Tennessee Board of Regents Chancellor Flora W. Tydings met with leaders of colleges receiving the Perkins READI grants. From left: Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) Murfreesboro President Carol Puryear; Chancellor Flora W. Tydings; Volunteer State Community College President Orinthia Montague; Tim Dellinger, vice president for financial and administrative affairs, Jackson State Community College; TCAT Knoxville President Kelli Chaney; TCAT Crossville President Cliff Wightman, and TCAT Dickson President Arrita Summers.

HONORARY GRADUATE – UT System President Randy Boyd

(center) was welcomed as the WestStar Leadership Program’s fourth honorary graduate June 21 during

WestStar’s annual graduation event at The Venue at Twin Oaks in Humboldt. Boyd also served at the

event’s keynote speaker. Thirty graduates in the 2022 class bring the total to 916 WestStar alumni since

the program was established in 1989. Presenting his WestStar plaque are Dr. Keith Carver (l), UT Martin

chancellor, and Dr. Charley Deal, secretary of the board for WestStar and UT Martin vice chancellor for

university advancement.

Emily Pennington, a UT Martin student from McMinnville, is set to compete in the

Miss Tennessee Scholarship Competition on June 25 at the Cannon Center for the Performing

Arts in Memphis.

MARTIN, TENN., June 9, 2022 – GRADUATES FROM PARSONS CENTER – Hayden Bass,

of Hohenwald, receives a fist bump from UT Martin Chancellor Keith Carver during UT

Martin’s May commencement. Bass completed another step toward a career in education when

he received his Bachelor of Science in Education on May 7 in the Kathleen and Tom Elam

Center. He earned his degree while attending the UT Martin Parsons Center, one of the

university’s five regional centers in West Tennessee.

(front row, l,r) Meghan Poore, Miss Fall Fest Volunteer; Alyssa Wade, Miss Hub City

Volunteer; Macey Jones, Miss Madison County Volunteer; (back row, l, r) Carson Hughes, Miss

Nashville Volunteer; Karenna Rainey, Miss McNairy County Volunteer; and Carly White, Miss

UT Martin Volunteer. Not pictured is Kailey Duffy, Miss Weakley County Volunteer, and Kim

Gordon, Miss Rutherford County Volunteer.

MARTIN, TENN. – June 3, 2022 – NAMED FOR THE TOSH FAMILY – The “Tosh Family

Classroom” was official named in honor of James “Jimmy” Tosh and his family during a naming event

May 5 in Room 258 of UT Martin’s Brehm Hall. The classroom was named in recognition of his

generous commitments to the University of Tennessee and UT Martin. Tosh studied animal science,

graduated from UT Martin in 1972 and returned home to operate the family business. Pictured

following the naming program are (l, r) Dr. Charley Deal, vice chancellor for university advancement;

Dr. Keith Carver, chancellor; Tosh; and Dr. Todd Winters, dean, College of Agriculture and Applied

Sciences.

UT MARTIN FACULTY MEMBER TO COACH IN SPECIAL

OLYMPICS USA GAMES – Dr. Clinton Smith (left), associate professor of special education at

UT Martin, has will make his fourth trip to the Special Olympics USA Games as Team

Tennessee’s head track and field coach. Accompanying Smith is Special Olympian Garrett

Dinning (right), an incoming Westview junior and son of UT Martin graduate, Jill Dining. The

pair, along with Dinning’s family, depart for Orlando, Florida on June 4 from Smyrna,

Tennessee to compete in the Special Olympics USA Games at the ESPN Wide World of Sports

Complex in the Walt Disney World Resort.

Kaleb Hutcherson

Pictured is Dr. Joey Mehlhorn, professor of agricultural economics and director of the

Tennessee Governor’s School for the Agricultural Sciences, speaking to the 2019 agriculture

group at Yeargin Farms in Weakley County.

RETENTION SUMMIT REMARKS – UT Martin Chancellor Keith

Carver speaks during UT Martin’s second Skyhawk Regional Retention Summit on May 25 in the Boling

University Center. Representatives from public and private two- and four-year institutions discussed and

exchanged ideas about student retention, persistence and success in higher education.

MARTIN, TENN., May 23, 2022 – UTM ADVISORY BOARD MEETS – UT Martin Advisory Board

member Monice Hagler reviews meeting materials during the UT Martin Advisory Board summer

meeting held May 20 in the Boling University Center. Hager, of Memphis, is an attorney and a UT Martin

graduate.