Teaching and everything involved with it runs deep within the McCutchen family.
William Thomas “Tom” McCutchen began teaching Geology at the University of Tennessee Martin Branch, which later became UTM, in 1964. He passed down his love of teaching and UTM to his daughter, Tomi McCutchen Parrish. “Ms. Tomi,” as she is known to her students, serves as an instructor of Communications and as coordinator of the Office of Student Publications, which includes The Pacer, The Spirit and BeanSwitch.
Together, McCutchen and Parrish have created a teaching legacy at UTM that will have spanned 50 years at the end of this semester and includes a recent regional teaching award.
“Having a half century of the McCutchen family teaching at UT Martin is not only unique, but also reflective of real talent and passion for teaching. Countless students have, no doubt, benefited from the McCutchen family legacy,” Chancellor Tom Rakes said.
Parrish won the SEJC Journalism Educator of the Year at the Southeast Journalism Conference convention held in Lafayette, La., on Feb. 21.
“I was so thrilled because my Pacer staff nominated me and, oh, I wanted that award for all of us. Not just because it’s an award, but because we’ve put in so much time and effort, and our department and our students have really embraced SEJC,” Parrish said. “We’ve made it a tradition to go to the convention every year and participate in the contests, and we held the convention here in 2012. So, to me, it was like a culmination of what I and my students have put into it ever since the first one we went to in 2002. It was absolutely incredible.”
Although Educator of the Year is one of the biggest awards Parrish has won during her teaching career, it is definitely not the first. She has been named a Coffey Outstanding Teacher, an Outstanding Advisor and a UT National Alumni Association Outstanding Teacher at UTM.
Parrish comes from a long line of teachers, including her parents, grandparents and many other relatives.
“The whole mindset that if you gather knowledge, you pass it on, has been coming down through my family for generations,” Parrish said.
“My dad and mom were excellent teachers, respected by their colleagues and loved by their students. They brought home the attitude that my brother and I should always be learning. We spent many meals with encyclopedias in our laps because my parents would always say, ‘look it up,’” Parrish said. “I liked that because I was, and am, deeply curious. However, I also questioned everything, even when it was supremely foolish to do so. That made me tough to live with, but what I and my brother got from growing up the way we did was that we learned how to find information and how to think for ourselves.”
Though McCutchen taught Geology at UTM for 36 years, geology was not his first career choice. McCutchen, who grew up in Scottsboro, Ala., dreamed of being a cowboy, but because his parents split when he was 13, he didn’t have a lot of financial support. So, he needed to do something that could earn him a good living. His dream of being a cowboy was set aside when his mother pushed him hard to go to college.
McCutchen decided to attend Berea College in Berea, Ky., where he spent his entire first week taking tests.
“The one thing that I thought Berea did exceptionally well was they tested us mentally, physically and health wise. There was a whole week of testing and some of the tests were preference tests. From these preference tests the advisers would advise you what careers to think about,” McCutchen said.
The advisers told him because he was so outdoorsy he should be a farmer, a forester or a geologist. He decided geology would be the best fit for him after taking an introductory geology class.
McCutchen left Berea with a bachelor’s degree in hand and a wife in tow, fellow Berea graduate Gail McDavid.
After moving to Florida, he started graduate school and his wife began teaching. He earned his master’s degree from Florida State University and then moved his family to Texas to work on his doctorate. After only completing one semester of class work and field work on his dissertation at the University of Texas, a move to Birmingham, Ala., became necessary when his wife was forced to quit her teaching job because she was pregnant.
While McCutchen was working in Alabama, where he and his wife’s first child, Tomi McCutchen, was born, his adviser at the University of Texas left his position. When McCutchen was unable to find another professor willing to pick up his work with volcanics, he took a job with Miami-Dade Junior College in Florida.
The college, which was locally known as the Chicken Coop College, occupied a refurbished high school agricultural campus. McCutchen taught for two years in buildings where many of the windows did not even have glass in them. During his third year, the college was relocated onto an old Air Force base where 600 acres had been donated to the city to be used for the college.
Because he didn’t like living in a big city like Miami, he began seeking a teaching position in a more rural area.
“We aren’t city people. Both my parents are essentially Appalachian kids, one from northeast Kentucky and one from northeast Alabama. They met and married at Berea, which is known as an Appalachian school. It’s intended for less economically advantaged kids who likely would not be able to afford a college education otherwise. That’s where our roots are. We have always been happier in the country,” Parrish said.
