Over the past academic year, a new space for connection, discovery, and belonging launched within the Division of Student Life. The Office for Campus Culture and Community has quickly become a hub where students explore who they are, deepen their connections with others, and engage with the campus and the Knoxville community.
In its first year, the impact has been both wide-reaching and deeply personal. Through one-on-one consultations and community-driven programs, the office has created opportunities for students not just to participate, but to reflect, grow, and find their place.
Since August, the office has hosted 587 one-on-one consultations, called student engagement meetings, with 210 individual students. These meetings are all about offering care, guidance, and a warm hand-off to the right campus resources when needed. The office is meeting students where they are at that moment and ensuring they feel seen and supported.
Beyond individual engagement, the office has focused on building vibrant, personalized opportunities for students to connect with one another and the broader community.
This spring, the Bloom Into Books event transformed the Frieson Black Cultural Center Building plaza into a lively celebration of reading, artistic work, and local connection. Partnering with local book vendors, UT Libraries, and community organizations, the event invited students to explore new ideas while engaging with Knoxville’s community. With many free items available to students, the event offered books, hands-on crafts, music, and a seed-planting station, with event organizers intentionally working to remove cost barriers where they could for student participants.
For many students, the experience was both joyful and eye-opening. “This was a great experience and opportunity to support local businesses and see what is offered in the Knoxville community,” one attendee shared. “It was definitely a bright spot in my day.” Others echoed a sense of belonging they hadn’t expected. “I loved this event! It felt super intimate and fun in the UT community,” another student noted.
The office also found remarkable success in creating recurring opportunities for connection. The Vol Community Bingo series, hosted weekly throughout February and March, brought together 219 participants across six events, with each event drawing more attendees than the last. More than half of all participants returned for additional events, with some attending nearly every one. Early attendees tended to come back with friends in tow, helping the series grow week by week.
For Jennifer Lein, a student who first discovered bingo through the office Instagram account, one event turned into something much bigger. Since her parents were visiting, she brought them along to the event.
“I wanted to make sure they felt included and felt like they were a part of my student life here at UT,” she said. “I am very close with my parents, and I knew both of them loved bingo, so I thought this would be the perfect event.”
What she found went beyond a fun activity. When she came back for another event, she knew she had found a community.
“The staff remembered who I was even just after attending one event,” Lein recalled. “I have made lifelong friends thanks to the Office for Campus Culture and Community. Now when I go to events here, I feel like I have a family and a place that I can call home.” After that first bingo night and experiencing an event with her parents, Lein went on to attend several subsequent events with the office throughout the spring semester, including karaoke, bowling, and more. “I will continue to support the Office for Campus Culture and Community any way I can after I graduate,” she said, “because they all have been so important to me.”
Lein’s experience is not an outlier. Surveys collected from attendees across six spring events echo her feelings. Nearly 90% of respondents said they felt a stronger sense of connection to campus after attending an Office for Campus Culture and Community event, 96% said they learned more about a campus organization or resource, and 95% reported being able to meaningfully engage with a peer, staff member, or community member at the event.
When asked what they valued most, students pointed to a few consistent themes: the events were engaging and fun; connecting with both old friends and new ones was meaningful; the staff’s warmth made them feel welcomed and seen; and they left with a sense of community and belonging. Students described the office’s events as “a great activity with my roommate” and said things like, “I connected with so many people that like things I like at this event.”
The office’s work is guided by a framework that centers exploration and lived experience. In its first year, the office has already brought that vision to life by creating opportunities for students to discover their interests, engage with others in meaningful ways, and carry those experiences forward.
Whether through a one-on-one conversation, a shared laugh over bingo, or a quiet moment browsing books at a community fair, the Office for Campus Culture and Community is helping students continue to connect, learn, and grow on Rocky Top.
“I will continue to support the Office for Campus Culture and Community any way I can after I graduate, because they all have been so important to me.”
Jennifer Lein
UT Student
By the Numbers
Nearly 90% of survey respondents said they felt a stronger sense of connection to campus after attending an Office for Campus Culture and Community event, 96% said they learned more about a campus organization or resource, and 95% reported being able to meaningfully engage with a peer, staff member, or community member at the event.