Brandon Lawson stands at attention as President George W. Bush prepares for take-off in Marine One.

While he was in the Marine Corps, Brandon Lawson spent two years serving President George W. Bush as crew chief on Marine One, the Black Hawk helicopter that transported the president to and from Air Force One, the presidential jet.

After his honorable discharge from the military, Lawson enrolled at UT. On Friday, the twenty-seven-year-old graduates with a degree in logistics and international business.

“In 2010, when I enrolled in the College of Business Administration, I quickly realized that my service in the Marines had prepared me well,” Lawson said. “The operational tempo of serving on the president’s helicopter required me to be task-oriented, patient, and committed to working through a process to the end.”

While at UT, Lawson interned with the UT football team’s recruiting program. He’s now been hired full time.

“In many ways, the culture of college football is similar to that of the Marines,” he said. “In both arenas, young men train long and hard to achieve their best.”

Lawson learned about the opportunity to serve on Marine One while in Marine Corps flight school. He completed security clearances and was chosen for the job.

“While most of my Marine Corps colleagues spent their days dressed in camouflage fatigues, I reported to work in my dress blues and greeted the president with a salute every time he climbed aboard the chopper,” Lawson said.

“Most Americans see only the public face of their president, but on Marine One I stood only a few feet away from President Bush, and I overheard his conversations with his wife, Laura, Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, and Secret Service Agent Donald White. When the helicopter’s doors closed and the president was beyond the reach of the press, he really relaxed and was always open and direct, whether he was discussing US politics or foreign policy.”

Lawson said flying on Marine One also gave him the chance to see the world.

“Wherever in the world the president traveled, we arrived ahead of him, greeted him as he stepped off Air Force One, and shuttled him to events and meetings within the host country,” he said. “During my two years with the president, I visited Thailand, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Liberia, Egypt, Vietnam, Uruguay, Italy, Vatican City, and Latvia.

“For me, one of the highlights of my life was flying aboard Marine One high above Cairo, with the president on board, and peering down to see the Great Pyramid of Giza.”

Lawson said his service in the Marines has given him skills he’ll use the rest of his life.

“Perhaps the most important one is the ability to see the big picture—much like taking in the view from 10,000 feet in Marine One—and clearly seeing the series of steps necessary to realizing your dreams,” he said.

“My attitude toward my future reflects a fundamental lesson I learned in the Marines: You have to set yourself up to succeed. You have to prepare to win. ”

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C O N T A C T :

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, ablakely@utk.edu)

Cindy Raines (865-974-4359, craines1@utk.edu)

Hart was named vice chancellor and director of athletics on September 5, 2011. The contract extension moves its end date to September 18, 2018. It also provides for one additional year with a $50,000 retention bonus.

Hart’s salary remains the same at $592,250. Since coming to UT, he has received one 3 percent raise, in July 2012. He also earns $150,000 a year for media appearances, per his original contract.

Cheek said he is pleased with Hart’s leadership and progress on goals for the Athletics Department.

“He has worked hard to develop a more efficient financial model and has put the right people in place, including coaches, to help reach UT’s aggressive goals,” Cheek said.

“I am pleased that Dave has made this commitment to the University of Tennessee. I look forward to continued progress in our Athletics Department in our quest for comprehensive excellence both on and off the field,” Cheek said.

The chancellor added that he is committed to working with Hart to provide the resources and support necessary to achieve those goals.

“I appreciate the confidence and commitment Chancellor Cheek has demonstrated by extending my contract,” Hart said. “Tennessee is a special place and I am committed to the goals we have set and the opportunities we have to make a difference.”

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C O N T A C T :

Margie Nichols 865-974-9438 (mnichols@utk.edu)

Kickoff is set for 12:21 p.m. EST for the Volunteers game against the Wildcats of the University of Kentucky. Neyland Stadium gates open at 10:15 a.m. SEC Sports Network will televise the game.

Follow @UTGameday on Twitter for the latest updates on traffic, weather, gate information, and game day events such as the Vol Walk and band march. For a comprehensive list of all game day information, visit utsports.com/gameday.

Tickets for Saturday’s game are available at uttix.com. Please be careful about purchasing counterfeit tickets, as all counterfeit tickets will be confiscated at the stadium gates and the patron denied admission.

Game Day Activities

Saturday is also Senior Day, when seniors on the football team will be honored for their contributions as student-athletes. The seniors will run through the “T” and join their families on the field for a special recognition prior to kickoff.

The traditional Vol Walk will start at 10:00 a.m. on Volunteer Boulevard in front of the Torchbearer statue. Members of the football team will proceed down Volunteer Boulevard and then continue down Peyton Manning Pass to the stadium.

The Pride of the Southland Marching Band will begin marching at 10:35 a.m. at the intersection of Pat Head Summitt Street and Volunteer Boulevard and will then follow the same path as the Vol Walk.

Fans also can attend the College of Arts and Sciences Pregame Showcase. Held two hours before each home game kickoff in the University Center Ballroom, the showcase is a free thirty-minute presentation by a UT faculty member. This week, at 10:21 a.m., history professor Jay Rubenstein will present a short summary of his recent book, Armies of Heaven: The First Crusade and the Quest for Apocalypse.

Parking

Only fans with permits can park on campus. UT encourages others to use shuttle buses from the Old City, the Knoxville Civic Coliseum, and Market Square in downtown Knoxville and Farragut High School in west Knoxville.

Limited public accessible parking spaces and fully accessible shuttle buses to the stadium are available on the UT Agriculture Campus off Neyland Drive.

Stadium Security

Under state law, smoking is prohibited in Neyland Stadium at all times. Fans cannot leave the stadium and be readmitted. Commercial solicitation in front of Neyland Stadium from Middle Way Drive to Gate 10 is prohibited starting four hours before kickoff and continuing until the game is over.

All items, including purses, are subject to search at the gates. UT reserves the right to examine the contents of any container brought into the stadium. To protect the safety of our fans, players, officials and staff, the following items are prohibited. Please do not attempt to bring these or similar articles in the stadium. Items will not be stored at the gate and/or stadium and cannot be retrieved after the game.