When the offer came from UTMB in the spring of 1964, McCutchen took a leave of absence from his job in Miami and came to Martin for an interview. He became UTMB’s first full-time geologist in the fall of 1964, two months after the birth of the couple’s second child, Shawn McCutchen.
“My first class at UTM in the fall of 1964 was Geology 101 taught by Tom McCutchen. He was a great teacher and a perfect introduction to college academics. Little did I know then that I would have the opportunity to work with his daughter, Tomi, years later at UTM. Tomi has always been a student advocate and has helped shape the careers of countless Communications students. As chancellor, I always appreciated her professionalism and what she did for our students,” Dr. Nick Dunagan said.
In 1978, Tomi McCutchen started college at UTM and quickly became involved in the band. She participated in the flag and rifle corps for four years and was the field commander for the UTM Marching Band during her fifth year at UTM. She was also involved in Sigma Alpha Iota, Broadcasting Guild, Phi Kappa Phi, Who’s Who, The Pacer, was a Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Sweetheart and was a charter member in 1980 of the Memphis Blues Brass Band Drum and Bugle Corps.
In 1983, she left Martin with a bachelor’s degree in Communications and headed to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, where she earned her master’s degree in journalism. While working at UA as a teaching assistant, she was named Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant in Journalism.
After graduate school, Parrish began working as a copy editor at the Birmingham Post-Herald in Alabama, just 26 days before NASA’s Challenger blew up, plunging a brand-new copy editor into a newsroom filled with chaos. During her nearly nine years with the Post-Herald, she worked primarily as a copy editor, but also did some reporting and was the editor for Kudzu, the newspaper’s entertainment magazine, for a year.
She moved to Decatur, Ala., in December 1994 because she needed daytime hours and decent day-care options for her young son, Jesse Parrish. She worked as a copy editor for The Decatur Daily for 19 months. While there, she won a first-place award for headlines in the Alabama Associated Press Association statewide contest.
While Parrish was away in Alabama, big changes were going on in Martin with her parents. They got a divorce and later married other people with UTM connections.
Tom McCutchen married Roetta Smith VanCleave, who retired from Sodexo in 2007. During McCutchen’s UTM career, which ended with his retirement in 2000, he not only taught Geology, but also served as the chair of his department for 18 months and was instrumental in rewriting the Geology curriculum when UTM switched from the quarter system to semesters. He was also instrumental in hiring Dr. Michael Gibson, who was recently featured in The Pacer.
“Tom McCutchen hired me in the spring of 1988 as I was finishing my Ph.D. at UT Knoxville. Tom was one of the ‘Founding Fathers’ of the UT Martin geology program. … I was very impressed with Tom when I first met him. He was a very laid-back and down-to-earth person. I was immediately made to feel welcome and it was clear to me that these were not just faculty in a department, but a kind of close-knit family,” Gibson said. “Tom became more than a faculty mentor to me during my fledgling years at UT Martin. He became a very close friend and confidant.”
Also during Parrish’s time in Alabama, Gail McDavid McCutchen, who retired in 1997 from teaching 27 years in the Weakley County School System, married Robert G. “Bob” Smith, an engineer who retired from UTM in 1995 with 29 years of service in the Physical Plant. The couple married in 1988 in the Tennessee Room of the Holland McCombs Center on campus.
In 1996, Parrish returned to Martin on a term contract as an instructor in the Communications Department and as faculty adviser to The Pacer. Since then, her roles have expanded to include coordinator of the Communications Internship Program and coordinator of the UTM Office of Student Publications. In 2005, she added another UTM bachelor’s degree to her resume, this time in Geography. Her family also expanded to include not only her son, Jesse, but her stepson, Will, as well as her sons’ friends and a menagerie of cats and dogs.
“I suppose that I’ve known Tomi longer than anyone on campus on a professional basis. When I was editor of The Weakley County Press, she worked for me as a feature writer while still a college student,” said Dr. Robert Nanney, chair of the Department of Communications. “Although more than 30 years have passed since I first met Tomi, she really hasn’t changed that much. She remains a talented and dedicated person who cares deeply about others and making a difference in this world.”
Parrish said she works “in the best department on campus with colleagues who all are a daily inspiration.” As both a teacher and a mom, she believes in the concepts of lifelong learning and of knowledge for its own sake.
“I know grades matter, but I hope students will embrace those who care about what they learn overall, not just how they perform academically. I hope students will have enough respect for themselves and their world to learn everything they possibly can. I want students to come in here with open minds and walk out of here with open minds. Be like little sponges; absorb everything and use it wisely,” Parrish said.
