MURFREESBORO — A
partnership between MTSU baseball, MT Athletics and the MTSU Veterans and
Military Family Center is reinforcing the university’s mission to support
academic success for student veterans on campus.
MTSU had 28 full-time undergraduate student veterans with a
4.0 cumulative GPA during the fall semester.
To highlight the academic focus of the MTSU veterans
program, the veterans center and the Division of Student Affairs have created
the themes of “MTSU: Home of the Soldier
Scholar” and “The Soldier Scholar Resides Here.”
A public kickoff of this effort happens Friday, Feb. 26, at
the first-ever baseball game between the Blue Raiders and the Army West Point
Golden Knights, starting at 3 p.m. at Reese Smith Jr. Field.
Meanwhile, “Salute Saturday” home games will feature seven student
veterans with 4.0 GPAs throwing out the ceremonial first pitch as the Blue
Raiders continue to wear their special camouflage MT caps for those games.
“We are emphasizing the idea of home — a place you reside
and are always welcome,” said Dr. Hilary Miller, first-year director of the
center and co-collaborator of the soldier-scholar theme with Dr. Deb Sells,
vice president of Student Affairs and vice provost for Enrollment and Academic
Services.
“We want this to be their home … where they will return to
even after graduation,” added Miller, who received solid support for this
relationship endeavor with baseball from Keith M. Huber, senior adviser for
Veterans and Leadership Initiatives and a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general.
ROTC cadet Shanika Willis will throw the ceremonial first
pitch for the MTSU-Army game. A College of Graduate Studies double major in
chemistry and business administration, Willis is also president of the Blue
Raider American Veteran Organization, or BRAVO, and a Veterans and Military
Family Center employee.
Throwing out first pitches for future Salute Saturdays will
be Forrest Roberts on Feb. 27, Justin Whited on March 19, Jason Brown on April
2, Cadet Joel Whitehead on April 16, Myisshia Pitts on April 30 and Dakota
Maynard on May 21. Grad student LaShunda Simmons threw out the first pitch on Feb.
20.
In April, MTSU will designate a special P.O.W. seat inside
the baseball stadium that will always remain empty in memory of prisoners of
war, Miller said.
MTSU baseball coach Jim McGuire, who is excited about the
new baseball-veterans partnership and who approached Miller with the
first-pitch idea, said he thought “it would be a neat thing to bring Army here”
for a game.
The Feb. 26 matchup is part of a round robin where the
Golden Knights also will play at Lipscomb University Saturday, Feb. 27, and at
Belmont University Sunday, Feb. 28. McGuire credits Brian Ryman, baseball
operations manager for Lipscomb, for originating the idea.
A number of West Point alumni and friends are planning to
attend the game, Miller said.
Following the MTSU-Army game, both teams and many contracted
cadets in the military science program will be treated to a barbecue meal in
Murphy Center.
The MTSU Veterans and Military Family Center opened in
November on the first floor in the Keathley University Center. Following the
center’s Nov. 5 grand opening, Military Times announced MTSU had received its
“Best for Vets 2016” designation for the third straight year and the university
also is a Military Friendly school.
To learn more about MTSU’s veterans program, which includes
VetSuccess on Campus, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/military/index.php.
No comments:
Post a Comment