Highlighting Our Team’s 2024-2025 Achievements

As students return to campus to begin a new school year, our University Advancement team is reminded of the why behind what we do as fundraisers. Whether in the form of endowments, major gifts, or annual giving, every dollar makes a difference in the lives of our students, faculty and staff, and the region. We are thankful for our generous alumni and friends and the role they played in what has been a monumental year for our team.

This year brought a lot of new initiatives as well as new faces as we hired our first communications position with Assistant Director of Communications and Engagement and upgraded our athletics position to Senior Associate Athletic Director for Development. We soft launched HawkStarter, UTM’s new peer to peer fundraising tool, which has some exciting campaigns currently underway and more to follow. Our alumni office established the Alumni Ambassador programs comprised of volunteer groups in Weakley, Dyer, Henry, Davidson, Madison, and Shelby counties.

We also celebrated some major wins for our campus. Captain’s Challenge this past April witnessed historic numbers—both in dollars raised and number of donors. A total of 1,665 alumni and friends across 39 states and four countries helped raise $579,291—soaring past our goals. In February, we broke ground on the Tennessee Entrepreneurial Science and Technology (TEST) Hub. The facility will combine educational spaces and manufacturing workshops surrounding a shared industrial makerspace, in addition to housing the Regional Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (REED) Center.

Esteemed alumnus and philanthropist William (Bill) Rhodes, III, gifted more than $3,600,000 to fund the match needed to secure state funding for the much-needed new College of Business and Global Affairs, which will be known as Rhodes Hall.

As we look back on these wins and set our sights on the year ahead, we are reminded to cherish the milestones across UTM’s 125 years of history. This fall kicks off the year-long celebration with an opening ceremony held on October 10, 2025. We would love for you to join us and stick around for Homecoming’s Quad City the following day before cheering on our Skyhawks in football. A pictorial archive book is available to order so you can celebrate with us wherever you may be.

Stay UTM Proud,

Jeanna Curtis Swafford
Vice Chancellor for University Advancement