Torchbearers

Torchbearer is the highest honor the university gives to its students. Recognition as a Torchbearer reminds all students that those who bear the Torch of Enlightenment shadow themselves to give light to others.

Carrie Elizabeth Harris, an animal science/food science and technology major from Speedwell, Tenn., volunteers her time with the Children of the Cumberlands child advocacy center in her home community. In the past six years, she has impacted more than 400 children and given 3,000 volunteer hours by leading toy drives, clothing collections, securing donations for building renovations, and teaching landscaping and gardening as therapeutic activities for the children. She is vice president of the UT Dance Society, president of the Block and Bridle Club, a member of the UT Livestock Judging Team, secretary/treasurer of the Campbell County Farm Bureau Women’s Committee, and active in her sorority and the 4-H All Star Council. One of her nomination letters reads, “Mature beyond her years, she possesses the personal and professional attributes found only in the best. She is an outstanding leader who seeks responsibility, knows what has to be done, and will do it right every time.”

Curtis Allen Sanderfer is a political science and Africana studies major from Chattanooga. He is highly involved with student government, having served on Freshman Council, as a senator, and last year as SGA president. He served as president with the African American Incentive Grant Advisory Board and as an orientation leader. He served as chair for the Black Cultural Programming Committee last year and has been involved in Emerging Leaders, Student Alumni Associates, Dance Marathon, and the Ignite Program, as well as serving as a peer mentor for First Year Studies and as a resident assistant in two halls during the past three years. He recently was honored with the Collegiate Achievement Award at the First Annual African American Image Awards. His ability to successfully balance his academics with a number of campus leadership positions demonstrates his personality and work ethic.

Shanika Deshawn Sanders is an accounting major in the Honors Program from Huntsville, Ala. Sanders has held leadership positions in both business fraternities and her social sorority, served as an RA in the dorms, and is a member of the Orange Pride, working with potential student athletes. She also devotes her time to Project GRAD and developed the “Beautiful Young Ladies of Confidence” group among fourth- and fifth-grade girls at Beaumont Elementary. She works with the children to help them promote academic success and leadership skills, and to teach them to excel as young ladies. She has been honored with the African American Achiever Scholarship, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, and the Golden Key International Honor Society. She was selected by the Chancellor’s Honors Program to offer the student retrospective at its inaugural graduation brunch and was chosen to serve as the only undergraduate member of a Chancellor’s Honors Program search committee. One of her nomination letters calls her “the total package—intelligent, well-spoken, inquisitive, motivational, and personable.” Sanders will remain at UT as a graduate student in the College of Business Administration. 

Elizabeth Marie Wilson is a College Scholars student from Strawberry Plains, Tenn. She has been a member of the Pride of the Southland Band, a student orientation leader, a leader in Ambassador Scholars, a force in Greek governance, an RA, assistant election commissioner and an active senator in SGA, and a member of various campus-wide committees. Her energetic personality has led her to participate in lighthearted UT traditions such as All-Sing and Carnicus; academic commitments such as her work as a Baker Scholar and president of Mortar Board; and in commitments to service such as her work with TeamVOLS and Alternative Spring Break. All of Wilson’s nomination letters focus not only on her leadership abilities, but her contributions behind the scenes. One letter says, “The woman who turned down admission at Harvard to come to UT has proven in her four years why she made that decision—because she knew she was entering a special community which would instill in her a great education, not only academically, but also through a myriad of opportunities for service and leadership.”

Ashley Yeager is a journalism and electronic media major from Mechanicsburg, Pa. A 4.0 student, she puts the same amount of dedication and drive into every aspect of her life, from her professional work to her public service activities to her athletic endeavors as a scholarship swimmer. Her focus on scientific journalism led her to a scientific writing internship with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In addition to her work as assistant news editor of the Daily Beacon, she writes regularly for the weekly science section of the Knoxville News Sentinel and was the only undergraduate editor of the University of Tennessee’s Scientia research magazine. Last year, the National Wildlife Fund selected Yeager for one of its first Environmental Leadership Awards; she was the only journalism major selected. In addition to receiving a $5,000 scholarship, she attended an environmental leadership conference in Washington, D.C., and a 14-day expedition to South Africa to research the endangered brown hyena. Along with her academic endeavors, Yeager spends more than 20 hours a week as a dedicated member of the Lady Vols swimming and diving team. Also, for the past two years, she has co-chaired the survivorship committee for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life and garnered the highest survivor participation to date.