Two CEHHS Seniors Named Torchbearers – UT’s Highest Honor
Two Seniors in the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences (CEHHS) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, who have demonstrated academic excellence and a commitment to service and leadership have been named Torchbearers, the university’s highest student honor. Kate McCarville a Senior studying therapeutic recreation and Jada Walker, studying sport management were presented with the awards earlier this week.
The recipients were surprised with the award through a surprise visit from either Chancellor Donde Plowman or a member of her cabinet. UT leadership — and a balloon sculpture of the university’s iconic torch — appeared in each room to honor the new Torchbearers alongside friends, classmates, professors and mentors during seemingly normal classes and club meetings.
The award reflects the university’s Volunteer Creed: “One that beareth a torch shadoweth oneself to give light to others.” Students selected as Torchbearers embody the Volunteer spirit, displaying initiative and service in the best interests of both the university and their fellow students.
Kate McCarville of Springfield, Missouri, is studying therapeutic recreation and psychology with a minor in leadership studies and will graduate this spring. She is a member of UT’s swimming and diving team, where she was awarded the Lady Vol Student-Athlete Academic Achiever Award in 2024, and she has been named twice to the SEC Academic Honor Roll and seven times to the Dean’s List. McCarville has competed in the SEC and NCAA swimming and diving championships, winning the SEC championship alongside her team in 2022, as well as in the U.S. Olympic Team trials in 2024. She completed therapeutic recreation field experiences with Cornerstone of Recovery, NHC HealthCare Fort Sanders and the FUTURE program, and volunteered with 1Tenn, the VOLeaders Academy and the League of Angels.
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Jada Walker of Ooltewah, Tennessee, will graduate this spring with a degree in sport management and a double minor in Spanish and business administration. Walker is president of the Zeta Delta chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, captain of the VolCorps Volunteer Team and president of the Melanin Mental Health Alliance, an award-winning student organization she founded. Walker has been honored as New Member/Neophyte of the Year by the Office of Sorority and Fraternity Life and as an outstanding junior by UT’s chapter of the NAACP. She is a member of the UT Success Academy and the Global Citizens Program and has previously been involved with leadership and professional development programs including the Academy for Global Scholars, the Tennessee-Rwanda Leadership Experienceand Big Orange Combine. Walker has volunteered with community organizations like Thrive and the Metro Drug Coalition as well as with Alpha Kappa Alpha’s Childhood Hunger Initiative Power Pack program.
The Torchbearers, along with the Macebearer and Volunteer Spirit honorees, will be recognized for their extraordinary achievements at the Chancellor’s Honors Banquet on Tuesday, April 29.