MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — There was cause for celebration this week on campus as Middle Tennessee State University marked its 113th anniversary and university President Sidney A. McPhee launched the 13-city True Blue Tour student recruitment initiative that will dole out more than $1 million in scholarships this year.
“Birthday cake for everyone!” a smiling McPhee told hundreds of high school counselors, community college advisors, prospective students and their families at the first two events held in the Student Union Ballroom on campus Wednesday, Sept. 11, to kick off the three-month bus tour.
McPhee, top administrators and staff will travel to cities throughout Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia to showcase all that MTSU has to offer — over 300 undergraduate and graduate degree majors and concentrations, nationally ranked student programming and $300 million in current construction to the 550-acre campus located in the heart of Middle Tennessee.
“It’s the complete package — incredible people, the best facilities, academic programs that rank highly in the country, a campus that is beautiful, and finally, you can’t get a better value,” McPhee told the hundreds in attendance at the evening student reception.
Counselors awarded scholarships for students, themselves
Earlier, McPhee welcomed over 100 counselors and community college administrators at a midday luncheon, where he told them students won’t have to leave the state to get a quality education before giving away a total of $113,500 in scholarships to 44 schools represented.
“Are you excited about the president of this university giving you $2,500 for your students?” McPhee exuberantly asked the crowd. “Well, we put another wrinkle in this giveaway. For the school that sent us the most students for the fall, we are going to double your scholarship!”
Counselors from Stewarts Creek High School walked away with $6,000 to give out to their selected students — exciting news for Jackie Garcia, who works with underhoused and need-based students who are served by the Rutherford County Schools ATLAS program.
“Giving one of our students a scholarship is going to be a new opportunity they never thought they could have,” said Garcia, who was “an ATLAS kid” herself at one time. “This is exciting.”
McPhee had a special offer for each counselor, too.
“Every single counselor or community college advisor has an incentive to take a graduate course at MTSU at a 50% discount,” McPhee said as a roar of excitement filled the room.
Last year, McPhee awarded $995,000 and this year those numbers will top $1 million as McPhee plans to “attract the best and brightest students.”
McPhee: ‘We’ve got incredible programs’
The True Blue Tour welcome team rolled out the blue carpet for students and their families, with a food buffet and informational booths staffed with representatives from the nine academic colleges and numerous campus programs.
“You will see why we continue to make the list of some of the best universities in the country,” McPhee told the families, referencing the recently released data from The Princeton Review and Wall Street Journal ranking MTSU among the top colleges and universities in the nation. “We’ve got some incredible programs … and students don’t have to leave Tennessee or Rutherford County to get a quality education.”
Shawana Holmes is happy her daughter, Runyia White, is eyeing MTSU once she graduates, so she appreciates that MTSU is “close to home” for her Oakland High School junior.
Tony Strode, undergraduate recruitment director, shared about the Dec. 1 deadline to apply in order to obtain guaranteed scholarships for qualifying students — including how some students will be able to attend MTSU tuition free if they meet the requirements.
After the presentation, McPhee hopped back on stage for one of his favorite part of each tour stop — drawing names of attendees and giving away scholarships.
Sophia Womack was the first student name drawn for a $1,000 scholarship. The Rockvale High senior is interested in MTSU’s Tourism and Hospitality Management program. And McPhee took the opportunity to talk about the university’s new venture to build an on-campus hotel that would serve as a training ground for those students.
Jhaniah Nelson, who is interested in media and sports entertainment, was happy about winning “free money” to attend MTSU. Shay Malone was excited to learn about the university’s College of Media and Entertainment, which offers curriculum that would appeal to her daughter’s interest in being a sports broadcaster.
“I love the campus and y’all have been so welcoming and I love how diverse it is,” said Nelson, who earlier heard McPhee talk about the 73 countries represented on campus and a diverse enrollment makeup of 35%.
Debi Cukr said she and her son have been to campus several times before attending the True Blue Tour and “he fell in love with the campus.”
“It’s a great school. It’s so affordable and you can get a great quality education,” said Blackman senior Bradley Cukr, who was one of the 10 students to win a scholarship.
In addition to Womack, Cukr and Nelson, other recipients of $1,000 scholarships included Trent Bromley, Phoenix Leeman, Sam Curtis, Husnia Faizi, Elizabeth Guider and Hannah Rodriguez, with Jonathan Ajpacaja receiving $1,500.
Upcoming True Blue Tour stops
The next True Blue Tour stop is a first for the tour — an evening at the Nashville Zoo, located at 3777 Nolensville Pike in Nashville. Set for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 18, The event is solely for students and their families.
Attendees are encouraged to RSVP for any future stop at mtsu.edu/rsvp, though walkups to the event are also welcome.
True Blue Preview days
MTSU will also host fall True Blue Preview campus visit days on Saturday, Sept. 28, and Nov. 2. Spring 2025 True Blue Preview visit days will be Feb. 8 and March 22. On Feb. 22, MTSU will host a new Admitted Student Day, which gives future Blue Raiders a time to meet with advisors and faculty to get a head start on orientation to learn about academic programs.
To register, go to https://www.mtsu.edu/rsvp.
— Nancy DeGennaro (Nancy.DeGennaro@mtsu.edu)
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