KNOXVILLE — A banquet honoring recipients of the University of Tennessee’s Sen. Herbert S. Walters Scholarship is scheduled for March 15 at the University Center.
The Walters Scholarship, named for the late U.S. senator from Morristown, helps undergraduate students from East Tennessee attend UT. Approximately 20 scholarships of $3,300 are awarded annually.
George Herbert Prater of Morristown, the senator’s nephew, and niece Sara Louise Mott of Knoxville are scheduled to attend. Jack E. Williams, UT vice president for development and alumni affairs, hosts the annual banquet for all Walters Scholars who are on campus.
Walters helped shape the state-s political course for more than 40 years, Williams said.
In 1963, Gov. Frank Clement appointed him to the senate seat left vacant by the death of Sen. Estes Kefauver. Vice President Lyndon Johnson, a personal friend, swore Walters in, and he served in the Senate from August 1963 to November 1964.
Williams said Walters believed in a solid work ethic and wanted to encourage that independent spirit in the students the scholarship would assist.
He specified that scholarship recipients should be willing to help support themselves and their college goals through employment, Williams said.