GREENEVILLE – Students, faculty and staff demonstrated Tusculum University’s commitment to civic engagement and honored one of the institution’s earliest benefactors with a day of service in the community and on campus.
Tusculum student Ruby Groves, right, shows a project she completed with a girl.
The annual Nettie Fowler McCormick Service Day Friday, Sept. 25, enabled students at all levels to landscape, clean, paint, sort clothes, give manicures, pressure wash and prepare venues for upcoming events. One of the biggest activities was to help create quilts for children in need in conjunction with a national organization with local ties.
“This beloved tradition enables our students, faculty and staff to work together for the betterment of the community,” said Dr. Scott Hummel, Tusculum’s president. “Many alumni have fond memories of Nettie Day, and we know today’s students will remember it affectionately after they graduate. Participating in Nettie Day is about more than the work involved. It is a way for students to understand they will have a responsibility throughout their lives to strengthen the community where they live and work.”
Among the places where the Tusculum family assisted the community during Nettie Day were:
- CARE Thrift Store
- Doak Elementary School
- George Clem Multicultural Alliance
- Gift for Kids
- Highland Elementary School
- Morning Pointe of Greeneville
- Mt. Olive (Red Hill) Church
- Notre Dame Catholic Church
- Rural Resources
- Tusculum Baptist Church
- Tusculum View Elementary School
Additionally, students completed work on campus. They assisted with stage work in Behan Arena Theatre and cleaned and landscaped on the Tusculum University Nature Trail. Both of them are heavily used by community members.
Tusculum family members spread mulch on the university’s nature trail.
Two Tusculum students enjoy the quilt top project during Nettie Day.
Another project on campus drew a group of 34 students and about 10 faculty and staff members to the Dr. Nancy B. Moody Lecture Hall in the Meen Center to create quilt tops. The Jonesborough Quilt Guild performed the initial sewing, and the Tusculum family finished the work. The guild and fabric stores in East Tennessee donated the fabric needed to create the quilts. Tusculum also received donated sewing machines to complete this project.
Quilts for Kids, a nonprofit organization that provides quilts to children facing serious illness, trauma, abuse or natural disasters, will receive the tops from Tusculum and apply the batting, backing and binding. The national organization has a chapter that covers Knoxville to Bristol in Tennessee, and the product will stay in East Tennessee. Tusculum produced about 40 quilt tops during Nettie Day.
Cindy Pippin, an administrative assistant at Tusculum, who worked closely with Chelsea White, associate registrar, said the activity was a big hit with the students. Those students are also members of the women’s soccer and track and field teams.
“It’s emotional because we can help the children who need something like these quilts,” Pippin said. “It’s also nice because these quilt tops will stay in this area.”
Ryan Fair, a junior in the business administration program majoring in economics, and Kirsten Sadlon, a junior pursuing a bachelor’s degree in sport management, were two of the students who participated in the sewing project.
“I thought it was really fun to get to build something new,” Fair said. “We didn’t know how to sew with a machine before, so it was cool to do that and help make the quilts. It was pretty relaxing to be away from my phone for a while.”
Sadlon was glad to be part of this activity and recognizes the value of Nettie Day.
Tusculum students paint at Mt. Olive (Red Hill) Church.
Tusculum students help clean property in the community.
“I couldn’t imagine what those kids are going through,” she said. “This is a really good organization that will receive the quilts, and we’re very appreciative to everyone that helps out with Nettie Day – not just with what we were doing today but throughout the whole campus and all of Greene County. Just helping out anyway we can in Greene County is super important. That’s such a big part of Tusculum University and all of the civic engagement we have to do. That’s something really helpful that we carry on later in our life.”
The head coaches for women’s soccer and track and field, Vanessa Fyffe and Robert Williams respectively, welcomed the opportunity to involve their teams. Fyffe said she thought it would be a fun task for her players and enable them to learn a new skill and help children.
The track and field team was involved during the 2025 Nettie Day in helping create bags that could be used on walkers. Everyone loved participating then because of the impact on others, so it made sense to participate again this year, Williams said.
Another student who worked on Nettie Day was Camryn Roberts, a freshman who is seeking a degree in sport science pre-physical therapy/pre-occupational therapy. He helped paint boards for the stage and moved props in the Behan.
“You really feel better about yourself knowing that you’re helping your community and giving back,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed giving back to the community and helping the school.”
More information about the university is available at www.tusculum.edu.