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The Daily Beacon

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Volume 146, Issue 14

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Wednesday, April 30, 2025

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@utkdailybeacon

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NEWS

The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, April 30, 2025

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Eviction rates in Knoxville reach all-time highs Federal funds for prevention programs run dry, harming ‘everyday people’ SHELBY WRIGHT Editor-in-Chief Knoxville has long taken pride in being an affordable place to live. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically altered its housing landscape. Now, every Tuesday at Knox County General Sessions Court, the wooden benches fill with families, single parents and elderly residents — many unsure why they’re there, while others are wondering what will happen next as they face eviction.

With the increase in remote work postpandemic, people moved in from more expensive states, such as California and New York, drawn

by East Tennessee’s low cost of living and natural beauty.

“They could suddenly work from anywhere,” Solange Muñoz, a professor at the University of Tennessee working with the Appalachian Justice Research Center, said. “And so they came here — but our housing stock didn’t grow to meet the demand.”

In 2022, apartment occupancy in Knoxville reached almost 99%. Prices soared and never returned to pre-pandemic levels. The result?

Longtime residents, already living paycheck to paycheck, could no longer afford their rent.

“We weren’t ready for it,” Muñoz said. “And now, can’t make rent in a city where $7.50 is still the minimum wage.”

The Knoxville housing crisis has reached a tipping point after eviction court cases heard on a single day reached an all-time high last month.

Across Knoxville, residents are grappling with a housing market that is becoming increasingly unaffordable. Since 2020, rents have increased by over 56%, far outpacing wage growth, which has risen by only 3.4% during the same period. While inflation has hovered around 20% nationally, the disproportionate rise in local rental costs reveals a deeper structural issue.

One of the most harmful misconceptions about homelessness is that it stems from personal failings like drug addiction or poor decision-making, according to Caroline Grossman, a UT student working with Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment.

“That’s just not what we’re seeing,” she said.

“These are everyday people — teachers, service workers, parents — who are losing their homes because they can’t afford rent. That’s it.”

Grossman has seen people evicted after falling behind due to bureaucratic delays in housing assistance. In one case, a woman recovering from heart surgery was served her eviction notice while still hospitalized.

“She showed up to court the next day with bandages on her chest,” Grossman told the

Beacon. “She was living in a hotel when I last checked in with her.”

Grossman recalled asking the woman if she would consider fighting her eviction further. The woman simply replied, “‘I’m just so tired’ … she told me, ‘I’m just so tired that I could fight it, and I’d be a richer woman if I did (fight back), but I’m so tired, and I have to work like I have no time … so I’m just gonna leave it alone.’ And that’s what so many people do,” Grossman said.

What researchers like Grossman and Muñoz are finding is that eviction isn’t just a legal issue — it’s an emotional and physical trauma that reverberates through families and communities.

“There’s so much stigma,” said Muñoz. “But when you sit in those courtrooms and talk to people, you realize — it could be any of us. A medical emergency, a job loss, a mistake in the system — that’s all it takes.”

The court system itself adds another layer of trauma to the eviction process. Both Grossman and Muñoz describe eviction court as deeply confusing and disorganized.

“There’s no signage. No one to explain the process. People wait for hours, unsure when their case will be called,” said Muñoz. “If they miss their name — even if they just went to the bathroom — they can get a default judgment against them. Just like that.”

The toll extends far beyond physical conditions. Each week, approximately 150 households in Knox County face the threat of eviction. With limited legal resources available, most tenants navigate the court process on their own — or fail to appear at all, often unaware of their rights and the court process.

Landlords typically come with attorneys, but Legal Aid of East Tennessee is one of the organizations trying to level the playing field.

Through emergency CARES Act funding, LAET was able to hire additional attorneys to represent tenants in court — often preventing evictions from being recorded on their permanent records.

However, that funding will run out by the end of May unless the Knoxville City Council reallocates it.

“Without that money, they’ll go from multiple attorneys back down to two,” Grossman said. “... Handling hundreds of cases every week — it’s just not sustainable.”

As budget hearings continue at Knoxville City Council, the future of eviction prevention efforts hangs in the balance. Advocates are urging council members to keep the program alive by allocating new funds — but the response has been mixed.

Councilwoman Gwen McKenzie and Vice Mayor Tommy Smith have shown interest in expanding support, according to Grossman. However, other officials, including Councilwoman Amelia Parker, are pushing

The one sign in a back room of the Old Knox County Courthouse, directing people to the civil sessions courtroom. March 30, 2025.

Shelby Wright / The Daily Beacon for more direct investment in those already experiencing homelessness.

Grossman agrees the city needs a comprehensive approach — but also believes eviction prevention is a critical first step.

“So it just goes to show that this is a larger issue that we have,” Grossman said. “A lack of funding in a lot of places, and maybe a lack of organization in some places because they’re so stretched thin. They’re trying to do so many things and handle so many cases that some cases slip through their cracks.”

Evictions account for at least 21% of homelessness in Knox County, and the housing crisis in Knoxville reflects a broader issue — a system that is overstretched, failing to meet the needs of its most vulnerable residents.

The downstream effects are devastating, according to a public forum in the Knoxville Civic Auditorium on Tuesday, April 8. Here, the community action group Justice Knox gathered to ask both the City and County Mayors, Indya Kincannon and Glenn Jacobs, to agree to specific requests to improve the lives of community members who find themselves living on the margins — including those who face eviction.

Mayor Jacobs has promised to help preserve portions of the critical support provided by the Eviction Prevention Program in Knoxville and provide $300,000 of funding over the coming fiscal year.

“We have identified a revenue source. As long as that remains intact, we will do that,” Jacobs said.

STORY CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

NEWS STORY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 In 2024, 72% of people who entered homelessness in Knoxville did so because of job loss, eviction or the inability to find affordable housing. Last year, over 5,000 individuals accessed homeless services for the first time.

For many, it will take over a year to find stable housing again, according to Justice Knox.

As city leaders prepare to finalize their budget, advocates hope that a spotlight on the eviction crisis will translate into real investment — not just in affordable housing, but in the tools needed to keep people housed in the first place.

For Knoxville’s renters, time is running out.

“For people who are working good jobs, it’s still not enough,” Emily Cala, a LAET attorney, said. “If your rent jumps 50%, there’s no way your boss is going to give you a raise to match that. Meanwhile, wages have only increased about 3% in the same time period.”

The situation is especially dire for low-income workers. A person earning $10 per hour, working full-time, brings home approximately $1,600 per month. With the average rent in Knoxville hovering between $1,200 and $1,500, many end up spending more than half their income on rent alone, leaving little for food, transportation or medical care.

As of 2024, more than 50% of East Tennessee renters spend over 30% of their income on housing, exceeding the threshold set by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for being “cost-burdened.“ Knoxville’s housing market has become what

Wednesday, April 30, 2025 • The Daily Beacon advocates describe as “extremely high demand, low supply,” particularly for affordable rentals.

For those priced out of the standard market — where landlords require background checks, income verification and good credit — the only remaining option may be substandard housing with few protections.

“Landlords in the informal rental market often skip inspections and won’t respond to maintenance requests,” Michael Davis, LAET’s managing attorney, said. “We regularly see units with extreme mold, structural damage, bed bugs, pests and no heat or air. It’s not just a housing problem — it’s a public health crisis.”

Lizzie Sherlin, a UT student researcher working with SOCM, recalled sitting beside a woman in eviction court still wearing her University of Tennessee catering uniform.

