{"id":696,"date":"2015-04-02T18:51:35","date_gmt":"2015-04-02T18:51:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/?p=696"},"modified":"2018-02-08T13:35:21","modified_gmt":"2018-02-08T13:35:21","slug":"100-tech-moments-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/100-tech-moments-2\/","title":{"rendered":"100 Tech Moments"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/Visions-website-100-Tech-Moments.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-709 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/Visions-website-100-Tech-Moments.png\" alt=\"Visions-website-100-Tech-Moments\" width=\"510\" height=\"355\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"top100MomentsCent\">\n<div id=\"top100Menu\">\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1915: Tennessee Polytechnic Institute founded.\"><a href=\"#story1\">1915: Tennessee Polytechnic Institute founded.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1916: Thomas A. Early became president.\">1916: Thomas A. Early became president.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1916: Raymond Hamilton first registered student.\"><a href=\"#story2\">1916: Raymond Hamilton first registered student.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1916: Students built industrial arts building.\"><a href=\"#story3\">1916: Students built industrial arts building.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1918: Beulah McDonald earned first college degree.\"><a href=\"#story40\">1918: Beulah McDonald earned first college degree.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1920: Quentin M. Smith became president.\">1920: Quentin M. Smith became president.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1920: T. W. Kittrell Alumni Association president.\">1920: T. W. Kittrell Alumni Association president.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1925: Students chose Golden Eagle mascot.\">1925: Students chose Golden Eagle mascot.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1926: As a punishment, men dug fence holes.\">1926: As a punishment, men dug fence holes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1926: First yearbook published.\">1926: First yearbook published.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1928: First homecoming.\">1928: First homecoming.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1929: First bachelor\u2019s degrees awarded.\">1929: First bachelor\u2019s degrees awarded.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1930: Speech and debate team organized.\"><a href=\"#story4\">1930: Speech and debate team organized.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1933: Student library workers earned $0.20\/hour.\">1933: Student library workers earned $0.20\/hour.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1938: James M. Smith became president.\">1938: James M. Smith became president.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1940: William E. Derryberry became president.\">1940: William E. Derryberry became president.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1943: Joan Derryberry wrote Tech Hymn.\"><a href=\"#story5\">1943: Joan Derryberry wrote Tech Hymn.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1945: 1,000 from Tech served in WWII.\"><a href=\"#story6\">1945: 1,000 from Tech served in WWII.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1947: Coach Putty Overall left after 24 years.\">1947: Coach Putty Overall left after 24 years.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1947: Enrollment went up a third due to GI Bill.\">1947: Enrollment went up a third due to GI Bill.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1949: Tech joined Ohio Valley Conference.\"><a href=\"#story7\">1949: Tech joined Ohio Valley Conference.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1949: Music professor W.J. Julian came to Tech.\"><a href=\"#story8\">1949: Music professor W.J. Julian came to Tech.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1949: Curriculum organized into 5 divisions.\">1949: Curriculum organized into 5 divisions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1949: Dating places, rules for females approved.\"><a href=\"#story9\">1949: Dating places, rules for females approved.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1949: Students, town argued about Sunday movies.\"><a href=\"#story10\">1949: Students, town argued about Sunday movies.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1950: Last time graduation held outside.\"><a href=\"#story11\">1950: Last time graduation held outside.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1951: TPI rumored first with electron microscope.\"><a href=\"#story12\">1951: TPI rumored first with electron microscope.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1956: Last original faculty, A.W. Smith, retired.\">1956: Last original faculty, A.W. Smith, retired.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1957: Enrollment topped 1,000.\"><a href=\"#story13\">1957: Enrollment topped 1,000.