The Extraordinary Campus Leadership and Service awards recognize graduating students who are extraordinary campus leaders for their significant service to others.
Arden Gillchrest
Arden Gillchrest is a first-generation college student who has enjoyed being an active part of the University of Tennessee. Through academic endeavors, student organizations, and community involvement, Arden has loved being a part of the Volunteer community.
What does being a Volunteer mean to you? How has UT empowered you to make a difference in a way you might not have imagined elsewhere?
A Volunteer is not just a mascot. It’s an ideal, one that no matter where you are, no matter what your background, or what situation you find yourself in, you can always do your part to help someone else in need. It’s not about logging community service hours or getting a pat on the back, it’s about doing something everyday to make your community a better place than it is right now.
Carmen Danley
Carmen Danley is a senior from Memphis, Tennessee, majoring in human resource management and international business with a leadership studies minor.
What does being a Volunteer mean to you? How has UT empowered you to make a difference in a way you might not have imagined elsewhere?
Being a Volunteer means using your resources and expertise to help the community. UT has emboldened me to be a leader who challenges the process and is confident in holding others accountable.
Emily Medford
Emily Medford of Morristown, Tennessee, is a senior majoring in neuroscience with a minor in biological sciences. Her involvement has included serving as a resident assistant, undergraduate research assistant, 1794 Honors Scholar, PiPES summer camp counselor, UT Medical Center volunteer, and ASPIRE Scholar. She has held leadership positions within the VOLS 2 VOLS Peer Health Educators and Student Government Association’s Undergraduate Student Senate and Health and Wellness Committee.
What does being a Volunteer mean to you? How has UT empowered you to make a difference in a way you might not have imagined elsewhere?
Being a Volunteer means striving to be a friend, resource, and light to others. It’s about being the person you needed during hard times. UT has allowed me so many opportunities to leave this campus better than I found it. This campus is full of so many dedicated people who want to see all Volunteers succeed. If you have a passion and idea on how to better serve students, there are so many people who will help you see your idea to fruition. The attitude of this campus community is motivating and inspiring.
Emma Kate Hall
Emma Kate Hall proudly hails from Lebanon, Tennessee, and is pursuing a political science major and communication studies minor. She’s a Haslam Scholar, Peyton Manning Scholar, Normandy Scholar, Leadership Knoxville Scholar, the Student Services Director, and is involved in a number of other campus organizations. She is honored to have had the opportunity to serve the Volunteer community and looks forward to continuing to bear the torch beyond this hallowed hill.
What does being a Volunteer mean to you? How has UT empowered you to make a difference in a way you might not have imagined elsewhere?
Everyone says that their university is special, but on Rocky Top, that’s really the truth. Both our athletic and academic mascots (the Volunteer and the Torchbearer) are more than mascots with traits we want to emulate. They are actually identities we can take on.
Being a Volunteer signifies a willingness to engage and get involved with the communities around you, and because of this, being a Volunteer actually becomes part of who you are. When this place becomes impossible to separate from your identity, it not only becomes a place you can call home, but it also means you’ve become a true Volunteer, bearing the torch and lighting the way.
UT allows students to not just gain education, but also pushes us to allow that education to serve more than just ourselves. UT is a call to action, and the real work begins when we leave this place. It has been a distinct honor to spend the past four years learning how to become a Volunteer, and I will carry this place with me long after I leave Rocky Top.
Farrin Mumpower
Farrin Mumpower is a May 2021 graduate from Rome, Georgia, majoring in Marketing with a concentration in International Business. She also has a minor in Spanish. Mumpower is a member of the UT Ambassador Program where she gives campus tours, as well as a member of Alpha Omicron Pi. During 2020, Mumpower served as the Vice President of Recruitment on the Panhellenic Executive Board. Additionally, he was a part of Rocky Top Roundtable and the Haslam College of Business Professional Sales Leadership Program.
What does being a Volunteer mean to you? How has UT empowered you to make a difference in a way you might not have imagined elsewhere?
When I think of what it means to be a Volunteer, the torchbearer is the very first thing that comes to mind. I think of serving others beyond serving oneself, walking with humility, and leading with courage. I cannot imagine my collegiate experience looking any differently as a result of the people who make up this university. Because of UT, I am a more confident, educated woman who is not afraid to take on a challenge that may seem insurmountable in a moment. Because of UT, I am empowered to make a difference in the world, big or small, because I will always remember the founding principle: to bear the torch of the eternal volunteer spirit.
Gustavo Morrice
Gustavo is from Nashville and will be graduating this May with a major in Hispanic Studies and a minor in chemistry. As a pre-dental student, he hopes to someday serve Hispanic youth as a bilingual pediatric dentist. In his time at UT, Gustavo has given campus tours as a Student Ambassador, led small groups as an orientation leader, supervised students as a resident assistant, and served as co-chair for Vols Against Cancer, helping fundraise nearly $100,000 for the American Cancer Society.
What does being a Volunteer mean to you? How has UT empowered you to make a difference in a way you might not have imagined elsewhere?
