Life @ UT

Getting an education at UT doesn’t start and end with your class schedule.

Along with academics, it's about making lasting friends, learning Big Orange traditions you’ll treasure, discovering your potential for big ideas, and gaining the knowledge and experience to transform those thoughts into actions.

Our campus offers more than 400 active clubs including sororities and fraternities, professional societies, sports, international interests, academics, service, and government.

You can combine your creativy and your classes by writing for the Daily Beacon, showing off your skills on the UT Dance team, running a camera or writing scripts for our student TV station, UTTV, or getting cast in a show with acclaimed alumni at the Clarence Brown Theatre, just to name a few ways.

UT's wide range of residence halls gives you convenient, well outfitted, safe options for living on campus and becoming part of a community. 

When you're hungry, choose from healthy, made-to-order dishes at our food courts, or dine at one of our national brand restaurants, including Subway, Starbucks, Einstein Bagels, and Smoothie King. Our Mug Project and reusable to-go boxes aim to eliminate single-use cups and containers from our dining facilities. All food waste is composted and reused for campus landscaping.

Sustainability-minded student residents can lead as Eco Vols, a Make Orange Green initiative dedicated to reducing residence hall energy consumption. Switch Your Thinking, an aggressive campaign to reduce energy consumption on campus, is inspiring our entire community to think differently about energy use. For instance, our electric bicycle–sharing program and other student bike rental programs make forsaking your car a great option for commuting between classes.

UT students are known for their Volunteer spirit. The Center for Leadership and Service offers a true Vol experience through alternative break trips and other ongoing service opportunities. Along with a host of outreach programs, there are volunteer opportunities with UT Recycling, the Student Success Center, and VolsTeach.

Our state-of-the-art student rec center will get your endorphins going with Olympic-sized indoor and outdoor pools, aerobic, spin, and yoga classes, game courts, personal training, and a wide selection of free weights and exercise machines. The student health center tends to your body and mind.

UT regularly brings renowned guests to campus. Our visitors have included Spike Lee, Dolly Parton, Al Gore, Ralph Nader, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, Poet Laureate Kay Ryan, Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Adam Johnson, and First Amendment champion John Seigenthaler.

We also play a little Tennessee football…and basketball, softball, and baseball, along with thirteen other sports.

When you step off campus into Knoxville, you’re entering an urban, but cozy, city with diverse music, eclectic foods, boutique shopping, and entertainment. Farmers’ markets sell the freshest local food. Downtown galleries exhibit art by world-famous artists including UT’s talented visionaries. And the Ice Bears draw crowds of hockey fans.

More tourist destinations are next door, including Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Dollywood, and the Great Smoky Mountains.