MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee State University will be closed Friday, June 19, for the Juneteenth U.S. federal and state holiday.

No summer classes will be held, and all university offices will be closed.

MTSU will reopen at 8 a.m. Monday, June 22, and summer classes will return to their regular schedule.

Closures include the James E. Walker Library, Campus Recreation Center and Student Union.

Daily campus tours will resume on June 22. For more information, email [email protected] or call 615-898-5670. For more admissions information, email [email protected] or call 615-898-2233.

For information regarding New to Blue orientation for new students, call New Student and Family Programs at 615-898-5533 or visit https://www.mtsu.edu/orientation/.

Juneteenth commemorates the emancipation of enslaved people on the anniversary of the order, issued by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger on June 19, 1865, proclaiming freedom for the enslaved in Texas.

In 2021, then-President Joe Biden signed a bill into law making Juneteenth a federal holiday, and in May 2023, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed legislation declaring Juneteenth an official state holiday in response to a bill from the General Assembly.

Murfreesboro Juneteenth celebration

MTSU will join a host of organizations and vendors this year for the Murfreesboro Juneteenth celebration and street festival scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 20, at Bradley Academy Museum and Cultural Center along South Academy Street.

The community event is free for all ages and will include a Kids’ Zone with free games, activities, food vendors, artists, live music and dancing.

MTSU will staff informational tables from the College of Liberal Arts, the Center for Historic Preservation and the Division of Marketing and Communications.

—  DeAnn Hays ([email protected])