MARTIN, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin will begin its 125th anniversary celebration with an opening event at 10 a.m., Friday, Oct. 10, in the Phillip W. Watkins Auditorium, located in the Ed and Carolyn Boling University Center.
The public is invited to attend and help to begin the year-long celebration of the university’s founding as Hall-Moody Institute in 1900. The opening ceremony will be archived on the university’s YouTube account for later viewing.
The program’s opening speakers include UT System President Randy Boyd and UT Martin Chancellor Yancy Freeman. Other speakers will highlight different periods of university history and include:
- The Past: Bob Carroll, UT Martin Athletics Hall of Fame football coach and a 1954 UTM graduate, and Dr. Chandra Alston, the University of Tennessee, and a 1993 UTM graduate;
- The Present: Ashlee Mallon, a junior finance major from Dresden and student trustee to the UT Board of Trustees, and Dr. Sandy Mehlhorn, professor of agricultural engineering and UT Martin Faculty Senate president;
- The Future: Art Sparks, chair, UT Martin Advisory Board, and a 1976 UTM graduate.
A public reception will immediately follow the program on the Boling University Center North Patio outside Watkins Auditorium. Copies of the new 125th anniversary photo books will be on sale and available for pre-sale pickup. The purchase link for the book is http://alumni.utm.edu/125book/.
On Oct. 2, 1900, the cornerstone was laid for the administration building, the institution’s first building, and on Sept. 2, 1901, the first Hall-Moody Institute classes were held.
The institute would become the Hall-Moody Normal School in 1917 and Hall-Moody Junior College in 1922. In 1927, the state assumed ownership of the campus and the name was changed to UT Junior College before becoming the University of Tennessee Martin Branch in 1951 and, finally, the University of Tennessee at Martin in 1967.
Learn more about the 125th celebration at http://alumni.utm.edu/celebration .