Family ties to UTM
•Tom McCutchen – retired faculty and Roetta McCutchen – retired from Sodexo
•Dee VanCleave – Roetta’s daughter, attended UTM, UTK alumna
•Missy VanCleave Estes – Roetta’s daughter, twice alumna and Joe Estes – Missy’s husband, works at campus warehouse
•Tomi McCutchen Parrish – current faculty, twice alumna
•Shawn McCutchen – Tomi’s brother, attended UTM, UTK alumnus and Carol Milligan McCutchen – Shawn’s wife, UTM alumna
•Gail Smith – Tomi’s mom, master’s UTM alumna and Bob Smith – retired from Physical Plant, UTM alumnus
•Greg and Scott Smith – Bob’s sons, both UTM alumni
Go to the photo gallery “McCutchen Legacy” at www.thepacer.net to view more photos of the McCutchen family.
Additional quotes regarding Tomi Parrish that were not included in the print edition.
“I’m very proud. I think that it’s [her daughter winning SEJC Educator of the Year] great. I feel like there’s nobody that works any harder than she does or spends more time and effort for her students. I think that it is an honor well deserved,” Gail Smith said.
“I can’t say that I’ve ever had a teacher as good for me as Ms. Tomi. As both my scholastic adviser and the adviser to The Pacer, she has been a constant rock for me to lean on in times of trouble, whether it’s staying up late with me to help me lay out newspaper pages or being there when the stresses of college life hit. I said it when I helped recommend her for SEJC Educator of the Year, there’s no one out there that has quite the balance she does of excellence and humility. It makes her approachable and helpful in every situation, and it’s why students she teaches succeed and love her. Almost all students in the Department of Communications that I’ve had conversations with about Communications professors say that she is their favorite. It was such a delight to watch her win SEJC Educator of the Year, and has been one of the highlights of my college experience, because if anyone deserves a wall of awards, it’s her. In the college journey, it’s easy to meet professors who are intelligent or have doctorates in various subjects, but it’s not easy to meet someone who actually cares so much that they schedule their life to revolve around students and academia. Ms. Tomi does just that. When I leave this May, it will be really difficult to leave her behind because she’s become such a part of my daily life, and there’s really not another teacher who will understand me like she does. She is a lot like me in many ways but just further down the road, so the bits of advice she have given me along the way has really helped shape me into a better person,” said Alex Jacobi, senior Communications major and Pacer Executive Editor.
“Words cannot begin to describe how proud I am that Ms. Tomi was chosen as SEJC Educator of the Year. I couldn’t name another person who deserves it more than she does. When most would have thrown people out of their office, she had the facial tissue and perfect words ready. She has been more than just a professor to see on a daily basis in class; Ms. Tomi is the truest definition of someone who goes above and beyond her call of duty. She has guided so many of us in making decisions, which will not only have an effect on the here and now, but on our futures. She has been there to say ‘I understand, but we’re going to make it.’ when the weight of taking on too many things begins to cave. She has made me a better journalist and a better person. Because of her guidance, I know when I leave UTM in May I will be ready. But, I also know that when I feel like I’m not she will only be a phone call away,” said Malorie Paine, senior Agriculture Communications major and Pacer Managing Print Editor.
“When I was a sophomore, I was completely lost. I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted. I was really just taking classes with no intent of getting involved with anything, but once I found myself in the Communications Department, Ms. Tomi changed that. She made me want to be involved and make myself better. If it wasn’t for her, I may not be preparing to graduate. She gave me an opportunity to do what I love, write, and for that I will always be grateful,” said Bradley Stringfield, senior Communications major and both current Pacer Managing Online Editor and former Sports Editor.
“I have known Ms. Tomi for seventeen years. I met her when I played soccer with her son Jesse. When I got to college I knew I was going into Communications because I loved to write and she would be one of my instructors. A lot of people helped me during one of the darkest times in my life, but it was Ms. Tomi who helped me stay in school. She was always behind me no matter what I did. I was honored to call her teacher. Now I love calling her my friend,” said Kristen Harrelson, UTM alumna and former Pacer Online Executive Editor and Sports Editor.
“Tomi Parrish is one of the finest educators that I have encountered in my academic career. She is compassionate, kind, caring, yet firm and she makes you want to be a better student,” said Kara Kidwell, UTM alumna and former Pacer Social Media Manager.
Letters of Recommendation sent to the Southeast Journalism Conference recommending Tomi McCutchen Parrish for SEJC Educator of the Year.
January 14, 2014
SEJC Educator of the Year Nominating Committee
Southeast Journalism Conference
Dear Nominating Committee Members:
I am writing to endorse Ms. Tomi Parrish for this year’s “Educator of the Year” in the Southeast Journalism Conference. It is an honor for me to do so.