• Alcoholic beverages
• Cans, bottles, coolers
• Outside food, snacks, beverages
• Radios without headsets
• Open umbrellas
• Video cameras
• Stadium seats with arms
• Bags or parcels, including backpacks and purses, larger than 12″x12″x12″
• Weapons
• Artificial noisemakers
• Permissible Items

The following items are permitted inside Neyland Stadium:

• Cell phones
• Binoculars
• Radios with headsets
• Diaper bags when accompanied by an infant
• Cameras (limited use). Game action may not be filmed. Consideration of other spectators is expected.

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C O N T A C T :

Charles Primm (865-974-5180, charles.primm@tennessee.edu)

Kickoff is set for 12:21 p.m. EST for the Volunteers game against the Tigers of the University of Missouri, one of the newest member schools of the Southeastern Conference. Neyland Stadium gates open at 10:15 a.m. SEC Sports Network will televise the game.

Follow @UTGameday on Twitter for the latest updates on traffic, weather, gate information, and game day events such as the Vol Walk and band march. For a comprehensive list of all game day information, visit the Tennessee Athletics website.

Tickets for Saturday’s game are available at uttix.com. Please be careful about purchasing counterfeit tickets, as all counterfeit tickets will be confiscated at the stadium gates and the patron denied admission.

Parking

Only fans with permits can park on campus. UT encourages others to use shuttle buses from the Old City, the Knoxville Civic Coliseum, and Market Square in downtown Knoxville and Farragut High School in west Knoxville.

Limited public accessible parking spaces and fully accessible shuttle buses to the stadium are available on the UT Agriculture Campus off Neyland Drive.

Game Day Activities

The traditional Vol Walk will start at 10:00 a.m. on Volunteer Boulevard in front of the Torchbearer statue. Members of the football team will proceed down Volunteer Boulevard and then continue down Peyton Manning Pass to the stadium.

The Pride of the Southland Marching Band will begin marching at 10:35 a.m. at the intersection of Pat Head Summitt Street and Volunteer Boulevard and will then follow the same path as the Vol Walk.

Fans also can attend the College of Arts and Sciences Pregame Showcase. Held two hours before each home game kickoff in the University Center Ballroom, the showcase is a free 30-minute presentation by a UT faculty member. This week, at 10:21 a.m., microbiology professor Steven Wilhelm will discuss the world’s declining water quality in “Protecting Our Water Resources: A Microbiologist’s Perspective.”

Stadium Security

Under state law, smoking is prohibited in Neyland Stadium at all times. Fans cannot leave the stadium and be readmitted. Commercial solicitation in front of Neyland Stadium from Middle Way Drive to Gate 10 is prohibited starting four hours before kickoff and continuing until the game is over.

All items, including purses, are subject to search at the gates. UT reserves the right to examine the contents of any container brought into the stadium. To protect the safety of our fans, players, officials and staff, the following items are prohibited. Please do not attempt to bring these or similar articles in the stadium. Items will not be stored at the gate and/or stadium and cannot be retrieved after the game.

• Alcoholic beverages
• Cans, bottles, coolers
• Outside food, snacks, beverages
• Radios without headsets
• Open umbrellas
• Video cameras
• Stadium seats with arms
• Bags or parcels, including backpacks and purses, larger than 12″x12″x12″
• Weapons
• Artificial noisemakers

Permissible Items

• The following items are permitted inside Neyland Stadium:
• Cell phones
• Binoculars
• Radios with headsets
• Diaper bags when accompanied by an infant
• Cameras (limited use). Game action may not be filmed. Consideration of other spectators is expected.

—

C O N T A C T :

Charles Primm (865-974-5180, charles.primm@tennessee.edu)

His presentation, “Protecting Our Water Resources: A Microbiologist’s Perspective,” will examine the world’s declining water quality. It begins at 10:21 a.m.—exactly two hours before kickoff—in the Carolyn P. Brown Memorial University Center Room 213.

Free and open to the public, each showcase features a thirty-minute presentation followed by a fifteen-minute question-and-answer session. A brief reception will be held immediately following each program. Door prizes will be awarded.

Wilhelm, who has done research in the US, Canada, China, and New Zealand, will talk about how new tools in molecular biology, limnology (the study of inland waters), and oceanography are helping scientists understand how natural water systems work and how to better protect water, our most valuable natural resource.

“I am going to focus on our efforts to develop an understanding of why we lose water quality,” Wilhelm said.

The last Pregame Showcase will be on November 24. Jay Rubenstein, history professor, former Rhodes Scholar and 2007 recipient of the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, will explain how apocalyptic thought motivated the Crusaders and why this history is relevant to the modern world in his presentation “Armies of Heaven: The First Crusade and the Quest for Apocalypse.”

The Pregame Showcase is supported by WUOT 91.9 FM, the Office of Alumni Affairs and UT Athletics. For more information, visit the showcase’s website.

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C O N T A C T :

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, ablakely@utk.edu)

The street sign now displays “Ann Baker Furrow Boulevard.”  The campus will hold a formal dedication in the spring.

“We are pleased to honor Ann in this way,” Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek said.

“The university traditionally has not made it a practice to name the campus streets, as many of the streets named throughout the 1990s are city-owned streets. However, this newly created street provided a special opportunity for the university to honor a distinguished alumna for her numerous accomplishments.”

The first woman to play a men’s varsity sport at UT, Furrow was a member of the men’s golf team in 1964 and 1965. She was the first recipient of Robert R. Neyland Academic Scholarship. In 1991, she helped get women’s golf added as an official UT sport. She served as interim head coach of the women’s golf team until 1992 and then volunteered as an assistant coach for fifteen years. She has helped raise more than $2 million to endow the UT women’s golf team.

Furrow is pictured in May 1963 after receiving the Neyland Academic Scholarship from vice president Herman Spivey, left, and president Andy Holt.

She went on to have a very successful amateur golf career. She was a five-time Tennessee Women’s Amateur Champion and the 1978 Women’s Southern Amateur Champion. She has been inducted to the Tennessee, the Greater Knoxville, and the Blount sports halls of fame.

