education may be more challenging to afford. We hope to see enrollment from these areas increase to further our mission to support Tennesseans,” D’Aloisio said.
In addition, UT amended its guaranteed admissions policy in June to further make UT more accessible to in-state students.
Guaranteed admissions at UT are accessible to students in all Tennessee counties for this coming admissions season, and prospective students have until Nov. 15 to apply.
To qualify for guaranteed admission at UT, a prospective student must achieve a 24+ ACT score composite (19+ math and English subscore) or 1160+ on their SAT (510+ math and 500+ English, reading and writing). In conjunction, the student must also achieve a 4.0+ UT Core GPA or be among the top 10% of their high school graduating class.
“I think it’s really important to underscore that students who do not meet the guaranteed admission criteria will undergo our holistic review program, and we will continue to use holistic review to build our first-year class,” Alldredge said.
Over 6,200 students across the state are eligible for guaranteed admissions, but according to Alldredge, only 2,700 have enrolled as of Nov. 5.
This amount is lower than expected, and Alldredge said that UT will keep a waitlist open as they will continue to review student applications past the deadline.
Parking
Also new this semester, UT implemented new parking and transportation initiatives to relieve the decades-old parking and congestion problems on campus. In today’s meeting, Paul
Byrnes, vice chancellor of finance and administration, spoke about the history behind why parking has become such a predominant issue post-COVID-19.
Since 2019, UT has seen a compound annual growth rate of 5.6%, while student parking capacity has been growing at -0.2%. Of the universities in the SEC, the student to parking space ratio ranges from 0.37 to 0.69. UT’s ratio is on the lower end at 0.41, driving competition.
Prior to the early 2000s, UT also regularly adjusted parking rates but has not reevaluated them since 2011.
“That caused stress, and it really, truly did build to a crescendo (in the last five years),” Byrnes said.
The new tiered commuter system, alongside new transit partnerships, has greatly relieved these congestion problems so far this semester, and the university plans to continue forward, only improving its approaches and adding spaces and transit opportunities for students and faculty.
Outside the tiered parking system, the new UT partnership with the Knoxville Area Transit has given over 25,000 free rides to students and has an average daily ridership of 1,200 students per day.
Looking ahead
Vice Provost Amber Williams introduced Vol Edge — an app designed for the student success experience — which is set to launch in January. This app will launch in collaboration with the Career Development Center to focus on students in their second and third years on campus. Student success efforts have already lead to an 2% increase in second to third year enrollment.
“We don’t want to just focus on year one, but how are young people doing to year two, year three. … As we start to look at last year’s class, we already see a 2% increase in the number of students that move on to year three,” Williams said.
Vol Edge was built based off feedback from students expressing their hesitance to enter the
workforce. By listening to students, the app is specifically catered to teach young professionals how to sell themselves and ease anxiety when entering the marketplace.
Williams and the student success team are finding ways to incentivize Vol Edge by finding things that students are already interested in doing and earning, including “T-credits,” free parking passes and early access opportunities.
Tennessee is exploring ways to expand access to education by providing online courses and fully online degrees. There are 977,000 Tennesseans with some college and no degree, and more than 300,000 unfulfilled jobs in the state, and UT wants to fill that gap.
Most online students are working full-time and among those who work, 47% of them receive financial aid or reimbursement. Most Tennessee residents getting a degree from an online institution are enrolled at universities outside of the state.
With the expansion of UT’s online degree, Tennesseans can bring success back into that state. To provide the best access to education for these students, UT would need to provide several diverse programs including agriculture, early childhood education, information management, nursing and more.
These programs are in the early stages of development and will expand in the next two years with the help of UT five-year agreement with Arizona State. This agreement grants UT students access to ASU’s course catalog, therefore expanding online education.
“UT students can take an ASU course in seamless fashion and have that transferred on, and that’s opened up a lot of doors for students,” Bruce Bane, director of digital learning, said. With several changes and expansion plans coming to campus, the heart of all the initiatives are for student success.
“I’d like to compliment the students, too, because they’ve been patient — they’ve been willing to try,” Plowman said. “And honestly, I’m really excited about how well it’s gone, and we know we have to keep working at it.”