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1957: Dean tried to ban kissing on campus.\"><a href=\"#story14\">1957: Dean tried to ban kissing on campus.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1957: Students said Crossville to be razed.\"><a href=\"#story15\">1957: Students said Crossville to be razed.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1958: Graduate school added.\">1958: Graduate school added.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1958: Student lab instructors paid $0.58\/hour.\"><a href=\"#story16\">1958: Student lab instructors paid $0.58\/hour.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1959: Students planted corn on quad.\"><a href=\"#story17\">1959: Students planted corn on quad.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1960: TPI gave first master\u2019s degrees.\">1960: TPI gave first master\u2019s degrees.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1960: Totem pole donated to Tech-Middle rivalry.\">1960: Totem pole donated to Tech-Middle rivalry.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1961: First computer on campus.\"><a href=\"#story18\">1961: First computer on campus.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1961: Student among first American Vietnam deaths.\"><a href=\"#story19\">1961: Student among first American Vietnam deaths.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1963: Max Alderson first Golden Eagle mascot.\">1963: Max Alderson first Golden Eagle mascot.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1963: Eagle stolen from Monteagle, Tennessee.\">1963: Eagle stolen from Monteagle, Tennessee.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1963: First fraternity, Sigma Phi Delta, started.\">1963: First fraternity, Sigma Phi Delta, started.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1963: Students locked professor out to finish lab.\"><a href=\"#story20\">1963: Students locked professor out to finish lab.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1963: Ralph\u2019s Donut Shop opened.\">1963: Ralph\u2019s Donut Shop opened.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1964: Foster Hall fully air-conditioned.\">1964: Foster Hall fully air-conditioned.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1964: International club started.\"><a href=\"#story21\">1964: International club started.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1965: TPI became TTU.\"><a href=\"#story22\">1965: TPI became TTU.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1969: Neil Diamond performed at Tech.\">1969: Neil Diamond performed at Tech.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"Late 1960's: History professor often entered via window.\"><a href=\"#story23\">Late 1960&#8217;s: History professor often entered via window.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1970: Enrollment topped 5,000 students.\">1970: Enrollment topped 5,000 students.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1970: Students fired rocket with mouse in it.\"><a href=\"#story24\">1970: Students fired rocket with mouse in it.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1971: Frankie Vallie and the Four Seasons played.\">1971: Frankie Vallie and the Four Seasons played.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1974: Arliss L. Roaden became president.\">1974: Arliss L. Roaden became president.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1974: Marie Ventrice first to earn doctorate.\"><a href=\"#story25\">1974: Marie Ventrice first to earn doctorate.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1977: Elvis Presley agreed to play Tech, died.\">1977: Elvis Presley agreed to play Tech, died.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1977: TTU joins Baja SAE.\"><a href=\"#story26\">1977: TTU joins Baja SAE.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1977: Engineering professor worked on 'Star Wars.'\"><a href=\"#story27\">1977: Engineering professor worked on \u201cStar Wars.\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1978: At Homecoming, students rolled Roaden\u2019s house.\">1978: At Homecoming, students rolled Roaden\u2019s house.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1979: Students started Homecoming food fight.\"><a href=\"#story28\">1979: Students started Homecoming food fight.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1980: Tech opened a TV studio.\">1980: Tech opened a TV studio.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1980: Appalachian Center for Craft opened.\"><a href=\"#story29\">1980: Appalachian Center for Craft opened.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1981: Students protested proposed tuition hike.\">1981: Students protested proposed tuition hike.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1981: 100 attended vigil for Iran hostages.\">1981: 100 attended vigil for Iran hostages.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1981: Sgt. Alvin York\u2019s widow was grand marshal.\">1981: Sgt. Alvin York\u2019s widow was grand marshal.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1981: Eagle left perch, started virgin grad jokes.