Tomi Parrish has been one of my colleagues in the Communications Department since I first joined the faculty here in 2001-2002. During the past 12 years I have come to respect and appreciate her talent, professionalism and unwavering commitment to the students at this university.
An examination of her vita is most impressive. Among her numerous honors and awards that stretch all the way from graduate school to the present date, it is clear that Tomi Parrish deserves the strongest consideration for this award.
Since her involvement began with the Southeast Journalism Conference, Ms. Parrish has given significant time and effort to assist in keeping the organization growing and successful. Some of those efforts are:
• Delegate to SEJC since 1999 and have attended all annual conventions since 2004
• “Best of the South” judge in 2002 and 2003
• Vice president and “Best of the South” contest coordinator in 2004-2005
• Onsite competition category judge in 2010 and 2011
• Elected SEJC president-elect in February 2010, elected president in February 2011
• Brought the SEJC convention to UTM in February 2012
• Served as immediate past president until February 2013
I can tell you that Tomi Parrish is a dedicated professional journalist, who has been making a difference in the lives of communications students for many years. She always is willing to go the extra mile to assist students. She strives for excellence in the classroom and for the Office of Student Publications at The University of Tennessee at Martin, which she coordinates. Ms. Parrish has assisted me in my efforts as the advisor of the campus student operated radio station, and has contributed mightily to its success. She even proofread my Ph.D. dissertation.
As an educator, she is unmatched. As a colleague, she is a total professional and a person you want on your side. As a media advisor, she is dedicated to both accuracy and excellence.
For these and many other reasons, I recommend Tomi Parrish without reservations of any kind, and commend her to you with enthusiasm. While you may have many good candidates to consider for this prestigious award, I do not think you could find anyone more deserving.
Should you need additional information about Ms. Tomi Parrish and why I believe she richly deserves this award, please do not hesitate to contact me. It will be a pleasure to speak on behalf of such an outstanding educator, who has that rare combination of qualities that are always sought, yet rarely found.
Sincerely,
Richard C. Robinson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
SEJC Educator of the Year Selection Team:
We, The Pacer Editorial Board, write this letter to recommend Tomi McCutchen Parrish, our faculty adviser and SPJ adviser, for SEJC Educator of the Year. Many educators know the difficulties that come with balancing several classes and helping students become the best they can be. However, not many educators juggle those responsibilities while managing three student publications. She manages to teach all her classes, advise students, serve as the adviser for the University of Tennessee at Martin’s local chapter of SPJ and still manages to handle her faculty adviser responsibilities for The Pacer (UTM’s student newspaper), BeanSwitch (UTM’s literary and arts magazine) and The Spirit (UTM’s student magazine), all of which have staffs that need constant guidance.
In addition, she does not take the position of adviser lightly, spending hours a week with students, helping them acquire the best classes and best internships they can, so that they can not only meet the requirements they need to graduate, but also obtain the skills they need to succeed in life. On several occasions, she has even helped students outside her department fix their schedules when their own advisers had missed something. Unlike many professors, Ms. Tomi’s office door is always open, whether a student needs her to help solve an academic dilemma or whether someone just needs an ear to listen and help sort out the fears and stresses that come with being a young college student.
If there is one word to describe Ms. Tomi, it’s compassionate. Every day for her is a sea of to-do lists that benefit others; whether it’s for individual students or for the publications she advises. Furthermore, even with her knowledge, excellence and expertise as a teacher and adviser, she is still one of the most relatable and humble professors out there, with a warmth that many of us have needed day in and day out when making a newspaper and being busy college students. She has no problem being in The Pacer office with us for each print issue and each major article we write, answering our questions about anything from AP Style to major ethical dilemmas we face.
Without Ms. Tomi, many of us wouldn’t be where we are today. Her determination to see us succeed as students and as journalists is a major reason that we all work so hard, sometimes spending all day and night in the office working on the newspaper. We not only want to be successful ourselves, but we want to take this newspaper that she has guided and make it the best college newspaper out there. At a public university in a small town like Martin, Tenn., mediocrity and apathy sometimes exist among faculty and students alike, but it’s people like Ms. Tomi that make the experience of UTM worth it.
With these things in mind, we ask that you give Tomi McCutchen Parrish your highest consideration for SEJC Educator of the Year.
Sincerely,
Alex Jacobi, Executive Editor
The Pacer Editorial Board: Malorie Paine, Bradley Stringfield, Eric Brand, Mary Jean Hall, Becca Partridge, Sheila Scott
