MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee State University will welcome former U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bill Frist to campus Oct. 19 for a conversation exploring leadership, public service and civic engagement.

“Leadership and Public Service: Past, Present, and Future” will begin at 3 p.m. Monday, Oct. 19, in Tucker Theatre, 615 Champion Way. The event is free and open to the community, and a reception will follow. Free event parking will be available at the MTSU Smith Baseball Field parking lot.

The conversation will bring together two former Tennessee senators whose careers have spanned government, education, medicine and public service. The program will also include a discussion of Alexander’s new memoir, “The Education of a Senator.”

“This matters to MTSU because it engages our students, our faculty, the university community and the general public with two people who devoted their lives to public service,” said Louis Kyriakoudes, director of MTSU’s Albert Gore Research Center and professor of history. “I think it also matters because it’s a sign of the stature for which the university is held, that two prominent political leaders are taking the time together to come and share their thoughts with our community.”

Alexander represented Tennessee in the U.S. Senate from 2003 to 2021. His public service career also includes two terms as Tennessee governor, service as U.S. secretary of education and a tenure as president of the University of Tennessee. He was also recently recognized by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation with the 2026 Robert Sparks Walker Lifetime Achievement Award for Environmental Stewardship.

Frist represented Tennessee in the U.S. Senate from 1995 to 2007 and served as Senate majority leader from 2003 to 2007. Before entering elected office, Frist built a career in medicine as a transplant surgeon. His work since leaving the Senate has included healthcare, conservation and public service.

MTSU has been processing Frist’s archival materials for the past four years. The collection documents his work in medicine, the U.S. Senate and his later work in healthcare, conservation and public service.

“Bringing Senator Frist and Senator Alexander, two giants of public service in Tennessee, to campus to engage in a conversation about public service and what it means to be civically engaged is an extension of the senator’s archive and an extension of our work at the College of Liberal Arts,” Kyriakoudes said.

Kent Syler, MTSU professor of political science and special projects coordinator for the Gore Center, said students will have an opportunity to hear firsthand from two people whose careers offer lessons in civic leadership.

“I hope they walk away understanding the importance of public service, and the importance of doing it the right way,” Syler said. “These presentations will be more about civic leadership, working for your community and state, the importance of that and how to do it.”

Syler worked for former Democratic U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon while Alexander and Frist served in the Senate. He recalled working with both senators on issues affecting Tennessee despite their different political affiliations.

“If it was good for Tennessee, partisan business went to the sidelines,” Syler said. “These were individuals who would reach across the aisle and work with each other.”

The event also supports MTSU’s True Blue Character Blueprint, a grant-funded, campuswide initiative led by the College of Liberal Arts to strengthen character education and create opportunities for students, faculty and staff to explore leadership, responsibility, civic engagement and character. Guest speakers and student-focused conversations are among the initiative’s planned activities.

“The goal of the True Blue Character Blueprint is to provide opportunities for MTSU students, faculty and staff to consider what character looks like in practice,” said Leah Tolbert Lyons, dean of the College of Liberal Arts. “Conversations about leadership, public service, civic responsibility and working across differences are an important part of that effort.

“Having senators Alexander and Frist share lessons and experiences from their illustrious careers in public service affords the opportunity to explore those ideas and reflect upon our individual and collective responsibilities to the communities we serve. This is at the heart of character education.”

The former senators’ visit also coincides with MTSU’s Yorktown Day and America 250 activities, presented by the American Democracy Project and Honors College, in celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary.

Events earlier in the day include a reading of the Declaration of Independence at 10:20 a.m. on the Honors College lawn, 1737 Blue Raider Drive, and an opportunity for the campus community to print a copy of the preamble to the Declaration of Independence on the university’s Franklin printing press from noon to 3 p.m. in Room 350 at Todd Hall, 542 Old Main Circle.

— Mike Davis ([email protected])