New educational agreements, ongoing campus renovations, grand
openings, student and faculty achievements and more — Middle Tennessee
State University experienced another eventful year in 2015.
At the heart of all these efforts is the continued emphasis on the
university’s Quest for Student Success initiative to improve retention and help
students graduate on time.
“The quest is helping redefine and refocus our efforts and
investments in classroom teaching, recruitment and advising to better meet the
needs of our students,” MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee said during his annual
“State of the University” address in August, where he honored the entire
university advising team with the 2015 President’s Student Success Award.
Another highlight for the year was the November opening of the new
Veterans and Military Family Center on the first floor of the Keathley
University Center. The dedicated one-stop center for student-veterans and their
families has been touted as the most comprehensive such space on any college
campus in the state.
Here is a recap of some of the year’s top MTSU stories:
January
* MTSU became a partner in Blackman High School’s new Collegiate
Academy, offering college-level courses at the high school this fall and
assisting in the development of academic enrichment programs. The agreement
allows Blackman juniors and seniors who meet eligibility standards to take up
to six hours of MTSU courses at no cost. (photo)
* Qualified high school juniors and seniors in Rutherford,
Williamson, and Bradley counties will be able to take tuition-free online
courses for college credit through MTSU’s recently expanded dual-enrollment
program. The online offerings range from courses in Aerospace to Recording
Industry.
* A Franklin, Tennessee, couple who founded a network of
substance-abuse treatment clinics has funded a special targeted scholarship to
allow students from a high school in the Bahamas to attend MTSU. Michael and
Tina Cartwright, who both attended MTSU and have a second home in The Bahamas,
wanted to help students from L. N. Coakley High School in Great Exuma develop
expertise through higher education that, in turn, would help benefit others on
the island of Exuma.
* Students from Central Magnet School’s Beta Club presented record
one-time donations of nonperishable food and money to the MTSU Student Food
Pantry following a food drive. In just a week, Central students collected
7,000-plus cans of food and raised $2,600 to help the pantry restock its
shelves.
February
* Retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith M. Huber is officially welcomed to
campus as senior advisor for veterans and leadership initiatives. Huber is
tasked with examining the university’s policies and practices for the recruitment
and student success of veterans and their family members.
* “Messengers,” co-written by 2003 music business graduate Torrance
Esmond and former student Lecrae Moore for Moore’s latest album, won the Grammy
Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song during the 57th
annual Grammy Award ceremonies at Staples Center in Los Angeles. MTSU alumni
Luke Laird, and Jaren Johnston were nominated for Grammys in 2015 in the Best
Country Song category.
* MTSU again raised its profile at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.
The 2015 trip featured three events: a brunch in downtown Los Angeles that
honored alumna Alicia Warwick, executive director of the Recording Academy’s
Nashville chapter (see related story in this issue’s Class Notes section); a dinner
in Malibu with MTSU alums from the region; and a pre-Grammys reception with
Nashville-based Leadership Music, a program that brings together established
leaders in the music business to discuss issues affecting the industry.
* MTSU signed a first-of-its-kind partnership with Florida’s
Montverde Academy, a premier private boarding school known for its strong
international enrollment and 100 percent college placement rate. The pact will
allow dual enrollment of Montverde students, most likely through online classes
from MTSU.
* Murfreesboro City Councilwoman and MTSU alumna Madelyn Scales
Harris was among five honorees at the Unity Luncheon at MTSU. Scales Harris and
the other honorees — Clifford Allison, Dr. Barbara Canada, Percy Ford and Karl
Thomas — were all smiles upon receiving their engraved crystal awards before an
admiring crowd who came to show their support.
* As part of MTSU’s Black History Month observance, actor and author
Hill Harper gave a free public lecture that challenged attendees to map a
course for their lives that speaks to their true passions and effects change in
the world around them. His appearance drew a standing room only crowd and
featured a Q&A session at the end. A closed session with Harper for black
males and a book signing were held just prior to the keynote address.
