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Midpoints
A look at recent awards, events, and accomplishments at MTSU
Backing the True Blue
MTSU’s spring 2023 graduation ceremonies celebrated an estimated 2,656 new alumni as they received their degrees, a figure that included 2,256 undergraduates, 345 master’s degree recipients, 36 education-specialist degree recipients, and 19 doctoral recipients, along with 20 graduate students who received certificates for their advanced study.
The University also honored five Metro Nashville Police officers at an MTSU Commencement ceremony on May 5 for their “precision, duty, and selflessness” in response to the recent deadly Covenant School shootings. Detective Ryan Cagle, detective Zachary Plese, Sgt. Jeffrey Mathes, detective Michael Collazo (pictured l–r), and officer Rex Engelbert were named honorary professors of Public Safety during the second of MTSU’s four spring Commencement ceremonies.
MTSU has now awarded more than 180,700 degrees, including associate, bachelor’s, master’s, educational specialist, and doctoral degrees, since its 1911 founding.
Taking the Lead
Sophomore Michai Mosby is MTSU’s next Student Government Association president—one of the youngest SGA presidents ever elected on the Blue Raider campus. Mosby, who is pursuing a degree in Public Relations and Political Science, took the reins at the annual SGA Awards Banquet on April 24. A Memphis native, Mosby said he began his journey in student leadership at Southwind High School in Memphis, where he served as class president.
In Uniform
The Nashville Sounds baseball club hosted an online auction in May of game-used Military Appreciation Jerseys to benefit the Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center at MTSU—the largest and most comprehensive veterans center on any public higher education campus in the state.
A Capitol Affair
For 10 MTSU undergraduate students and researchers, Feb. 15 marked not just another opportunity to present their STEM-based research projects, but also a chance to show off their work to state officials and peers and rub elbows with Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee at the annual Posters at the Capitol event.
The MTSU cohort joined 41 other undergraduates from public universities across the state at the Cordell Hull Building to participate in the event, put on by MTSU’s Tennessee STEM Education Center, that also included personal meetings with state representatives, lunch, and a short address from the governor.
The Bright Side
MTSU is home to yet another Fulbright Scholar. Political Science major Victoria Grigsby received one of the most competitive overseas fellowships in the country—the Fulbright Summer Institute in Wales, in the United Kingdom. Grigsby, who is from Taft, received the honor as a freshman. The purpose of the Fulbright is to increase mutual understanding between U.S. citizens and those from other countries through the exchange of people, knowledge, and skills.
Murphy Magic
The MTSU community came together last fall to host “The Judds: Love Is Alive—The Final Concert” featuring Wynonna Judd. More recently, the Blue Raider community was able to watch the finished product of its hard work and collaboration with the release of the concert TV special April 29 on CMT.
The live made-for-TV event at MTSU’s historic Murphy Center last Nov. 3 involved faculty, alumni, and more than 50 student workers from the College of Media and Entertainment as well as a group of 45 choral students from the College of Liberal Arts who accompanied Wynonna for the concert finale. Media and Entertainment students worked on everything from production and preparation to media coverage and performance for the live red-carpet broadcast, concert, and CMT TV special.
Good as Gold
MTSU Honors student Elizabeth Kowalczyk was named a 2023 Goldwater Scholar. She is one of only eight students from Tennessee institutions to receive the award this year. The prestigious Goldwater Scholarship is the premier undergraduate scholarship in mathematics, natural sciences, and engineering in the U.S. A Forensic Science major, Kowalczyk was among more than 400 college students selected from more than 5,000 applicants to receive the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship this year. The award provides funding for up to $7,500 per year to cover the cost of tuition after other scholarships.
Roots Revival
MTSU and the State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) joined forces for an innovative program to recruit prospective teachers from school districts within high-needs, rural areas of the state, train them at MTSU’s College of Education, and return them to teach in their local communities.
MTSU and SCORE officials signed an agreement May 8 to help launch the Tennessee Teach Back Initiative (TTBI), with SCORE initially committing to over $90,000 the first year, with subsequent awards upon successful outcomes over a three-year period. Tracy Frist, educator, writer, and wife of former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, is among the inaugural nine-member TTBI Advisory Council and serves as chair.
Taking the Helms
Neporcha Cone is the new dean of MTSU’s College of Education, and Joyce Heames is the new dean of the Jennings A. Jones College of Business following national searches.
Originally from Miami, Cone takes the helm of the college that represents the University’s founding as a teacher training institution. Having begun her career as a middle school science teacher, she comes to MTSU from Kennesaw State University in Georgia, where she was a professor of Science Education.
Heames, a Management professor, was most recently dean of the Campbell School of Business at Berry College, a small private liberal arts institution near Rome, Georgia. Prior to that, Heames was an associate dean of innovation, outreach, and engagement at West Virginia University, a large public university with a student population similar to MTSU’s.
