“We all have a story. Use your story as fuel, and you’ll get everything this life has to offer.”

That was the message Staff Sgt. Christian Weaver shared during a small ceremony honoring him at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Haslam College of Business on March 20. Faculty members and friends gathered to recognize the senior business management major, who will be unable to attend UT’s May commencement festivities because of his deployment with the 134th Air Refueling Wing of the Tennessee Air National Guard.

Service and Spirit

Growing up on a cattle farm in Collinwood, Tennessee, Weaver did not expect he would ever earn a university degree. By the time he enrolled at UT in the fall of 2022, the 2016 Collinwood High School graduate had earned two associate’s degrees — one in radiology and one in military and strategic leadership — and had worked as a CT technologist at a medical center in Waynesboro, Tennessee. He’d also joined the U.S. Air Force, serving as a structural engineer. On one occasion, his radiology background enabled him to conduct the first coronary artery exam ever performed in the Arctic Circle.

Weaver was determined to make the most of his campus experience when he arrived at UT. He joined the inaugural cohort of the Veterans Impact Program (an initiative that supports incoming student veterans), studied in Greece and Italy with a study abroad program, and served on the Spirit Squad. At the football game against Vanderbilt in November 2023, his teammates helped him propose to his girlfriend, Janna, on the sideline at Neyland Stadium.

‘Something Bigger Than Himself’

Russell Crook and Christian Weaver

Weaver will not graduate officially until he completes his coursework remotely while on deployment. During the ceremony, which was streamed for Weaver’s family, Russell Crook, head of the college’s Department of Management and Entrepreneurship, presented him with a framed “diploma coming soon” certificate. Weaver wore graduation regalia, including a special cord and medallion from the UT Veterans Success Center denoting his status as a veteran.

Lane Morris, associate dean of undergraduate studies and student affairs in the Haslam College of Business, said Weaver embodies his personal definition of leadership: “inspiring and mobilizing people to tackle tough challenges and do things that matter.” 

“I cannot think of a tougher challenge, or anything that matters more, than defending our country,” Morris added.

George Drinnon, the college’s assistant dean for undergraduate programs, commended Weaver’s “belief in something bigger than himself” and praised his work ethic, honesty and integrity. “That’s a perfect example of the type of graduate we like to produce here in the Haslam College of Business,” Drinnon said. 

Top photo, L-R: Russell Crook, Lane Morris, Christian Weaver, George Drinnon

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CONTACT:

Stacy Estep, writer/publicist, sestep3@utk.edu