[431] Army honors MTSU President McPhee, General Huber with invitation to jump with Golden KnightsArmy honors MTSU President McPhee, General Huber with invitation to jump with Golden Knights

University officials among diverse group of honorees to fly with parachute team

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — The Army’s Golden Knights precision parachute team will honor MTSU’s commitment to student veterans on Tuesday (April 25) by inviting President Sidney A. McPhee and retired Lt. Gen. Keith M. Huber to join them for a tandem parachute jump.

The recognition comes for MTSU’s substantial support efforts for student-veterans, the 2016 opening of the Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center and its recent expansion into career placement.

It will be the first parachute jump for McPhee and the first free fall for Huber, the university’s senior advisor for veterans and leadership initiatives. A Special Forces veteran with 38 years as an infantryman and Green Beret, Huber earned his jump wings in hundreds of tethered descents, but never conducted military free-fall jumps nor been involved in sport parachuting.

The administrators, paired each with a Golden Knights team member, will descend over Outlaw Field in Clarksville. Former President George H.W. Bush jumped with the team three times, most recently when he celebrated his 90^th birthday in 2014. 

Recruiting Battalion spokesman Lee Elder said the precision parachute team, visiting the Nashville area for the first time since 2004, hopes to draw awareness to career opportunities in the Army.

“We are truly honored that President McPhee and General Huber are making such a major investment of their time to participate with the Golden Knights,” Elder said.

“It's typical of the support that MTSU has given our recruiting efforts for the regular Army and Army Reserve over the years,” he said. “They've always gone all out to help us in a number of endeavors and this is just the latest example."

McPhee said it was difficult to turn down an invitation offered by the Golden Knights, especially since it was delivered to him personally by Huber.

“The record speed in which we built and opened the Daniels Center shows that it’s hard to say no to General Huber,” McPhee said. “How could I refuse this?”

McPhee said while he appreciated the Army’s nod of MTSU’s efforts to attract, retain and graduate veterans, the true honor goes to those who serve. “We at MTSU want to do right by to those who gave so much to our nation,” he said.

Huber said the offer to jump with the Golden Knights “is one of respect and appreciation for our programs.”

“Many academic campuses seek the title of ‘Vet Friendly’ as a slogan to attract future students,” he said. “But MTSU demonstrates a veteran and military family loyalty in a consistent and comprehensive manner.”

Huber said he was “honored to participate” alongside McPhee, adding that “represents another challenge to conquer your apprehension at 13,000 feet and to simply do what is right to honor our veterans.”

For more information about the Daniels center, go to www.mtsu.edu/military.

[430] WMOT/Roots Radio and Aurora present Angaleena Presley streaming April 25 on Wired In

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Acclaimed songwriter Angaleena Presley will be the next guest artist on “Wired In,” the new 4K webcast series from WMOT/Roots Radio 89.5 FM and Aurora, Nashville's premiere online ultra high-definition streaming production studio.

The show is set for 5 p.m. CST on Tuesday, April 25, and can be viewed live at WMOT.org, station streaming video partner Vuhaus.com and on AuroraNashville.com.

“Wired In” offers audiences worldwide a chance to sit in on intimate shows and interviews hosted by WMOT Program Director Jessie Scott. The show’s guest artists are leading lights in roots and Americana music, pulled from the playlist of WMOT, a 100,000-watt roots/Americana radio station serving Nashville and Middle Tennessee from the College of Media and Entertainment at Middle Tennessee State University.

The shows so far have featured banjo great Bela Fleck and Yep Rock recording artists The Stray Birds.

Angaleena Presley is one of the most intelligent and socially observant songwriters in today’s neo-classic country branch of the Americana movement. The rural Kentucky native draws from her upbringing and the true stories of a troubled region to create songs in the tradition of Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton.

“I’m a feminist who fights with love, a kill ‘em with kindness person – but also a kill ‘em with honesty,” she says in her official bio. “ The most powerful weapon we have is honesty and vulnerability: showing your weakness and your truth is the greatest weapon we have.”

Sustaining members of WMOT are eligible to attend “Wired In” shows in person in downtown Nashville.

About WMOT/Roots Radio

WMOT-FM 89.5, Middle Tennessee State University’s flagship public radio station founded in 1969, made the biggest, boldest leap in its history in September 2016 when it dedicated itself to an all Americana music format. Branded as “Roots Radio,” the initiative is a partnership with the music experts and on-air talent of Music City Roots, the Franklin-based weekly variety show that reaches the nation on radio and public television. At last, the Nashville region has a powerful radio station (100,000 watts) dedicated to the music most deeply connected to Music City’s legacy: classic country music, bluegrass, singer/songwriter, folk, soul, R&B and old-school rock ’n’ roll.

About AURORA

AURORA Nashville, a division of renowned audio and technology company THIEL Audio, is an entertainment solutions provider that combines award-winning production with today’s digital world for the ultimate fan experience. AURORA Nashville owns and operates a state-of-the-art 4K Ultra HD production studio in downtown Nashville that provides a truly customizable experience. From premiere live stream concerts to sit-down interviews, record release parties and industry events, the studio is the perfect venue for artists to connect with their fans with high-quality content.

[429] MT Engage celebrates student participation with inaugural reception

MT Engage, MTSU's most recent Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), is igniting interest in students across academic disciplines wanting to further their education beyond the classroom.

The program honored students who had gone through at least one MT Engage course from last fall to this spring with an inaugural Student Reception ceremony, held Thursday, April 20, in the Tom H. Building. They were provided with refreshments, complimentary professional headshots for the early arrivers and tokens of appreciation including water bottles and T-shirts.

The event also allowed the 80-plus students who attended to ask questions about what to expect if they were to continue with the process of MT Engage, which has a motto of “engage academically, learn exponentially, showcase yourself.”

University Studies professor Scott McDaniel, assessment coordinator for MT Engage, noted that students who enroll in MT Engage-based classes receive hands-on experience that allows them to apply the knowledge they already have.

"My colleague who teaches statistics had her students go to ‘Scholars Week’ and report on some of the posters and statistics that were used there and they had to reflect on it," McDaniel said.

Student learning outcomes that program officials expect in these courses include self-assessment, reflection and connections to experience.

"Other things we want professors to try to instill in students — making connections between disciplines, from statistics to biology or from history to English and even history to statistics," he said.

McDaniel shared one exciting aspect of MT Engage called the e-Portfolio, an electronic record created by students throughout their academic journey that will serve as an important tool for students in marketing themselves toward a career or graduate degree.

"It's hard to assess someone's knowledge from just one snapshot,” he said. “Now we enter the e-Portfolio."

As McDaniel explained, this “e-Portfolio” digitally adds all the artifacts and works through a student's time here at MTSU, allowing them to create presentations for different audiences or future employers.

"Say they want to apply for a job and send not only their resume but also their e-Portfolio — it's like the next best thing to meeting me."

Potential and existing students will be able to learn more about how the latest QEP could benefit them and the future of MT Engage through Customs new student orientation and during MT Engage Week that will be going on in the month of September.

The QEP is a requirement by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, or SACSCOC, the regional accreditation body for higher education institutions in the South.

Joining McDaniel at the reception were said Dr. Mary Hoffschwelle, faculty fellow director of MT Engage and a history professor, and Lexy Denton, assistant director of MT Engage. Hoffschwelle said the student reception will become an annual event.

For more information about MT Engage, visit http://mtsu.edu/mtengage, email mtengage@mtsu.edu or call 615-904-8281.