Furrow was the first woman and the youngest person to be appointed to the UT Board of Trustees. She was appointed in 1970 and served for eighteen years. During her tenure, she served as the board’s vice chair and chaired the Academic Affairs Committee.

She also became the first woman to give a commencement speech at UT in 1971.

Furrow is a founding board member and vice chairman of Spiritual Heritage Knoxville. She previously served on the boards of UT Athletics, UT Medical Center, Covenant Health, Fort Sanders Foundation, National Board of AnGeL Ministries, Tennessee Valley Authority, and International Board of Joni and Friends.

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C O N T A C T :

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, ablakely@utk.edu)

Kickoff for the Volunteers’ game against the Trojans of Troy University is scheduled for noon ET, with gates opening at 10:00 a.m. Fox Sports will televise the game.

Follow @UTGameday on Twitter for the latest updates on traffic, weather, gate information and game day events such as the Vol Walk and band march. For a comprehensive list of all game day information, please visit the Tennessee Athletics website.

Tickets for Saturday’s game are available at UTTIX.com. Please be careful about purchasing counterfeit tickets, as all counterfeit tickets will be confiscated at the stadium gates and the patron denied admission.

Parking

Only fans with permits can park on campus. UT encourages others to use shuttle buses from the Old City, the Knoxville Civic Coliseum and Market Square in downtown Knoxville, and Farragut High School in west Knoxville.

Limited public accessible parking spaces and fully accessible shuttle buses to the stadium are available on the UT Agriculture Campus off Neyland Drive.

Homecoming Events

A veterans reunion, the annual campus parade, and a commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Morrill Act are among the events highlighting this year’s Homecoming celebrations.

• UT veterans and their families are invited to the third Veterans Reunion, an event held every five years. The theme of the reunion is “Your Service—Our Freedom.”
• The annual Homecoming parade will begin at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, November 2. It starts at the Rock and travels east on Volunteer Boulevard. The grand marshal is Chamique Holdsclaw, a former Lady Vol basketball star who went on to play for the WNBA.
• The Party in the Park tailgate begins at 9:00 a.m. Saturday, November 3, in Circle Park. Admission is free. The “World’s Largest MoonPie” will be cut at 10:00 a.m.
• University leaders will unveil a historical marker commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Morrill Act at 10:00 a.m. Saturday outside Ellington Plant Sciences Building on the agriculture campus. The act paved the way for the establishment of land-grant universities such as the University of Tennessee. The event is part of the Ag Day street fair, which will be held from 8:00 to 11:00 a.m. on the agriculture campus.

Read more about Homecoming events in Tennessee Today. For more information on Ag Day, visit the Institute of Agriculture website.

Game Day Activities

To reflect the Morrill Act’s mission, the university has updated its traditional Tennessee Walking Horse exhibition at this year’s Homecoming. Prior to kickoff, A Daring Affair, a flat-shod walking horse, will circle the field with rider Kimbrell Hines, a high-school senior from Winchester, Tennessee. Hines is a longtime member of the Tennessee 4-H program, and she and the horse, known affectionately as Summer, have won many horse shows around the state.

Jim Thompson, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, said the Tennessee 4-H program is one of the university’s strongest land-grant missions, thanks to young people like Hines.

“Kimbrell and Summer are doing great things and helping us all to recognize and celebrate the importance of 4-H in Tennessee and beyond,” he said.

Also prior to kickoff, during the singing of the national anthem, four F-16 aircraft will conduct a low-altitude fly-over of Neyland Stadium. The flight crew is from Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, and is led by 2001 UT alumnus, Maj. Spencer Godwin.

The traditional Vol Walk will start at 9:45 a.m. on Volunteer Boulevard in front of the Torchbearer statue. Members of the football team will proceed down Volunteer Boulevard and then continue down Peyton Manning Pass to the stadium.

The Pride of the Southland Marching Band will begin marching at 10:20 a.m. at the intersection of Pat Head Summitt Street and Volunteer Boulevard and will then follow the same path as the Vol Walk.

Fans also can attend the College of Arts and Sciences’ Pregame Showcase. Held two hours before each home game kickoff in the University Center Ballroom, the showcase is a free thirty-minute presentation by a UT faculty member. This week, at 10:00 a.m., David Reidy, professor and head of the Department of Philosophy, will discuss “The Authority of Citizens: Its Nature and Limits.”

Stadium Security

Under state law, smoking is prohibited in Neyland Stadium at all times. Fans cannot leave the stadium and be readmitted. Commercial solicitation in front of Neyland Stadium from Middle Way Drive to Gate 10 is prohibited starting four hours before kickoff and continuing until the game is over.

All items, including purses, are subject to search at the gates. UT reserves the right to examine the contents of any container brought into the stadium. To protect the safety of our fans, players, officials and staff, the following items are prohibited. Please do not attempt to bring these or similar articles in the stadium. Items will not be stored at the gate and/or stadium and cannot be retrieved after the game.

• Alcoholic beverages
• Cans, bottles, coolers
• Outside food, snacks, beverages
• Radios without headsets
• Open umbrellas
• Video cameras
• Stadium seats with arms
• Bags or parcels, including backpacks and purses, larger than 12″x12″x12″
• Weapons
• Artificial noisemakers

Permissible Items

The following items are permitted inside Neyland Stadium:

• Cell phones
• Binoculars
• Radios with headsets
• Diaper bags when accompanied by an infant
• Limited use of cameras. Game action may not be filmed. Consideration of other spectators is expected.

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C O N T A C T :

Charles Primm (865-974-5180, charles.primm@tennessee.edu)

The first exhibition home game for the women is Thursday, November 1, against Carson-Newman College. The first exhibition home game for the men is Monday, November 5, against Victory University.

Tickets for men’s and women’s games are available online. Please be careful about purchasing counterfeit tickets, as all counterfeit tickets will be confiscated at the arena entrances and the patron denied admission.

