Filed Under: President's Post

For many in the University community, the past year will be remembered as one of the most important in our history.

We celebrated 100 years of exceptional service to the state of Tennessee. When we began our festivities last September with the sold-out Blue Tie Gala, few could have imagined that the year would become such an exciting and reflective time. Highlights show the variety of celebratory, educational, and community-building events marking this special year:

• “A Centennial Homecoming: Look to the Future, Remember the Past” was an outstanding celebration of our traditions of excellence and demonstration of True Blue pride.
• An unusually thought-provoking group of speakers visited MTSU during the centennial year, including retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Oscar-winning actress Marlee Matlin, noted author and war correspondent Sebastian Junger, and Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Leonard Pitts.
• Alumni Reunion weekend was launched in April and included a wide range of open houses and special presentations in our colleges.
• At the spring graduation ceremony, we celebrated the awarding of our 100,000th undergraduate degree.
• On the day before our 100th birthday, we dedicated our new Education Building.
• MTSU’s heritage is deeply rooted in its founding as a Normal School established to teach teachers. How fitting that we began the year with the dedication of a state-of-the-art facility for the College of Education! Also exciting (and appropriate!) is the college’s newest doctoral program, the first of its kind in Tennessee: the Doctor of Education degree in Assessment, Learning, and School Improvement. With the approval of this program, along with three new science Ph.D.’s, MTSU is becoming an emerging leader in graduate education in Tennessee.
• Also, I cannot omit from my account of our centennial year the groundbreaking in May for our $147 million Science Building. This 250,000-square-foot facility, to be ready in time for the 2015 spring semester, represents one of the most significant investments made toward the enhancement of science and technology education in Tennessee. We are grateful to Gov. Bill Haslam, our local delegation in the Tennessee General Assembly, and all our friends and supporters who made this ambitious project a reality.