Donde Plowman, chancellor of the University of Tennessee, and her husband Dennis Duchon, react to the UT Singers during the sixth annual Flagship address inside the Natalie L. Haslam Music Center on September 26, 2024. Steven Bridges / The University of Tennessee
Students swapped, reviewed books of their interests
Contributor
Book lovers gathered at the Center for Student Engagement on Nov. 7 for a book swap. This event was the perfect opportunity for students with a common interest in literature to come together and swap their favorites with new books from their peers.
This event was put together by the Center for Student Engagement, whose main goal was to create community bonding and an opportunity to discover new perspectives of different students as they traded in their old books for new ones. In an era where doomscrolling seems to take over the free time of most students, the book swap event offered a refreshing experience with a chance to connect.
Students were immediately greeted with an overwhelming amount of books scattered across a large table. Books were being spoken about, raved over and even reviewed among the students as they carefully made their selections. Not only were books provided, but also small finger foods and drinks to enjoy.
Of course, the best way to read a book is with a fun bookmark. The CSE provided bookmark craft tables for everyone to create their own. Markers, ribbons, postcards, scissors, bookmark sleeves
and bookmark tassels were scattered across as students added flair and persona to their bookmarks.
Books can be a reflection of diverse tastes, and this event was no exception. Seeing students with different book genre interests was a sweet reminder of the individuality each person brought to the event. While some students were opting to find more romance books, other students were hoping to swap for horror or sci-fi books.
Chasity Walker, a freshman at UT on the exploratory track, came with excitement and a horror book ready to trade for another horror book.
“As someone who loves horror movies and books, I hope to find a book with either horror or mystery components,” Walker said.
Horror books were very trendy among the students who attended, as many were making selections. Some students were opting for more educational books to help further enrich their minds.
Cici Zhang, a first-year student, is enjoying her first semester at UT and her first year in America, having moved here from China.
“I am the first from my family to move to this country,” Zhang said. “I am from China, so I hope to find books about American culture so I can learn more because it really interests me.”
Today, it’s common to fill extra time with
social media feeds, TikTok scrolling, Instagram reels and so many other platforms. The shortform content is designed to keep viewers hooked and ready to scroll. Social media and doomscrolling have been known to shorten individual’s attention span and focus, leaving the mind with no patience for reading.
The book swap event offered a refreshing, much-needed break from social media and scrolling. It allowed our minds to form natural thoughts and opinions without the presence of comments, likes, reposts or retweets.
For the students new to leisure reading, this was a great chance to see that books and literature can go far beyond the classroom and textbooks. Reading can be whatever you want it to be by picking genres that match your interests and personality.
Students engaged in face-to-face conversations rather than through a screen, bonding over books and making new connections. Exploring new genres and sharing thoughts about personal favorites were staples of the event.
‘You won’t find a better cup of coffee’: UT alums open Evergreen Coffee, inspired by old Backroads Market
News Editor
In October, two graduates from the University of Tennessee took a step closer to achieving their dreams by opening a new coffee shop off Kingston Pike, just about 20 minutes from campus.
Sarah Gonzalez graduated from UT in the spring of 2023, and Julian Reed graduated just this past semester. The two have been friends for years and worked together at Backroads Market off Sutherland Avenue until it closed in March of this year.
would have never met or learned everything they needed to know to make this dream a reality.
Even still, when Backroads closed, Gonzalez and Reed had to face the reality of everything. They were both now graduated from college and without their jobs at Backroads, so what was the next step?
It is their ultimate goal to own a coffee shop in Florida, and they considered just moving there until Two Rivers Church in Bearden offered them their space, and they said they couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
Coffee opportunities
excited to see how they will grow as people. … You won’t find a better cup of coffee, or people who care as much as they do.”
Evergreen’s menu offers a variety of espresso drinks with grounds from Vienna Coffee Company, tea, matcha and select pastries from Pastelito’s Cuban Bakery. They’re also working on providing gluten-free options for their customers.
A custom experience
Gonzalez has always dreamed of opening a coffee shop and studied business management and entrepreneurship while at UT to help her learn everything she could about how to start her business.
“We can’t move to Florida,” Gonzalez said. “We have to stay in Knoxville and open this coffee shop and take this opportunity because we promised everyone that we would do it.”
Evergreen also sets itself apart from other coffee shops by specializing in making customers’ drinks completely custom to their preferences. They also have really good matcha, according to Gonzalez.