Many of the same security measures from last year remain in place:

• For men’s games, gates will open ninety minutes before tipoff.
• For women’s games, gates will open sixty minutes before tipoff.
• Everyone, regardless of age, must have a ticket in order to enter the arena.
• Students are required to enter the gates off the west ramp.
• Artificial noisemakers are not allowed.
• No signage larger than eight and a half inches by eleven inches is allowed.
• Possession or use of alcohol is prohibited.
• Smoking is not allowed inside the arena.
• Video recording devices and professional-grade cameras are not permitted.
• Bags larger than twelve inches by twelve inches are not permitted.
• Radios with headphones, other small electronic devices, and diaper bags accompanying infants are permitted.
• All items are subject to search or inspection, and handheld metal detectors may be used.

New regulations bar commercial solicitations, including the reselling of tickets to athletic events, music concerts, and other campus events, along Phillip Fulmer Way from Tee Martin Drive to Lake Loudoun Boulevard in front of Thompson-Boling Arena, beginning four hours before the start of a game or event and remaining in effect until the conclusion of the game or event.

Basketball fans with permits can park in designated lots adjacent to the arena. Free parking is available on the Agriculture Campus with complimentary shuttle service to the arena.

Normally, the section of Phillip Fulmer Way from Cumberland Avenue to Middle Way Drive runs one-way southbound. After each home game, traffic on that section of Phillip Fulmer Way temporarily will be reversed, running one-way northbound to Cumberland Avenue, to assist with post-game traffic. The section of Phillip Fulmer Way in front of the arena, between Lake Loudoun Boulevard and the G-10 garage, will close 15 minutes before tipoff and remain closed until the conclusion of the game.

For more information about Thompson-Boling Arena and other athletics facilities, visit the Tennessee Athletics website.

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C O N T A C T :

Charles Primm (865-974-5180, charles.primm@tennessee.edu)

The forty-acre complex will open early in the spring semester. The two-year construction project is on track to wrap up in mid-January, just in time to host the full gamut of intramurals and student activities. More than 10,000 students participate in UT’s sport clubs and intramural programs each year.

Funded solely through student activity fees, the new complex will significantly improve intramural programming and provide much more flexibility and convenience in scheduling of games and practices for sport clubs.

Most games are now played on the 2.5-acre RecSports field, while others are scheduled off campus due to space limitations.

The new complex will have an open-air seating pavilion and a central building which will serve as a field and equipment house, three sand volleyball courts, two softball fields, and eight multi-purpose fields that can be used for flag football, lacrosse, soccer, and other sports. The complex also will have plenty of parking and terraced seating for spectators on several fields.

Student Life Vice Chancellor Tim Rogers said that having natural and artificial turf will provide more flexibility to play intramurals and tournaments year round when inclement weather hits.

“This has been a great need for a long time. We are pleased that our students will soon get to enjoy the new complex,” Rogers said.

RecSports Director Rex Pringle anticipates the new complex will spark additional growth in the number of student teams, particularly in flag football, soccer, softball, and sand volleyball.

The pavilion, the central building, and the utility/maintenance building are now being built and artificial turf is being installed. The complex connects to the city’s Third Creek Greenway and is just three miles from campus by car or by way of the greenway.

The university will provide transportation from campus to the site to accommodate game schedules.

Rogers said the university has worked with students for more than twelve years on how best to address the need for field space. More than twenty-five sites were evaluated before the site was chosen in 2009. Because the campus is bordered by downtown Knoxville, Cumberland Avenue, and Fort Sanders along with the Tennessee River, railroads, and major interstates, it was difficult to find a large parcel of flat land near the campus.

Homecoming events begin Sunday and culminate on Saturday, November 3, when the football Vols take on Troy in Neyland Stadium. Kickoff is at noon.

Veterans activities

UT veterans and their families are invited to campus for the third Veterans Reunion, a homecoming event held every five years.

“Your Service—Our Freedom” is the theme of the reunion, sponsored by the Office of Alumni Affairs. Events on Friday, November 2, and Saturday, November 3, include a luncheon, a Veterans Recognition Dinner, and a tailgate party.

To see a full list of events and to register online to attend, visit the UT Knoxville Alumni Association website. Contact the Office of Alumni Affairs at 865-974-3011 or by e-mail at reunions@utk.edu for more information.

Homecoming highlights

The annual Homecoming parade will begin at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, November 2. It starts at the Rock and travels east on Volunteer Boulevard. The grand marshal is Chamique Holdsclaw, former Lady Vol basketball star who went on to play for the WNBA with the Washington Mystics, the Los Angeles Sparks, the Atlanta Dream and the San Antonio Silver Stars. Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek and UT System President Joe DiPietro also will ride in the parade. Veterans and Little Vols are invited to participate.

The signature event of Homecoming—the annual Party in the Park—begins at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 3, in Circle Park. Admission is free and there will be live entertainment, cheerleaders, music, door prizes, and children’s activities. The World’s Largest MoonPie will be cut at 10:00 a.m.

Morrill Act plaque dedication

Cheek, DiPietro, and Institute of Agriculture Chancellor Larry Arrington will unveil a historical marker commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Morrill Act during Ag Day on Saturday, November 3. The plaque dedication is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. outside the Ellington Plant Sciences building, near the intersection of Joe Johnson and E. J. Chapman drives.

The Ag Day street fair will be held from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and feature a petting zoo, a cricket-spitting contest, and appearances by Smokey and Charlie, the television personality of Farm Bureau Insurance. For more information, visit the Institute of Agriculture website.

For more information about Homecoming activities, as well as details about making reservations for events that require them, see the Alumni Association’s Homecoming website.

Additional homecoming activities include:

Sunday, October 28

• Anything Goes, a variety of field games for students, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at Fiji Island.

Monday, October 29

• Soapbox Derby, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. along Volunteer Boulevard near Stokely Athletics.

Tuesday, October 30

• 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament, 4:00  to 10:00 p.m. in the HPER Bubble.

Wednesday, October 31

• Smokey’s Howl, a spirit competition for student organizations, 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. in Thompson-Boling Arena.
• Talent Show, 7:00 p.m. in the University Center Auditorium.

