University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

History

UTC was founded in 1886 as the then-private and racially exclusive Chattanooga University, which was soon merged in 1889 with the Athens-based Grant Memorial University (now Tennessee Wesleyan), becoming the Chattanooga campus of U.S. Grant Memorial University. In 1907, the school changed its name to University of Chattanooga. In 1964 the university merged with Zion College, which had been established in 1949 and later became Chattanooga City College. In 1969 the University of Chattanooga joined the UT system and became the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

The University of Chattanooga Foundation Inc. is a private corporation, created in 1969, that manages the private endowment of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Administration

UTC uses the semester system, with five optional "mini-terms" in the summer. The leadership of the campus rests upon the chancellor, who answers to the UT System President. The University is currently headed by Chancellor Dr. Steve Angle.

Student Government Association of UTC

A voice for student leadership on campus, the SGA consists of senators representing districts/the college they belong to, such as the College of Arts and Sciences.

Academics

Chattanooga is best known for its nationally ranked Business program, Engineering, Nursing, English, Chemistry, Accounting, Psychology, Music, and Education departments. The university offers over 140 undergraduate majors and concentrations, and over 50 undergraduate minors. Chattanooga also offers nearly 100 graduate programs and concentrations, including a highly ranked master's program in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and Ph.D. programs in Computational Engineering and Physical Therapy. In an effort to expand the horizons of its student body, UTC recently began an exchange program with Kangnung National University of Kangnung, South Korea.

Media and publications

Research

Campus

The University is served by CARTA bus routes 4, 7, 10, 14, 19, and 28. Route 14 only operates on weekdays during fall and spring terms, when the University is session. The route runs on and off the campus on McCallie, Houston, Vine, Douglas, Fifth, and Palmetto Streets. A recent extension serves Third, O'Neal, and Central Streets, as well as Erlanger Hospital, and a large parking lot at Engel Stadium. All students showing valid University identification cards (MocsCards) ride for free on all CARTA routes, year-round.

Academic buildings

Note: Dates of construction given when known

Patten Chapel

Library

The Lupton Memorial Library, named for T. Cartter and Margaret Rawlings Lupton, was constructed in 1974 to replace the aging John Storrs Fletcher Library (which has since been restored and renamed Fletcher Hall). As of 2005, the library's collection includes nearly 2 million items, including the Fellowship of Southern Writers archives. In early 2008 the University was granted funding to build a new library.

The University broke ground in 2010 for the new $48 million 180,000-square-foot (17,000 m²) library. Construction was completed in January 2015.

Notable alumni, students, and faculty

Athletics

Chattanooga's colors are navy and old gold; their men's teams and athletes are nicknamed Mocs, and women's teams and athletes are Lady Mocs. Chattanooga athletics teams compete in NCAA Division I (FCS for football) in the Southern Conference (SoCon) and have been ranked as a national top 100 athletic program by The National Association of Collegiate Director’s of Athletics (NACDA) in the Division I Learfield Sports Director’s Cup.

Chattanooga's men's basketball program has been among the best in the Southern Conference since joining the league in 1977–78. The Mocs have won 10 SoCon Tournament titles, tied for first all-time with former member West Virginia and Davidson, 10 regular-season league championships prior to the change to the division format in 1995 and seven division titles for 27 totals titles. In 1997, led by coach Mack McCarthy and Chattanooga native Johnny Taylor, the Mocs made a run to the Sweet 16 as a No. 14 seed, beating Georgia and Illinois before falling to Providence. Before making the move to Division I, Chattanooga won the Division II National Championship in 1977. In July 2008, the team was ranked number 48 on the ESPN list of the most prestigious basketball programs since the 1984–85 season.

The Mocs won the SoCon tournament once again in 2009. Defeating the College of Charleston Cougars 80-69 in the championship game on their home court at the McKenzie Arena, the Mocs punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament, their first since 2005.

Jimmy Fallon from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon chose the Mocs as his team of choice going into the 2009 NCAA Tournament. The Wednesday night (March 18) show included a live Skype chat with Head Coach John Shulman, as well as representatives of the pep band and cheerleading squads made in studio. Fallon's house band The Roots wrote and performed an ode to Shulman titled, "The Don Juan of the SoCon" and Shulman and his six seniors (Nicchaeus Doaks, Zach Ferrell, Kevin Goffney, Khalil Hartwell, Stephen McDowell and Keyron Sheard) made an in-studio appearance following their tournament game with UConn.

The Lady Mocs are the most successful women's basketball program in Southern Conference history with 15 regular season titles since 1983–1984, 10 consecutive conference championships at the end of 2008–2009 and 14 overall conference championships.

The men’s golf squad won its third consecutive Southern Conference trophy and finished 18th in the NCAA Championships in 2009.

In August 2012, UTC golfer Steven Fox won the U.S. Amateur Championship.

Women’s golf posted a 3.46 team GOA in the spring while advancing to the NCAA Division I finals in just the second year of the program since disbanding in the mid-1980s.

The Mocs’ softball team has won 11 regular season titles and 10 SoCon Tournament Championships. They have also made 7 NCAA tournament appearances.

Chattanooga is home to the only NCAA Division I wrestling program in the state of Tennessee. The Mocs' wrestling team has won 8 of the past 9 Socon title's since the 2012–2013 academic year.

The team plays in the Southern Conference in Division I FCS (formerly I-AA) (Socon). Terrell Owens played college football at UTC. The team won three-straight SoCon championships from 2013 to 2015. They play in Finley Stadium, which hosted the NCAA Division I Football Championship from 1997 to 2009.

Athletic venues

University nickname

The school's athletic teams are called the Mocs. The teams were nicknamed Moccasins until 1996. (The origin of the name is uncertain; however, Moccasin Bend is a large horseshoe-shaped bend in the Tennessee River directly below Lookout Mountain.)

The mascot has taken on four distinct forms, with a water moccasin being the mascot in the 1920s, and then a moccasin shoe (known as "The Shoe") was actually used as the school's mascot at times in the 1960s and 1970s. From the 1970s until 1996, the mascot was Chief Moccanooga, an exaggerated Cherokee tribesman.

In 1996, due to concerns over ethnic sensitivity, the Moccasins name and image were dropped in favor of the shortened "Mocs" and an anthropomorphized northern mockingbird, in accordance with the state bird, named "Scrappy" dressed as a railroad engineer. The school's main athletic logo features Scrappy riding a train (a reference to Chattanooga's history as a major railroad hub and to the song "Chattanooga Choo Choo"). The mascot takes its name from former football coach A. C. "Scrappy" Moore.

Fight song

The fight song for UTC is "Fight Chattanooga".

Band

The marching band is referred to as the "Marching Mocs" and performs at all home games.