Aside from drinks, Evergreen’s close proximity to campus offers a new space for students to study or just hang out, and soon, they will be getting even more cozy furniture for their customers.
“We’re excited to meet all the new customers and regulars, and we’re excited to have people come hang out and study,” Reed said. Reed also stresses that Evergreen is open to people of all backgrounds despite its location in a church.
“We want everyone to be comfortable coming in here,” Reed said. “We accept everyone, and we love everyone, (but) if they want to come to church here, we strongly recommend it.”
So whether you’re on your way to work or need a quiet place to study, check out Evergreen Coffee, open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. — a place for everyone. KLARYSSA DELACRUZ
However, Reed studied criminal justice. While she did not grow up dreaming of owning a coffee shop, one day she and Gonzalez made a pact when they were hanging out on a random night after school.
“I was like, ‘Yeah, I think I’m gonna open a coffee shop when I graduate.’” Gonzalez said. “And Julian was like, ‘Can I do it with you?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah.’ And that was it. And that was decided — that was the moment.”
Reed and Gonzalez also thank UT tremendously for helping them make this vision a reality. Without their experiences here, they
After months of planning and hard work, and with help from former Backroads owner Melissa McCay, Evergreen Coffee opened its doors at 315 S. Mohican St., in the lobby of Two Rivers Church.
McCay sold all the old Backroads coffee equipment to Gonzalez and Reed and helped advise them along the way.
McCay made the difficult decision to close her coffee shop after struggling to keep up with rising rent costs, but she said that it means everything to her to know that her shop inspired others to own one of their own — it’s like a small piece of Backroads gets to live on through Evergreen.
“(It) makes it all worth it,” McCay said, “Being a business owner is such a privilege — I am so
“One thing I will say that I’m really proud of is that our matcha is actually really good,” Gonzalez said. “A lot of people have told us that. … (That) makes me feel so happy because sometimes it’s hard to find a place with good matcha.”
SHELBY WRIGHT
The new Evergreen Coffee shop. Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. Ericksen Gomez-Villeda / The Daily Beacon
Students at UT gather in the Center for Student Engagement located in the Student Union for a book swap event. Thursday, Nov. 8, 2024. Klaryssa DeLaCruz / Contributor
From Rubik’s cubes to castles: 6 spots that highlight Knoxville’s strange side
Knoxville is a delightfully quirky city. Its rich history and diverse population mean that no matter where you go, there is always something new to discover. Below are several locations that truly encapsulate the zany nature of Knoxville.
1. Rubik’s cube
Located in Knoxville’s Convention Center, this massive Rubik’s cube is the largest in the world. Standing at an intimidating 10 feet tall and weighing 1,200 pounds, this cube is quite the marvel to behold. Gifted to the city by Hungary for the 1982 World’s Fair, it celebrates Hungarian architect Erno Rubik’s invention of the titular toy that possesses over 40 quintillion possible combinations.
2.
Weather kiosk
Before the development of radio, citizens of Knoxville still had to get the
weather forecast. This was once done through conveniently placed weather kiosks. The adoption of radio made these stations relatively useless, but Knoxville has kept one kiosk up all this time. This attraction harkens back to those days before radio and offers students a chance to see just what life was like before communication became nearly instantaneous.
3. Knoxville walking tours
While this isn’t one specific location, the walking tours of Knoxville provide a solid understanding of Knoxville’s colorful past. Some examples of walking tours around Knoxville include one focused on Knoxville’s misbehaving women, one focused on the various gunslingers and duels that Knoxville has hosted throughout its history, and some meant to highlight the supposedly haunted areas of Knoxville.
4. William M. Bass Forensic Anthropology Center
Students don’t even have to leave campus to get a look at the weirder
side of Knoxville. The William M. Bass Forensic Anthropology Center, also known as the Body Farm, is dedicated to researching the decomposition of the human body. Oh, and it also houses approximately 2,000 cadavers, with over 4,000 more people signed up to donate their bodies to the center when they die. While the research facility is not open for tours, the very existence of this Body Farm adds much to Knoxville’s strange side.