March
* MTSU announced its “Paint the Colleges True Blue” tour that will
send teams of counselors and representatives to seven Tennessee Board of
Regents community colleges in March and April to aid students who have their
sights set on the four-year institution. President Sidney A. McPhee said MTSU
administrators, academic counselors and admissions team members will be on hand
at several TBR locations over a six-week period to counsel students seeking guidance
about the university’s programs and services.
* Leigh Stanfield, an MTSU junior from Soddy-Daisy who is
concentrating in Communications Studies, won a national title in the novice
division at the International Public Debate Association’s National Championship
Tournament at Boise State University in Idaho. A special exhibition debate
hosted by MTSU in April featured three MTSU debaters, including Stanfield, and
three Irish students who won the 2015 Irish Times Debate Championship. (photo)
* MTSU and Universidad Andina del Cusco (UAC), a private university
in Peru, forged a partnership that will allow officials to explore ways to make
it easier for students from each institution to study at the other. It marked
MTSU’s 39th international academic partnership (18 countries) and only the
second such tie with an institution in South America. Best known for programs
in tourism, accounting, and nursing, UAC is close to Machu Picchu, described by
National Geographic as one of the world’s most important archeological sites.
* MTSU agriculture professor and alternative fuels researcher Cliff
Ricketts and a five-member team (which included student Ben Black) completed a
coast-to-coast drive from Key West to Seattle using nothing but waste chicken
fat and used cooking oil from University dining facilities for fuel. The
“Southern Fried Fuel” expedition was another career milestone for Ricketts, 66,
who in 2014 drove coast to coast in vehicles powered exclusively by sun and
water.
* MTSU’s Center for Popular Music completed a groundbreaking
digitization project to launch its new American Vernacular Music Manuscripts
website. Hundreds of American music manuscripts from the 1730s to 1910 are
available online for the first time. Built as part of a three-year
project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and undertaken in
partnership with the American Antiquarian Society, the AVMM site covers
American manuscripts of vernacular music from the Colonial era to the early
20th century.
* Amid the sound of traditional Chinese music and the sipping of
three types of tea, MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee announced receipt of a $1
million grant for the creation of a Chinese music and cultural center on
university property. The funding is provided by Hanban Confucius Institute in
Beijing, an organization sponsored by China’s education ministry that oversees
more than 440 institutes in 120 countries. The 3,200-square-foot center, which
is expected to open within the next 12 to 18 months, will be located in
the former Middle Tennessee Medical Center building on Bell Street, about six
blocks west of campus.
* Journalist Lisa Ling, executive producer and host of CNN’s “This
is Life with Lisa Ling,” gave the keynote address at MTSU’s Women’s and Gender
Studies Conference in the Student Union Ballroom.
* A three-year, $614,172 grant from the National Science Foundation
to MTSU for scholarships will help MTSU’s mechatronics engineering expand even
faster. The focus of the award is to increase numbers, diversity, retention and
graduation rates of students graduating from MTSU with a mechatronics
engineering degree. At least 15 incoming freshmen students for each of the next
three years will receive scholarship awards for up to $10,000 and are expected
to average $5,800 when other scholarships (including Hope lottery) are added.
Participation priority will be given to qualified female and minority
applicants to meet the objective of increasing the percentage of these student
populations.
April
* Former Cincinnati Reds outfielder Ken Griffey Sr. highlighted
MTSU’s Baseball in Literature and Culture Conference. Griffey, the father of
13-time All-Star Ken Griffey Jr., is a roving instructor for the Reds. The
annual gathering of baseball aficionados and scholars was held at MTSU from
2006 to 2015 but will be moving to Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kansas, next
year. During MTSU’s time as host, the conference welcomed former major leaguers
such as Tommy John, Ferguson Jenkins, and Jim Bouton.
* The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC)
and MTSU announced a partnership to expand opportunities for earning course
credit and certifications through TDEC’s Fleming Training Center in
Murfreesboro, online, and at other statewide locations. According to the Bureau
of Labor Statistics, the water supply and sanitation sector is expected to
experience an employment growth rate of 45 percent in coming years due to
regulations, infrastructure growth, security, and customer demands.