“She had to go to work after court. That’s the reality for many of our clients — teachers, nurses, hourly workers — people doing their best, still on the edge,” Sherlin said.

While emergency rental assistance programs funded by the American Rescue Plan helped thousands avoid eviction by paying up to 18 months of rent arrears, those programs are drying up as the federal funds they received since 2020 are expected to expire by mid-2025 with no guaranteed renewal.

These marks make securing future housing nearly impossible, even when tenants do everything else right, according to Cala.

In response to the worsening crisis, the EPP was created, fueled by nearly $50 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds. Between 2020 and 2024, the EPP assisted more than 14,000

households in avoiding eviction by providing emergency rental assistance, which often covered up to 18 months of back rent.

Yet, this critical program is also now set to expire due to dwindling funds and a lack of current plans for renewal.

“Once that program ends, we expect a huge surge in people who previously didn’t need legal aid because they had access to rental assistance,” Cala said. “We’re already stretched thin.

Right now, it’s just three of us on the eviction prevention team.”

Before the staffing cuts, the team consisted of five attorneys and three paralegals. Now, Cala and Davis, along with one paralegal, handle most of the eviction defense in Knox County. Case reviews happen weekly — and each week, they turn away as many as 20% of applicants due to lack of capacity.

In a 12-month period, LAET helped 91% of its clients avoid a permanent eviction judgment, showing the tangible impact of legal support.

Yet, with limited resources, their capacity to respond is shrinking at a time when it’s needed most.

“Eviction is often the first domino to fall,” Cala said. “If someone loses their housing, it affects their job, their health, their kids’ schooling. And once you have that eviction on your record, it’s incredibly hard to find new housing.”

According to the forum, more than 5,000 Knoxville households are on waiting lists for public housing or Section 8 vouchers offered by Knoxville Community Development Corporation.

With this growing number, wait times for these subsidies can stretch into years.

With out-of-state investors buying up onceaffordable properties, raising rents and skipping essential maintenance, tenants face a choice — leave town, go homeless or accept dangerous living conditions.

City and county officials have begun planning long-term solutions, including a five-year strategic plan through the newly created Office of Housing Stability. Advocates hope the city will move toward “functional zero” — a standard where homelessness is rare, brief and immediately addressed.

But reaching that goal requires more than vision. It requires sustained funding for eviction prevention, legal services and the construction of affordable housing.

For now, LAET attorneys continue to do what they can — offering more than just legal defenses, often connecting clients with local ministries, shelters or immigrant resource centers.

“These aren’t typical legal duties,” Davis said.

“It’s part social work, part legal defense, but that’s what’s needed. If we had more staff, if we could hire a dedicated social worker, there’s so much more we could do.”

Experts and advocates agree that Knoxville needs more affordable housing units, enhanced eviction diversion efforts, and ongoing legal and social support systems to prevent families from falling into homelessness.

“Housing touches everything,” Davis said.

“Without it, work, health, education and stability collapse. It’s not just a roof over your head — it’s the foundation of a functional, dignified life.”

Weekly Campus Crime Log INCIDENT DESCRIPTION

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DATE / REPORT

TIME OCCURED

LOCATION

DISPOSITION

Stalking

04/29/25 0828

March 2025 (unknown times)

On Campus

*CSA Report

Domestic Assault, Aggravated Assault

04/28/25 2033

04/28/25 2033

Fab Lab

Active

Burglary

04/27/25 0307

04/26/25 2100 04/27/25 0030

1720 Melrose Ave

Active

Disorderly Conduct, Public Intoxication, Underage Consumption, Possession and/or Use of Fake Driver’s License

04/26/25 0110

04/26/25 0110

1829 Cumberland Ave

Arrest

Assault Against Law Enforcement Officer, Failure to Obey Officer, Evading Arrest

04/25/25 2017

04/25/25 2017

1600 Phillip Fulmer Way

Arrest

Criminal impersonation

4/24/25 0541

4/07/25 0541

514 N Gay St

Warrant Outstanding

Criminal Trespass

04/23/25 1326

04/23/25 1326

3723 Riverside Dr

Arrest

Unlawful Possession of a Handgun, Maintaining a Dwelling for Drug Use, Simple Possession chedule 6, Unlawful Drug Paraphernalia

04/22/25 1057

04/22/25 1057

4600 Blue Diamond Way

Arrest

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NEWS

The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Office of Title IX 2024 report: Surge in online stalking, pregnancies HARRISON ING Staff Writer

According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, about two-thirds of college students experience sexual harassment.

Given this alarming reality that college students may face, leaders like the Title IX coordinator, Ashley Blamey, ensure students at University of Tennessee feel safe in this manner.

Blamey presented her office’s 2024 annual report on Wednesday, April 23, which stated that the office worked with 509 students and employee concerns in 2024 — marking the highest number from 2018.

The Office of Title IX saw an uptick in stalking in 2024 — particularly cyberstalking.

According to the 2024 annual report, there were 40 stalking cases compared to 28 reports in 2022-2023. Blamey mentioned that this behavior has recently become more challenging to track.

“Stalking is really frequent now because online spaces are really just the Wild West out there, and it’s much more difficult to fight that,” Blamey said. “But we can still do things to resolve situations and provide safety.”

According to Blamey, OTIX prioritizes openness and student autonomy above all else when dealing with sexual misconduct.

She shared that their door is always open, and each concern is treated with dignity and care.

“The reality is that we’re all growing and learning, so we’re always open to feedback, open to ideas if you see something that needs addressing,” Blamey said. “It’s why I keep showing up and why I feel the way I do about this work.”

There are protocols in place that help each report get to the proper resources, and Blamey said she and her colleagues make the process as humanizing and empathetic as possible.

Reaching a resolution involves as much effort

Members of the Title IX office gave an overview of how they help UT students in need. Thursday, April 24, 2025.

Harrison Ing / The Daily Beacon

as the vulnerable party wants, and nothing is done without full consultation.

“We never want people to feel like the decisions are out of their hands, and we know that when people find themselves in vulnerable situations it’s hard to feel empowered,” Blamey said.

Blamey explained that there are often multiple paths to a resolution, and it doesn’t always have to lead to the victim’s exposure to hearing procedures, investigations or any other potentially troubling experiences.

Reporting a case to the OTIX is relatively simple, but Blamey said there is still some mystery around it. A report can be sent in by the victim, a third party or a mandatory reporter, typically an officer. Once it’s in, the office will contact the complainant for details.

Even then, the complainant can decide how much they want to share and how far the resolution of events goes.

A big focus of the lecture was the socialecological model, which sees outreach on a societal, community, relational and individual level. Blamey said that prevention is the core of the OTIX operations.

“I see that as the linchpin of our operations and investigations here, making sure people know what their rights are and what resources are available so they can make more informed

decisions,” Blamey said.

Maddison Brtalik, a freshman studying finance, commented the OTIX’s commitment to spreading information has greatly impacted her feeling of safety, and the community is better for it.

“I’ve seen her — Blamey — at a sorority event before and she’s taught us a lot about what we should do and what’s available — it’s very important for safety,” Brtalik said.

Blamey said that the previous year also saw a spike in student pregnancies, which the OTIX can assist with by providing resources and connections to partners on campus. She said this is an area where many are reluctant to ask for help, but it can make a huge difference in academic performance and wellness.

According to the 2024 report, all pregnant and parenting students said they would recommend the OTIX’s support and resources to those in a similar situation.

Natalie Brevick, a freshman studying audiology, said that the presentation made the services feel less daunting, and the breadth of what’s available at the OTIX is reassuring.

