{"id":50223,"date":"2023-04-30T13:37:12","date_gmt":"2023-04-30T17:37:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=50223"},"modified":"2023-05-08T08:32:36","modified_gmt":"2023-05-08T12:32:36","slug":"first-gen-graduate-gives-back-and-pays-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2023\/04\/first-gen-graduate-gives-back-and-pays-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"First gen graduate gives back and pays forward"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Juan

Juan Carlos Aponte Ortiz, shown in the Student Success Center, will be receiving a bachelor’s degree in political science during May commencement ceremonies. Photo by Angela Foster.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cCompletely terrifying.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how Juan Carlos Aponte Ortiz described his move from Puerto Rico to Watertown, Tennessee\u2014population about 1,500\u2014when he was 16.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut here we are. So I\u2019m grateful, really grateful, for the opportunities that were given to me because a lot of people didn\u2019t get the same opportunities that I had,\u201d Aponte said.<\/p>\n

Those opportunities include four years at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he enrolled as a first-generation college student and, through perseverance and the indispensable help of others, will graduate Saturday with a degree in political science.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be walking across the stage, and it seems like yesterday I got here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Aponte\u2019s own experiences at UTC led him to become deeply involved with student-oriented, peer-mentoring programs on campus. He has worked with Student Support Services, Student Success Programs, the Office of Student and Family Engagement, the Center for Women and Gender Equity, and the Center for Wellbeing.<\/p>\n

He has been a peer mentor in MOC Academy, which works with first-year students who, like him, are men of color.<\/p>\n

Before starting his freshman year, he enrolled in the Moc Up summer program, designed to give first-gen students a smooth transition to college life. He\u2019s now a peer mentor in Moc Up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI attribute a lot of my success to that program. It is just tremendous,\u201d Aponte said. \u201cIt really did instill, at least in me, a sense of community and a sense of investment in my future.\u201d<\/p>\n

He moved to the United States in 2017 after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. His mother said he could stay on the island, which was still a wreck, or he could move to the U.S. to live with his aunt in Tennessee.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mom sat me down and she laid the cards on the table. She put the decision in my hands, but it was kind of like, \u2018This is what you\u2019re doing,\u2019\u201d he recalled with a smile, \u201cso I just packed up and left.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moving to Middle Tennessee was a culture shock, especially since he was one of only eight Hispanic students in Watertown High School, which is about 40 miles east of Nashville.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were really close. We had to be,\u201d he said. \u201cWe did everything together, so it was not as lonely as you would think because you find people along the way, and I was blessed with good people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Aponte will have a bachelor\u2019s degree in hand, he\u2019s not leaving UTC. In fall semester 2023, he will start working on a master\u2019s degree in public administration at the University. He was accepted to graduate programs at both UTC and the University of Georgia, but decided to stay in Chattanooga.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve worked with student programming; I\u2019ve worked with different departments on campus. I really love the work; it\u2019s something that I truly enjoy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019m also not closing myself to other opportunities that may arise. I think that public administration will make me a rounded individual that will allow me to stay here if I want or take other opportunities if I want.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aponte said he finished his undergraduate life having learned a powerful lesson: Commitment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think that this, by any stretch of the imagination, is easy. It takes being committed to go through everything that you have to go through as a student and all the financial struggles and all the stuff that\u2019s stress-inducing and stick with it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou find motivation and you find a way to keep going no matter how hard it is, no matter how big the project might seem. You keep chipping at it until it comes down.\u201d<\/p>\n

If he had a piece of advice for new students, he\u2019d \u201csteal\u201d what he was told by Jason Harville, assistant director of Student Success Programs: \u201cClosed mouths don\u2019t get fed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTalk to someone,\u201d Aponte said. \u201cIt can be hard. It can be scary, and maybe you don\u2019t know who to talk to; but if you need help, you need to seek it out because nobody knows what you\u2019re going through.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo please, please, please talk to somebody. Because, in my experience, people are more than willing to help around here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Juan Carlos Aponte Ortiz’s experiences at UTC led him to become deeply involved with student-oriented, peer-mentoring programs on campus. He has worked with Student Support Services, Student Success Programs, the Office of Student and Family Engagement, the Center for Women and Gender Equity, and the Center for Wellbeing. <\/p>\n

