It just got even easier to be a young Tennessee fan in Gator country.
The Florida fourth-grader bullied at school for being a Volunteers football fan without a store-bought T-shirt to prove it, has been offered admission — in the UT Class of 2032 — and a four-year, full-ride scholarship, the school announced Thursday.
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
The youngster's homemade hand-drawn U.T. logo on paper, pinned to his T-shirt on "college colors day" at his elementary school, drew national attention after his teacher, Laura Snyder, wrote about his bullying on Facebook and it went viral.
In its initial response, the university sent the Altamonte Springs, Florida, boy a care package of Volunteers fan apparel and paraphernalia. Then Tennessee created a T-shirt using the youngster's design to sell through the school's official Vol Shop with proceeds going to the non-for-profit Stomp Out Bullying organization.
"Alumni, fans, and honorary Volunteers have stepped up in response to this story," the university said in its new release announcing the scholarship. "So far, more than 50,000 shirts featuring the boy’s design have been pre-sold by the VolShop."
On Thursday, the university went a step further: He was awarded the four-year scholarship covering his tuition and fees beginning in the fall of 2028 should he decide to attend Tennessee and meet admission requirements.
Out-of-state tuition and fees for the 2019-20 academic year is more than $31,000, according to Tennessee.
University officials have spoken multiple times with the boy’s mother, who has expressed gratitude to the university and said the family has been deeply touched by the overwhelming outpouring from people around the world.
