The University of Tennessee’s newest t-shirt is based off the design of a young fan in Florida who went viral for his homemade UT fan art.
The boy wanted to tout UT at his school on College Colors Day on Oct. 31, but the boy did not have any official UT gear. The young fan improvised and drew his own logo on a piece of paper and pinned it to an orange t-shirt.
“He was SO EXCITED to show me his shirt,” one of his teachers, Laura Snyder, posted on Facebook.
The boy’s school spirit became a target for jokes, and several of his classmates made fun of him at lunch for his makeshift UT shirt. Snyder reached out to her Facebook friends for connections to UT to buy an official shirt from the university to surprise her heartbroken student.
Snyder’s post flew across social media and eventually came to the attention of university officials who decided to send their young fan in Florida a box of UT gear, which Snyder presented to him in class.
“I’m not even sure I can put into words his reaction. It was so heartwarming,” Snyder said. “My student was so amazed at all the goodies in the box. He proudly put on the jersey and one of the many hats in the box.”
“When we brought the box upstairs to share with the rest of my class they were surprised as well!” Snyder continued. “My student got to pass out UT swag to his classmates. They were ecstatic!”
The university’s marketing department took the gift to the boy a step further and used his own design on a new t-shirt. UT said part of the proceeds from the shirt will be donated to Stomp Out Bullying.
“As a marketing and fan experience guy, I absolutely loved the creativity that he showed there. And it got back to us and to the football team and to campus here, to the Vol Shop,” said Jim Delaney, the UT Associate Athletic Director for Marketing and Experience. “I think he will go from making his own t-shirt to now being the envy of the school.”
UT is taking pre-orders for the shirt and expects the new item to be shipped in late September.