Friday, November 2

• Pep Rally and Smokey’s Howl finals, 6:00 p.m. in Thompson-Boling Arena.
• Homecoming Comedy Show featuring Lav Luv, Nema Williams, and Sean Larkins, doors open at 7 p.m. and show starts at 7:30 p.m., at the Bijou Theater. Sponsored by the Black Cultural Programming Committee and Office of Multicultural Student Life, this show features three comedians who have appeared on BET’s Comic View. For ticket info, see knoxvilletickets.com.
• Friday Night Live at the Square Comedy Show featuring UT alumna Leanne Morgan, 7:30 p.m. at the Square Room on Knoxville’s Market Square. Reservations required.
• Alumni discount at the University Bookstore in the University Center, 8:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Alumni receive a 20 percent discount on all Volunteer Shop regularly priced merchandise.

Saturday, November 3

• Pre-Game Faculty Showcase, 10:00 a.m. in the University Center Ballroom. It will feature David Reidy, head of the Department of Philosophy, who will present “The Authority of Citizens: Its Nature and Limit.”
• African-American Hall of Fame induction, 10:00 a.m. at the Black Cultural Center. This year’s inductee is Jane S. Redmond, who retired from UT in 2008 after a twenty-six-year career. She has served as assistant vice chancellor for student affairs, director of the Office of Multicultural Student Life, director of the Women’s Center, and interim chairperson for the Commission for Blacks.
• The Office of Admissions’ “Continue the Tradition: Tips for Alumni and Legacies,” 10:30 a.m. in McClung Museum Auditorium.
• Thirteenth Annual Southeastern Stomp Fest, 7:00 p.m. at Knoxville Civic Coliseum. Purchase tickets at Tickets Unlimited locations or call 865-656-4444.

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C O N T A C T :

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, ablakely@utk.edu)

Follow @UTGameday on Twitter for the latest updates on traffic, weather, gate information, and game day events such as the Vol Walk and band march. For a comprehensive list of all game day information, please visit the UT Athletics website.

A limited number of tickets for Saturday’s game are available at the UT Ticket Office. Please be careful about purchasing counterfeit tickets, as all counterfeit tickets will be confiscated at the stadium gates and the patron(s) denied admission.

Parking

Only fans with permits can park on campus. UT encourages others to use shuttle buses from the Old City, the Knoxville Civic Coliseum and the Market Square area of downtown Knoxville, and Farragut High School in west Knoxville.

Limited public accessible parking spaces and fully accessible shuttle buses to the stadium are available on the UT Agriculture Campus off Neyland Drive.

Game Day Activities

The university will honor several Tennessee “legends of the game” Saturday. Former head coach Phillip Fulmer and members of the 1997 SEC championship squad will be recognized.

Fulmer also will be recognized for his election to the College Football Hall of Fame. He will be officially inducted into the hall this December. Both honors will take place before kickoff, so fans wishing to see both activities are encouraged to arrive early.

The traditional Vol Walk will start at 4:45 p.m. on Volunteer Boulevard in front of the Torchbearer statue. Members of the football team will proceed down Volunteer Boulevard and then continue down Peyton Manning Pass to the stadium.

The Pride of the Southland Marching Band will begin marching at 5:20 p.m. at the intersection of Pat Head Summitt Street and Volunteer Boulevard and will then follow the same path as the Vol Walk.

From 3:30 to 6:30 p.m., the Volunteer Village commercial display area will be open on the lawn of the Humanities and Social Sciences Building. Pregame festivities will be available for fans of all ages.

Fans also can attend the College of Arts and Sciences’ Pregame Showcase. Held two hours before each home game kickoff in the University Center Ballroom, the showcase is a free thirty-minute presentation by a UT faculty member. This week, at 5:00 p.m., Dawnie Steadman, anthropology professor and director of the Forensic Anthropology Center, commonly known as the Body Farm, will discuss “The Tales Bones Tell.”

Stadium Security

All items, including purses, are subject to search at the gates. Bags larger than 12 inches by 12 inches by 12 inches cannot be brought into the stadium, and items larger than this standard size, as well as other prohibited items, cannot be stored at any stadium gate.

UT reminds visitors that sportsmanlike behavior is expected throughout the day, and entering the field before, during, or after the game is prohibited. Anyone who attempts to do so will be arrested and face university sanctions as well.

Under state law, smoking is prohibited in Neyland Stadium at all times. Fans cannot leave the stadium and be readmitted. Commercial solicitation in front of Neyland Stadium from Middle Way Drive to Gate 10 is prohibited starting four hours before kickoff and continuing until the game is over.

UT reserves the right to examine the contents of any container brought into the stadium. To protect the safety of our fans, players, officials, and staff, the following items are prohibited. Please do not attempt to bring these or similar articles in the stadium. Items will not be stored at the gate and/or stadium and cannot be retrieved after the game.

• Alcoholic beverages
• Cans, bottles, coolers
• Outside food, snacks, beverages
• Radios without headsets
• Open umbrellas
• Video cameras
• Stadium seats with arms
• Bags or parcels, including backpacks and purses, larger than 12″x12″x12″
• Weapons
• Artificial noisemakers

Permissible Items

The following items are permitted inside Neyland Stadium:

• Cell phones
• Binoculars
• Radios with headsets
• Diaper bags when accompanied by an infant
• Limited use of cameras. Game action may not be filmed. Consideration of other spectators is expected.

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C O N T A C T :

Charles Primm (865-974-5180, charles.primm@tennessee.edu)

The event will take place at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, October 19, on Peyton Manning Pass, which runs from Volunteer Boulevard to the front of Neyland Stadium at Phillip Fulmer Drive. The public is invited to attend.

The custom asphalt stamping and painting project was made possible by UT’s Senior Gift Campaign fund. Nearly 700 graduates of the classes of 2007, 2008, and 2009 made donations toward the $20,000 project. Although the funding has been in place for several years, the university delayed the project to accommodate stadium renovations and nearby roadwork.