* More than 100 friends and well-wishers — from the MTSU campus and
across the region— helped celebrate Betty Smithson’s final working day at the
university. Smithson, an administrative assistant in the Office of the Vice
President for Student Affairs, retired after nearly 50 years at the university,
the last of the Roach sisters from Cannon County, Tennessee, to retire. Her
49.5 years were the last of a combined 142 years of dedicated service by the
sisters.
* Five women from MTSU were among the finalists announced by the Rutherford
CABLE networking group for its Rutherford ATHENA Award Program at the Stones
River Country Club. The ATHENA Award recognizes an exemplar who excels in her
profession, gives back to the community, and helps raise up other
leaders-especially women. MTSU’s business
professor Dr. Jill Austin, who won the award, was joined by MTSU colleagues Suma
Clark, Dr. Jackie Eller, Dr. Newtona “Tina” Johnson and Dr. Lana Seivers.
May
* The first Graduating Veterans Stole Ceremony was held in Cantrell
Hall of the Tom H. Jackson Building. Forty of 125 total student veterans were
recognized by the university in the special ceremony five days before
graduation in Murphy Center. The veterans received special red stole regalia they
can wear during graduation. Retired Lt. Gen. Keith M. Huber, MTSU’s senior
adviser for veterans and leadership initiatives, said the stole ceremony
“demonstrates a clear commitment to recognize and appreciate the selfless
service and sacrifice of our veterans and their precious families.”
* More than 2,500 students received MTSU degrees at May commencement
ceremonies in Murphy Center. Evan Cope, a Murfreesboro attorney and new chair
of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, and alumnus Darin Gordon,
director of healthcare finance and administration for the state of Tennessee, were
the speakers. More than 2,100 of those receiving degrees were undergraduates.
* MTSU announces an expanded dual-enrollment program that will allow
qualified high school juniors and seniors statewide to take tuition-free online
courses for college credit. MTSU’s Dual Enrollment Program allows Tennessee
high school students, who meet the university’s admissions criteria and gain
approvals from their guidance counselors, to take college classes before they
graduate.
* MTSU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy is recognized
nationally for improving undergraduate physics education for its students. The department
was one of three programs honored nationwide by the American Physical Society,
a physics and science education advocacy organization.
* MTSU’s College of Behavioral and Health Sciences entered an
exchange agreement with a South Korean secondary school that specializes in
sports science. MTSU signed the five-year memorandum of understanding with
Ulsan Sports Science Secondary School, a new middle and high school in South
Korea “dedicated to the education and training of aspiring professional
athletes, as well as students interested in other sports-related careers.”
* The MTSU Experimental Vehicles lunar rover team regained its
status as best in the nation with a 5-minute-plus finish at the U.S. Space and
Rocket Center half-mile obstacle course in Huntsville, Alabama. The
student-built rover nicknamed “The Beast” placed third overall behind Russia
and runner-up Germany in the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge. The event
is held annually for university and high school teams to encourage research and
development of new technology for future mission planning and crewed space
missions.
* More than a half-century of devoted service and giving to the
university at which they attended, worked and still love as alumni came full
circle for Dan and Margaret Scott. MTSU honored the longtime contributors and
Murfreesboro residents with the naming of the “Dr. Dan and Margaret Scott Chemistry
Department Office” during a ceremony attended by dozens of supporters on the
second floor of the Science Building’s Liz and Creighton Rhea Atrium.
June
* Students from the College of Mass Communication worked at Bonnaroo
this summer under the second year of MTSU’s unique partnership with festival
organizers. Utilizing MTSU’s $1.7 million mobile production studio, students
captured video performances on the festival’s Who Stage. Other students filed
stories and videos for area news media outlets. Mass Communication Dean Ken
Paulson said, “It’s important that we extend our teaching beyond the walls of
our college.”
* The need to expand Camp STEM (science, technology, engineering and
math) at MTSU and offer more hands-on opportunities for computer-savvy
teenagers brought on the first Coding Camp at MTSU. Youngsters from
Murfreesboro and Franklin, Tennessee, are attending the camp, which was taught
by Gayle Porterfield, who teachers sixth-graders at Mitchell-Neilson Elementary
School.