Continue Reading <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1105,"featured_media":50226,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_slider":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_featurette":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[123864,61,12659,52,8244,12778,661],"tags":[119195,70414,122687,94171,122700,119544,48469,95918,122703,119086,7379],"class_list":{"0":"post-50223","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-advancement-and-alumni","8":"category-college-of-arts-sciences","9":"category-events-entertainment","10":"category-graduate-school","11":"category-honors-and-awards","12":"category-political-science","13":"category-students","14":"tag-center-for-wellbeing","15":"tag-center-for-women-and-gender-equity","16":"tag-commencement-2023","17":"tag-first-generation-graduates","18":"tag-juan-carlos-aponte-ortiz","19":"tag-moc-academy","20":"tag-moc-up","21":"tag-office-of-student-and-family-engagement","22":"tag-public-administration","23":"tag-student-success-programs","24":"tag-student-support-services","25":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nFirst gen graduate gives back and pays forward | UTC News Archive: Jul 2007 - Oct 2025<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Juan Carlos Aponte Ortiz's experiences at UTC led him to become deeply involved with student-oriented, peer-mentoring programs on campus. He has worked with Student Support Services, Student Success Programs, the Office of Student and Family Engagement, the Center for Women and Gender Equity, and the Center for Wellbeing.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"First gen graduate gives back and pays forward | UTC News Archive: Jul 2007 - Oct 2025\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Juan Carlos Aponte Ortiz's experiences at UTC led him to become deeply involved with student-oriented, peer-mentoring programs on campus. He has worked with Student Support Services, Student Success Programs, the Office of Student and Family Engagement, the Center for Women and Gender Equity, and the Center for Wellbeing.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2023\/04\/first-gen-graduate-gives-back-and-pays-forward\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UTC News Archive: Jul 2007 - Oct 2025\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UTChattanooga\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-30T17:37:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-08T12:32:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/04\/Juan-Aponte-Ortiz-23-4211-e1682466145282.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1698\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1794\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shawn Ryan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@UTChattanooga\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@UTChattanooga\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Shawn Ryan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogarchive.utc.edu\\\/news\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/first-gen-graduate-gives-back-and-pays-forward\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogarchive.utc.edu\\\/news\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/first-gen-graduate-gives-back-and-pays-forward\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Shawn Ryan\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogarchive.utc.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7c7532013925b3412f8142e378b04942\"},\"headline\":\"First gen graduate gives back and pays forward\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-30T17:37:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-08T12:32:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogarchive.utc.edu\\\/news\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/first-gen-graduate-gives-back-and-pays-forward\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":757,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogarchive.utc.edu\\\/news\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/first-gen-graduate-gives-back-and-pays-forward\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogarchive.utc.edu\\\/news\\\/files\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/Juan-Aponte-Ortiz-23-4211-e1682466145282.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Center for Wellbeing\",\"Center for Women and Gender Equity\",\"Commencement 2023\",\"First-Generation Graduates\",\"Juan Carlos Aponte Ortiz\",\"MOC Academy\",\"moc up\",\"office of student and family engagement\",\"Public Administration\",\"Student Success Programs\",\"Student Support Services\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Advancement and Alumni\",\"College of Arts and Sciences\",\"Events and Entertainment\",\"Graduate School\",\"Honors and Awards\",\"Political Science\",\"Students\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogarchive.utc.edu\\\/news\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/first-gen-graduate-gives-back-and-pays-forward\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogarchive.utc.edu\\\/news\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/first-gen-graduate-gives-back-and-pays-forward\\\/\",\"name\":\"First gen graduate gives back and pays forward | UTC News Archive: Jul 2007 - Oct 2025\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogarchive.utc.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogarchive.utc.edu\\\/news\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/first-gen-graduate-gives-back-and-pays-forward\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogarchive.utc.edu\\\/news\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/first-gen-graduate-gives-back-and-pays-forward\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogarchive.utc.edu\\\/news\\\/files\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/Juan-Aponte-Ortiz-23-4211-e1682466145282.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-30T17:37:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-08T12:32:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogarchive.utc.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7c7532013925b3412f8142e378b04942\"},\"description\":\"Juan Carlos Aponte Ortiz's experiences at UTC led him to become deeply involved with student-oriented, peer-mentoring programs on campus. He has worked with Student Support Services, Student Success Programs, the Office of Student and Family Engagement, the Center for Women and Gender Equity, and the Center for Wellbeing.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogarchive.utc.edu\\\/news\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/first-gen-graduate-gives-back-and-pays-forward\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogarchive.utc.edu\\\/news\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/first-gen-graduate-gives-back-and-pays-forward\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogarchive.utc.edu\\\/news\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/first-gen-graduate-gives-back-and-pays-forward\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogarchive.utc.edu\\\/news\\\/files\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/Juan-Aponte-Ortiz-23-4211-e1682466145282.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogarchive.utc.edu\\\/news\\\/files\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/Juan-Aponte-Ortiz-23-4211-e1682466145282.jpg\",\"width\":1212,\"height\":1280,\"caption\":\"Juan Aponte Ortiz sits in the Student Success Center Thursday, April 20, 2023. He will be graduating in May.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogarchive.utc.edu\\\/news\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/first-gen-graduate-gives-back-and-pays-forward\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogarchive.utc.edu\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"First gen graduate gives back and pays forward\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogarchive.utc.