By Vivian DiSalvo (Class of 2026)
Jana Vantrease (’89) wears her Tennessee orange proudly, but she wouldn’t be so passionate about the Vol community if her dad hadn’t been a Vol first. Jerry Vantrease (’66) loves the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and he raised his daughter, Jana, to bleed orange. Fast forward, and they’re both UT graduates now—and still leading like only Vols can for their respective alumni chapters. Though miles apart, Jana (in Sarasota, Florida) and Jerry (in Chattanooga, Tennessee) serve as chapter leaders!
There are 42 UT alumni chapters and 74 area reps around the country—and even internationally. That means you can feel like you’re home sweet home wherever you are.
Find your Vol CommunityHow does participating in a chapter enhance the lives of alumni?
Jana: It gives me a whole different group of friends here! It’s different for me because I’m not in Tennessee, but I still have a community of likeminded people who support and uplift me. I know I’m always welcome. Whether it’s a winning season or not, whether we’re volunteering or going out to dinner, and whether we have a speaker or just do something fun, we always have a blast. It’s different than going out with other friends. You have something in common, and that makes it more meaningful.
Jerry: In the fall, there’s a huge gathering with all the chapters at UT. A couple years ago at this event, I met a group of people from Phoenix, Arizona. I kept looking at this one guy in our group because he was so familiar…turns out he was a student of mine back in 1968 when I taught at Chattanooga High School! Being in a chapter, you meet all kinds of people and get to make lots of connections, whether it’s new friends, found family, likeminded professionals, or just fellow Vols.
What’s been your favorite chapter event so far?
Jana: We volunteered at the Humane Society of Manatee County one year. We just helped park cars for the Paws in Motion Walk-a-thon event, but we had the best time. When we got there, it was still dark—I mean the wee hours of the morning—and there were mosquitoes everywhere, but we just had the best time. Part of it was we all wore orange, and part of it was all the dogs! They had a little dog parade, and it was so much fun! It was cool hearing people ask, “You guys are from Tennessee…why are you doing this?” There were other schools and alumni around, but no one else was volunteering except the Tennessee Volunteers. We always have a good time, but that one was especially memorable.
Jerry: The Pride of the Southland Band often comes through Chattanooga and stops on the way to play Alabama in football. We serve the entire band food, and it’s so much fun to hear them practicing! Being able to feed them, put them on the bus, and get them back on the road to go beat Alabama is a lot of fun!
Being in a chapter, you meet all kinds of people and get to make lots of connections, whether it’s new friends, found family, likeminded professionals, or just fellow Vols.”
Jerry Vantrease (’66)
How did you get started as a chapter leader?
Jana: I got a call in 2016 or 2017 from someone who was putting a chapter back together in Southwest Florida. Where I live, I’m surrounded by Gators and Seminoles, so it was neat to find some likeminded people who know and love Tennessee like I do.
Jerry: Our group here [in Chattanooga] had regular meetings, and I was always there. After a while, some of the chapter leaders said, “You come to all of our meetings—why don’t you just join and help us?” So I did!
What has been your biggest accomplishment as a chapter leader?
Jana: I’m sort of in between two chapters, so I’m on chapter boards in Southwest Florida and Sarasota, Florida. When I was president of the Southwest Florida chapter, the pandemic was happening. There wasn’t a whole lot we could do in person, and a lot of people in the chapter were immunocompromised. Even though we couldn’t get together like we would normally, we each did something to contribute to the community. I participated in an event where we changed oil for single moms and served them breakfast while they waited, and others in our chapter taught citizenship preparation classes and helped with hurricane relief. I was so proud of how my chapter came together even with the constraints at the time.
Jerry: We went to a local food center once and helped label cans for two hours. It was quite a big deal for me because I had no idea what went into this kind of operation, and I ended up working beside the CEO of the whole organization. The amount of food they process to give to people was unbelievable. It comes in plain cans with no labels—hundreds of thousands of cans—and they print out labels for each one. It showed me what we can do as a chapter, and what we can do for this city.
What’s one of the best parts of participating in a chapter?
Jana: During the summer, it’s really cool getting to interact with students who are about to enter UT. They see us get together, have fun, and show pride for our school. I think it helps someone starting college if they can be proud of something they haven’t even experienced yet, and when they come back home, they’ll know there’s a community of likeminded people who are proud of them and proud of their school.
And I love that we’re able to raise money for scholarships for students who may not be able to attend UT without it. My chapter has an endowed scholarship, as well, and I’m very proud of that.
Jerry: If you care about students, you want to get involved in an alumni chapter. Our chapter is involved quite a bit with the young folks around here who are going to the university or thinking about going there. We get to create the community for incoming Vols that we had as students and establish that UT is a special place.
