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UT board OKs purchase of Martin Methodist for new campus

Black hat and yellow tassel of graduates placed on a wooden table grad tile graduation college school education tile graduation cap grad hat / Getty Images
Black hat and yellow tassel of graduates placed on a wooden table grad tile graduation college school education tile graduation cap grad hat / Getty Images Black hat and yellow tassel of graduates placed on a wooden table grad tile graduation college school education tile graduation cap grad hat / Getty Images

By Associated Press 1 min read

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – The University of Tennessee system’s board has voted in favor of buying Martin Methodist College to set up a fifth campus, naming it UT Southern.

According to a university news release, Friday’s vote at a meeting in Memphis means UT Southern in Pulaski will be the first new University of Tennessee campus in more than a half-century. The campus is about 75 miles southwest of Nashville, closer to the Alabama border.

The board also voted to make Martin Methodist President Mark La Branche the first chancellor of the new campus.

The changeover is effective July 1. The state budget that kicks in July 1 includes $6.1 million for the acquisition, which has been in the works for months.

The university system will now have campuses in Knoxville, Chattanooga, Martin, Memphis and Pulaski.