\">1981: Eagle left perch, started virgin grad jokes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1982: Brick entrance signs installed.\"><a href=\"#story30\">1982: Brick entrance signs installed.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1983: TTU, WCTE offered telecourses.\"><a href=\"#story41\">1983: TTU, WCTE offered telecourses.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1985: Wallace S. Prescott became president.\">1985: Wallace S. Prescott became president.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1985: First Blizzard.\"><a href=\"#story31\">1985: First Blizzard.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1986: Computer registration started.\">1986: Computer registration started.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1986: National media covered cockroach\u2019s death.\"><a href=\"#story32\">1986: National media covered cockroach\u2019s death.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1987: Angelo Volpe became president.\">1987: Angelo Volpe became president.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1987: University 101 courses helped new students.\">1987: University 101 courses helped new students.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1989: Garth Brooks performed.\">1989: Garth Brooks performed.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1989: Tech switched from quarters to semesters.\"><a href=\"#story33\">1989: Tech switched from quarters to semesters.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1980's: Muddy volleyball competitions.\"><a href=\"#story42\">1980&#8217;s: Muddy volleyball competitions.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1990: Black Cultural Center established.\"><a href=\"#story34\">1990: Black Cultural Center established.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1991: 15 students enlisted in Gulf War.\">1991: 15 students enlisted in Gulf War.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1992: Computer use limited because of demand.\">1992: Computer use limited because of demand.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1992: Students helped restore bald eagles.\"><a href=\"#story35\">1992: Students helped restore bald eagles.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1994: Students worked on film, \u201cThe Jungle Book.\u201d\">1994: Students worked on film, \u201cThe Jungle Book.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1996: Student carried Olympic torch.\"><a href=\"#story43\">1996: Student carried Olympic torch.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1996: First snow day in more than 17 years.\">1996: First snow day in more than 17 years.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1997: Roger Crouch became first alumnus in space.\">1997: Roger Crouch became first alumnus in space.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1997: Students sewed state bicentennial costumes.\"><a href=\"#story36\">1997: Students sewed state bicentennial costumes.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1997: First capital campaign raised $20.3 million.\">1997: First capital campaign raised $20.3 million.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1998: Tech launched website.\">1998: Tech launched website.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"1999: Center Stage event series began.\">1999: Center Stage event series began.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"2000: Robert R. Bell became president.\">2000: Robert R. Bell became president.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"2000: Student on state Higher Education Commission.\"><a href=\"#story44\">2000: Student on state Higher Education Commission.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"2000: 31 students named Pepperoni in yearbook.\">2000: 31 students named Pepperoni in yearbook.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"2001: 200th year of Shipley Barn.\">2001: 200th year of Shipley Barn.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"2003: Students got Eagle cards.\"><a href=\"#story37\">2003: Students got Eagle cards.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"2007: Enrollment surpassed 10,000.\">2007: Enrollment surpassed 10,000.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"2010: Flooding forced evacuations near campus.\">2010: Flooding forced evacuations near campus.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"2012: Philip B. Oldham became president.\">2012: Philip B. Oldham became president.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"2013: Army threatened to shut down Tech ROTC.\"><a href=\"#story38\">2013: Army threatened to shut down Tech ROTC.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"2013: First time yearbook printed in a decade.\">2013: First time yearbook printed in a decade.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"2014: Awesome Eagle named national champion.\"><a href=\"#story45\">2014: Awesome Eagle named national champion.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"2014: Josh Turner performed at Tech.