“I feel like a lot of people get scared because they don’t want to get pulled into something they don’t know about, so seeing how voluntary the whole thing is makes it less scary,” Brevick said.

H.A.L.T. builds bonds between at-risk youth, shelter dogs in Knoxville KACIE BURNS Staff Writer Humans and Animal Learning Together, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) program, conducts fourweek long obedience training classes. The goal of this program is to provide intervention for teens while also improving the adoptability of rescue dogs.

H.A.L.T. was established in 1987 at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, which collaborated with local shelters, rehabilitation centers and professional dog trainers.

The adolescents for this program are selected from local residential treatment facilities, and the dogs are rescued from animal shelters. Each session lasts four weeks with two classes each week.

“When the kids get there, the volunteers already have the dogs out,” Julie Gause, the H.A.L.T. board of directors president, said. “They work with the dogs directly on basic obedience. The kids and the dogs work together for 30 to 40 minutes, and then we have educational sessions at the end, talking about how to take care of dogs.”

Classes are held each fall and spring and are led by volunteers. Following each session, the dogs are adopted into suitable homes where they can use the skills they learned during the

program.

Since H.A.L.T. was established, the program has saved over 350 shelter dogs from euthanasia and worked with 1,400 teens.

For Gause, the success of this program is not about one specific story but the consistent growth she has observed in every H.A.L.T. session.

“From being a little disengaged to many times in tears because they are so attached to their dog, and they don’t want to leave the dog,” Gause said. “The realization that what they have done has helped the dogs find their best home, their best life, and that really resonates with a lot of the kids.”

HALT is influential not only because of the kids’ work with animals but also because of how they are treated during the program.

“We have feedback that they enjoy being treated like an adult,” Gause said. “They are given responsibility, and we trust them.

We don’t know their backgrounds, and we don’t know their stories. They are equal with everybody else there.”

Despite the program’s success, things changed after the pandemic for every dog rescue group and nonprofit, according to Gause. Finding the support and the volunteers to help run classes has been difficult.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Gause witnessed a boom in dog adoptions, but

now, not many people are looking to adopt.

Financial support has also been a hurdle for the program.

“We are always looking for donations. It is not cheap because the dogs live in a kennel environment for at least two or three weeks before the session begins,” Gause said. “They go through veterinary treatment there, and

then they live in a kennel for the four weeks during the session. As you can imagine, expenses add up.”

Despite these difficulties, H.A.L.T. is giving dogs a second chance at life while also helping at-risk youths discover self-confidence and responsibility.

Featuring one member of the H.A.L.T. organization. Friday, April 25, 2025. Courtesy of Julie Gause

NEWS

Wednesday, April 30, 2025 • The Daily Beacon

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Vaccination waivers pose serious questions for UT campus as Tennessee measles cases increase CADEN DYER Managing Editor On April 17, 2025, the Tennessee Department of Health confirmed a total of six measles cases in the state. With the increase in cases and the known infectious nature of the disease, students and faculty raise the question: Will measles come to UT’s campus? And if so, what will the severity of an outbreak be?

Measles is an extremely contagious, potentially fatal disease. Two doses of the MMR vaccine are highly effective at preventing it, according to TDOH. UT Knoxville requires proof of certain

vaccinations from all new incoming students, in compliance with Tennessee’s Department of Health’s College Immunization Requirements. According to Tennessee’s website, full-time Tennessee college students are required to have four critical vaccinations, including two doses of the MMR vaccine if born on or after Jan. 1, 1957. UT does not require these vaccinations from full-time, distance-learning students.

This means that students who attend UT completely remote are not required to have the same proof of immunization as students who attend in-person.

Of course, not all in-person students receive vaccinations.

According to a public records request filed by The Daily Beacon, 4,903 vaccination waivers were filed and approved for students of the University of Tennessee between academic years 2021-25.

A vaccination waiver can be procured by submitting an immunization exemption form to the Office of Immunization. Types of waivers and reasons they are filed can vary.

According to Charles Primm, public records manager at the UT System level, waiver types include administrative, medical, military and religious.

The numbers given to The Daily Beacon do not distinguish between some or all vaccines. It is unknown how many of those exemptions are for the MMR vaccine.

In the fall of 2024, UT reported that 38,728 students were enrolled. Approximately 8,000 students currently live in the Knoxville campus residence halls. In order for a community to be protected from measles, it needs a vaccination rate of 95%. It is unlikely that all 4,903 vaccine waivers were for the MMR vaccine, but if they were, UT’s measles vaccination rate in students would be 87.34%.

Although risk might be low, it is still good practice to be informed on symptoms and handling of the disease.

First, know what you are looking for.

Measles is prefaced by a fever and malaise but is most often identified by its initial

red and spotty rash. This rash blanches to the touch and follows a very specific path through the body.

“It starts on the face and it spreads from the head down and from the center out,” Dr. Abigail Blackmon of Blackmon Pediatrics said. “So, face to neck to trunk and back, and then to extremities. And it disappears in the order in which it appeared.”

Second, make sure you have received both doses of the MMR vaccine. Call your pediatrician’s office or a family member in charge of your immunization records.

Third, understand the risks involved with the disease and how quickly it can spread.

Measles can live in an airspace for up to 2 hours, according to the CDC. Breathing contaminated air, touching infectious surfaces or coming into contact with an infected individual increases the risk of contracting measles.

“If you’re sharing air, 90% of susceptible individuals will contract the disease,” Blackmon said. “20% of people with the measles will be hospitalized with complications. The case fatality rate is anywhere from 4-8%, depending on the resources available in the community.”

Blackmon said those who are immunocompromised — those who are diabetic, have asthma, etc. — should be especially aware of places they are going and the potential signs of measles.

International students’ SEVIS status restored by federal government STAFF REPORT As of April 25, the Student Exchange and Visitor Information System status of four international students at the University of Tennessee has been restored, according to Kerry Gardner, UT’s director of Media and Internal Relations.

The Justice Department announced that it was reversing its position in an April 25 filing in a United States District Court in Massachusetts. Following this, some students were notified suddenly that their SEVIS status had been restored.

Mark Sauter, an assistant U.S. attorney in Massachusetts, submitted a document stating that the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement was developing

a policy to terminate records in the SEVIS. Until that system is created, the registrations will remain active or be reactivated, according to USA TODAY. “International Student and Scholar Services is working with those students on the next steps and continuing to monitor this developing situation,” Gardner told the Beacon.

Still, five other international students and community members at UT had not had their SEVIS statuses restored until April 28, when UT was notified that all nine international sediments’ who had their SEVIS status revoked had been restored.

This move comes a few weeks after the Trump administration began revoking the visas of thousands of international

students across the country, seemingly targeting those who’ve participated in political activism or have a criminal record.

Following an investigation conducted by the University of Tennessee on April 4, it was revealed that the SEVIS status of four international students had been revoked.

On April 11, five more were added to that list.

UT found that two students had their statuses changed due to a criminal record.

One student is on judicial diversion for a property crime, and another has been charged with driving under the influence.

The details for the remaining seven have not been shared.

The Center for Global Engagement and International Student and Scholar Services office assists international students in obtaining visas and maintaining active SEVIS status.

The names of these students are omitted for privacy reasons.

Shelby Wright / The Daily Beacon

This is a developing story. Follow along at utdailybeacon.com for updates.

