[155] ‘Movement68’ recalls 50 years of MTSU student activism with Oct. 23 events

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. —While recent events remain uppermost in the mind, civil rights activities at MTSU actually span the decades.

“Movement68,” a symposium of 50 years of black student activism, is slated for 6:15 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 23, in Room 160 of the College of Education building. 

This year marks the 50^thanniversary of a guest column in the student newspaper, Sidelines, by a student objecting to the use of Confederate symbols on campus. That student was Sylvester Brooks.

“To be honest, upon arrival, I did sense an atmosphere of numbness in this place,” Brooks, a 1970 alumnus, said in a recent interview. “It was as though, in large measure, the campus was in a cocoon, stuck in some antebellum notion of causes lost and seemingly oblivious to the blowing winds of change that would not be denied.”

However, Brooks said contemporary movements such as “Black Lives Matter” and “Me Too,” as well as digital communication technology, give him hope for today’s college students.

“We are seeing more and more activism on college campuses, reminiscent of the 1960s, but with enhanced methodology and ability to organize,” Brooks said. 

Lae’l Hughes Watkins, university archivist at Kent State University, will deliver the keynote address. She will speak about the role that archivists, curators and others play in documenting marginalized voices.

Watkins is a co-founder of Project STAND, an acronym for Student Activism Now Documented. The online clearinghouse provides access to resources and information on student dissent at colleges and universities, both ongoing and historic. She will discuss her work with graduate students in MTSU’s Public History Program earlier in the day.

Following Watkins’ address, there will be a panel discussion featuring, in addition to Brooks:

• Phyllis Hickerson-Washington, 1974 alumna and former secondary schools coordinator for Rutherford County Schools;
• Michael McDonald, first African-American student government president (1978-1979) and former Davidson County elections administrator;
• Vincent Windrow, 1989 alumnus and associate vice provost for student success;
• Andre Canty, Knoxville resident and former MTSU student;
• Arionna White, Nashville resident and 2018 alumna. 

The discussion will be moderated by Barbara Scales, director of the June Anderson Center for Women and Nontraditional Students, and Sarah Calise, political and regional collections archivist for the Albert Gore Research Center.

Calise, lead coordinator on the Movement68 project, was a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree during the 2015 protests calling for Forrest Hall to be renamed. Earlier this year, the Tennessee Historical Commission rejected the university’s request to rename Forrest Hall, which houses military science courses, to the Army ROTC building.

“This discussion around Confederate imagery has been happening, at least on this campus specifically, for decades,” Calise said. “There’s a deeper history here.”

She said a 600-pound medallion featuring Forrest’s image was posted on the exterior of the Keathley University Center in the 1960s. The student chapter of the NAACP asked MTSU President Sam Ingram to take it down in 1989, which Ingram did over the winter break.

“A lot of white people were upset about that for years,” Calise said.

Other issues included Confederate flags being waved at football games and the use of “Dixie” as the official fight song.

Calise is building the Forrest Hall Protest Collection, a digital assemblage of photos, writings and other items, on the James E. Walker Library website. A few artifacts are visible at http://digital.mtsu.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15838coll11. Physical panels depicting text and images will be placed around campus in conjunction with the project.

“Movement68” is sponsored by the Center for Historic Preservation, Distinguished Lecture Committee, Office of Equity & Compliance, Office of Intercultural & Diversity Affairs, the Africana Studies Program, Department of History, Scholars Academy and the Albert Gore Research Center. For more information, contact Calise at 615-898-2632 or sarah.calise@mtsu.edu.