University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Chancellor Donde Plowman delivered her sixth annual Flagship Address on Thursday, celebrating the progress of the past five years while looking to the future and leaning into the institution's identity as a land-grant university.

"We have a covenant with Tennesseans," she told the crowd. "The bond we have with the place we love and the people we serve runs deep and it runs wide."

UT leaders, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of the university gathered at the Sandra G. Powell Recital Hall inside the Natalie L. Haslam College of Music for the event. During his introduction of the chancellor, Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor John Zomchick announced her commitment to another five years of leading the university.

"I think I speak for the chancellor's entire leadership team when I say that these years have been absolutely transformative for the University of Tennessee," he said. "This momentum, it is absolutely true to say, has been the direct result of both the vision and leadership of our chancellor, the hard work and dedication of everyone in this room and the fact that we are inspired everyday to give our all for Tennessee."

Plowman noted the interactions she has with people from all walks of life across the state who trust in and rely on the university. The lives of countless Tennesseans are better because of the research, education, economic development, and community-building that takes place at UT, she said.

"No one is in a better position than land-grant universities to remind people why higher education matters," Plowman said. "All universities want to do good. We all want our students to succeed and our research to matter. But as someone who spent the first half of my career at a public university and the second half at land-grant universities-there's a difference."

She went on to give examples of that difference, including the university's initiative to expand digital learning and provide opportunities to students wherever they are in life. She also pointed to the university's partnership with Cherokee Health Systems to improve maternal and child health in East Tennessee, the work of the Appalachian Justice Research Center to partner with communities to combat persistent issues, and the research collaboration between UT and Oak Ridge National Lab to solve some of the state's most pressing challenges.

"Our fates have always been intertwined," she said. "When our state is thriving, so is our university; and when the University of Tennessee is at its best, so is our state," she said.

At the conclusion of the speech Plowman encouraged room of faculty, staff, students, and community leaders to do their part to nurture the covenant between the university and Tennesseans.

"Trust doesn't just make our work easier; it makes it more meaningful," she said. "It will take everyone on this campus and across this state to build the future we want. It will take all of us to light the way."

A full recording and transcript of Plowman's Flagship Address will be available on the chancellor's website.

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