\">2014: Josh Turner performed at Tech.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"hoverBtn\" title=\"2015: Charter Day celebrated 100th birthday.\"><a href=\"#story39\">2015: Charter Day celebrated 100th birthday.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"storyInfo\">\n<h3>1910s<\/h3>\n<div id=\"story1\" class=\"storyItem\">Tennessee Polytechnic Institute was founded in 1915. Campus consisted of one building and 25 acres of land.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story2\" class=\"storyItem\">Raymond Randall Hamilton, of Cookeville, registered for classes Sept. 11, 1916. He was the first student to register at Tennessee Polytechnic Institute. He graduated from the high school program in 1920 and from the two-year college program in 1922.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story3\" class=\"storyItem\">In 1916, approximately 50 students enrolled in the industrial arts program and spent most of their first year constructing the program\u2019s academic building. With the use of student labor, construction costs were $1,500, or $34,000 in today\u2019s dollars. The wood building, which burned down in 1935, was the center for most of the industrial and engineering activities until two sections of the steel shop were erected in 1920.<br \/>\nIn TPI\u2019s early days, every student was expected to complete five hours of practical work a week, which helped keep student living expenses low and maintain campus.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story40\" class=\"storyItem\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/100-tech-moments-16.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-771\" style=\"padding-left: 10px\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/100-tech-moments-16.jpg\" alt=\"Beulah Betty McDonald\" width=\"157\" height=\"202\" \/><\/a> Beulah Betty McDonald was the first student to earn a college degree at Tennessee Polytechnic Institute in 1918. She received a two-year degree in English. Nine others received two-year degrees that year as well. McDonald died at the age of 93 after teaching in Smith County schools for 40 years.<\/div>\n<h3>1930s<\/h3>\n<div id=\"story4\" class=\"storyItem\">\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/100-tech-moments-15.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-775 size-full\" style=\"padding-right: 10px\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/100-tech-moments-15.jpg\" alt=\"Speech Debate Club Trophies\" width=\"155\" height=\"213\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The speech and debate club was organized in 1930 to train students in debating and public speaking. Originally only open to men, women were admitted within the decade. Students began competing in 1934 and entered as many as 10 tournaments a year. Founded by history professor Herman Pinkerton, the club was known as Herman Pinkerton\u2019s Tennessee Talking Horses. Now called the speech and debate club, it has won nearly 100 trophies in its 85-year history.\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h3>1940s<\/h3>\n<div id=\"story5\" class=\"storyItem\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/JoanDerryBerry.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-706\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/JoanDerryBerry.png\" alt=\"Joan Derryberry\" width=\"327\" height=\"251\" \/><\/a>Joan Derryberry wrote the Tech Hymn after a 1943 football game against Vanderbilt because both schools\u2019 alma maters used the same melody. Charles Faulkner Bryan approved it and the song was first used at commencement that year. It is still sung at the end of every commencement ceremony.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story6\" class=\"storyItem\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/100-tech-moments-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-778\" style=\"padding-right: 10px\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/100-tech-moments-2.jpg\" alt=\"WWII Roll of honor\" width=\"157\" height=\"224\" \/><\/a>World War II ended in 1945. The Roll of Honor in Jere Whitson Memorial Building contains a list of names of the 935 students, faculty and staff who served and the 43 who were killed. Memorial Gym was named in honor of those killed in action.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story7\" class=\"storyItem\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/100-tech-moments-18.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-784\" style=\"padding-left: 10px\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/100-tech-moments-18.jpg\" alt=\"Tech Basketball Team\" width=\"158\" height=\"125\" \/><\/a>Tech joined the Ohio Valley Conference in 1949. Since then, the Golden Eagles have won 79 conference championships: seven baseball, seven men\u2019s basketball, 19 women\u2019s basketball, 10 football, four each of men\u2019s and women\u2019s golf, seven rifle, two soccer, 10 men\u2019s tennis, one women\u2019s tennis, three men\u2019s outdoor track and five volleyball.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story8\" class=\"storyItem\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/100-tech-moments-19.