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SPORTS

The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Danny White’s UT is thriving How his ‘ambitious vision’ has paid off for Tennessee JACK CHURCH Assistant Sports Editor Danny White’s first taste of aggression at Tennessee came before he was even hired.

He spent two days in January 2021 virtually interviewing for the athletic director position with the university’s biggest names — University of Tennessee Chancellor Donde Plowman, UT System President Randy Boyd and Board of Trustees Chair John Compton.

Plowman didn’t want an elaborate process surrounding the AD search. She wanted to finish the job quickly and knew White was the man to lead the next generation of Tennessee’s athletic department. So why wait?

That afternoon, following the virtual interviews, she flew to White’s home in Orlando alongside Boyd and Compton, closing the deal with White within hours of the initial screening.

“When I finished the Zoom with them at like 11 a.m., and they said we’ll be at your front door at six, I was like, ‘whoa, this is aggressive,’ but I also kind of liked it,” White told The Daily Beacon. “This is a university academic leader that operates like how I’d operate if I was in a coaching search.”

While White was impressed with the intensity and competitiveness of Plowman, he still had some concerns, specifically regarding institutional alignment. He worried that Tennessee was a place where coaches or boosters would go around him to the chancellor or system president. Plowman was steadfast in her belief that those would not occur at Tennessee.

She entered the meeting with a draft memorandum of understanding, and White signed it that night.

The contract details were finalized quickly after that, and he was officially appointed to the position on Jan. 21, 2021. Since then, White and Plowman have established trust and been in lockstep with one another.

White’s journey has hit its peak at Tennessee, but it started far from Knoxville.

It started in the rooms where his father, Kevin White, was running some of the best athletic departments in the country as his sons were growing up. It continued on through the revitalization of Buffalo and UCF’s departments under Danny White’s leadership before that night in his Orlando

home brought him to Knoxville.

Throughout the whole process, White’s vision never wavered. He wanted to build the best athletic department in the country.

Since White got to Knoxville, Tennessee has won 12 SEC championships between regular-season and postseason events.

In 2023-24, all 20 teams made the NCAA postseason, a year capped off by Tennessee baseball winning the national championship — the school’s first in 15 years.

Tennessee athletics is at its best, and it’s because of the man in charge.

“The rebuild happened faster than he thought it would, certainly faster than I thought it would,” Plowman told the Beacon.

“Everybody wants to be part of a winner, and it’s been this magical thing to watch.”

A leader is born Danny and his brothers, Mike and Brian, grew up under the tutelage of their father, Kevin. The legendary athletic director retired from Duke’s AD job in 2021 after 13 years.

Before that, he served in the same position at Arizona State and Notre Dame.

Kevin White built his own success. He was the first member of his family to graduate from high school and learned everything he knew by trying things out. Throughout his entire career, Kevin never served as an assistant in an athletic department.

He and the people he hired always aspired to move upward, and that upward mobility was reflected in his family.

“Our kids were always around really good people, and people that were making a difference and were aspirational and were in a growth mode,” Kevin told the Beacon. “I do think that kind of transfixed their mentality to kind of follow suit.”

Mike, who took a different path from his brothers and pursued coaching, believed that their father Kevin’s influence helped all three brothers develop a strong sense of character, leadership and ethics. “(Kevin) always operated at such a high level of integrity, and we always, as kids, admired the way that he treated people and the number of strong relationships that he and mom developed over the years,” Mike said. “That, in a lot of ways, prepared us to really jump into any type of profession.”

Brian took his first athletic director job in March 2018 at Florida Atlantic and immediately made a big decision. Less than two weeks into his first-ever athletic director

job and still in his early 30s, he fired head men’s basketball coach Michael Curry and launched a nationwide search.

Having just arrived in Boca Raton, Brian ran the hiring process out of an on-campus apartment with his wife and two kids. He brought in Dusty May, the former assistant coach at the University of Florida, to lead the Owls. While at Florida, May had worked under the leadership of head coach Mike. However, this wouldn’t be the only connection between the White brothers and the May hire.

Five years later, Florida Atlantic made its first-ever Sweet 16 appearance in 2023 at Madison Square Garden. Brian suddenly found himself crossing paths with Danny and Tennessee for a trip to the Elite Eight, something neither athletic director had yet achieved in their careers.

The Owls emerged victorious 62-55, and Danny greeted Brian after the game to express his congratulations. Brian tried to be humble. He couldn’t believe his first-ever hire as an athletic director led to an Elite Eight trip.

“Outside of the birth of my children and being married to my wife, I can’t imagine a more joyous moment than that run,” Brian said. “But there was a feeling of bittersweet as I was sad for Danny.”

Two nights later, the Owls beat Kansas

State to get to the Final Four for the first time in program history, a moment that put FAU athletics on the map. The performance was rewarded that summer when Florida Atlantic completed its move to the American Athletic Conference, a major step for a stilldeveloping program.

Brian had business acumen from the beginning, and Danny thinks he has the best interpersonal skills in the family — skills that led him through the ranks and into the Florida Atlantic job he has now held for seven years.

“He’s been a fundraiser since he was like eight years old,” White said. “If there’s a fourth-grade raffle ticket competition, he’s going to win it every time.”

The business of winning White also boasted strong business skills — skills that he has refined working in one of the premier athletic conferences in the country. His first taste of the SEC was in his role as a senior associate athletic director at Ole Miss in 2009, a job in which he learned what the revenue generation system should ideally look like at the college level.

He immediately began streamlining fundraising operations, starting with the sale of season tickets.

STORY CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

Danny White speaks before introducing new Lady Vols hoops head coach Kim Caldwell at Ray and Lucy Hand North Digital Studio. Tuesday, April 9, 2024. File / The Daily Beacon

SPORTS STORY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 Historically, fans at Ole Miss had to call two separate offices to renew season tickets and make an athletic donation. White wanted to bring ticket purchasing and fundraising together, creating collaboration between the two arms of the revenue machine.

His vision of a tight-knit department quickly became a reality at Ole Miss and a model that he took to other universities.

“What sets Danny apart is his critical thinking,” Allen Greene, who worked under White at Ole Miss, Buffalo and Tennessee, said. “He’s relentless when it comes to problem-solving, applying that drive to every part of the organization until he finds the best solution.”

White left Oxford to become Buffalo’s athletic director in 2012 and further refined his plan there, leveraging connections with the Bills to enact his vision of a pro-style athletic department at the college level. He employed a similar tactic at UCF when he was hired there in 2015, engaging with Orlando Magic CEO Alex Martins to help raise the university’s brand value nationwide.

Since arriving in Knoxville, White has had a sizable impact on Tennessee athletics, starting with his donation numbers.

According to the NCAA revenue and expense report for 2023-24, Tennessee reported $72.7 million in contributions provided and used during the fiscal year, more than three times the donation level when White arrived in 2020-21.

Tennessee’s fans are passionate about winning, and White harnessed that. He recognized that Tennessee was at its best when resources were highest. When those resources fell off, so did the programs.

“I think (the fans) wanted to see an administration that was as competitive as they are,” White said. “It took us a little bit of time to show them that we are and to build that kind of equity with them.”

White’s Tennessee hasn’t known a time without success yet. During White’s leadership thus far, Tennessee athletics has won the SEC All-Sports trophy in all three years.

Strong athletics, and specifically the exposure that the school earns from having programs compete on a national stage, can have a positive ripple effect across the university, driving more students to campus and improving the reputation of the school.

“When we played six games to win the College World Series, that’s like 24 hours of just free publicity,” Plowman said. “So there’s a relationship between that and 63,000 applicants for next year’s freshman class and parents all over the state and country wanting their kids to come here. It seems like a good environment. They want to be a Volunteer.”