Being a Volunteer means using my privilege and talents to empower and uplift those around me to the best of my ability. UT has provided incredible mentors (shoutout to Claire Chernowsky, Harrison Meadows, Laura Stansell, and Dr. Pablo Foncea DDS) who not only make sure I succeed, but do so by example in a selfless manner.
Through my roles as a student ambassador, orientation leader, and resident assistant I have served students from the moment they first step on campus to tour until the time they are getting ready to graduate– a humbling experience in and of itself. As co-chair for Vols Against Cancer, I can only say that the accomplishments and successes of this club are due to the philanthropic campus community and organizations and their avid and continuous support of the mission of the American Cancer Society.
Academically, my classes in Hispanic Studies have made me comfortable and confident within my own identity and created a fire and passion in my heart to serve the Hispanic youth, a community that is often left out in today’s society. I have personally seen and experienced the importance of bilingualism in schools, out in public, and within the dental field and cannot wait to be a bilingual pediatric dentist so as to better serve this community and create positive change one step at a time.
While my time here was temporary, the impression UT has left on me is forever, and I know I will bring that Volunteer Spirit into everything I do.
Marie Holzer
Marie Holzer is a Masters of Social Work graduate student who has entered this profession to empower and strengthen her local and global community. She is fascinated by the intersection of economic, social, and environmental justice and is dedicated toward a life of constant learning and unlearning.
What does being a Volunteer mean to you? How has UT empowered you to make a difference in a way you might not have imagined elsewhere?
Volunteerism is the root of community and collectivism, a concept not rooted in self-gain through independent actions, but rather a communal gain that everyone benefits and participates in through caring and investing in the well being of each other. I see volunteering as an opportunity to see what we can learn and gain from each other rather than what I can gain from individual action.
Nicole Beautz
Nicole Beautz, a 1794 Scholar at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is a junior from Baltimore, Maryland, majoring in biomedical engineering. She is a passionate and ambitious leader in the Biomedical Engineering Society, the Society of Women Engineers, and in the professional and social STEM sorority, Alpha Omega Epsilon.
What does being a Volunteer mean to you? How has UT empowered you to make a difference in a way you might not have imagined elsewhere?
Volunteers are ordinary people with extraordinary hearts. This is something I try to live by each day, remembering to spread positivity with every interaction. Volunteers have a love for their community and world around them like no other. They are always willing to go above and beyond to help someone, whether it be a friend or stranger.
Being a Volunteer also means being a mentor and model for the students and community around you. Someone is always watching and learning from you, so a Volunteer is never on a break. The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, community has motivated me since the first day I set foot on campus to be a leader and inspire others around me. From my mentors I learned how to embrace the Volunteer spirit and engage with as many opportunities as possible. The network I was able to establish early on in college provided me the support to grow and impact campus around me.
There are constant new opportunities at UT for students to develop themselves further and find a home away from home. A Volunteer’s job never ends, so the support and enthusiasm from the community empowers them to continue their lasting impact.
Noah Dandridge
Noah Dandridge, a Memphis native, is a senior majoring in supply chain management with a collateral in human resource management. He is actively involved with the Provost’s Student Advisory Council, Brothers United for Excellence, National Panhellenic Council, Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, and Minority Enhancement for the University of Tennessee.
Dandridge also serves our country as a non-commissioned officer in the United States Marine Corps. Once he earns his bachelor’s degree in spring 2021, he will begin obtaining his MBA at Rocky Top in the fall semester of 2021.
What does being a Volunteer mean to you? How has UT empowered you to make a difference in a way you might not have imagined elsewhere?
Being a volunteer means being selfless. When I hear the word volunteer, I think of a person who is willing to serve for a greater cause no matter the circumstances. UT has empowered me to make a difference on campus and in the community because of its inspirational culture. Having access to a myriad of academic resources, emotional support, and mentorship has allowed me to forge a motivational path for other Vols to find their purpose. Rocky Top’s environment is transformational and has impacted my character in a positive way that I might not have imagined elsewhere.
Sarah D’Onofrio
Sarah D’Onofrio is a doctoral student in sociology who studies the social, legal, and environmental inequalities caused by industrial agriculture. Along with teaching Food, Agriculture, and Society (SOCI 363), Sarah is heavily involved with efforts to reduce hunger on campus. She serves as the faculty advisor for the Student Basic Needs Coalition, which goes beyond the goal of addressing food insecurity by advocating access to healthy and affordable food as a right for all.
Sarah also brings her excitement for food justice to the leadership of the End Hunger/ Feed Change initiative. In conjunction with EH/FC, she frequently gives talks and serves on panels that interrogate the structural causes of food inequality and insecurity on campus and beyond.
What does being a Volunteer mean to you? How has UT empowered you to make a difference in a way you might not have imagined elsewhere?
Being a volunteer means using whatever abilities you have to improve the community around you and expecting nothing in return. I’m proud to be surrounded by so many people at UT who tirelessly devote their time and effort to ensure that everyone on campus has access to healthy, affordable food.