Peyton Manning Pass is the main route for the Vol Walk, a football Saturday tradition that brings fans to each side of the road as the Volunteer football team walks into the stadium.

While Mattingly and Hudson will sign their names, Smokey’s assistants will distribute bookplate decals with his actual paw print.

The book, published by the UT Press, tells the stories of the nine hounds that have been the university’s mascot for more than half a century. Mattingly, longtime Tennessee athletics historian and author, has teamed up with Hudson, who owns Smokey, to share the history of Smokey from the very beginning, when Reverend Bill Brooks’ prize-winning dog, “Brooks’ Blue Smokey,” won the title of UT’s mascot in a student contest in 1953.

The book includes colorful anecdotes such as Smokey’s kidnapping in 1955 by mischievous Kentucky students, his confrontation with the Baylor bear at the 1957 Sugar Bowl, and the time he suffered heat exhaustion at the 1991 UCLA game and was listed on the Vols’ injury report.

Hudson and his family have cared for the Smokeys since 1994. Mattingly is the author of Tennessee Football: The Peyton Manning Years and other books, and writes about Vol history on his blog, The Vol Historian.

Read excerpts at the book’s Facebook page.

The book is available at Amazon.com.

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C O N T A C T :

Tom Post, UT Press (865-974-5466, tpost@utk.edu)

Much of the work performed by Facilities Services occurs before the games begin. The restrooms and skyboxes are stocked, the carpets are shampooed, and the stadium is prepared.

Facilities Services staffs the stadium during games to ensure overall cleanliness and properly functioning restrooms.

When the game ends, a crew stationed outside the stadium pulls garbage from the recycling bins and out of the skyboxes. They separate the materials into recyclable and nonrecyclable materials, they move it out, and then they turn off the lights and lock down the stadium.

The morning after

The cleaning of Neyland Stadium is contracted out to Leroy Penson of National Cleaning Services in Maryville. His crew cleans the corridors, outside seating, tunnels, outside restrooms, and access ramps. The total cleanup occurs primarily on Sunday, but can continue on until Wednesday, depending on the weather.

Facilities Services supports the work of the cleaning crew by providing the cleaning materials, trash bags, restroom supplies, blowers, and other materials as needed.

The grounds crew members clean the parking lots, garages, and landscaped surroundings to remove any remaining garbage. The thirty-five-member crew performs the cleanup in about eight hours.

The recycling team collects some recyclable material on Sunday, but much of their work occurs during the game. They place separate bags for recycling and garbage pickup to tailgaters in the parking lots, and while the game is being played, the recyclable-items bags are collected. Even during games with a smaller attendance, the recycling team can collect as much as 4,000 pounds of bottles, cans, compost, and cardboard from tailgaters.

But on other days, it’s much more. For the Florida game, more than 12.3 tons of garbage was recycled by only twenty volunteers.

For more information on game day recycling, visit UT’s recycling web page.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET for the Volunteers’ game against the University of Akron Zips. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. CSS will televise the game.

Fans are encouraged to follow @UTGameday on Twitter for the latest updates on traffic, weather, gate information and game day events such as the Vol Walk and band march. For a comprehensive list of all gameday information, please visit utsports.com/gameday.

Season tickets and select individual game tickets are available at http://www.uttix.com. Please be cognizant about purchasing counterfeit tickets, as all counterfeit tickets will be confiscated at the stadium gates and the patron(s) denied admission.

Parking

Due to campus construction, fans are encouraged to arrive early. For complete information on game day parking, stadium regulations and activities, see utsports.com/gameday.

Only fans with permits can park on campus. UT encourages others to use shuttle buses from the Old City, the Knoxville Civic Coliseum and the Market Square area of downtown Knoxville and Farragut High School in west Knoxville.

Limited public accessible parking spaces and fully accessible shuttle buses to the stadium are available on the UT Agriculture Campus off Neyland Drive.

Game Day Activities

The traditional Vol Walk will start at 5:15 p.m. on Volunteer Boulevard near Circle Park, as the members of the football team proceed down Volunteer Boulevard and then continue down Peyton Manning Pass to the stadium.

The Pride of the Southland Marching Band will begin marching at 5:50 p.m. at the intersection of Pat Head Summitt Street and Volunteer Boulevard and will then follow the same path as the Vol Walk.

From 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., the Volunteer Village commercial display area will be open on the lawn of the Humanities and Social Sciences Building. Pregame festivities will be available for fans of all ages.

Fans also can attend the College of Arts and Sciences’ Pregame Showcase. Held two hours before each home game kickoff in the University Center Ballroom, the showcase is a free thirty-minute presentation by a UT faculty member. This week, at 5:30 p.m., Nathan Kelly, associate professor in the Department of Political Science, will discuss The Politics of Income Inequality in the United States.

Stadium Security

UT reminds visitors that all items, including purses, are subject to search at the gates. Bags larger than 12 inches by 12 inches by 12 inches cannot be brought into the stadium, and items larger than this standard size, as well as other prohibited items, cannot be stored at any stadium gate.

Prohibited items include the following:

• alcoholic beverages, cans, bottles or coolers;
• large bags or parcels, including backpacks and large purses;
• radios without headphones;
• artificial noisemakers;
• open umbrellas;
• video cameras;
• stadium seats with arms; and
• weapons of any kind, including pocketknives.

Fans can bring the following items inside the stadium, provided they meet the size requirement:

• cushions and seats without arms;
• small diaper bags that accompany infants; and
• small cameras, pagers, cell phones, and binoculars.

Under state law, no smoking will be allowed anywhere inside the stadium. Fans cannot leave the stadium and be readmitted.

Commercial solicitation in front of Neyland Stadium from Middle Way Drive to Gate 10 is prohibited starting four hours before kickoff and continuing until the game is over.

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CONTACT:

Charles Primm (865-974-5180, charles.primm@tennessee.edu)

UT welcomes fans to campus this Saturday for the Volunteers’ game against the University of Florida. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m., with gates opening at 4:00 p.m. ESPN will televise the game.

