The 2026 Captain’s Challenge – the annual giving event for the University of Tennessee at Martin – outperformed last year’s record-setting event in the amount gifted and the number of donors taking part.
This year’s 12th annual Captain’s Challenge – held April 1 – raised $692,572 for 281 university funds through the generosity of 1,959 donors. The former records set last year were $579,291 raised through 1,665 donors.
Donors participated through challenge.utm.edu and through several events held on campus. On the website, gifting areas were broken down by the five colleges: Agriculture and Applied Sciences; Business and Global Affairs; Education, Health, and Behavioral Sciences; Engineering and Natural Sciences; and Humanities and the Fine Arts. Other gifting areas included Paul Meek Library, WestStar Leadership Program, campus-wide initiatives and the Office of Intercollegiate Athletics.
Top recipients were athletics, with $186,555 through 592 donors; the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences, with $118,610 through 309 donors; and campus-wide initiatives, with $115,654 through 514 donors.
One of the on-campus fundraising events was the Karaoke Sing-Off, held that day in Watkins Auditorium in the Boling University Center.
The UTM Children’s Center took first place in the Karaoke Sing-Off with 106 votes, bringing a $5,000 gift to the Margaret N. Perry Children’s Center Gift Fund. Dr. Steve Elliott, director of the STEM Center for Teaching and Learning and chair of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, won second place with 72 votes, bringing a $3,000 gift to the Dr. Desiree McCullough Memorial Scholarship, while Jake Bynum, chief of staff for the Office of the Chancellor and executive director of the WestStar Leadership Program, took third place with 51 votes, bringing a $2,000 gift to the WestStar Leadership Gift Fund.
Those interested in making a gift to UT Martin should visit alumni.utm.edu/give or contact Matt Borden, director of annual giving, at mborden5@utm.edu or 731-881-3611.
For more information about UT Martin, visit www.utm.edu or call 1-800-829-UTM1 (-8861).
PHOTO: Veterinary science students are shown taking part in a veterinary X-ray lab last October. The College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences had the second-highest gifting result in this year’s Captain’s Challenge, bringing in $118,610 through 309 donors.
