Tennessee’s VOLeaders Academy Class of 2018-19 began its year-long leadership curriculum recently with its annual retreat.

This fourth collection of VOLeaders comprises 19 current student-athletes who represent every one of UT’s varsity sports programs.

Those student-athletes are: Caylan Arnold (softball), Matthew Butler (football), Ana Celaya Hernandez (women’s swimming & diving), Spencer Cross (men’s golf), Owen Devine (men’s swimming & diving), Cheyenne Labruzza (football), Luc Lipcius (baseball), Tenika McGiffin (women’s tennis), Stanzi Moseley (women’s swimming & diving), Maya Neal (soccer/women’s track & field), Josh Palmer (football), Ana Pelic (rowing), Andrew Rogers (men’s tennis), Kaitlin Staines (women’s tennis), Emily Sykes (women’s swimming & diving), Haley Wagner (women’s golf), Derrick Walker (men’s basketball), Evina Westbrook (women’s basketball) and Callie Williams (volleyball).

“We could not be more excited to welcome our fourth cohort of student-athletes into the VOLeaders Academy,” said Dr. Joe Scogin, Senior Associate Athletic Director, Assistant Provost and Director of the Thornton Center. “We have so many amazing student-athletes, that it continues to get more and more difficult to select our class. Our student-athletes and coaches have embraced the opportunity provided through VOLeaders and continue to ask for an even greater reach.

“This institution is grounded in servant leadership and it means something special to be a Volunteer. Our student-athletes continue to amaze and inspire us through the way they use their platform in sport to positively impact their sport teams, our athletic department, our institution, our community, and our world.”

Next summer, the VOLeaders will conclude the year-long program with a service trip to the Republic of Rwanda in Central Africa. Over a span of 10 days, the Tennessee contingent will make its way from the capital city of Kigali northwest to the Musanze district in the Northern Province.

During their time in Africa, the VOLeaders will team up with an additional partner in the UTIA Smith Center for International Sustainable Agriculture, which leads a UT-Rwanda partnership to support Musanze households in small-scale broiler chicken enterprises. The partnership links UT with a Rwandan private agribusiness, Zamura Feeds Ltd., and is funded by the US Agency for International Development and the African Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) Foundation.

ASAP is chaired by UT alumnus Donnie Smith, who, together with his wife, Terry, and family, endowed the Smith Center and helped to establish the VOLeaders Academy endowment within UT athletics.

The three previous VOLeaders Academy classes concluded their time in the program with trips to Brazil (2016), Vietnam (2017) and Ecuador (2018).