Tennessee Tech launches College Town Weekends

Tennessee Tech students Hannah Hardaway and Hannah Frisbey enjoy Cookeville’s downtown area. The university is launching a new initiative to encourage students to take advantage of all the city has to offer.

COOKEVILLE – A new student outreach promotion is underway at Tennessee Tech as the Student Affairs division launches College Town Weekends on Saturday, Sept. 11.

“Cookeville is Tennessee’s college town,” said the new Vice President for Student Affairs Cynthia Polk-Johnson. “We really want to engage students on the weekends, and not just with on-campus events. Cookeville is full of a variety of events to match all interests. You can go to local festivals, take in a football game or get outdoors at one of our beautiful parks.”

Polk-Johnson started in her new role at Tech last July and said she has been impressed with the relationship between the university and local Cookeville community.

“Both the university and community are so supportive of each other,” she said. “It’s a great relationship. We want our students to know that going to college in Cookeville is not just going to class Monday through Friday. We want for them to stay in Cookeville on the weekends and have fun and make connections.”

College Town Weekends is a promotion that combines both on campus and off campus events into one list and shares that information with students in various ways, including posters, digital signs, table tents, door hangers and online at tntech.edu/weekends.

For the first weekend in this new series on Sept. 11, events promoted include Fall Fun Fest, paddle boarding at Monterey Lake, a Family Feud-style game show in Tech’s residence halls, history hikes at the Cookeville Depot Museum and more.

“Over the last three years during my time as a student at Tech, Cookeville has become my home away from home,” said Kayla Anderson, a communication major from Knoxville. “Spending my weekends in Cookeville has made me feel closer to the campus community and given me extra opportunities to connect with friends and classmates outside of our regular school activities. I’m excited for other students at Tech to learn more about all of the great things Cookeville has to offer.”

Events are updated regularly at tntech.edu/weekends. If those in the Cookeville community would like to submit events to be included, they can do so at tntech.edu/weekends/submit. Submitted events are subject to review by the university and are not guaranteed to be listed.

Tennessee Tech is ranked as a “Best National University” by U.S. News & World Report. The university offers more than 200-plus programs of study, and Tech grads leave with the least debt of all public universities in the state. In fact, based on total cost and alumni earnings, Tech provides students with the highest return on investment for any public university in Tennessee, according to PayScale.

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