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Issue 32 I N D E P E N D E N T

PUBLISHED SINCE 1906 http://utdailybeacon.com

Vol. 116 S T U D E N T

N E W S P A P E R

O F

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U N I V E R S I T Y

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T E N N E S S E E

Professor recovers historical UT artifact Letter from fifth UT president, Joseph Estabrook, offers glimpse into school’s early days Estabrook was the fifth president of UT — then East Tennessee College — and directly followed the rocky, one-year stint of President James H. Piper. A New Hampshire native and graduate of Dartmouth College, Estabrook writes early in the letter that the university “was

which sat at 80 students. “He really was an extremely important president for the institution,” Creekmore said. “He really was absolutely dedicated to academic excellence. He kind of built the basic infrastructure the university built on from then on.

intriguing, Estabrook’s language gives a true feel of the time period in which the letter was written. Editor-in-Chief “His language is so interesting, too,” Creekmore said. “It’s not just like formal A few weeks ago, Tom Broadhead went communication; he’s actually writing to a on a search for stamps. Instead, what he friend.” found was a piece of UT history. “It’s so excitBroadhead, the direcing,” Broadhead tor of undergraduate said. “You think academic advancement about this guy, he in the Office of comes here from U n d e rg ra d u at e the North, in 1834 Admissions and a prohe becomes presifessor of geology at UT, dent of a school was browsing a stamp that, according to show in Charleston, him, was pretty S.C., when a familiar rundown at the stamp dealer presented time.” him with an unlikely Before disopportunity. cussing his ideas Out of nowhere, the for UT in the letter, dealer pulled out an Estabrook dived original letter written into his responsiby former UT President bilities as the presJoseph Estabrook, a ident of the univerrelic of university histosity. He writes of ry dating back to 1835. responsibilities “He shows me this that kept him busy letter,” Broadhead said. in his new position, “And I was just kind of which Creekmore speechless. He says, said was more akin ‘I’ve had it for about 30 to the duties of years. I think it needs to today’s chancellor. go home.’” “The Office of Broadhead didn’t hesPresident here is itate. He whipped out no sinecure,” his checkbook and purEstabrook writes. chased the historical let“If I have more ter. salary than the pro“I could not wipe the fessors — I have all grin off my face,” the responsibility Broadhead said. — every thing to He brought the letter oversee and attend back to Knoxville and, to.” knowing its significance Broadhead said George Richardson • The Daily Beacon to UT history, took it Estabrook’s opinby the office of Betsey UT director of undergraduate academic advancement Tom Broadhead (right) holds a letter written by Joseph Estabrook in Creekmore, senior asso- 1835. Estabrook, the fifth president of UT — known at the time as East Tennessee College — wrote the letter to a cousin. ion of the university’s presidency ciate vice chancellor for The letter (left) provides insight into Estabrook’s tenure at UT. shines light on the finance and administraas low as it possible could be when I “He was an amazing person that signif- work ethic exhibited by the leader. tion and a UT history buff. “That was written in 1835,” Broadhead “I was just blown away,” Creekmore accepted my appointment.” Creekmore icantly increased the academic standing said Estabrook’s reign was a sigh of relief of the institution.” said, “but you’d like to think every UT said. The intention of Estabrook to make UT president should read that letter and The letter, dated Dec. 25, 1835, was a after the weak administration of Piper. “(Piper) followed Charles Coffin, who a university of academic excellence was think, ‘OK, maybe I can take UT to the personal correspondance between was a strong president,” Creekmore said. evident within the letter. next level like this guy did.’” Estabrook, who served as UT president “There’s a line where he says our Broadhead plans on donating the letter from 1834-50, and his cousin, John Wood, “Piper simply was not a strong presirequirements are the same as Amherst to the university, where it will be added in New Hampshire. Estabrook writes at dent.” The president’s efforts for improve- (College) and Yale (University),” into the UT archives. Creekmore said the length about the status of the university, his disdain for the time period’s American ment to East Tennessee College were Broadhead said. “At the end, he gets into importance of these historical pieces of political figures and even discusses family highlighted in the letter. He writes of an some commentary about how he doesn’t university history cannot be overstated. “I would hope other folks who might matters with Wood toward the end of the improved library and a newly purchased like Andrew Jackson, he doesn’t like boarding house before touching on the Martin Van Buren and some other stuff.” find things like this might think of us, exchange. impressive enrollment at the college, Creekmore said while the content is too,” Creekmore said.

Zac Ellis

Professor argues against student fee Blair Kuykendall News Editor Controversy is looming over a $38 insurance fee that students are required to pay for participation service-learning experiences off-campus. John Nolt, professor of philosophy, learned of the relatively new insurance fee as a requirement for students in his environmental ethics class. He said he was shocked by the administrative policy that requires students, in his view, to pay for the opportunity to serve. “I think it is wrong to charge students a fee for doing community service,” Nolt said. “Our students will be clearing trash from creeks and rivers, doing trail maintenance, growing food sustainably in organic gardens for the benefit of impoverished people, testing water for pollution, caring for abandoned animals and a variety of other projects. The work they do is beneficial to the whole community.” The fee has been dubbed “Student Professional Liability Insurance” and is mandatory for UT students who would like to learn through service to the community. “The requirement of a $38 liability fee for classes engaged in experiential learning has been brought to the attention of the Office of the Provost,” Craig Bleakney, service learning coordinator, said. “Students from any college might be required to purchase this insurance when they enter the community to participate in some project.” The administration held that the fee serves an important purpose that benefits the student body. “The origin of this fee was for the purpose of protecting students, the university and our community partners when students must

leave the university to engage in service as part of a requirement for a class,” Bleakney said. “This began as an effort to protect our nursing students when they worked with patients in the hospital and has since been adopted by many of our colleges to protect our students.” The fee is devoted to protecting students from potential legal responsibility that could result from their service projects. “This $38 fee covers students for an entire year from all liability claims made by a third party,” Bleakney said. “If a lawsuit were to arise against a UT student for some reason, the $38 fee starts to look like a really good investment.” Nolt, however, said he viewed the fee with some concern. “If anything, we should be paying them,” Nolt said. “If a student organization does this sort of work, their members aren’t charged to do it.” It is uncertain what effects this policy will have on UT’s involvement with the Knoxville community. Nolt said he foresees undesirable outcomes from the requirement. “The insurance policy discourages offcampus service learning projects, which the university has been trying to promote, and which are educationally sound and effective,” Nolt said. “Instructors who find the fee and attendant administrative details burdensome or unfair may simply not offer such projects.” The administration has made it distinctly clear that the fee was not intended to minimize service-learning participation. “We certainly do not want to hinder students from engaging the community and building learning experiences,” Bleakney Tia Patron • The Daily Beacon said. “However we also have a responsibility Adrianna Boghozian, junior in math, and Professor Lynn Sacco celebrate during the to protect our students from litigation birthday party for OUTREACH LGBT & Ally Resource Center on Thursday. They should the sitserved cupcakes and cookies and had a birthday sign for guests to sign. See INSURANCE on Page 3 uation arise.”


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