5. The Lost Sea
Located about an hour from campus, these underground caverns are quite a sight. A registered national landmark and America’s largest underground lake, you have to see The Lost Sea to believe it. Students get the opportunity to learn about the history of the caverns while embarking on a three-quartermile guided walk around the area, culminating in a boat ride on the actual underground lake. The attraction also features a general store, ice cream parlor and glassblower.
6. Greenback Castle
Saving the best for last, we come to Greenback Castle. The castle, also known as the Fortress of Faith, is located about 45 minutes from campus. Floyd Banks Junior has placed each brick of the castle, with construction beginning in the 90s.
Initially building the castle for himself, he eventually dedicated it to God and christened it the Fortress of Faith. Religious text covers the walls — messages from God that Banks claims were revealed to him.
Visitors are free to come and go as they please, and Banks will even sometimes give a personal tour of the castle. Greenback Castle is a must-visit for anyone interested in the weirder side of Knoxville. If you visit, consider bringing a donation or groceries for Banks, who has done all of this on his own for no monetary gain and reportedly suffers from mental illness.
NICHOLAS WRIGHT
Contributor
‘How to Defend Yourself’
SARAH-NICOLE JACKSON Contributor
“How to Defend Yourself” had me shaking by the end of it. There are very few pieces of media I can say that about. It evoked such strong emotions in me that I was still thinking about it hours after the actors had taken their final bow.
“How to Defend Yourself” is a 2018 play written by Liliana Padilla, a writer who explores community, the body, power and healing. This play has won the Yale Drama Series prize, was an International Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Finalist and was featured on The Kilroy’s list.
The play is currently being shown at the Clarence Brown Theatre’s Lab Theatre on campus. It is centered around a self-defense workshop led by sorority girls Brandi — played by theater major Molly Brennan — and Kara — played by theater and Italian major Alana Mara. As their sorority sister recovers in the hospital after being violently assaulted, they are trying to teach other women self-
gives a real perspective on the fear of violence that women face
“‘How to Defend Yourself’ takes off the kid gloves and clearly depicts the terrifying reality of being born female in a patriarchal society, especially on college campuses.”
tear-jerking as the characters work through trauma, shame and insecurity.
To me, the play is a story of solidarity and fear. It is also about the complexities of female friendships and how those bonds get women through hard times. In addition, it shows the complexities of the character’s relationships with the men in their lives, and the way the men try to support them but are also complacent in their oppression.
Each character in this play is incredibly three-dimensional, avoiding being sorted into simply “good” or “bad.” I wasn’t able to come out of this play entirely liking or disliking any one character.
Sarah-Nicole Jackson Contributor
defense techniques in the hopes of preventing them from becoming victims. This play is the definition of mood whiplash, hitting you with moments of laugh-out-loud humor before just as quickly hitting you with sobering truths. The scenes in this play range from incredibly touching, intense and outright
You see a sometimes comforting, sometimes horrifying reflection of real life in this play’s characters. Whether it be in one of the characters who is an incel or the shy characters with low self-esteem or the more confident and abrasive characters — I saw in each one someone who I’ve known at some point in my life.
The setting and the costume design is incredibly ordinary, as it should be. The scenic and costume designers did a great job of bringing the show to life. Literally, it feels like real life, from the flyers stuck on a billboard in the background to the athletic attire of the girls attending
the workshop. The setting grounds you in reality, denying audience members the comfort of being able to separate the conflict of the story from real life.
Despite the characters, setting and costuming all being great, what I loved most about this play was its plot. It doesn’t hand-feed you any easy conclusions. The relationships between the characters are incredibly messy, and the discussions around consent are even messier.
“How to Defend Yourself” takes off the kid gloves and clearly depicts the terrifying reality of being born female in a patriarchal society, especially on college campuses. It also lays plain the silent fear many women walk around with every single day, and the grief that the loved ones of sexual assault victims face.
This play is nowhere near interested in making excuses for abusers. It focuses on the stories of the victims and the pieces one has to pick up after their bodily autonomy has been violated.
This play evoked all sorts of emotions from me. I was on a roller coaster, going up and down hills of disgust, delight, amusement, horror, empathy, sympathy and comfort. It also made me viscerally angry.
