Love, Service, and Skyhawk Pride

Nicholas Glenn (’05) and Tymikia Gunn Glenn (’01) met each other on the UT Martin campus and are both dedicated to serving their alma mater.

Both graduated from UTM with bachelor’s degrees, but it was Nicholas’ first day on campus that became special for both of them.

“While Tymikia ran her way into the UT Martin Athletics Hall of Fame, she also ran right into my heart,” Nicholas said, reminiscing on their 1999 move-in day.

“I jumped out of my father’s Dakota pickup truck, and as I’m walking into Browning Hall, Tymikia was also walking into Browning Hall,” he said. “She was the first young lady that I met on campus.

“I knew in that moment that I wanted to take her out, and I wanted to let her know that we needed to be a wonderful couple. She didn’t see things the same way, but as we see now, it turned out to be that way.”

A chance encounter in the lobby entrance of Browning Hall led to a friendship-turned-courtship. Surrounded by friends, sorority sisters, and fraternity brothers, Nicholas proposed to Tymikia in the Skyhawk Fieldhouse, and the couple married on Oct. 19, 2002.

Nicholas graduated from UT Martin in 2005 with a degree in interdisciplinary studies, while Tymikia graduated in 2001 with a degree in health and physical education. They live in Olive Branch, Mississippi, but make the drive to Martin when their service requires it.

Nicholas is the executive director for the Tennessee, Mississippi, and Ohio region of Law Enforcement Against Drugs and Violence Inc. (LEAD), a national nonprofit organization that trains and certifies law enforcement officers and educators to teach an evidence-based drug education and violence prevention curriculum for grades kindergarten through 12th grade.

Nicholas started as a trainer for LEAD Inc. in 2016 and has been an executive for two years.

Nicholas served as a patrol officer, a school resource officer, and a lieutenant detective. He worked as a student employee in the UT Martin Department of Public Safety and, after graduation, in the City of Martin and City of Milan police departments.

His campus involvement also included the Social Work Club and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity.

“(LEAD was) using a curriculum that we were using at the department that I was with and saw working first-hand,” he said. “It started in 2014, and we currently have more than 6,000 instructors across the country and have a presence in all 50 states.”

Nicholas said his emphasis in LEAD Inc. is to meet with elected officials on the state and federal level and law-enforcement executives within his region to help them provide funding for training and to help the program advance by providing new instructors.

Nicholas’ service to the university is seen in his duties as the chaplain for the UT Martin football team, a position he picked up while working for the City of Martin Police Department.

“I had a speaking engagement one day in a local church, and that was the day that (UTM football head coach) Jason Simpson had his welcome reception,” he said. “A common friend walked up to me and said, ‘I need you to come meet Jason Simpson. He’s the new head football coach.’

“He introduced us, and Jason said, ‘Come by the building one day. I want to talk to you about being part of the program and what we do. I would like to have a spiritual component with this football program.’ I went to practice one day and talked to the football team, and I’m still doing that.”

He’s been serving as chaplain since 2008 and recently celebrated the team’s fourth straight year at the top of the conference standings.

Nicholas said he enjoys being a part of his alma mater’s football team.

“I get to be there for the coaches, be there for Jason and just support them with whatever they need on that day,” he said.

Nicholas also serves as a member at-large on the University of Tennessee Alumni Board of Governors and on the UT Alumni Legislative Council.

Tymikia is a member of the UT Martin Athletics Hall of Fame, inducted for a stellar performance on the women’s track and field team.

“I was a sprinter, a hurdler and a jumper,” she said.

“I did the 100-meter hurdles, 400-meter hurdles, 4-by-100- meter hurdles, 4-by- 400-meter hurdles and the triple jump.”

Tymikia held seven school records when she was inducted into the hall of fame in 2019, and her marks in the 400-meter hurdles at 1:02.97 and the triple jump at 11.85 meters still stand. Her 4-by-400-meter hurdles relay team mark of 3:45.99 – where she ran the second leg – is also still a school record.

While a student-athlete, Tymikia was also active in Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc., helping her grow as a leader on campus.

Tymikia is the president of the UT Martin Alumni Council, which meets each spring and fall semester.

“We are the fundraising arm for the university, so we try to bring in donations,” she said. “It’s a networking opportunity to bring as many alumni back in as we can to serve and give back to the university that has poured so much into us. I love it!”

She currently oversees the Georgette and Cato Johnson YMCA as its center director, one of 12 YMCA centers in the Memphis and Mid-South region.

The couple has three sons: Terrick, Nathanael and Jonathan.

Their youngest son will be joining the Skyhawk family this fall as an incoming freshman.

Nicholas and Tymikia both thoroughly enjoy their work with the university.

“For me, it’s huge,” Nicholas said. “As I’ve said to so many football recruits over the years, Martin, Tennessee, will love you if you let it. As I came in here, some of the connections I’ve made with professors, I still have those connections with those same professors to this day.

“They’ve been instrumental to me not just as a student but in my career and different things that I’ve been able to do. Any way to give back to the place that has given me so much is what I enjoy doing.”

Tymikia agreed.

“When I came to college, I was shy and didn’t know if I could make it,” she said. “Every single one of my professors literally poured into me. I would not be the person that I am today if not for UT Martin.

“I still talk to a lot of my professors that I had classes with, and I try to keep up with them. I am very grateful that UT Martin saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself. I will forever support this university for as long as I can.”