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Tennessee Tech administrators and community leaders memorialize late Tech employee, alumna Michelle Huddleston
Michelle Huddleston is pictured at Tech’s food pantry, which she helped establish
and lead. Now the university has established a fund to rename the pantry in her memory.
Campus and community leaders joined together to memorialize Michelle Huddleston, a
longtime Tennessee Tech University employee and proud alumna, on a special episode of Tech’s “College Town Talk” podcast.
Huddleston served at Tech in various roles for nearly 15 years, most recently as associate
director of residential life and service learning. She passed away on Oct. 21 and
is survived by her husband of 26 years, Ray, who is also a Tech employee, and their
three daughters.
“Our first interaction with Michelle was by volunteerism. That’s what she was known
for – she was literally the queen of volunteers,” said former Cookeville Mayor Ricky
Shelton, who presented Huddleston with an honorary key to the city at the end of his
term. “She never wanted credit. She was always making it happen behind the scenes.
Never wanted the spotlight.”
Shan Stout, director of tourism for the Cookeville-Putnam County Visitors Bureau and
co-host of the podcast, agreed.
“She was Cookeville’s cheerleader,” said Stout. “She understood the term ‘it takes
a village’ and she was willing to use her two hands in any capacity that was ever
needed.”
University administrators at Tech also offered tributes, including Chief Diversity
Officer Robert Owens, who recalled Huddleston’s instrumental role in helping run logistics
for past TSSAA BlueCross Bowl games held on Tech’s campus.
“Michelle did a yeoman’s job of coordinating volunteers … it was as if she never left
Tennessee Tech University in those three days. I gained a different level of respect
for her,” said Owens. “She did what was asked of her well, but she served beyond that
and that is one of the most beautiful and honorable things about her. She lived to
serve.”
Katie Aikens, dean of students and assistant vice president for strategic initiatives
at Tech, remembered Huddleston as both a personal friend and a treasured colleague.
“Michelle was exactly who you think she was,” said Aikens. “She was a giver. She supported
students and she was always the first person to offer help and assistance when someone
was in need.”
Sandra Bohannon, assistant vice president for health, wellness and wellbeing at Tech,
memorialized Huddleston’s leadership in establishing Tech’s food pantry, a resource
that has existed since 2012 to alleviate hunger among the campus community.
“We all know that one of her biggest passions probably was the pantry,” said Bohannon.
“She was so very proud of it and how many lives it affected and how it helped our
students have food and not have to worry about where something was coming from during
the week.”
Bohannon went on to recall how Huddleston helped procure a donated industrial-sized
freezer for the pantry.
“She was immediately talking about how she had to start a list, because she was going
to have to take the doors off to get it in there. They were going to have to do this
and that – that’s the kind of person she was,” said Bohannon. “You give her something
and she immediately starts planning. The result was always spectacular with Michelle.
There were just no failures with her.”
Karen Lykins, vice president for enrollment and communication at Tech, described Huddleston’s
personality as “love in motion."
“There was no feeling that she had that wasn’t followed up with some kind of activity,
some kind of help to others,” said Lykins. “I find her irreplaceable and unique, and
I don’t use that word lightly, in that sense. I’ve never really met anyone with that
combination of the caring and the ability to just get it done.”
Now, the Golden Eagle community hopes to honor Huddleston’s legacy by renaming Tech’s
food pantry in her memory. Tech President Phil Oldham called the food pantry the “hallmark”
of Huddleston’s service to the university in a message to campus announcing her passing.
The university has set a goal of $25,000 to rename the food pantry while ensuring
the place that Huddleston loved remains equipped to address hidden hunger and meet
the needs of the campus community for years to come. Donations can be made online
at https://giving.tntech.edu/pages/food-pantry.
College Town Talk is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Pandora and other platforms.