Building a championship team White has hired numerous exceptional coaches during his career as an athletic

Wednesday, April 30, 2025 • The Daily Beacon director. The first step in this process remains the same: meeting with the team.

White wants someone in that role who can find immediate success and meet the needs of the players within the locker room now. That style started at Buffalo when he hired Felisha Legette-Jack as the head women’s basketball coach, his first hire.

The next step involves a lot of research into all candidates who may fit the job description.

It means reaching beyond the typical hiring pool and into uncharted waters. While making a hire for Buffalo’s new football coach, for example, he found Lance Leipold making waves at Division III Wisconsin-Whitewater and decided he was the man for the job.

In a conference that routinely hired inexperienced coaches, White wanted to utilize his resources differently. He hired a successful coach from a lower level who then went on to find success at Buffalo. The Bulls won three bowl games during Leipold’s tenure.

“In my first meeting with him when he came to our house, it became very apparent that Danny White was very much an outsidethe-box thinker in his thought process,” Leipold, now the head football coach at Kansas, told the Beacon. “But he had a plan on what he wanted to try to do and why he was doing it.”

Leipold’s interview with White was very important to the decision. White sought to know how Leipold’s skills would translate to the FBS level, and Leipold knew that the resources would be there for him to be successful.

The development of White’s hiring process began with repetition. He had to change out numerous head coaches during his time at Buffalo and many more at UCF. At those schools, he hired future power-conference coaches like Leipold, Legette-Jack, Nate Oats and Bobby Hurley. That experience helped him during the recent hiring process for the Lady Vols, one where he settled on Kim Caldwell.

White saw confidence in Caldwell from the initial Zoom meeting, the same confidence Plowman saw during her first screening with her athletic director. Winning the interview is just as important as having a strong resume.

Caldwell thrived in both areas.

“She had a little bit of swagger to her,” White said. “She’s very confident in the system she runs, why she runs it, the science behind it, why it’s successful and the way she explained all that. And then as a basketball guy, just kind of hearing her just break down basketball, talk about it in such confidence but casual ways was different.”

White saw authenticity in Caldwell. He understood why she won at Glenville State and during her year at Marshall, and Caldwell asked White if Tennessee wanted a piece of that success.

He did.

Caldwell exuded that confidence at her opening press conference, one where she

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Kim Caldwell, left, is introduced by Danny White as the new head coach of the Lady Vols at Ray and Lucy Hand North Digital Studio. Tuesday, April 9, 2024. File / The Daily Beacon

immediately shot down any indication that her style of play wouldn’t work at the powerconference level. In her first season, she took the Lady Vols to the Sweet 16 and still has higher expectations for where the program should be. After her inaugural campaign leading the Lady Vols concluded, Caldwell highlighted White’s faith in her confidence as a motivating factor for her throughout the season.

A similar process unfolded when White hired Josh Heupel to be Tennessee’s 27th head football coach. He wanted someone with a distinctive style of play — a coach who would make the rebuilding process fun, even when the results weren’t immediately apparent.

“When it comes to coaches, there’s a thing he’s trying to accomplish, and he’s going to find the person that helps him accomplish that thing,” Plowman said. “I have complete confidence in him.”

A blueprint for future success White launched Tennessee’s new fiveyear strategic plan in July 2022 named “Rise Glorious” in reference to the fourth line of Tennessee’s alma mater. One of the goals listed in that plan is to win a national championship at least once every four years.

That happened in Omaha last June when Tennessee baseball won the school’s first team championship since 2009.

“It’s been 15 years since we’ve won one of those, and it doesn’t need to be that long for the next one,” White said. “It doesn’t have to be baseball for the next one, although that would be great, but other sports need to be chipping in with some ‘natties’ as well, and I think that’s exactly what we’re going to see happen.”

The plan sets high, lofty expectations, something White has been aiming to achieve since he first stepped foot in a college athletics office. Even before that, he was using lessons learned from his father to climb the administrative ladder.

White developed similar plans at Buffalo and UCF with goals that, at times, seemed too good to be true. His conviction and determination make everyone in his department feel ready and prepared to make it happen.

“In each of Danny’s stops, he crafts an ambitious vision,” Greene said. “Pursuing it can feel daunting, but his unwavering belief in that vision is intoxicating, eliminating any doubt about the path forward.”

The vision behind White’s goals permeates throughout the Tennessee athletics office.

Everyone is working toward the same goals for Tennessee, and that vision proves itself with successful results.

“He’s been able to establish clear expectations that people have met, bring people into the program, support those who are there, and provide that kind of support to meet those expectations,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey told the Beacon. “I think he communicates incredibly well, explains the details and the big picture.”

Today’s Danny White isn’t the same Danny White who was hired by Buffalo at the age of 32. He evolved from a college basketball player at Towson and Notre Dame to a coach, then to a rookie administrator and ultimately to a visionary leader. His career progression was quick, but White likes it that way — he’s someone who leaps at an opportunity, no matter how fast or aggressive it may appear. Plowman still jokes with White’s wife — Shawn — about her sudden arrival in Knoxville that January night in 2021 following White’s hiring. Instead of being the aggressor as usual, White was the recipient of an aggressive hiring process from Tennessee’s chancellor.

Neither party — nor the school they lead — has been the same since.

“I like being on a team,” White said. “And I like being on a team in this Pantone 151.”

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SPORTS

The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Across continents, courts: Shunsuke Mitsui’s journey to Tennessee tennis stardom RYAN HANNA Contributor In the next few weeks, Tennessee tennis senior Shunsuke Mitsui will get one last run at one of the few things that have eluded him during his illustrious collegiate career: a national championship.

He’s made it to the NCAA Round of 16 each of the past two seasons and went to the semifinals in 2022 with the team in doubles, but has not been able to put together a championship run.

Mitsui has become an all-time great in the tennis program at Tennessee, racking up 126 singles wins, four All-SEC team nominations, an ITA All-American nomination and many more awards in his four-year tenure with the Vols. Despite all the success, he also became a deeply caring teammate, friend and athlete who has grown immensely as a person in the four years that he has spent at Tennessee.

Early years and college recruitment A Shizuoka, Japan, native, the move to the United States, and particularly Tennessee, straight out of high school, was beyond impressive. Both in what he hoped to achieve and in the challenge it presented, an 18-year-old high school kid moving across an entire ocean to play a level of tennis he was utterly unfamiliar with.

“Quite honestly, we’re lucky to have Shun here because Wake Forest was on top of Shun before he came to Tennessee,” head coach Chris Woodruff said.

Despite the chaotic turns during the recruitment process, Mitsui says he knew Tennessee was the best fit for him as a player.

“When you look at a good school for tennis or academics, everyone has good facilities and a good gym, but I think Tennessee has the best coaching staff,” Mitsui said. “Woodruff was top-30 when he was a pro, and obviously he played for Tennessee, and he won a national championship. I think that’s amazing and he’s been through everything that I want to be into, and I think there’s not many coaches that have been through that process.”

Growth and development at Tennessee Once committed to the Vols, his journey to stardom was marked from the start as he became the first Japanese player in Tennessee tennis history.

“It means a lot to be the first one for a school,” Mitsui said. “Also being an All-American for the school as the first Japanese player, it’s very cool, and my banner will be on the tennis facility on the all-time wall, it will be very cool.”

Fresh off a life-changing transition and thrust into a completely foreign environment, communication became an immense struggle almost immediately.