Not Horsing Around
MTSU’s equestrian team took home the 2023 Western National Championship trophy at the 2023 Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association event in Lexington, Kentucky. In a down-to-the-wire finish, MTSU won by a single point after MTSU’s Jordan Martin placed second overall in Team Open Horsemanship. Martin also took top honors in Back on Track Reserve Highpoint Western Ride, and Sadio Barnes was national champion in Team Beginner Western Horsemanship.
Dancin’ Again
The MTSU women’s basketball team reached the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons, dominating the Conference USA field for both the 2023 regular-season and tournament championships. Marking their 20th appearance in the NCAA’s “Big Dance,” the Lady Raiders (28-5) ended the season ranked No. 21 nationally in the AP poll. Coach Rick Insell’s team defeated longtime rival Western Kentucky 82-70 to claim its 17th conference tournament title before falling to Colorado in the NCAA first round at Duke University’s legendary Cameron Indoor Stadium.
A Distinguished Visit
One of the Army Reserve’s newest commanding generals, Maj. Gen. Bob D. Harter, picked MTSU for his first visit to a higher education institution since assuming his new duties. Harter, commanding general of the 81st Readiness Division at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, toured MTSU’s Army ROTC detachment and the Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center on Feb. 15. He also shared mentoring advice with MTSU ROTC cadets.
Grammy U
MTSU returned to the Grammy Awards in February, with a contingent from the College of Media and Entertainment traveling to Los Angeles for a long weekend of gathering with area alumni and attending backstage and pre-show events.
President Sidney A. McPhee joined students and faculty on the red carpet at the exclusive MusiCares event honoring Motown founder Berry Gordy and Grammy-winning musical giant Smokey Robinson on Friday, Feb. 3. Students worked behind the scenes at the Los Angeles Convention Center at the event, the Grammy’s black-tie fundraiser for its charity that provides health and human services for music professionals.
Later Friday evening, McPhee and Provost Mark Byrnes hosted a reception in Santa Monica for MTSU’s Southern California alumni. MTSU also hosted an event in Los Angeles on Saturday, Feb. 4, for its Grammy nominees.
Five former MTSU students were nominated in the 65th annual Grammy Awards, and two won. MTSU alumni, former or current students, and faculty from across the University have been a part of more than 134 Grammy Award nominations in the last two decades. The number of MTSU-connected Grammy winners since 2001 currently stands at 15 people with a total of 39 Grammys, including 10 repeat recipients, in categories from classical to pop to rock to country to gospel.
A High Honor
Chandra Russell Story, a Health and Human Performance professor, a licensed minister at First Baptist Church, and an accomplished scholar in the field of public health, was honored for her years of teaching, research, and service as the 2023 recipient of the John Pleas Faculty Recognition Award.
Named in honor of acclaimed Psychology Professor Emeritus John Pleas, the award is the highest honor for Black faculty on the MTSU campus and for the first time this year included $3,000 cash award. Story, who is the 2022–23 MTSU Provost’s Fellow for Faculty Development, is also a member of MTSU’s University Honors College faculty and the Women’s and Gender Studies program faculty.
United We Stand
Hosted by the MTSU Office of Intercultural and Diversity Affairs, the 2023 Unity Luncheon featured special award presentations to the following honorees and their respective categories as chosen by the University’s Black History Month Committee: Vanessa Alderson (Contribution to Black Arts); recently retired MTSU professor Marva Lucas (Education); Michael McDonald (Advocate of Civility); Joe and Sybil Rich (Community Service); Stacy Windrow (Excellence in Sports); and Christopher Rochelle (Unsung Staff Award).
Tip of the Cap
With a theme this year of “Make a Difference,” MTSU’s 2022–23 Employee Charitable Giving Campaign did just that, with a record-setting amount of almost $145,000 pledged, beating the $142,500 campaign goal. The 830 faculty and staff members who participated pledged a total of $144,906.
MTSU’s annual Charitable Giving Campaign is led by a committee of faculty and staff volunteers to rally financial support for worthy causes. The campaign is fueled largely by monthly payroll deductions from employees over the next year, but also allows one-time, lump-sum gifts at the donors’ discretion.
Meanwhile, in what has become a tradition, the Jennings A. Jones College of Business extended its streak to 10 straight years of winning the Provost’s Cup, a friendly competition between academic units that is awarded to the college with the highest percentage of employee participation.
Leveling Up
MTSU faculty members Helen Binkley and Kristi Phillips were committed to transitioning their high-quality undergraduate program in Athletic Training to a master’s when new industry accreditation requirements loomed. To make the transition happen, Binkley, who is program director, wrote a program proposal and worked with Sonya Sanderson, then-chair in the Department of Health and Human Performance, to get approval from the University administration and file paperwork with the state and athletic training education accrediting body for the University’s new Master of Science in Athletic Training.