* The Tennessee Board of Regents approved increases in tuition and
fees that are among the lowest on average since 1996, including a $204 increase
for full-time students at MTSU. The move raises hourly maintenance fees/tuition
an average of 3.3 percent across the six TBR universities, 13 community
colleges and 27 Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology.
* MTSU’s solar boat team sailed confidently against a strong field
competing in a recent national competition in Dayton, Ohio. The team’s
confidence with the solar boat they nicknamed “True Blue” lived up to their
expectations in the 2015 Solar Splash, an American Society of Mechanical
Engineers-sponsored event. With its highest finish ever, MTSU placed second to
host Cedarville University in the 16-team event held on Lake George Wyth.
July
* A $6.2 million indoor tennis court facility at Old Fort Park
officially opened. MTSU contributed $1.8 million to the project and will have
dedicated locker room space. The local Christy-Houston Foundation also donated
$500,000 for the project.
* MTSU’s older science buildings — Wiser-Patten Science Hall, which
opened in 1932 at a cost of $225,000, and Davis Science Building, which opened
in 1968 at a cost of $1.7 million — are temporarily closed as $20 million in
renovations continue to replace outdated equipment and repurpose
space. Campus Planning officials expect Wiser-Patten, with 41,500 gross
square feet, and Davis Science, with nearly 75,500 square feet, to reopen in
January 2017.
* MTSU’s College of Liberal Arts is now offering an advanced degree
that allows students to develop skills and expand knowledge in subjects they’re
most passionate about pursuing. The new Master of Arts in Liberal Arts is an
innovative program allowing anyone with a bachelor’s degree to earn a graduate
degree through a course of study built around subjects they find most
captivating.
* Associate professor of journalism Dr. Tricia Farwell is appointed
by Gov. Bill Haslam to a one-year term as faculty representative on the
Tennessee Board of Regents. Farwell is also the 2015-16 president of MTSU’s
Faculty Senate as that organization celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2016.
* MTSU’s Jones College of Business and the Tennessee Chamber of
Commerce and Industry partnered to launch the Tennessee Business Barometer,
a new quarterly index capturing the mood and outlook of business leaders
statewide through online surveys.
August
* Newly minted MTSU graduates can treasure the “years of dedication,
sacrifice and hard work” that earned their new degrees and still “be greedy”
when facing new choices, longtime sociology professor Dr. William Canak told
August graduates. The outgoing president of the university’s Faculty Senate
addressed 903 students in his summer 2015 commencement address.
* MTSU’s top administrators and deans will meet with prospective
students in nine cities this fall — six in-state and, for the first time, three
in bordering states — as part of the university’s expanded "True Blue
Tour." Organized annually by the university’s Admissions Office, this
year’s tour included the traditional six Tennessee recruitment stops in
Chattanooga; Johnson City, Knoxville, Nashville, Memphis and Jackson. The new
out-of-state stops included Atlanta, Huntsville, Alabama, and Bowling Green,
Kentucky.
* MTSU and the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department Training
Division reached an agreement that gives officers greater incentive to get
their college degrees. Metro officers who have been through department’s
five-and-a-half month training academy can potentially receive more than a year
of college credits through MTSU’s University College. Officers can receive up
to 36 to 40 credit hours toward a bachelor's degree in liberal studies, said
Dr. Peggy Carpenter, an assistant dean of University College. Once an officer
enrolls, MTSU will assess the officer’s prior-learning knowledge and then
create an academic plan for them to complete the degree.
* The discovery of a Native American cemetery at the Black Cat Cave
archaeological site led the city of Murfreesboro, MTSU and other public and
private partners to secure the cave area. Well-known among Rutherford County
locals as the reputed location of a speakeasy during the 1920s Prohibition Era,
Black Cat Cave became the subject of an archaeological excavation by a team of
MTSU professors and students. The study confirmed the presence of a prehistoric
cemetery at the site, and through radiocarbon-dating it was determined that the
human artifacts and human remains recovered from the cave date back 5,000 to
7,500 years to what is known as the Middle Archaic Period.