I don’t think I would’ve felt so strong-
ly if the actors didn’t do an amazing job of portraying the characters’ struggles. Every actor’s performance was phenomenal. As each of the actors carried the characters with them, they also carried the story of a real person out there somewhere who has been in their shoes. You can tell the actors practiced well for this production. Their voices carried a million different emotions. When a character broke down and cried, I wanted to cry with them.
If you are able to go see this play, I highly recommend it. However, please heed the content warnings if you are thinking of attending. This play goes through intensely upsetting subject matter, such as sexual assault and the trauma associated with it. It is also meant for mature audiences as it contains profanity, substance use and sexual topics. This is not a play suited for children.
Tickets are available on the Clarence Brown Theatre’s website, and the box office is also open from Tuesday to Friday from 12-5 p.m. Since it is a Lab Theatre performance, student tickets are free. The play runs through Nov. 10 so if you want to go see it, you still have a few days left.
Students Molly Brennan, Sunni Thomas, Allison Hahn and Alana Mara from the production “How to Defend Yourself” at the Clarence Brown Lab Theatre. Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. Courtesy of Le Anna Jacobson
Renowned broadcaster Bob Kesling retires to be ‘full-time granddad’
CALEB JARREAU
Sports Editor
Amid coaching changes and a varied amount of wins and losses, there has been one constant: Bob Kesling.
The “Voice of the Vols” for 26 years is opting for a change of pace after the 2024-25 Tennessee basketball season, retiring from a career that earned him a place in the Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame.
“When my two girls were growing up, I missed a lot,” Kesling said. “Already with my four grandkids, ball games and other events. We just learned we have another grandson on the way, coming in April. I think it is time for me to be a full-time grandad.”
voice of the Lady Vols for Pat Summitt’s first six NCAA national championships prepared Kesling to become the “Voice of the Vols.” His break came in 1999.
Kesling got a call from Doug Dickey, wanting him to take over the position vacated by John Ward. The draw to return to his alma mater was too good to pass up.
“He said, ‘Just go out and do the best job you can and there’s only one person you got to please, and that’s me. Keep me happy. You’ll be fine,’” Kesling said.
“I’ve tried to keep coach Dickey happy for the past 26 years. I hope I have.”
Kesling evaluated if he had the passion to continue after basketball season over the last five years. With another grandson on the way, Kesling couldn’t guarantee he would be in it for years to
Kesling ends a successful run with Vol Network — a place he began working at when he was still a student in 1974. He was a walk-on fullback for Bill Battle, competing against Notre Dame and Alabama in freshman football. He transitioned into a broadcasting role after that freshman season, working with the legendary John Ward.
Kesling sat next to Ward for 15 seasons, acting as his spotter while learning how to be a broadcaster.
“He would tell us, ‘I don’t need you to be excited about the game, but I need you prepared,’” Kesling said.
He had dinners with the legendary Lindsey Nelson after he completed his broadcasting career, gaining wisdom and reflecting on his many stories at the old Regas Restaurant on 17th Street.
“He told me, ‘Once you get in this business, you’re going to get one break. Are you ready for the break? Have you worked hard enough?’” Kesling said. “And I tried to work hard every day because of the advice Lindsey Nelson gave me.”
Working with WIVK, WBIR, calling games on Jefferson Pilot and being the
come.
The decision was mutual between Kesling and the Vol Network and also didn’t include any thoughts about his health. It was a family decision, opening up the coveted position again after 26 years.
“I’ll miss being in the booth, being in a winning locker room, watching the team run through the ‘T,’” Kesling said. “But I will have more time with my family.”
The Weekly Crossword by Margie E. Burke
Bob Kesling opens the statue unveiling at Neyland Stadium. Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021. Ericksen Gomez-Villeda / The Daily Beacon
‘We have a lot of confidence’: Why Gaston Moore’s entrance did not change anything for Tennessee football
TREVOR MCGEE
Assistant Sports Editor
Gaston Moore wrangled the Tennessee offense to the field to open the second half of play.
Confusion struck Neyland Stadium as starter Nico Iamaleava was no longer in the football game. Instead, it was 6-foot-2 walk-on quarterback Moore — seeking action in his second SEC game of the season.
According to the television broadcast, Iamaleava suffered an upper body injury near the conclusion of the first half. Head coach Josh Heupel announced postgame that the decision to roll with Moore in the second half was “precautionary.”
excited for him and they believed him. And they went out and played the way they needed to to make his job easier for him to do.”