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-785\" style=\"padding-right: 10px\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/100-tech-moments-19.jpg\" alt=\"W.J. Julian\" width=\"156\" height=\"169\" \/><\/a>W.J. Julian taught music and directed the bands at TPI from 1949 until 1961. Students remember him as a perfectionist and said he was especially hard on music majors, who were required to be in the marching band. One former student said that if someone made a mistake, Julian would walk up and say that the band could do without that person.<br \/>\nToday, Julian is credited for putting Tech\u2019s marching band on the map and for reinventing band programs in higher education.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story9\" class=\"storyItem\">Throughout most of Tech\u2019s early history, female students were subject to strict rules. In 1949, the university developed a list of approved dating places and drew up policies about students who got married during the school year. Lights in all dorms had to be off and students had a 10:30 p.m. curfew, except for a few basement study rooms.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story10\" class=\"storyItem\">There was lively debate in 1949 between Cookeville residents and Tech students about allowing Sunday evening movies. Movies were one of the only forms of entertainment in Cookeville at the time.<br \/>\nThose who opposed the measure claimed that it would interfere with church services and students, as temporary residents, shouldn\u2019t have a say. Those in favor argued that movies were a form of clean, quiet relaxation; were no more disruptive to church services than sports or other events; and that though individual students were transitory, the student body was not. A petition was circulated and received enough signatures to have a citywide vote.<\/div>\n<h3>1950s<\/h3>\n<div id=\"story11\" class=\"storyItem\">Helen F. (Henderson) Keeney, \u201950 business management, remembers that graduation was held in the rain in front of the engineering building, now Henderson Hall. Memorial Gym, where graduations were usually held, was being remodeled. The graduates and others in attendance were soaked. It was the last time graduation was held outside.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story12\" class=\"storyItem\">Wallace Frierson, \u201951 biology, remembers using Tech\u2019s first electron microscope. TPI is rumored to have been the first undergraduate institution in the country to get one. It cost $8,000, or nearly $75,000 today.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story13\" class=\"storyItem\">Enrollment hit 1,000 students. The student body was 5:1 male to female.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story14\" class=\"storyItem\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/100-tech-moments-20.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-787\" style=\"padding-left: 10px\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/100-tech-moments-20.jpg\" alt=\"TTU Couple\" width=\"159\" height=\"192\" \/><\/a>In 1957, Dean Anne Marshall tried to ban kissing on campus. The Oracle called the ban \u201ccontrary to the laws of human nature.\u201d Perhaps as a result of the ban, students began talking about going to the \u201csubmarine races,\u201d a code for couples who did not want to be disturbed. It is unclear how long the term was used on campus.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story15\" class=\"storyItem\">Eight students on their way to the 1957 campus picnic in Crossville decided to have some fun with the town\u2019s residents. Equipped and dressed as road surveyors, they spoke loudly in the street about moving the courthouse to make way for a four-lane highway, a dam to flood the rest of the town and plans to build a military base nearby. They \u201caccidentally\u201d dropped a few sheets of paper with the heading \u201cCorpses de Engineers.\u201d<\/div>\n<div id=\"story16\" class=\"storyItem\">Student lab instructors were paid 58 cents an hour in 1958, or $4.77 today. Rent for a one-room apartment was $24 a month, or $197 in today\u2019s dollars. The average one-bedroom apartment in town now costs $500 a month.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story17\" class=\"storyItem\">Frazier Solomon, \u201959 accounting, remembered grounds-keeping staff aerating, seeding, putting down straw and watering several large bald spots on the quad. Later, several rows of corn appeared in the spots, probably planted by a group of Tech students. The corn was removed before it matured.<\/div>\n<h3>1960s<\/h3>\n<div id=\"story18\" class=\"storyItem\">The first mainframe computer came to campus in 1961. It was four feet long, four feet tall, two feet wide and weighed more than 3,000 pounds.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story19\" class=\"storyItem\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/100-tech-moments-21.