* MTSU will receive a state grant of nearly $91,000 to support its
ongoing efforts to help student veterans successfully pursue their higher
education degrees. Gov. Bill Haslam announced that 11 colleges and universities
will receive the Veteran Reconnect Grant, a competitive grant focused on
improving the success of student veterans enrolled in Tennessee colleges and
universities.
* The College of Mass Communication is now known as the College of
Media and Entertainment, with an expanded mission as it prepares a new
generation of students for opportunities in an ever-changing media environment.
Ken Paulson, dean of the college since July 2013, said the updated name better
reflects the 24-hour media cycle and the growing demand for content that informs,
engages, and entertains.
* MTSU professor Carroll Van West, director of the Center for
Historic Preservation, a professor of history at MTSU since 1985 and the
governor-appointed Tennessee State Historian since 2013, is this year’s
recipient of the MTSU Foundation’s Career Achievement Award, considered the
pinnacle of recognition for stellar professors. West’s recognition came at the
university’s Fall Faculty Meeting. The event includes the annual presentation
of the MTSU Foundation Awards, which recognize, celebrate and reward university
faculty members for their accomplishments inside and outside the classroom.
* Derek W. Frisby, a distinguished MTSU professor whose research has
examined the Civil War and how cultures memorialize military conflict, was
appointed by President Sidney A. McPhee to chair a panel to re-examine whether
the university should change the name of Forrest Hall. The university previously
announced it would engage the community on the name of the campus building that
houses MTSU’s Army Reserve Officer Training Corps program and is named after
Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest.
September
* The Jennings A. Jones College of Business showcased its relocated
and upgraded Financial Analysis Center on the first floor of the Business and
Aerospace Building’s north side. The center will provide business and finance
students with the latest technology as they pursue their degrees and careers as
future traders and business leaders.
* MTSU is awarded a $225,000 grant over the next three years to
support its more targeted efforts to help students stay on track to earn their
college degrees. Twenty-four higher education institutions across the
country, including MTSU, received grants up to $225,000 through a national
competition called Integrated Planning & Advising for Student Success, or
iPASS. MTSU was the only Tennessee institution receiving funding.
* Two of the founding fathers of the modern civil rights movement
capped off Constitution Day festivities at MTSU with lessons from the past for
the benefit of future generations. The Revs. C.T. Vivian and James Lawson Jr.
made their points in a panel discussion called “No Voice, No Choice: The Voting
Rights Act at 50” before a packed house of nearly 1,000 inside MTSU’s Tucker
Theatre.
* A long-awaited and much-anticipated bronze bust of the late MTSU
alumnus James M. Buchanan was unveiled by his youngest sister and a nationally
acclaimed sculptor during a special ceremony in the James E. Walker Library.
The 75-pound bust by Tracy H. Sugg of Wartrace, called “Dr. James Buchanan, A
Man of Vision,” serves as a lasting tribute to Buchanan, an American economist
who was the recipient of the 1986 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and
who died in 2013. The Buchanan scholarships, the highest financial aid award an
entering MTSU freshman can receive, are named for Buchanan, whose estate gave
MTSU $2.5 million in May 2013 following his death.
* Lady Antebellum lead singer Hillary Scott, a former MTSU recording
industry major turned Grammy-winning artist, gave back to her alma mater by
establishing a scholarship for aspiring female music industry students within
the university’s College of Media and Entertainment. “I’m passionate about
helping young women succeed and thrive in what they love to do and am thrilled
to be a small part of fostering the dreams that I share with so many current
and future students,” Scott said.
* The Journey Home Project, co-founded by country music legend
Charlie Daniels, committed $50,000 to help equip the new Veterans and Military
Family Center at Middle Tennessee State University set to open Nov. 5. The
contribution comes from funds raised at the 40th Anniversary Volunteer Jam,
which took place Aug. 12 at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.
