037 MTSU TO WELCOME NEW WOMEN’S CENTER DIRECTOR

Johnson’s Background is in Women’s Studies, Community Service

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Aug. 28, 2006
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081

(MURFREESBORO) – Terri R. Johnson, director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs at Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Ind., will assume her new duties as director of MTSU’s June Anderson Women’s Center Sept. 5.
Johnson will replace Dr. Carol Ann Baily, who has served as interim director since the departure of Dr. Susan Trentham in August 2005.
Calling her new job “too good to be true,” Johnson says she would like to “hit the ground running” by networking without making changes too abruptly.
Johnson has held her current position at Saint Mary’s since August 2000. Her duties include creating community-wide programs, forums, training and educational programs to facilitate multicultural awareness. Previously, Johnson was a project coordinator at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Mich., as well as a volunteer specialist with the American Red Cross, a community liaison/job coach with Michigan Ability Partners, coordinator of student placement at Ross Technical Institute, and a vocational counselor at a women’s center, all in Ann Arbor, Mich.
“You can work with different groups in the region and combine that with a love and passion for women’s issues,” Johnson says of how her experience will enhance her JAWC directorship. “It takes that human relationship. You have to bond with people.”
Johnson says she wants her tenure as director to focus on the “whole woman” in health, career, business, international relations and all aspects of life. She says she wants the JAWC to “broaden the vocabulary of what it means to be a woman.” To that end, Johnson says she wants to work closely with student groups and to be inclusive of various elements of the campus community.
“People were wonderful,” Johnson says of the individuals she met during her job interview. “Their passion for MTSU and their caring made me feel so welcome.”

A native of Rayville, La., Johnson earned her bachelor’s degree in communication and her master’s degree in women’s studies from Eastern Michigan. Her honors include the 2003 “Women Honoring Women” award and the 2002 Student Leadership Appreciation Award from Saint Mary’s College.
The June Anderson Women’s Center was created in 1977, making it the oldest university women’s center in Tennessee. Among the programs and events sponsored by the center are free legal clinics, brown bag luncheon speakers on professional development topics and educational campaigns about sexual assault and domestic violence. For further information, call 615-898-2193, or send an e-mail to jawc@mtsu.edu.

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ATTENTION, MEDIA: To arrange an interview with Terri R. Johnson, contact Gina Logue in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.