MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Two Middle Tennessee State University students have been named as inaugural Andrew Goodman Foundation ambassadors for the Blue Raider campus. 

Created in 1966 in memory of the slain civil rights volunteer, the foundation supports youth leadership development, voting accessibility and social justice initiatives on campuses across the country with mini grants to select institutions of higher learning and other financial assistance to students.

Honors freshman Hannah Ferreira, a double major in psychology and political science, and freshman Marcus Rosario, a journalism major, will help build a leadership pipeline at MTSU through the program.

“The Andrew Goodman Foundation’s national nonpartisan movement of students leaders and university partners provides extensive training and resources and a network for students to support the work of civic engagement, such as registering students to vote, working to bring down barriers for voter engagement and tackling important social justice issues on our college campuses,” said Monica Smith, assistant to the MTSU president for community engagement and inclusion. 

“Having AGF ambassadors will continue to further and strengthen the work other civic engagement efforts on campus have started.”

Ambassadorship is typically a three-year commitment. Selected students are encouraged to continue throughout their academic careers. While in the program, ambassadors develop organizational skills and advocate for voting and civil rights in their communities. To support their work, students receive a stipend, activities budget, and ongoing membership, support, and training from AGF’s staff and network of social change leaders.

“We launched our Vote Everywhere campaign in 2014 with a small cohort of college and universities with a heavy focus on the Southeast and the South,” explained Rashawn Davis, Tennessee Campus Civic Summit keynote speaker earlier this semester and executive director of the Andrew Goodman Foundation. “MTSU is very intentional about developing democracy in young people. Having the Provost (Mark Byrnes) here at this summit is not something that happens on every campus. It is great to see, and it really validates why we are here.”

Andrew Goodman was a Freedom Summer volunteer who was murdered, alongside James Chaney and Michael Schwerner, by the KKK in 1964 while registering Black Americans to vote in Mississippi. The foundation was celebrating the 50^th anniversary of Freedom Summer in Oxford, Ohio, when Smith, who was working as the director of the office of community engagement at Miami University at the time, met Goodman’s brother, David Goodman.

After leaving Miami University, Smith started a consulting firm in Nashville and AGF was one of her first clients. In 2022, Smith came to MTSU, where she met Mary Evins, MTSU’s American Democracy Project coordinator and a research professor in the University Honors College and Department of History. Evins expressed her interest in wanting to work with AGF to Smith, who called David Goodman.

“He connected me to Rashawn and the rest of the team. Together, we discussed what we needed and what AGF could provide and then developed a memorandum of understanding, which established the two new ambassador positions on campus,” explained Smith.

‘… your vote always matters’

Ferreira currently serves as interim president for the freshman council of MTSU’s Student Government Association, is a writer for the student-led digital media publication Sidelines, and is a member of the Baptist Collegiate Ministry on campus. Both she and Rosario are members of MTSU’s American Democracy Project.

“Being appointed to this role is an amazing opportunity and it means so much to me to be part of the Andrew Goodman Foundation,” said Rosario. “I am excited to be able to do even more to help student voters through the foundation.”

Civic engagement, along with experiential learning, partnerships, and more are all part of the larger umbrella that is community engagement, according to Smith. The Goodman Foundation is student led. Each campus has latitude in designing its program, including registering students to vote, getting polling places established on campus, and even developing courses on civic leadership.

“The Andrew Goodman Foundation’s collaboration with MTSU is proud recognition of the excellent work in which the university has long been engaged,” explained Evins. “MTSU warmly welcomes the nationally respected foundation as a new campus partner, and we are honored that two of our hard-working, committed, MTSU American Democracy Project students are now AGF Ambassadors. We are confident that together we will grow a strong, productive relationship for years to come of benefit to all MTSU students.”

“Our democracy is at its best when all of you are involved,” said Davis. “Real change needs your voice, your perspective, and most importantly your energy.”

Under the auspices of the Office of the University Provost, MTSU has participated in the national American Democracy Project initiative since its founding in 2003. Like ADP, AGF ambassadors will venture to increase civic engagement and voter registration on campus.

“I like overseeing things and taking care of background work. Whatever I can do to help things run smoother is what I like to do, taking initiative,” said Ferreira. “I like being involved in all of these things, all separate, that can tie together. I can write about things that the organizations are doing. And it’s nice to build community across different extracurriculars.”

“No matter your views, no matter your identity, your vote matters always, and you should never let anyone tell you otherwise,” added Rosario.

Going beyond increasing MTSU’s voter registration, ambassadors will be encouraging their peers to participate in democracy, an experience that will serve them well into the future with post-graduation goals.

“Not sure what I want to do yet. I’m also interested in journalism and writing. I would like to make politics more accessible and easier to understand, provide insight,” Ferreira said.

To learn more about the foundation, visit www.andrewgoodman.org.

— Robin E. Lee (Robin.E.Lee@mtsu.edu)