Despite having no knowledge of collegiate tennis and how it operates, Mitsui was quickly able to communicate with Woodruff solely through the game itself. Coming out of high

school, he knew tennis inside and out, therefore creating a connection that could supersede the language barrier as a true freshman.

“We spent pretty much the first year communicating with hand signals,” Woodruff said. “He wasn’t as articulate as some people who come from foreign countries, and I didn’t know, but he was understanding a lot more than he was letting on. Thankfully, a lot of the terms for tennis are the same in Japanese.”

Playing alongside program legends like Emile Hudd and Adam Walton, among others, in his early years allowed him to refine his game to the highest level and become perhaps the fiercest competitor on the court at any given moment.

“I learned a lot from those guys,” Mitsui said. “They’re still my best friends, and Emile, I played doubles with him for two years, and I learned a lot. I think I learned the most from him. I would say in being mature, they’re so mature guys and very nice people and very nice to me as well.”

What was initially internal hype and excitement within the program quickly turned into fan engagement and interest as Mitsui began to turn heads on the court.

Finding success on the court Part of being an athlete at Tennessee is the expectation of excellence. While his camaraderie and care for his teammates and friends off the court cannot be overlooked, his tennis resume certainly speaks for itself.

“I’ll never forget him and Emile Hudd playing together,” former Tennessee coach James McKie said. “They had such a funny relationship because Emile was almost like Shun’s big brother, but they would also go at each other and tell each other to you know what, but the matchup worked so well because Shun plays the best in doubles with a big server.”

He won 33 games over two years with Hudd, with the duo’s unique styles blending together to create a dynamic doubles force. Between Mitsui’s smaller frame and athletic quickness and ability to read the ball at the net, and Hudd’s ability to serve and make big plays, the pair quickly climbed the ITA rankings each season, reaching a peak of No. 6 nationally in 2022.

He has continued his winning ways this season, collecting another 14 wins in doubles alongside newcomer Alan Jesudason. Getting to play alongside a now experienced Mitsui has been invaluable for one of the Vols’ most recent transfer portal pickups in Jesudason.

“I feel like for my doubles game especially, when he plays doubles, he plays simple, more focusing on what we can control, and one thing I feel like I really, really learned from him is keeping it simple,” Jesudason said.

His pairing with Jesudason has been the most stable and dynamic doubles duo this season for the Vols, and his ability to perform under pressure has been rubbing off on the team.

Mitsui’s doubles excellence also translated to singles success. The Vols’ senior has amassed 126 singles wins in his tenure, currently sitting

fifth for all-time singles wins in program history. As he guides the Vols to what the team aspires to be, another deep run into the NCAA postseason, he cemented his winning tenure when he landed in the top-five winningest singles players in program history.

He is just the seventh player in program history to record over 100 singles wins and 100 doubles wins, notching the feat during the team’s 4-3 win over Alabama in the SEC Tournament on April 17.

“I think being a good person without a doubt helps your consistency,” McKie said. “You make the right decisions, you try and make other people better, you help other people, you want to give your hand out, so I would say for sure being a good person helps your play.”

Personality shines through success What surprises most people about Tennessee’s senior is how deeply he cares about his friends and teammates. Relationships that started on the court and in the locker room soon became deeper than the game itself and lasted long past the graduation of him and his teammates.

The closest teammate and friend Mitsui grew alongside was Johannus Monday. Although Mitsui and Monday never played doubles together in their overlapping time at Tennessee, the duo became among the closest of friends because of their time on the court.

“I first got the impression that he’s one of the sweetest guys and most humble people you’ll ever meet,” Monday said. “There wasn’t much conversation happening, he didn’t understand English and I didn’t understand Japanese, so there was a bit of a barrier there, but I would say it was an instant connection, we seemed to click for some reason.”

His deep friendships on the team and at the university, along with his desire to be the best person he could be, are what created a sense

of belonging for Mitsui, leading to a rare trait among college athletes these days: loyalty.

A work ethic instilled in him during his childhood allowed him to surpass his teammates and friends on the court, but also created an appreciation among the fans for his talents.

“It helps him enormously,” Monday said of Mitsui’s personality. “He absolutely loves tennis, I mean, he lives and breathes it. You can see that in the way he plays, he’s incredibly emotional and passionate on the court. I could never ask for anything more from a teammate and a friend, he lays it out there on the line every time and his character is second to none.”

From the day he stepped foot on the campus of the University of Tennessee, Mitsui has embodied what it means to be a Volunteer. For a guy who spoke little to no English when he first arrived, he immediately understood and latched onto the culture and the expectations of him as a player.

While vocal leadership is not necessarily his style, his aforementioned work ethic and dedication to the game of tennis demonstrated the culture and values of the Tennessee tennis program like no other.

“He tends to lead by example when it’s on the court or off the court,” Jesudason said. “For example, say someone’s slacking off, he’ll go up to them and speak to them by the side 1-on1 and at the same time show his hard work by performing.”

While his time at Tennessee might be winding down, it’s certainly not over just yet. He has helped this iteration of the Vols win seven straight SEC matches at one point, catapulting the team to a 9-5 record in conference play and an 18-7 record overall this season, entering the NCAA postseason.

Whether he is able to go all the way this season or not, one thing remains certain: Shunsuke Mitsui will leave a legendary mark at UT.

Shunsuke Mitsui celebrates a point during a doubles match against Wake Forest University at Goodfriend Tennis Center. Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024. Cole Moore / The Daily Beacon

NEWS

Wednesday, April 30, 2025 • The Daily Beacon

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Hurricane Helene’s impact is still felt in Cocke County 6 months later PATRICK BUSCH Staff Writer Last September, communities in East Tennessee were battered by Hurricane Helene. Cocke County, just an hour east of Knoxville, was among the hardest-hit counties in the state.

Relief and rebuilding efforts have evolved from the immediate aftermath of the storm but are far from complete.

A grassroots group, the Cocke County Long Term Recovery Group, has formed to help aid locals in their long-term recovery from the hurricane. The group’s goal is to connect and allow for greater coordination between organizations, charities and emergency management agencies from the local to federal level.

Spring Duckett, the group’s executive director, explained how the group allows for greater cooperation between organizations in the rebuilding process.

“Two to three months in, we started having regular meetings in Cocke County that were facilitated by the United Way, Red Cross, FEMA, the local county officials, TEMA, state representatives and things like that, where we had open discussions on what organizations desired to be part of the long-term recovery process,” Duckett said.

Duckett described the group as an umbrella organization or meeting table for representatives of all those groups to come together.

“Some of the biggest challenges in the first part of things was the fact that community organizations, churches, secular nonprofits or just good-hearted people coming in wanted to help, but there wasn’t any kind of structure to how that help was happening,” Duckett said.

“So that causes some chaos, it causes duplicity sometimes, it causes gaps in resources to people who aren’t caught in a timely fashion.”

According to Duckett, the organization’s current primary focus is on home repair or reconstruction. Cocke County was particularly susceptible to devastation in the storm because there are three rivers that flow through it, including the Pigeon River, the French Broad River and the Nolichucky River.

When the storm came, hundreds of properties along the three rivers in Cocke County were destroyed or received severe damage. Even if a house’s foundation stood, other systems like heating or cooling, electricity, water and sewer and others were likely to have failed.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been on the ground since the beginning and is a vital component of relief efforts. Since the storm, over $32.5

million in assistance has been provided to more than 14,000 households, and nearly $15 million has been sent to the state to support community restoration efforts, according to Michelle Holt-Lane, a member of Cocke County Long Term Recovery Group.