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogarchive.utc.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"UTC News Archive: Jul 2007 - Oct 2025\",\"description\":\"Official news releases of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogarchive.utc.edu\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogarchive.utc.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7c7532013925b3412f8142e378b04942\",\"name\":\"Shawn Ryan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fd3380969898eaf8c8a869d0a88ec19c46f2edd41319a7a40d9c63946c900aa9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fd3380969898eaf8c8a869d0a88ec19c46f2edd41319a7a40d9c63946c900aa9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fd3380969898eaf8c8a869d0a88ec19c46f2edd41319a7a40d9c63946c900aa9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Shawn Ryan\"},\"description\":\"Shawn Ryan is the executive staff writer in the Office of Communications and Marketing at UTC.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogarchive.utc.edu\\\/news\\\/author\\\/hqv743\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"First gen graduate gives back and pays forward | UTC News Archive: Jul 2007 - Oct 2025","description":"Juan Carlos Aponte Ortiz's experiences at UTC led him to become deeply involved with student-oriented, peer-mentoring programs on campus. He has worked with Student Support Services, Student Success Programs, the Office of Student and Family Engagement, the Center for Women and Gender Equity, and the Center for Wellbeing.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"First gen graduate gives back and pays forward | UTC News Archive: Jul 2007 - Oct 2025","og_description":"Juan Carlos Aponte Ortiz's experiences at UTC led him to become deeply involved with student-oriented, peer-mentoring programs on campus. He has worked with Student Support Services, Student Success Programs, the Office of Student and Family Engagement, the Center for Women and Gender Equity, and the Center for Wellbeing.","og_url":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2023\/04\/first-gen-graduate-gives-back-and-pays-forward\/","og_site_name":"UTC News Archive: Jul 2007 - Oct 2025","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UTChattanooga","article_published_time":"2023-04-30T17:37:12+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-05-08T12:32:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1698,"height":1794,"url":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/04\/Juan-Aponte-Ortiz-23-4211-e1682466145282.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Shawn Ryan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@UTChattanooga","twitter_site":"@UTChattanooga","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Shawn Ryan","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2023\/04\/first-gen-graduate-gives-back-and-pays-forward\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2023\/04\/first-gen-graduate-gives-back-and-pays-forward\/"},"author":{"name":"Shawn Ryan","@id":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/7c7532013925b3412f8142e378b04942"},"headline":"First gen graduate gives back and pays forward","datePublished":"2023-04-30T17:37:12+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-08T12:32:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2023\/04\/first-gen-graduate-gives-back-and-pays-forward\/"},"wordCount":757,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2023\/04\/first-gen-graduate-gives-back-and-pays-forward\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/04\/Juan-Aponte-Ortiz-23-4211-e1682466145282.jpg","keywords":["Center for Wellbeing","Center for Women and Gender Equity","Commencement 2023","First-Generation Graduates","Juan Carlos Aponte Ortiz","MOC Academy","moc up","office of student and family engagement","Public Administration","Student Success Programs","Student Support Services"],"articleSection":["Advancement and Alumni","College of Arts and Sciences","Events and Entertainment","Graduate School","Honors and Awards","Political Science","Students"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2023\/04\/first-gen-graduate-gives-back-and-pays-forward\/","url":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2023\/04\/first-gen-graduate-gives-back-and-pays-forward\/","name":"First gen graduate gives back and pays forward | UTC News Archive: Jul 2007 - Oct 2025","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2023\/04\/first-gen-graduate-gives-back-and-pays-forward\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2023\/04\/first-gen-graduate-gives-back-and-pays-forward\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/04\/Juan-Aponte-Ortiz-23-4211-e1682466145282.jpg","datePublished":"2023-04-30T17:37:12+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-08T12:32:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/7c7532013925b3412f8142e378b04942"},"description":"Juan Carlos Aponte Ortiz's experiences at UTC led him to become deeply involved with student-oriented, peer-mentoring programs on campus. He has worked with Student Support Services, Student Success Programs, the Office of Student and Family Engagement, the Center for Women and Gender Equity, and the Center for Wellbeing.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2023\/04\/first-gen-graduate-gives-back-and-pays-forward\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2023\/04\/first-gen-graduate-gives-back-and-pays-forward\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2023\/04\/first-gen-graduate-gives-back-and-pays-forward\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/04\/Juan-Aponte-Ortiz-23-4211-e1682466145282.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/04\/Juan-Aponte-Ortiz-23-4211-e1682466145282.jpg","width":1212,"height":1280,"caption":"Juan Aponte Ortiz sits in the Student Success Center Thursday, April 20, 2023. He will be graduating in May."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2023\/04\/first-gen-graduate-gives-back-and-pays-forward\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"First gen graduate gives back and pays forward"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/","name":"UTC News Archive: Jul 2007 - Oct 2025","description":"Official news releases of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/7c7532013925b3412f8142e378b04942","name":"Shawn Ryan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fd3380969898eaf8c8a869d0a88ec19c46f2edd41319a7a40d9c63946c900aa9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fd3380969898eaf8c8a869d0a88ec19c46f2edd41319a7a40d9c63946c900aa9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fd3380969898eaf8c8a869d0a88ec19c46f2edd41319a7a40d9c63946c900aa9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Shawn Ryan"},"description":"Shawn Ryan is the executive staff writer in the Office of Communications and Marketing at UTC.","url":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/author\/hqv743\/"}]}},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/04\/Juan-Aponte-Ortiz-23-4211-e1682466145282.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/04\/Juan-Aponte-Ortiz-23-4211-e1682466145282.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Shawn Ryan","author_link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/author\/hqv743\/"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/04\/Juan-Aponte-Ortiz-23-4211-e1682466145282.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1105"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50223"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50406,"href":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50223\/revisions\/50406"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}