Moore’s stat line proved deceiving, however. Despite 38 yards passing, Moore aired the ball out — accounting for over 100 air yards. The former UCF quarterback turned Heupel-followee showed no lack of confidence. Three of his deep balls drew pass interference penalties, pushing 45 yards of unaccounted offense from the arm of Moore.
“I think everybody really had confidence,” center Cooper Mays said.
“There wasn’t like a huge huddle per se, but I think everybody was communicating, talking and affirming each other. Making each other feel more confident in it. Like we said, we believe in G and we know he’s been ready for this so we were all good.”
lot of confidence in Gaston. We didn’t really skip a beat mentally or physically, so yeah, just next guy up mentality, and I think Gaston’s been ready for that all year.”
Losing a leader and the one who guides your offense is hard, but the Vols did not dwell on the fact that they were missing Iamaleava. With the tempo Tennessee plays with, there is no time to.
“Not really an issue,” Mays said “I mean we got stuff to do, you know what I’m saying. We can talk about stuff later but with the offense we play and the type of game we play, we got to get going quick, so next man up mentality. We were just going ahead with it.”
The defense also can go into a panic when the leader of the offense suffers an injury. For Tennessee’s defense, it was business as usual knowing what Moore brings to the table.
said. “It’s a guy that’s been with Heup for a long time, and I know that he’s ready for his time, and he was. So as a defense, we always have the offense’s back and nothing really changed for us, the standard is the standard.”
Heupel appreciates that he has the ability to lean on his defense in a scenario of that kind. Now nine games through the season, Tennessee’s defense has yet to allow an opponent to score more than 19 points in a contest.
“The ebbs and flow of the game in the second half, where you’re able to score, push the lead a little bit, and defense get a stop, turnover,” Heupel said. “It changes the way you’re forced to play a little bit. In particular, on third down, but Gaston did a really good job in all of it.”
“I think the biggest thing is we have a lot of confidence in Gaston. We didn’t really skip a beat mentally or physically, so yeah, just next guy up mentality, and I think Gaston’s been ready for that all year.”
As for when Iamaleava did not return to the ball game, the team was unaware of his status. That did not change the mentality though, as the job was still unfinished.
“We weren’t really sure,” Mays said. “I think the biggest thing is we have a
For the game, the Vols’ stout defense allowed 271 yards to Mississippi State while recording two turnovers and four sacks.
“I honestly just looked up and seen Gas in there and I didn’t think twice about it,” linebacker Jeremiah Telander
The players were not focused on Iamaleava’s status when the game concluded. Instead, the attention was placed on enjoying the victory.
All eyes shift to Athens, Georgia, where the Vols travel to next on Nov. 16. Whether it’s with Iamaleava or Moore, Tennessee has a tough task at hand.
With it being Moore’s job to guide Tennessee to a win, he did enough to ensure the Vols held on to the lead that Iamaleava left with. Tennessee closed out Mississippi State, 33-14, behind Moore’s 5-of-8 day for 38 yards at the office. He guided the Vols to 161 secondhalf yards and, most importantly, the win column.
“Good to see him go operate the way that we know he can,” Heupel said. “He’s a smart decision-maker. Aggressive when it was time. Controlled everything from clock, play calls, checks. Did did a really good job. So when the guys found out he was going in, they were
Cooper Mays Center
Gaston Moore (13) subs in at quarterback during a game against Mississippi State at Neyland Stadium. Saturday, Nov. 09, 2024. Daniel Hahofer / Contributor
Tennessee soccer earns 4th straight NCAA Tournament bid, will face Virginia Tech in first round
JACK CHURCH Senior Staff Writer
Tennessee soccer received a bid in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive season, as announced by the NCAA Monday. The Lady Vols will take on No. 7 seed Virginia Tech in the first round.
The Lady Vols are an unseeded team for the second straight year and will play every round on the road unless there are several upsets.
With a win, the Lady Vols would take on either California Baptist or No. 2 seed UCLA in the second round. Last season, Tennessee would have gone to Los Angeles for the second round, but the Bruins were upset in the first round.
Virginia Tech, Tennessee’s first opponent, finished the year 11-5-3, going 6-2-2 in ACC play. The Hokies enter the NCAA Tournament on a two-game losing streak, closing out the regular season with a loss to Virginia and losing to North Carolina in the ACC Tournament.