* MTSU returned a favor to the Guangxi Botanical Garden of Medicinal
Plants last fall, affixing a plaque at a special laboratory on campus that
recognizes their partnership in the study of ancient Chinese herbal remedies. President
Sidney A. McPhee and Miao Jianhua, director of the southern China garden, added
the label of “USA-China Joint Research Center” outside the Tennessee Center for
Botanical Medicine Research in MTSU’s new $147 million Science Building.
* During its True Blue Tour stop in Atlanta, MTSU unveiled a
Regional Scholars Program that will provide incentives for select potential
out-of-state freshmen who live within 250 miles of its Murfreesboro campus. The
program, which will reduce MTSU’s out-of-state tuition by 48 percent, will be
offered starting in Fall 2016 to students with an ACT composite of 25 and
above.
October
* MTSU students, staff and alumni enjoyed a New Orleans-style
homecoming, with a theme of “The Big Blue Easy.” Among activities were the
traditional homecoming parade taking a new route straight down Main Street as
well as special recognition for accomplished alumni. MTSU students Brandon
Woodruff and Brianne Knight were chosen as king and queen of the 2015 MTSU
Homecoming Court.
* Middle Tennessee athletics honored one of the most recognized
names in Blue Raider sports history — former head football coach James “Boots”
Donnelly — with the placement of a full-sized statue on the front lawn of the
Kennon Sports Hall of Fame building. Ed Bunio, a longtime MTSU assistant under
Donnelly, spearheaded an effort to raise funds for the 6-foot-6 bronze statue.
A granite wall behind the statue includes the names of every player, assistant
coach, trainer, manager, and secretary who worked in the program during Donnelly’s
tenure as coach (1979–98).
* Alumna Pam Wright jumpstarted the college careers of 11 MTSU
students when she announced a $100,000 donation to the College of Behavioral
and Health Sciences. The money will fund the Wright Travel Leadership
Scholarship Program, an endeavor designed to motivate students through
strategic coaching, formal mentoring opportunities, and pathways to scholarship
money upon completion of specific criteria. Recipients will also participate in
personal development sessions that will include leadership, networking, and
honing interpersonal skills. Wright, widely considered the most successful
businesswoman in Nashville, owns Tennessee’s largest travel agency.
* “True Blue” MTSU donors out-bled Western Kentucky University
during the sixth annual blood drive, drawing 517 pints of blood to WKU’s 436
during the three-day annual event that MTSU calls “Bleed Blue, Beat WKU.” The
“Blood Battle” challenge trophy is now MTSU’s for the second year in a row —
and the fifth time since the drive began in 2010.
* Decades after her best-selling novels and a popular film, author
Rebecca Wells told an MTSU audience that she continues to learn, heal and grow
thanks to her books, her life and her friends. Speaking as part
of the university’s Tom T. Hall Writers Series, the author of the famed
"Ya-Ya Sisterhood" trilogy kept the audience in the Student Union
Parliamentary Room captivated with her views on writing, creativity, honesty
and the cultural fascination with what British journalist Toby Young calls “the
celebritariat.”
* In five hours’ time, MTSU students managed to hammer together a
little piece of Tennessee history. Under the guidance of Rutherford County Area
Habitat for Humanity, students and other volunteers participated in the
nonprofit organization’s inaugural panel build in the state. A panel build
is a one-day event in which only the interior and exterior walls of a house are
constructed. Construction is slated to start at the end of
March. Dedication of the home at Castle and University streets in
Murfreesboro is anticipated around the end of April.
* MTSU welcomed — and honored — one of the most prolific and
influential people in American music in October when Motown hit-maker Lamont
Dozier visited campus for a celebration of his work. During the visit, Dozier
was named a Fellow of the Center for Popular Music, becoming only the second
person to be so honored by the University’s special Tennessee Board of Regents
Center of Excellence, which is devoted to the study and scholarship of popular
music in America. Songwriter and performer Barry Gibb was the inaugural Fellow.
* MTSU racked up another award for its continuing efforts to boost
student success. The Education Advisory Board, a higher education consulting
firm, honored MTSU with its Data-Driven Impact Award for quantifiable
improvements in student retention at an annual gathering of its Student Success
Collaborative in Washington, D.C. The collaborative includes about 170 schools
that work toward the cutting edge of student success methodologies.
