Noah Dunlap, Smokey’s Closet Committee Chair

Hi, my name is Noah Dunlap, and this year I had the opportunity to become the Smokey’s Closet Committee Chair! If you are not familiar with Smokey’s Closet, that may be because 2017-2018 was our first full year of serving the UTK community. Our goal is to provide professional clothing to students for free in preparation for job interviews, career fairs, or any other event that might require business professional attire. We know that finding nice clothes on a college student’s budget is difficult, not to mention the fact that those clothes many only be worn a handful of times. That’s why we see Smokey’s Closet as such a worthwhile cause to pursue!

We believe that as Smokey’s Closet gains more recognition, not only will we distribute clothes to more students, but we will receive a larger volume of donations, as most of our clothing comes from donations within the university, both faculty and students. In the past year alone, we have seen rapid growth, especially with our move this past January to our new, larger space! We now have open hours on Friday’s that allow students to walk in every week. Smokey’s Closet has already helped me improve my communication and planning skills, as well as given me a way to give back to the UTK community that has made the transition to college life so simple. I believe this will be even more rewarding as we continue to add new members and extend our reach in the number of ways we can serve students. I am so excited to see where Smokey’s Closet can go!