Follow @UTGameday on Twitter for the latest updates on traffic, weather, gate information, and game day events such as the Vol Walk and band march. For a comprehensive list of all gameday information, please visit utsports.com/gameday.

Saturday’s game is sold out. However, season tickets are available at uttix.com. Please be cognizant about purchasing counterfeit tickets, as all counterfeit tickets will be confiscated at the stadium gates and the patron(s) denied admission.

ESPN College GameDay

ESPN will broadcast its live ESPN College GameDay program in Circle Park, outside Neyland Stadium, from 9:00 a.m. to noon, Saturday. Fans will be admitted to a viewing area near the show stage no earlier than 7:00 a.m. Saturday morning. Only fans with permits can park on the UT campus.

The following items are prohibited before and during the show:

• Food or drink;
• Vulgar signs;
• Signs promoting .com, .net or .org websites;
• Religious signs;
• Political signs;
• Bookbags, purses, or bags of any kind; and
• Markers, pens, pencils, or dry-erase boards.

Throwing items is also prohibited during the live telecast.

Stadium Security

All items, including purses, are subject to search at the gates. Bags larger than 12 inches by 12 inches by 12 inches cannot be brought into the stadium, and items larger than this standard size, as well as other prohibited items, cannot be stored at any stadium gate.

UT reminds visitors that sportsmanlike behavior is expected throughout the day, and entering the field before, during, or after the game is prohibited. Anyone who attempts to do so will be arrested and face university sanctions as well.

Under state law, smoking is prohibited in Neyland Stadium at all times. Fans cannot leave the stadium and be readmitted. Commercial solicitation in front of Neyland Stadium from Middle Way Drive to Gate 10 is prohibited starting four hours before kickoff and continuing until the game is over.

UT reserves the right to examine the contents of any container brought into the stadium. To protect the safety of our fans, players, officials, and staff, the following items are prohibited. Please do not attempt to bring these or similar articles in the stadium. Items will not be stored at the gate and/or stadium and cannot be retrieved after the game.

• Alcoholic beverages
• Cans, bottles, coolers
• Outside food, snacks, beverages
• Radios without headsets
• Open umbrellas
• Video cameras
• Stadium seats with arms
• Bags or parcels, including backpacks and purses, larger than 12″x12″x12″
• Weapons
• Artificial noisemakers

Permissible Items

The following items are permitted inside Neyland Stadium:

• Cell phones
• Binoculars
• Radios with headsets
• Diaper bags when accompanied by an infant
• Limited use of cameras. Game action may not be filmed. Consideration of other spectators is expected.

Parking and Traffic

Since on-campus parking is limited to fans with permits, UT encourages the use of shuttle buses to campus. Shuttles travel from the Old City, the Knoxville Civic Coliseum and the Market Square area of downtown Knoxville, and Farragut High School in west Knoxville.

Limited public accessible parking spaces and fully accessible shuttle buses to the stadium are available on the UT Agriculture Campus off Neyland Drive.

Due to campus construction, fans are encouraged to arrive early. For complete information on game day parking, stadium regulations and activities, visit utsports.com/gameday.

Game Day Activities

The annual Tim Kerin Memorial Food Drive will be held outside Neyland Stadium to benefit Knoxville’s Second Harvest Food Bank. Collection centers for financial donations will be set up around the stadium prior to the game. Fans are encouraged to bring nonperishable food items to a Second Harvest drop-off point near the Communications Building. Kerin, the long-time head trainer at Tennessee, died suddenly in 1992. The food drive has been held in his honor ever since.

The traditional Vol Walk will start at 3:45 p.m. on Volunteer Boulevard near Circle Park, as the members of the football team proceed down Volunteer Boulevard and then continue down Peyton Manning Pass to the stadium.

The Pride of the Southland Marching Band will begin marching at 4:20 p.m. at the intersection of Pat Head Summitt Street and Volunteer Boulevard and will then follow the same path as the Vol Walk. This Saturday, the marching band will be joined by a sixty-five-member bagpipe band.

Because of the potential for large crowds at both the Vol Walk and the band march, fans are encourage to consider entering the stadium when gates open at 4:00 p.m. and view the band march from the ramp areas on the west side of the stadium.

The Volunteer Village commercial display area will be open from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on the lawn of the Humanities and Social Sciences Building, offering festivities for fans of all ages.

Fans also can attend the College of Arts and Sciences’ Pregame Showcase. Held two hours before each home game kickoff in the University Center Ballroom, the showcase is a free thirty-minute presentation by a UT faculty member. This week, at 4:00 p.m., Hap McSween, Chancellor’s Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, will discuss Exploring Asteroids with the Dawn Spacecraft.

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C O N T A C T :

Jimmy Stanton (865-974-4167, jimmystanton@tennessee.edu)

Charles Primm (865-974-5180, charles.primm@tennessee.edu)

This week marks the seventh annual Tennessee/Florida Tailgate blood drive competition. Medic Regional Blood Center of Knoxville encourages all eligible Vol fans to roll up their sleeve and give for the home team. Tennessee has won this competition for the last several years.

“With all of the excitement of the home game, I am challenging all Vol fans to keep up the winning streak in this competition and take the time to donate to this important community need,” Cheek said.

Donors will receive a coupon for a free Snappy Tomato Pizza and a Tennessee vs. Florida game day T-shirt.

Volunteers can donate between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday of this week at the Carolyn P. Brown Memorial University Center in rooms 223-225.

Additional donation times and sites are:

• Tuesday, September 11: 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. in the Ellington Plant Sciences Building Hollingsworth Auditorium on the Ag campus
• Wednesday, September 12: noon to 8:00 p.m. in the Hess Hall lobby
• Thursday, September 13: noon to 8:00 p.m. in the South Carrick Hall lobby

“This is a fun way to get students involved with the local community blood center, help save lives, and show some school spirit—all at the same time,” explained Christi Fightmaster, Medic spokesperson.

Volunteers can also participate by donating at Medic headquarters at 1601 Ailor Avenue (just off of 17th Street) between 8:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.

The Medic blood center currently has a need for all blood types, especially O Negative.

Daily score updates will be posted on the blood center’s Facebook page.