Tennessee finished the season 9-6-4, going 3-4-3 in the SEC. The Lady Vols started the season with several strong
non-conference results, including a draw against No. 9 UCLA and a win over No. 5 Memphis. Tennessee started the conference schedule with a 2-0-2 record.
Then, the Lady Vols started to struggle, going winless in their next five contests. They needed a win at Florida to make the NCAA Tournament, and a Sarah Greiner goal kept their season alive. Tennessee won its first-round contest over Kentucky before falling to No. 2 Mississippi State in overtime.
Last season, Tennessee needed the extra 20 minutes to get a 1-0 win over Xavier in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Lady Vols lost in the second round, 2-1, to Nebraska, ending their 2023 season.
In Joe Kirt’s first season as head coach in 2022, the Lady Vols hosted the first round of the NCAA Tournament as a No. 6 seed. They lost to Xavier, 4-1, in extra time in Knoxville.
The Lady Vols finished the season No. 45 in the NCAA’s RPI calculation, the ninth-highest RPI in the SEC. Their 12 points in conference play placed Tennessee ninth in the conference standings.
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Head coach Joe Kirt takes the field for a match against Lipscomb at Regal Soccer Stadium. Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. Cole Moore / The Daily Beacon
Tennessee football ready for trip to Athens with much different roster than last
CALEB JARREAU
Sports Editor
There are College Football Playoff and SEC implications galore for Tennessee football (81, 5-1 SEC) in its road trip to Athens.
The No. 7 Vols will take on No. 3 Georgia (7-2, 5-2) at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC. The trip has a lot of similarities to the one in 2022.
Tennessee, then the top-ranked team in the College Football Playoff, headed to Georgia with a chance to submit itself in the thenfour-team College Football Playoff.
The game ended 27-13 in favor of the Bulldogs — a game that was not nearly as close as the score looked. Tennessee struggled with the crowd in Athens, and the defense struggled. Georgia went on to win the 2024 National Championship, and Tennessee settled for the Orange Bowl.
Now in 2024, head coach Josh Heupel is bringing a new-look roster to Athens with a much different identity than the 2022 roster.
“This football game is different than the last one. Still facing a great opponent, and you got to handle everything that comes with being in a game like this.”
Josh Huepel Head Coach
Tennessee has struggled to get started on the offensive side of the ball, going three straight weeks without a first-half point and only scoring 24.5 points per game.
Georgia is a much different football team as well. The Bulldogs have suffered two losses this season — to Alabama and Ole Miss — but still open the game as 9.5-point favorites. Saturday offers the Bulldogs a return home for the first time since Oct. 12, and a bounceback opportunity from the loss to Ole Miss.
“This football game is different than the last one,” Heupel said Monday. “Still facing a great opponent, and you got to handle everything that comes with being in a game like this. And you earn the right to play in big football games by what you do during the course of the season.
“Some of the things that didn’t go well last time were a direct reflection of who we were playing. Some of it was some things that we can control, too. And in these games, you got to do ordinary things at a really high level consistently.”
Tennessee enters the road bout with a reliable defense and a questionable offense — the opposite of the 2022 meeting. The Vols have had to lean on that defense to win most of its SEC games because the offense has been lackluster.
The normally stout Bulldogs fall in the middle of the pack statistically. The offense averaged 30 points per game while quarterback Carson Beck has struggled with interceptions, throwing 12 through nine games.
The defense isn’t the best in the country like it was in 2022, but it remains near the top of the country. The Bulldogs allow just 18.4 points per contest and allow opponents to score in the red zone 45% of the time.
When the ball is kicked on Saturday night, it will be a battle of two very different rosters from the previous matchup in Athens.
“The last trip I think it was great environment to be in,” defensive lineman Dominic Bailey said. “Obviously we came up short, but it’s a great place to play in — fans are great. We’re just ready, focused on this week, we’re not really worried about last trip.”
Head coach Josh Heupel during the Vol Walk against Mississippi State at Neyland Stadium. Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. Erin Tudryn / Contributor
Dominic Bailey (90) lines up during a game against Arkansas at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. Caleb Jarreau / The Daily Beacon