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-788\" style=\"padding-right: 10px\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/100-tech-moments-21.jpg\" alt=\"James David\" width=\"158\" height=\"172\" \/><\/a>Tech student James Davis was one of the first Americans killed in Vietnam. He died in a Viet Cong ambush as he was returning from a mission near Saigon Dec. 22, 1961. He received the Army Commendation Medal in December 1961 for his service in the third radio research unit from May to December.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story20\" class=\"storyItem\">Sam Pace, \u201963 mechanical engineering, remembered, \u201cDr. (Leighton) Sissom would come in the fluid lab and change the flow rate or some other constant in our experiments. I went to his office early and borrowed his key saying the lab door was locked. When the rest of the class members were all there, I locked the doors and wouldn\u2019t let Dr. Sissom \u2018complicate our experiment.\u2019 He banged on the door from time to time but we didn\u2019t let him in until our experiment was completed. He was a creative teacher and, fortunately for us, could take a joke.\u201d<\/div>\n<div id=\"story21\" class=\"storyItem\">Tech\u2019s first international club started in 1964.<br \/>\nToday, the campus hosts lecturers from around the world and hundreds of students study abroad. More than 1,000 students come to TTU from around the world.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story22\" class=\"storyItem\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/100-tech-moments-22.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-789\" style=\"padding-left: 10px\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/100-tech-moments-22.jpg\" alt=\"TPI becomes TTU\" width=\"156\" height=\"200\" \/><\/a>Tennessee Polytechnic Institute became Tennessee Technological University in 1965.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story23\" class=\"storyItem\">History professor \u201cjumping\u201d J.B. Clark would enter the classroom through the ground-floor window when he was teaching in the late 60s. He was known for including questions on his tests about other subjects than those covered in his lectures. At least once, he jumped on his desk with a flashlight in his mouth to demonstrate a lighthouse.<\/div>\n<h3>1970s<\/h3>\n<div id=\"story24\" class=\"storyItem\">A Tech professor and several students conducted a \u201ccosmouse\u201d experiment in 1970. A mouse was installed in a rocket, which was shot 3,000 feet into the air to see what would happen to the mouse\u2019s heart and respiratory rates. Both increased.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story25\" class=\"storyItem\">Marie Ventrice, \u201974 mechanical engineering, was the first to earn a doctorate at TTU. It took her eight years to finish her bachelor\u2019s at TTU because she had two children and gave birth to a third during her studies. She served as interim director of the university\u2019s Center for Electric Power in the late 80s.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story26\" class=\"storyItem\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/100-tech-moments-23.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-790\" style=\"padding-right: 10px\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/100-tech-moments-23.jpg\" alt=\"TTU Baja Buggy\" width=\"156\" height=\"107\" \/><\/a>TTU joined Baja SAE, then called Mini Baja, in 1977. Since then, the team has finished in the top 10 in more than 80 percent of competitions, making it the most decorated Baja team in the U.S.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story27\" class=\"storyItem\">\u201cStar Wars: Episode IV\u201d came out in 1977. TTU mechanical engineering professor Cemil Bagci worked as George Lucas\u2019 consultant on the mechanics of R2D2. His work was commemorated by a reference to a robot language named after him in the film.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story28\" class=\"storyItem\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/100-tech-moments-27.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-791\" style=\"padding-left: 10px\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/100-tech-moments-27.jpg\" alt=\"TTU Foodfight\" width=\"158\" height=\"129\" \/><\/a>Food fights broke out on campus at least once during Homecoming 1979.<br \/>\nGary Matthews, \u201981 accounting, remembered, \u201cMy future wife (Lisa Miller, \u201980 elementary education) and I had just been on campus for a short time in the late 1970s. One Friday, we were eating lunch in the cafeteria when someone yelled \u2018Food fight!\u2019 The cafeteria erupted into a war zone with food flying all over the place. We took cover underneath our table. What a welcome to Tennessee Tech!\u201d<br \/>\nThe next year, there were the \u201cFood Fight Trials.\u201d The Associated Student Body supreme court held four trials and found six students guilty of disorderly conduct.<\/div>\n<h3>1980s<\/h3>\n<div id=\"story29\" class=\"storyItem\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/100-tech-moments-26.