Deborah Barr is the director of Clean Water Expected in East Tennessee, which is a member of the long-term recovery group.

“We are focusing, as things are changing, on building circular economies and bringing local wealth back, food production, and trying to work on the environment, our river,” Barr said.

The storm has had a devastating effect on the county’s rivers, effectively sandblasting and destroying the old riverbanks and riverbeds, according to Barr. This is important to understand for Cocke County because river rafting is a pillar of the county’s economy.

“Our biggest tax base in the county comes from rafting the Pigeon River,” Barr said. “It’s the most rafted commercial river in the southeast. Our tax revenue for the whole county depends on it, and we’re doing everything we can to bring back the thirteen rafting companies, which are mostly smaller companies.”

Recovery efforts faced another challenge when winter set in because so many people still didn’t have a way to heat their homes.

“A lot of people ended up in campers, campers have been a common solution for displaced residents,” Duckett said.

“Most everything in the camper runs on propane, so making sure that propane was available was important.”

The group and its cooperating agencies and charities provided everything from food to clothes, from transportation to paying residents’ electricity bills for residents who were affected.

According to the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, Cocke County is considered one of the nine economically distressed counties in the state. This classification, meaning it’s among the 10% most economically distressed counties in the nation, has exacerbated the effects of the hurricane.

“FEMA continues working side by side with Tennessee Emergency Management Agency and North Carolina Emergency Management and our community partners to help survivors affected by Hurricane Helene move forward with their recovery,” A FEMA spokesperson told the Beacon.

Individuals who were already struggling financially or living paycheck to paycheck have a more difficult time rebuilding their lives after the storm’s destruction. Duckett emphasized that rebuilding Cocke County involves investing resources in the local economy and promoting economic growth.

“Take a road trip to one of these counties, find a local business, and support them. Come spend your dollars in the local economies in Cocke County and in these other counties that have been hit because that’s how people will really be able to move forward.”

“A really simple thing you can do for all the counties that were devastated in East Tennessee is take a road trip.”

SPRING DUCKETT Executive Director

Cocke County was heavily impacted by Hurricane Helene. Appalachian families were forced to flee their homes due to flooding. Courtesy of Maddie Williams

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NEWS

The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, April 30, 2025

‘It shows that the university does support its veterans’: Grubb family donation Veterans Success Center — set to open NICHOLAS WRIGHT Staff Writer The University of Tennessee has over 700 veteran students and about 6,400 UT alumni who served in the armed services.

To honor and appreciate these leaders, UT alumni and Air Force veteran John Grubb and his wife, Debbie, donated to support student veterans in April 2025.

“I’m truly appreciative of the fact that we were able to get this donation,” student veteran Kevin Ho, a sophomore supply chain management major, said. “It shows that the university does support its veterans.”

The donation is meant to enhance the university’s ability to help student veterans on campus in various areas ranging from academics to career preparation.

“Through scholarships, as well as various support services to ensure that they are well prepared to succeed academically, socially and in regards to career readiness,” Thomas Cruise, the director of the Veterans Success Center, said.

This donation goes a long way in helping the university achieve its broader goal of empowering student veterans and building a strong and supportive campus community. Student veterans need this extra recognition as they are more than just students.

“The biggest issue for veterans is the transition period where they are exiting military service and trying to get accustomed to university life,” Ho said.

Student veterans appreciate the support from the university and the Grubbs.

Ho mentioned conversing with several recipients who could not express their gratitude.

“Every veteran here on campus is a non-traditional student, so having these funds to help go towards tuition and other things the VA doesn’t cover is huge,” Ho said. “The assistance has really helped out.”

The donation will synergize with current academic engagements such as peer learning, the specialized veteran transition 201 class and specific veteran academic coaching to ensure no student veteran is left behind.

Additionally, it will ensure that the university can provide services like the Veterans Impact Program, career support and social events that make the challenging transition to university life easier.

With the new student success building — which includes dedicated space for the

in 2027, the university’s commitment to its student veterans continues to grow.

Donations like this provide the bedrock of long-term progress.

“UT continues to be the beacon of support for our military-connected community,” Cruise said. “This donation will continue that growth and provide new opportunities.”

The Grubbs will also get to see their donation in action. The goal is to have multiple meetings between the family and recipients of the donation, allowing the chance to form a beneficial relationship and share their success, according to Cruise.

This gift doesn’t just represent a way to support student veterans in the short term. It helps build a stronger and more inclusive community here on campus that every student could benefit from — one that values the perspectives of student veterans.

“I think people on campus need to be more aware that the people in their classes might not be the same age as them, or have the same experiences,” Ho said.

“Becoming friends with those veterans could be a great way for people to learn a thing or two.”

The Grubb family expressed their wish that the donation would help veterans — those who have sacrificed for the country — achieve more than they dreamed possible.

“What the Grubbs have done for the university really underscored the Volunteer spirit,” Ho said. “It’s nothing short of the very embodiment of being a Vol.”

UT alumni and Air Force veteran John Grubb made a generous donation to student veterans. Samantha Whitley / The Daily Beacon

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OPINIONS

Wednesday, April 30, 2025 • The Daily Beacon

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Review: Emily Henry’s ‘Book Lovers’ delivers different kind of love story KACIE BURNS Staff Writer

Emily Henry has been one of the leading romance authors of the past few years, with her novels “People We Meet On Vacation” and “Happy Place” consistently making the New York Times bestseller list.

Henry turns the stereotypical small-town romance into something deeper with “Book Lovers.” Released in 2022, it is arguably her most underrated novel, but it gives readers a refreshing take on this popular trope.

“Book Lovers” dives much deeper than romance, exploring sisterhood, sacrifice, bigcity ambition and small-town insecurity.

The story revolves around Nora Stephens, a notoriously cold-hearted literary agent, the polar opposite of the classic “girl next door” romance heroines. Nora is unapologetically herself, does everything in her power to get what she wants and she certainly does not have time for love.

After years without taking a true vacation from her job in New York City, Nora’s sister, Libby, brings her to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina, to relax — but life is never that easy.

In Sunshine Falls, Nora runs into Charlie

Lastra, a brooding book editor and her professional rival from the city. Nora and Charlie’s chemistry is off the charts from their first interaction and is the fuel for the romance to come.

The dynamic between the two characters is entertaining, marked by rapid banter, mutual respect and a genuine understanding of one another. They both know how it feels to put everything aside for their careers, but the question is, can they finally prioritize love for each other?

This enemies-to-lovers trope is addictive and leaves you wanting more at the end of every chapter.

The true heart of this story lies in Nora’s development, as she comes to realize that love does not destroy ambition — it fuels it. Unlike other romances, Nora doesn’t fall in love with the small town, but it does help her grow — softness is just as strong a tool as steel.

Nora is not the woman to abandon her career for a man, but she does learn how to balance every aspect of her life for the man she loves.

Henry does a good job of adding weight to emotional moments so they never feel stale or generic. The bond between Nora and Libby is refreshing, adding another layer of love to the

novel — this is not just a love story between Nora and Charlie, but also between sisters trying their best to make the most out of what life has given them.

The pacing can feel slow for some readers when Henry focuses more on emotional development than the plot toward the end of the book. Additionally, the stakes of “Book Lovers” are heavily internal, which can be a disappointment for those looking for a dramatic climax.

