AUGUST

MTSU Blue Zoo

Blue Zoo President Sawyer Roberts and Vice President Coby Marlow beamed with pride as the giant Blue Zoo banner was again unfurled inside Floyd Stadium—a sight that would occur numerous times throughout the fall of 2022 when the Blue Raider football team took the field at home.

About 300 enthusiastic students from the Office of Student Success’ Scholars Academy and STAR early arrival programs gathered in the student section inside Floyd in August as Roberts and Marlow, as leaders of the campus athletics booster group, directed them on how to unfurl the banner as the MTSU fight song blared from the stadium speakers.

Head football coach Rick Stockstill, joined by his recently named team captains for the unveiling, thanked the students for attending and encouraged them to support all the University athletic teams with their passion and energy.

Membership in the Blue Zoo, which revived as a student organization in 2019, is free— all students have to do is sit in the student section at Blue Raider games.

MTSU football player Jordan Ferguson, a defensive end, was among the five captains who stopped by the Zoo kickoff with their head coach to thank the students and encourage them to turn out for the games. Joining him were wide receiver Yusuf Ali, quarterback Chase Cunningham, wide receiver Jaylin Lane, and defensive tackle Ja’Kerrius Wyatt.

Top Faculty Honor

The “self-talk” going through MTSU Psychology professor Tom Brinthaupt’s mind was clear on his face as he walked among his applauding colleagues Thursday, August 18, to accept the University’s highest teaching honor.

Brinthaupt, who’s spent 32 years in MTSU’s Department of Psychology in the College of Behavioral and Health Sciences, specializes in “self-talk,” or the internal conversations we have with ourselves.

Now an internationally recognized expert on the phenomenon, he was the 2022 recipient of the MTSU Foundation’s Career Achievement Award.

Brinthaupt accepted his award in MTSU’s Tucker Theatre, the traditional site for the Fall Faculty Meeting held as each new academic year begins.

True Blue Tour

MTSU’s admissions team, top administrators, and campus partners launched another True Blue Tour, crisscrossing Tennessee and bordering states Alabama, Kentucky, and Georgia to recruit prospective students.

Kicking off Aug. 17 in Murfreesboro with the Rutherford County student reception on campus in the Student Union Ballroom, the tour eventually travelled to eight other Tennessee cities—plus Birmingham and Huntsville, Alabama; Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky; and Atlanta—to share about academic programs, financial aid, guaranteed scholarships, housing, and more.

By going on the road each year to personally meet with these prospective students and their families, MTSU hopes to reinforce how much we want them to become members of our evergrowing Blue Raider family.

The University also awards prizes and scholarships at the events.