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-792\" style=\"padding-right: 10px\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/100-tech-moments-26.jpg\" alt=\"Craft Center\" width=\"158\" height=\"102\" \/><\/a>TTU opened the Appalachian Center for Crafts on Smithville\u2019s Center Hill Lake in 1980, though the university acquired the property several years before.<br \/>\nDue to budget cuts, it almost closed in 1997. It remained open and has studios where students learn to make art with clay, glass, metals, wood and fibers. It also has exhibition spaces and a sales gallery.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story30\" class=\"storyItem\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/100-tech-moments-24.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-794\" style=\"padding-left: 10px\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/100-tech-moments-24.jpg\" alt=\"TTU Sign\" width=\"160\" height=\"117\" \/><\/a>The brick entrance signs were installed on Willow and Dixie Avenues in 1982. It took 10 years to plan the signs and raise the money to build them. Each sign cost $5,000, excluding labor costs, more than $12,000 today. Lettering alone cost $3,000.<br \/>\nThe project began when President Derryberry was still at Tech but no designs came through during his tenure that he felt merited approval.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story41\" class=\"storyItem\">TTU partnered with WCTE in 1983 to offer telecourses. Academic classes were aired once a week on the station and students received academic credit for completing the work. The courses were relatively popular and additional courses were added to meet student demand. The practice continued into the 1990s.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story42\" class=\"storyItem\">Oozeball, a tradition that continued into the \u201990s, was a volleyball match played in eight inches of mud that began in the late 1980s. Students competed against teams of other students and faculty members.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story31\" class=\"storyItem\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/100-tech-moments-25.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-795\" style=\"padding-right: 10px\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/100-tech-moments-25.jpg\" alt=\"Tech's first blizzard\" width=\"157\" height=\"177\" \/><\/a>Tech\u2019s first Blizzard was in 1985. Conference athletic officials threatened to penalize the Tech team when game attendees threw squares of toilet paper onto the court after the first basket. The NCAA banned the practice in 1986 but fans persisted, though they continued to get in trouble with the NCAA.<br \/>\n\u201cI was at Tech the year Tech squares were first thrown onto the court whenever we made our first basket,\u201d said ret. Maj. Carl Pittman, \u201986 health and physical education. \u201cIt was awesome! When we played the Tennessee Vols there was a packed crowd. I remember ESPN reporting on the event. I still have a picture that was handed out later that year. Great memories.\u201d<br \/>\nTerry Lancaster, \u201987 journalism, remembered: \u201cI was running a camera for WCTE that night and footage from my camera made ESPN. I was one puffed-up 20 year old!\u201d<br \/>\nUniversity officials asked students to come up with other ways to celebrate and the practice ended in 2000. Students restarted the tradition in 2013.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story32\" class=\"storyItem\">Tech\u2019s first and only champion cockroach, Watergate, won the Great American Bug Race held at Palm Beach Atlantic College in Florida in 1986. Watergate was immediately eaten by a lizard lurking near the finish line. Oracle reporters paid for the bug\u2019s trip.<br \/>\nAbout 1,000 people attended the roach\u2019s memorial services on campus. President Prescott spoke for 30 minutes.<br \/>\n\u201cIt has been the tradition and history of this institution for students to go all out and to win, so it was no surprise when Watergate won first prize in the race,\u201d Prescott said, according to the Oracle. He called the race and bug\u2019s sacrifice \u201ca noble endeavor that lived up to the best tradition of Tech.\u201d<br \/>\nThe incident got national media attention.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story33\" class=\"storyItem\">Tennessee Tech switched from academic quarters to semesters in 1989. The change took several years of planning and was made as a cost-saving measure. A 1985 Oracle survey of 158 students found that 127 of them opposed the change. It meant for longer class periods, shorter breaks and confusion as students and faculty adjusted. Tech was one of the last universities to make the switch.<\/div>\n<h3>1990s<\/h3>\n<div id=\"story34\" class=\"storyItem\">The Black Cultural Center was established in 1990.<br \/>\nIn 1995, it was named after Tech\u2019s first black graduate, Leona Lusk Officer. Officer began her degree in 1945. While working as an elementary school teacher in Sparta, she took a course or two every summer at the Agricultural and Industrial State Normal School in Nashville, now Tennessee State University. She transferred to Tech when it desegregated in 1964 and earned her degree in 1965.