Despite these complaints, Henry has created two of her most human characters. Nora is authentically herself, and Charlie never judges her for it. Charlie is not there to rescue her, and she is far from a damsel in distress.

Nevertheless, their romance is about fully seeing each other and never leaving, no matter what.

This story truly resonates with those who have ever been told they are too much, too invested in their job or too cold to be loved.

Henry highlights through her writing that sharp women can also be soft, and they should never be sorry about who they are.

“Book Lovers” might be Henry’s leastknown novel, but it delivers everything readers look for in a romance and more.

Rating: 5/5

Emily Henry’s “Book Lovers” flips the small-town romance trope, delivering a love story about ambition, sisterhood and staying true to yourself. A must-read for anyone who’s ever been called “too much.” Kacie Burns / The Daily Beacon

Opinion: Cost of abs: Importance of health in moderation NASSIR JONES Columnist

As spring break becomes more of a distant memory, faraway rumblings of summer winds might sway us toward more pleasant hopes of dancing on beaches and partying our minds away.

While these wonderful dreams of summer fun keep us motivated throughout our final few weeks of papers, exams and even the abominable all-nighter, some of us might be bitten by the health-improvement bug and wish to beautifully tone our summer bodies to blow the world away with our aesthetic prowess.

How could we not, of course? When we snap photos of ourselves having fun and building precious memories, we want nothing more than to look back and smile without worrying about embarrassment and self-consciousness.

You might go on a diet, maybe you’ll even go on a run, or perhaps you’ll even start lifting heavy weights to get those muscles pumping.

While these desires for healthy, tanned, toned and beautiful bodies are anything but unhealthy in nature, our approaches toward them have quite some potential.

Let’s say you’ve improved, you’ve made your goal weight, you look better than ever,

and yet, it still doesn’t feel like nearly enough.

You find yourself looking at social media, becoming consumed with media that shows the ideal of all ideals. The abundance of perfect bodies, regardless of how artificial these might be in nature, might spur us to more unhealthy approaches toward aesthetic proficiency.

When I walk around TRECS, trying my best to get something resembling a pump, I can’t help but see my fellow early 20s college students. Having to resort to things like pumping their bodies full of harmful anabolic steroids in order to shape themselves into something they can stand to see in a mirror is harmful. I think that many of us Gen Z gymgoers can begin to lose sight of the beauty that already exists inside of us, and might allow the darkest recesses of our minds to mold us into something we have no business being.

While many of us might not wish to push circumstances that far, it’s important still to recognize the toll that an insecure mind can take on an already beautiful body.

It’s important to remember the beauty of a tasty dish and to hold the knowledge that keeping yourself from such a pleasure is never going to make you feel as beautiful as you already look. We can do both, and still exist healthfully.

It’s important to remember that nobody’s going to look at you in the way you might see yourself.

We are our own worst critics. While we

Columnist Nassir Jones says, “It’s important to remember that we shouldn’t sacrifice ourselves for the sake of chasing an unattainable beauty, especially when we already hold so much of it inside of us.” Ansley Graves / The Daily Beacon

might be tempted to believe that everyone is as obsessed with our flaws as we are, we can’t wrap ourselves in this oh-so-mistaken notion because doing so would do nothing but dip us into a pit of our own despair.

It’s important to remember that we shouldn’t sacrifice ourselves for the sake of chasing an unattainable beauty, especially when we already hold so much of it inside of us. With these words of encouragement, let our summer breaks be free, fun and filled with memories of aesthetic and mental beauty.

Nassir Jones is a sophomore at UT this year studying cinema studies. He can be reached at njones87@vols.utk.edu.

Columns and letters of The Daily Beacon are the views of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Beacon or the Beacon’s editorial staff.

12

OPINIONS

The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Opinion: Ink and Outrage: Everyone has a floating opera DRAKE DYER Columnist

Before getting into the subject at hand, I just want to acknowledge all of the young artists, writers, painters and people in their field feeling overwhelmed and underappreciated in the art world — there is room for everyone to live the way they want to, regardless of what is force fed nowadays.

With that on the tips of our tongues, this will be more of a remembrance keepsake to those wanting it — for the betterment of feeling included in the fraction of artists persistent in their endeavors of changing their generation.

Writers specifically can detest their job.

The honing and constant construction of their craft is not easy by any means. Writers will tell those hungry for retribution that the weakest at heart are better off filling in Excel spreadsheets than finishing that short story in a hasty manner.

So many writers have blessed their words into fruition and into the corner bookstores we all know and love, but whatever happens to those who lose sight of the out-of-print backdrops of the writing world that watch

the evolution around them and become the backdrop of society?

Those excellent writers often become discouraged and lose focus on what truly matters to them. Some even suffer early onset diseases, resort to harmful substances or abruptly end their lives before the life meant for them took its turn for the better.

Sylvia Plath, Kurt Vonnegut, Jack Kerouac, Ernest Hemingway, Jim Thompson and so many others have lost their lives or devolved themselves into obsoletion.

Writers devoted themselves to spreading their world. The worship of their religion is destined to touch the hearts of so many readers, so many pairs of eyes, both old and young, yearning for someone who truly understands them. Sylvia Plath, who wrote “The Bell Jar,” extenuates poignant emotions while the protagonist shuffles her career into the publishing world of New York City. Plath catered to these emotions seemingly because she was writing about herself. About a month after it was first published, in ‘63, she took her own life. Stephen King, who became an overnight sensation from the get-go, resorted to copious amounts of drugs and alcohol soon after his future became the past. He remarked on not remembering writing entire books such as “Cujo” during his period of intoxication.

John Barth, who was the runner-up for the National Book Award in 1956 for “The Floating Opera,” passed away less than a year ago.

Barth writes of characters who are lost in a daze of life and contemplating the solution to obsoletion.

Ernest Hemingway, of course, becoming one of the most recognizable names in American literature, established his new sensational way of writing and garnered the attention of so many. He had a life full of hostile environments, but he wrote as if there were no limit. He was retracing the steps of his late father and late three siblings when he decided to take his own life in the summer of 1961.

And finally, Jim Thompson, the “dimestore Dostoevsky,” came to life, buried by a lack of money and trying desperately to hoist his dream of writing freely. He went from working odd jobs to rubbing pennies together, to excessive drinking, to be in print with over twenty different titles, to surfacing on his deathbed with not a page of his bibliography new from a printing press in 1977.

All of these writers became sensations, spoke to their niche of people, came to do what was expected of them when figuring out their ambitions, but why must there always be failure? Most people will repeat failure as a

way of learning, and those without failure are most likely to not understand what life really is, especially with writing.

In an ironic way, failure is an admirable quality for an artist to have. Without failure, there is too much to be taken for granted, and that is one of the many reasons why art speaks to people so honestly and purely.

Writers, big and small, all have a voice, all have an echo ringing in their brains, and all they want is to find that special person to share it with. Nobody wants to suffer from substance abuse, print hiatuses or trouble at home, but that’s life. And the life of a writer can often be full of failure.

Failure is what makes surnames become stamps in textbooks and gives dust jackets to those arduously created manuscripts. Failure is what gives us literature.

Drake Dyer is a sophomore at UT this year studying finance. He can be reached at ddyer10@vols.utk.edu.

Columns and letters of The Daily Beacon are the views of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Beacon or the Beacon’s editorial staff.

Columnist Drake Dryer says, “Nobody wants to suffer from substance abuse, or out of print hiatuses, or trouble at home, but that’s life. And the life of a writer can often be full of failure… Failure is what gives us literature…”Ansley Graves/ The Daily Beacon