Students participate in Spring Hoedown, support new scholarship fund
Last week, UT’s chapter of Collegiate 4-H hosted its first Spring Hoedown in the Hollingsworth Auditorium on UT’s Agriculture Campus. All money raised will help start a scholarship fund.
UT students danced to show their support for a new scholarship for college hopefuls on Thursday at the Spring Hoedown.
This event was open to any UT student as long as they were 18 years or older, according to Brigitte Passman, President of the Spring Hoedown.
“We’re trying to raise money to start a scholarship fund for any upcoming UT students that show a need for the scholarship. The scholarship will be hosted through an endowment through the Tennessee 4-H foundation,” she said.
The entry fee was $3 if RSVP’d, otherwise, it was a $4 at the door. All entry fees are in support of the fund.
“It’s the first annual Hoedown, and it’s something we hope to continue every year to help high school students get into college,” Passman said.
Though the evening started slow, with only around a dozen students at the start of the event, but it quickly doubled in size and remained that way for the rest of the event.
Over 30 UT students and staff were on the dancefloor at once, dancing to hits such as “Ice Ice Baby,” “Footloose” and “Rocky Top.”
Some of UT’s cheerleaders were on the dancefloor, waving their pompoms around and showing off some of their routines. During “Rocky Top”, they cheered their best and encouraged everyone to follow their lead.
Other activities were available for those who didn’t feel like dancing. The Sigma Alpha sorority sold various baked goods, from brownies to small cakes for 50 cents, and a hacky sack game was set up on the sidelines of the dance floor.
Other activities included a boot decorating contest, and a later square dancing contest. Oakley Perry, an agricultural leadership education and communication double-major, who also serves as the Vice President of the Spring Hoedown was the DJ.
While Perry did manage the music, he acted as the dance leader of a lot of the dances by demonstrating to less experienced dancers how some of the old classics were done. He showed some new students how to dance along to “Footloose,” and danced with the cheerleading squad to “Ice Ice Baby.”
Dr. Arthur Leal, assistant professor of Agricultural Leadership Education and Communications was the sponsor of the event.
For more information on the Hoedown, click here.
Featured image obtained through creative commons, courtesy of GifTagger
Featured video by Thomas Ferrell
Edited by Kaitlin Flippo
