Life @ UT

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

It’s also about making new friends, learning Big Orange traditions you’ll treasure for life, and discovering your own potential for big ideas. The knowledge and experience you gain at UT will prepare you to transform those thoughts into actions.

Our campus has everything you need to be your home away from home—inviting you to get involved in anything your heart desires. From traditional Greek organizations to professional societies, from archery and judo to rugby, water polo, and every other sport in between, students can pursue any interest through more than 400 active clubs.

If you’re an aspiring journalist, try writing for the Daily Beacon. Show off your jazz dance skills on the UT Dance team. Get behind the camera or write scripts for our student TV station, UTTV. Work with our entrepreneur center to turn your inspired idea into a profitable business. Plan a new hike every weekend through the UT Canoe and Hiking Club.

Stimulate your mind through area arboretum tours, star gazing, skydiving trips, film nights, and international coffee hours, where our students, faculty, and staff meet up to chat and learn how to make various international dishes.

Our campus welcomes speakers and honored guests from all walks of life. In recent years, we’ve hosted Spike Lee, Dolly Parton, Al Gore, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Poet Laureate Kay Ryan, Ralph Nader, and authors Ishmael Beah, Jeannette Walls, and Tracy Kidder.

Our students are known for their volunteer spirit, both on game day and in the community. The Center for Leadership and Service sums up what it means to be a Vol through alternative spring and fall break trips and other ongoing service opportunities.  We’re also involved in outreach programs in areas like health care, animal welfare, hunger and homelessness, city beautification, youth outreach, global issues, and more. Volunteer opportunities also exist with UT Recycling, the Student Success Center, and VolsTeach.

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

Our state-of-the-art student rec center will get your endorphins running with Olympic-sized indoor and outdoor pools, aerobic, spin, and yoga classes, game courts, personal training, and a wide selection of free weights, exercise machines, and wall-mounted TVs.

The brand new student health center will tend to the health of your body and mind. A wide range of residence hall options provide comfortable, peaceful, active, and close-knit living opportunities. 

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 campus is the first in the nation to launch an electric bicycle–sharing program. Other student bike rental programs make forsaking the car a great option for commuting between classes.

Several of our buildings meet LEED specifications, including Ayres Hall, the Min Kao Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Building, the Student Health Center, and the Baker Center. Campus-wide lighting upgrades and other ongoing sustainability projects are reducing our energy dependence, as will alternative energy projects slated for the near future.

Campus is kept alive with year-round entertainment, events, and activities. Thompson-Boling Arena hosts world-famous rock stars and preeminent acts such as Cirque Du Soleil, while the acclaimed Clarence Brown Theatre presents theatrical masterpieces for the campus and the community.

Step off campus into Knoxville, and you’ll enter an urban, but cozy, city with a diverse culture of music, eclectic foods, boutique shopping, arts, and entertainment. Weekly farmers’ markets sell the freshest-tasting local food, while downtown galleries present art by world-famous artists as well as the work of UT’s talented visionaries.

Sports fans are also drawn to the Tennessee Smokies baseball and Ice Bears hockey games. World famous tourist destinations Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Dollywood, and the Great Smoky Mountains are all right at our doorstep. 

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