University of Tennessee sets world record with human Power T
Amid streamers and a rendition of "Rocky Top," the University of Tennessee broke the world record for the largest human letter Wednesday when 4,223 people formed a giant Power T on the field at Neyland Stadium live on NBC's "Today" show.
"It's pretty impressive to be here on the field at Neyland Stadium — it's huge," said weatherman and "Today" show host Al Roker in an interview with the USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee between his live shots. "To see all these people starting to show up here at 4 in the morning. That's pretty crazy, even for college students."
At 5 a.m., thousands of students, staff and alumni began flooding into Neyland Stadium, where they were given orange T-shirts and had their university-issued ID cards scanned. Alumni who didn't have ID cards were given a QR code when they registered for the event, allowing staff to scan everyone who entered for the official count.
Mikayla Trostle, a junior from Knoxville, began lobbying her friends to take part in the record-setting event as soon as she got an email from the university.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime moment," she said on the field after the record had been broken.
"We were all like, 'That's so early!' " said Chantel Kluemper, a junior from Evansville, Ind. "But I came because I knew it was going to be so fun."
"And to see Al!" chimed Anna Best, a junior from Knoxville.
The broadcast from Knoxville began during the show's 7 a.m. hour, and included bits of a campus a cappella group singing "Rocky Top," UT football coach Butch Jones running onto the field with Roker and, of course, the formation of the record-breaking Power T on the field.
The outline for the Power T was designed using a computer-aided design drawing by an engineering professor, who optimized it for about 4,400 people but allowed for fluctuations in the participants. From there, the layout was given to the band director, who has some experience with forming a Power T on the football field.
Once approved, the grounds crew got to work creating the outline of the letter with small orange lawn flags. As the time drew near, the crowd began lining the edges of the Power T before eventually filling it in. The group had to stay in formation for five minutes to qualify for the record.
Creating the largest human letter is a record that is regularly broken. Queen's University in Ontario last broke it in September with 3,374 people.
"This is a popular one because companies can do it, schools can do it, and it's massive — and I love a big record like this," said Michael Empric, an official with Guinness who has adjudicated the human letter record before.
The event was part of a weeklong tour of college campuses by Roker, who has already visited the University of Oklahoma and Northern Michigan University. Those schools built the largest weather symbol and played the largest game of freeze tag, respectively.
"All of them, what they have in common is an incredible school system and a love of their institution and the willingness to have a good time," Roker said.
Jones also tossed a football with Roker on air.
"I'm very impressed with Al Roker, he has some wide receiver skills," Jones said after the live shot.