* A balanced mix of baby boomers, Generation Xers and millennials
made up the attendees during the 21st Century Generations@Work
conference at Embassy Suites Conference Center off Medical Center Parkway in
Murfreesboro. This year’s conference expanded on last year’s theme of
millennials in the workplace by exploring the traits of boomers and Gen Xers in
more depth, while still recognizing that the twenty-something millennials will
make up 40 percent of the workforce by 2025.
November
* With plenty of fanfare — including a $50,000 boost for technology
from legendary country music entertainer Charlie Daniels, a visit by U.S.
Veterans Affairs deputy secretary Sloan Gibson and many others — the university
opened the new Veterans and Military Family Center in grand style with a
ribbon-cutting at the center on the first floor of the KUC, followed by a
program in front of an overflow crowd in the KUC Theater. The
2,600-square-foot, $329,000 center will be a one-stop-shop for MTSU’s
approximately 1,000 student veterans and family members.
* MTSU makes a statement about sexual violence by proclaiming “It’s
On Us.” The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life and the MTSU Student
Government Association sponsored the 2015 National Week of Action with special
events set throughout the week. The purpose is to create a culture of consent
and promote the need for bystanders to get involved when they believe sexual
misconduct is occurring or is about to occur.
* MTSU and Williamson County Schools signed a partnership agreement
in November 2015 that will encourage the university and district to create
additional academic enrichment opportunities tailored to the county’s high
schools. The agreement, the first of its kind between the university and an
entire district, focuses first on creating ties between the district’s schools
and MTSU’s Honors College.
* For the second year in a row, the Department of Recording Industry
was placed on an international list of acclaimed music industry schools touted
by The Hollywood Reporter that includes Juilliard, Berklee, the Seoul Institute
for the Arts, and the Conservatoire de Paris. The department — plus its music
business program — was recently ranked No. 17 on the magazine’s “Top 25 Music
Schools 2015.”
* The MTSU Concert Chorale, MTSU Schola Cantorum and the Middle
Tennessee Choral Society celebrated the upcoming holiday season with their 31st
annual performance of Handel’s “Messiah.” The concert was held at
Murfreesboro’s First United Methodist Church, featuring guest soloists as well
as student soloists.
December
* U.S. Sen. Bob Corker and Rutherford County Juvenile Court Judge
Donna Scott Davenport served as commencement speakers at the December 2015
graduation ceremonies for the estimated 1,841 students receiving degrees. Among
the graduates was state Rep. Mike Sparks, R-Smyrna, who received his
bachelor’s degree in liberal studies through the university’s adult degree
completion program.
* In what became the second most-attended game in MTSU history, the
Lady Raiders beat Missouri State 70-54 during the Education Day game. The crowd
of 11,411, including more than 7,300 students from 12 Murfreesboro City Schools
and Rutherford County Schools’ Campus School and more than 500 teachers, staff
and administrators, kept it loud throughout the nonconference game.
* MTSU is listed as the top-ranked public university in the state by
a national website that focuses on what it considers the best values in higher
education. MTSU was ranked No. 2 overall, behind Vanderbilt University in
Nashville, by BestValueSchools.com in a list of 20 institutions evaluated for
20-year net return on investment, net price and graduation and acceptance
rates.
* MTSU announces more opportunities for songwriting students to
learn from visiting professionals in the first phase of a new “Music Row in
Murfreesboro” project funded by a $10,000 grant from an arm of the Academy of
Country Music. The ACM’s “Lifting Lives Foundation” made the donation to
support the Department of Recording Industry’s ongoing Commercial Songwriting
Program expansion, program director Odie Blackmon said.
* The Middle Tennessee football squad represented Conference USA in
the 2015 Bahamas Bowl. MTSU played MAC conference foe Western Michigan. MTSU
started the season by winning only three of its first eight games but rallied
to achieve six wins and receive a bowl invitation for the fourth time since
2009 under Coach Rick Stockstill’s leadership.
— Compiled by University
Publications and News and Media Relations Office
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