For more information, visit Medic’s website.

Kickoff is set for 4:00 p.m. ET for the Volunteers’ game against the Georgia State University Panthers. Gates open at 2:00 p.m. VideoSeat pay-per-view will televise the game.

Fans are encouraged to follow @UTGameday on Twitter for the latest updates on traffic, weather, gate information, and game day events such as the Vol Walk and band march.

Season tickets and select individual game tickets are available at UTTix.com.

Navigating the Cone Zone

With much construction underway on campus, new and returning visitors will see the following changes:

• All lanes of Neyland Drive approaching campus are open for the football season as renovation work continues on the Henley Bridge over the nearby Tennessee River.
• The parking garage next to the University Center has been demolished and the nearby section of Andy Holt Avenue has been permanently closed to make way for a new Student Union.
• “Cone Zone” signs featuring a hard hat-wearing Smokey have been placed around campus, helping direct motorists and pedestrians to find campus parking and detour around the construction. The latest information on campus construction can be found at conezone.utk.edu.

Due to campus construction, fans are encouraged to arrive early. For complete information on game day parking, stadium regulations, and activities, visit UTSports.com. Here are the highlights:

Parking

Only fans with permits can park on campus. UT encourages others to use shuttle buses from the Old City, the Knoxville Civic Coliseum, the Market Square area of downtown Knoxville, and Farragut High School in west Knoxville.

Limited public accessible parking spaces and fully accessible shuttle buses to the stadium are available on the UT Agriculture Campus off Neyland Drive.

Game Day Activities

The traditional Vol Walk will start at 1:45 p.m. on Volunteer Boulevard near Circle Park, as the members of the football team proceed down Volunteer Boulevard and then continue down Peyton Manning Pass to the stadium.

The Pride of the Southland Marching Band will begin marching at 2:20 p.m. at the intersection of Pat Head Summitt Street and Volunteer Boulevard and will then follow the same path as the Vol Walk.

From 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., the Volunteer Village commercial display area will be open on the lawn of the Humanities and Social Sciences Building. Pregame festivities will be available for fans of all ages.

Fans also can attend the College of Arts and Sciences’ Pregame Showcase. Held two hours before each home game kickoff in the University Center Ballroom, the showcase is a free thirty-minute presentation by a UT faculty member. This week, at 2:00 p.m., Cal MacLean, professor and head of the Department of Theatre and artistic director of the Clarence Brown Theatre, will discuss Supreme Synergy on Stage: Presenting Sweeney Todd.

Stadium Security

UT reminds visitors that all items, including purses, are subject to search at the gates. Bags larger than 12 inches by 12 inches by 12 inches cannot be brought into the stadium, and items larger than this standard size, as well as other prohibited items, cannot be stored at any stadium gate.

Prohibited items include the following:

• alcoholic beverages, cans, bottles, or coolers;
• large bags or parcels, including backpacks and large purses;
• radios without headphones;
• artificial noisemakers;
• open umbrellas;
• video cameras;
• stadium seats with arms; and
• weapons of any kind, including pocketknives.

Fans can bring the following items inside the stadium, provided they meet the size requirement:

• cushions and seats without arms;
• small diaper bags that accompany infants; and
• small cameras, pagers, cell phones, and binoculars.

Under state law, no smoking will be allowed anywhere inside the stadium. Fans cannot leave the stadium and be readmitted.

Commercial solicitation in front of Neyland Stadium from Middle Way Drive to Gate 10 is prohibited starting four hours before kickoff and continuing until the game is over.

—

CONTACT:

Charles Primm (865-974-5180, charles.primm@tennessee.edu)

The new university policy bars commercial solicitations, including the reselling of tickets to athletic events, music concerts, and other campus events, in front of Neyland Stadium and Thompson-Boling Arena, from four hours prior to the start of a game or event and remains in effect until the end.

For football games, commercial activity will be prohibited in the stadium’s Gate 21 Plaza and along the east side of Phillip Fulmer Way from Middle Way Drive to Gate 10.

During basketball season, resale of tickets and other commercial activity will be prohibited along Phillip Fulmer Way from Tee Martin Drive to Lake Loudoun Boulevard in front of the basketball arena.

The new policy is intended to reduce traffic congestion, protect the university’s ability to sell tickets to the public, and increase the safety, comfort, and enjoyment of the game day experience.

Police on campus will assist with enforcement of the new policy.

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C O N T A C T :

Jeff Maples (865-974-3061, maples@utk.edu)

Vote online and via smartphone daily between now and October 1 to help Rocky Top clinch the top spot. Saturday votes will count twice. We’re in the running against nineteen other schools to win Southern Living magazine’s “The South’s Best Tailgate” title.

Visit Southen Living to vote, or use your smartphone with a data plan to scan your favorite school’s QR code featured in the September 2012 issue of Southern Living magazine. You will be sent to a mobile web page where you can complete the entry form and vote for your favorite school.

From the Vol Navy to the elaborate cookouts and Big Orange fare, Tennessee is certainly a favorite stop for football fans across the nation.

Southern Living will crown the winner at a home game by November 10.

The magazine has named UT among the top twenty schools with the best tailgating celebrations. The university was lauded for its “sailgate,” the collection of 150 houseboats and yachts that dock on the nearby Tennessee River prior to home football games.

Universities vying for “The South’s Best Tailgate” title were selected based on four criteria—most spirited: schools that turn “fan” into “fanatic;” traditionalists: schools renowned for game-day rituals; powerhouses: Southern schools with a history of winning on and off the field (chosen by the most bowl victories); style setters: from sundresses to cake stands, these schools showcase true splendor in the grass.

Southern Living for the first time ever also has partnered with the Southeastern Conference (SEC) to publish The Official SEC Tailgating Cookbook. It was released today, just in time for the first games of the 2012 football season.

The 256-page cookbook features more than 150 game day recipes and special sections highlighting each of the fourteen SEC schools’ game day traditions, character, and hometown flavor.

Game day menus in the book include Rocky Top Popcorn and Smoky Chicken Panini with Basil Mayo from UT.