FOR RELEASE: March 19, 2013
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Dr. Philip Phillips, 615-898-2699
or philip.phillips@mtsu.edu
MURFREESBORO — State Rep. Beth Harwell of Nashville,
speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives, will return to MTSU this
Thursday, March 21, to be honored as the second “Distinguished Friend of the
University Honors College.”
Harwell, the first female House
speaker in Tennessee history as well as in the Southeast, was on campus in
December as the featured morning-ceremony speaker for MTSU’s fall 2012
commencement.
Thursday’s public ceremony, which
also is part of MTSU’s observance of National Women’s History Month, is set for
2 p.m. in Room 106 of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building on campus. A
reception will follow the ceremony.
“The
University Honors College is especially pleased to present Speaker Beth Harwell
with this award during Women’s History Month,” said Dr. Philip Phillips,
interim associate dean of the college and an MTSU professor of English.
“Speaker
Harwell exemplifies the virtues inscribed on the outside of the Paul W. Martin Sr.
Honors Building: character, creativity, commitment, curiosity, discipline,
faith, honor and integrity. Her unanimous re-election by her colleagues as
speaker of the house is a testament to her effective leadership and her
commitment to serving the needs of all the citizens of Tennessee.
“Her
honorable career in public service serves as an inspiration to others,
especially young women, to pursue leadership roles that traditionally have been
reserved for men,” Phillips added.
The University Honors College, formally established
in 1998 after 25 years of success as an honors education program, aims to
provide an exceptional undergraduate education to a small but diverse student
population at MTSU.
Its first “Distinguished Friend,” Turkish
entrepreneur and humanitarian Celal “Uncle Celal” Afsar, was honored with the
award in 2011.
Afsar, a respected businessman who founded the K-12
Sungurbey College in Nigde, Turkey, is a friend and colleague of Honors College
Dean John Vile, Paul Martin Jr. of the Honors Board of Visitors and MTSU
President Sidney A. McPhee.
Harwell is currently serving her 12th term in the
state House from District 56, which includes a part of Davidson County. A
dedicated community volunteer and an award-winning legislator, Harwell has also
served as an assistant professor of political science at Belmont University.
First elected in 1988, she has been a strong
advocate for tougher sexual abuse laws, victims’ rights, welfare reform,
children’s issues and, most notably, education. She has sponsored and passed
legislation clarifying and toughening the penalties against stalkers, requiring
more time behind bars for rapists, strengthening Tennessee’s child rape laws
and building crime-prevention cooperation among the states.
In 2009, Harwell’s work for education reform led to
the passage of landmark charter school legislation. She also pushed passage of
legislation to direct additional funds for improvement of training for day care
workers.
Harwell earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from
David Lipscomb University and her doctorate from Vanderbilt University.
The March 21 event is sponsored by
the MTSU University Honors College. For more information, please contact the Honors College
at 615-898-2152.
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and there’s a simple phrase that conveys them:
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anytime, visit www.MTSUNews.com.
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