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story35\" class=\"storyItem\">After DDT wiped out Tennessee\u2019s bald eagle population, Mike Williams and C.J. Jaynes, both \u201992 wildlife management, spent the summer of 1992 raising a pair of the birds to reintroduce them to the wild. The birds were taken from their nests and raised by hand to help ensure their survival; often eagles have 2-3 chicks and some get pushed out of the nest because of their size.<br \/>\nThe birds came from Alaska and Wisconsin and were released at Dale Hollow Lake in a partnership between Tech, the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers.<br \/>\nToday, Dale Hollow has a few nesting pairs of bald eagles.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story43\" class=\"storyItem\">The Olympic torch passed through Cookeville on its way to Atlanta for the 1996 summer games. Eight Cookeville residents, including one Tech student, carried it on its way. Sophomore business student Andy Holbrook carried the torch from campus to the intersection of Seventh Street and Peachtree Avenue.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story36\" class=\"storyItem\">Human ecology majors created period costumes to celebrate Tennessee\u2019s bicentennial in 1997. The clothing, which documented 200 years of Tennessee history, traveled the state for years as a trunk show.<br \/>\nDuring a photo shoot on campus, a Tech photographer was so struck by how lovely a girl in an antebellum dress looked that he tripped and fell backward on South Patio.<\/div>\n<h3>2000s<\/h3>\n<div id=\"story44\" class=\"storyItem\">Nathan Tudor, \u201902 political science and history, was named to serve on the Tennessee Higher Education Commission in 2000. He was<br \/>\nthe first from Tech selected for the commission and served form 2000-2002.Since then two other TTU students have served: Jessica Brumet, \u201911 nursing, who served from 2008-2010, and Alex Martin, \u201918 basic business, who will serve 2014 to 2016.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story37\" class=\"storyItem\">Students got Eagle cards in 2003, which served to track meals and replaced the old ticket system. The cards were unpopular at first because they meant that entrepreneurial students were no longer able to sell their meal tickets to others.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story38\" class=\"storyItem\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/100-tech-moments-ROTC.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-796\" style=\"padding-right: 10px\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/100-tech-moments-ROTC.jpg\" alt=\"TTU ROTC\" width=\"156\" height=\"195\" \/><\/a>The U.S. Army Cadet Command threatened to shut down Tech\u2019s ROTC program as well as a dozen others across the nation in 2013. In part due to an outpouring of support from Tech alumni, community members and Tennessee elected officials, the 13 programs were instead placed on a two-year probation.<br \/>\nThe Golden Eagle Battalion successfully met each of the probation criteria last year. The second-year review will be held this spring.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story45\" class=\"storyItem\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/Visions-Web-28.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-702\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/files\/2015\/04\/Visions-Web-28.jpg\" alt=\"Awesome Eagle\" width=\"162\" height=\"236\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nAwesome Eagle won his division for the first time at the Universal Cheerleaders Association\u2019s national mascot competition in 2014. Awesome won it again in 2015, which was also the first year.Grandpappy Eagle was invited to the competition. Tech is the only school in the history of the competition to have two mascots compete.<\/div>\n<div id=\"story39\" class=\"storyItem\">Tech will host and celebrate Charter Day, the 100th anniversary of the university\u2019s founding, on March 27, 2015. Special guests, including students, faculty, community members, government and higher education leaders, are invited to a ceremony in Derryberry Hall.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>1915: Tennessee Polytechnic Institute founded. 1916: Thomas A. Early became president. 1916: Raymond Hamilton first registered student. 1916: Students built industrial arts building. 1918: Beulah McDonald earned first college degree. 1920: Quentin M. Smith became president. 1920: T. W. Kittrell Alumni Association president. 1925: Students chose Golden Eagle mascot. 1926: As a punishment, men dug [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":709,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-696","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spring15"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=696"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1171,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696\/revisions\/1171"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}