A fourth-grade Florida boy who was bullied at school for wearing a homemade Tennessee Volunteers T-shirt can now draw up his college plans, courtesy of the university.
Tennessee announced Thursday that it has extended an offer of admission and a four-year scholarship -- for the Class of 2032 -- to the elementary school student in Altamonte Springs, Florida.
The university will cover the cost of the boy's scholarship if he chooses to attend the school and meets all admission requirements.
The boy's story drew national attention earlier this week when Laura Snyder, his teacher, detailed on Facebook how the boy had been bullied after clipping a piece of paper with a "UT" design to an orange T-shirt for "college colors day" at the school.
Vol Nation, you united around a #FutureVol who created his own UT shirt. And now we are thrilled to offer him a spot in the Class of 2032 and a four-year scholarship.🍊🎓 https://t.co/TjviKrMtLF
— UT Knoxville (@UTKnoxville) September 12, 2019
Snyder's Facebook post went viral nearly instantaneously, and Tennessee interim president Randy Boyd and others have reached out to the boy directly or on social media.
I was touched to learn of a young Florida school student's heart for the University of Tennessee, and I LOVED his imagination behind designing his own shirt. So many of us admire his love for UT and it's awesome to see everyone step up to send him some UT gear!#EverywhereUT pic.twitter.com/83YqjzBxag
— UT Interim President Randy Boyd (@UT_President) September 5, 2019
After sending a care package with all sorts of Vols gear to the boy and his entire class, the university then created a T-shirt using the boy's design to sell through the VolShop, with all proceeds going to the nonprofit Stomp Out Bullying organization.Tennessee says more than 50,000 shirts with the boy's design have been presold by the VolShop, with expected delivery in late September.