MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — James S. Bridgeforth’s vision for the student experience at Middle Tennessee State University is robust.
“I want every single student here to feel seen, valued and heard,” said MTSU’S new vice president for student affairs and dean of students from his office on the second floor of Keathley University Center. “What connects students is their sense of pride and belonging.”
Bridgeforth now oversees a sprawling division of nine Student Affairs departments, five Center for Student Involvement and Leadership departments, and, as dean of students, the Office of Student Care and Conduct.
An English teacher’s kindness
Bridgeforth’s own journey through education was rife with challenges. Being a first-generation college student from a small town in Virginia is hard enough, but he also struggled to overcome a stutter and made it through his master’s degree before learning he had dyslexia.
“I stuttered very badly all the way through high school. I mean, I couldn’t get a word out,” said Bridgeforth. “Because I couldn’t speak very well, I really didn’t have a lot of opportunity.”
But again and again, the right people came alongside to support him.
“I was lucky. I had an English teacher, she was like 8,500 years old,” he said with a chuckle. She noticed something and she spent time with me … it took a long time.”
Bridgeforth’s grandparents saw how capable their grandson was — maybe before he saw it himself. They wisely helped him get a factory job the summer between his freshman and sophomore year of high school. That experience made up his mind: a factory future was not for him. He would finish high school and go to college.
“I graduated from high school in the 90s. It was at a time in Virginia where if you were a person of color, guidance counselors would not talk to you about UVA (University of Virginia) or Virginia Tech or George Mason,” said Bridgeforth.
Because the options presented to him were limited, Bridgeforth had no idea how many opportunities were available. After a week at an underfunded college close to home, he dropped out. But it wasn’t time to give up.
“My grandma was like, ‘We’re going to take you to any college you want to go see.”
Finding his niche
The following year, Bridgeforth tried again, this time at Catawba College, a private liberal arts college in North Carolina, where he wanted to pursue law. It was tough, but the student experience made all the difference.
“One of the things they did right away is they started helping us connect from day one,” said Bridgeforth.
Still, the young man found himself at a disadvantage.
“I didn’t know anything about the college life or how it worked. My grades weren’t very good because I didn’t know how to study, and I worked,” he said.
The further he progressed, two things became clear about Bridgeforth’s aspirations to become an attorney: the grades weren’t there, and he didn’t enjoy law. Fortunately, the provost pointed him towards higher education.
“He said, ‘You’re a very smart student. You can do these things,’” recalled Bridgeforth. “I took his advice and I’m glad I did. Had I not done that, I don’t know that I would have found my niche.”
Three degrees later, Bridgeforth can’t imagine doing anything else. His life experiences equipped him for leadership in ways undergraduate grades never could.
“I think for me the undergraduate degree, now that I look at it later, was more of a study of ‘How do you beat poverty?’” said Bridgeforth. “Looking back, I think when it hit me is when I got my master’s. When I graduated, I was like, ‘Oh, I’m about to do something.’”
How do we change the world?
Bridgeforth’s master’s degree in education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst led to a Ph.D. in higher education administration and institutional research from the University of Southern Mississippi, which led to leadership roles at public universities, private colleges, religiously affiliated institutions, HBCUs and land-grant universities.
In addition to his multiple degrees and 20 years of experience, he was also selected for the Millennium Leadership Initiative and Association of Governing Boards program. He calls the work “instinctive.” Just as people came alongside to help in his becoming, he’s determined to do the same for MTSU students.
“That’s why I do this job now,” said Bridgeforth. “Many of these students are not the people that they are right now. We get so caught up sometimes in what they’re doing right now, or what grade they got right now, as opposed to focusing on who they can be.”
It’s a story he helped write “zillions” of times at previous institutions. Students become who they are under his leadership.
“At the end of the day, I need students to get the jobs they want because I need somebody to push my wheelchair someday,” he laughed. One of those students could be Alex Eford. He connected with Bridgeforth during his time at Virginia Tech, where Bridgeforth served as assistant vice president for student affairs.
“He’d told me, ‘I want to really get into city government,’” said Bridgeforth. “I paired him with our career services team, got him mentored, got him connected. I mentored him. He literally just emailed me the other day and was like, ‘Hey, I don’t need your reference anymore, I got hired.’”
It’s a story Bridgeforth wants to pen on an institutional level at MTSU.
“My thinking is, ‘How do we change the world through this idea of developing students?’”
Dean’s List
- Indian Scout Motorcycle
- Video games – PlayStation
- Bass guitar – he’s learning to play!
- Smooth jazz
- Def Leppard
- 1980s Michael Jackson
- Bonjovi
- “Five Temptations of the CEO” by Patrick Bassioni
- “Essentialism” by Greg McCowan
- “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson
— Cat Curtis Murphy ([email protected])
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