Click the image for access to online versions of the stories as well as find links to electronic pdf copies of the print edition.

MTSU Magazine

Middle Tennessee State University

Summer 2015 / vol. 20, no. 1

Feature Stories

Cover Story: Solid Leadership
MTSU’s Concrete Industry Management Department, the first of its kind, is led by Heather Brown, a woman who has defied stereotypes

Middle of it All: For a Song
One of MTSU’s newest professors aims to keep the memory of a country legend alive and help students build careers

Ask an Expert: The Pop Candy Pioneer
How journalist Whitney Matheson found herself at the forefront of New Media

I am True Blue: Terry Whiteside
Ten things you probably didn’t know about one of MTSU’s best-known educators

Feature Story: Tattoo U
A look at the impact of Ink on the student body

Continuing the Quest
A progress report on MTSU’s efforts to improve retention and graduation

Departments

A Universal Language
Five Minutes with the President

Class Notes
You Do What?

The Sweet Spot

By Drew Ruble

I live in a family-friendly, bucolic, but lively little town in Williamson County that was recently ranked as the fifth “best value” suburb in America by Business Insider. Right up the road is Nashville. And as University Editor at MTSU, I work in Murfreesboro. I like to tell people that I live in a place like Andy and Opie’s Mayberry, right next door to one of the trendiest cities in America. Plus, I work in a great college town in one of the fastest-growing counties in the nation—Rutherford County. The best of all worlds, I’d say. My contention that Murfreesboro is a great college town got a boost in credibility last year when WalletHub.com ranked it 49th nationally out of 280 municipalities on its “Best & Worst College Cities & Towns in America” list. You read that right—Murfreesboro was ranked among the best, higher than Nashville and dozens of other cities and towns across America.The list showed Murfreesboro as the highest-rated college town in Tennessee. The next closest city was Knoxville (56th) followed by Nashville (89th). Factors such as the quality of higher education, crime rates, and cost of living were used to rank the cities and towns “that promise the best or worst combination of academic, social, and economic atmospheres.” The rankings also measured “wallet wellness” and youth-oriented environments. (WalletHub limited its choice of cities and towns to those with university or college populations of at least 10,000. In a subranking for medium-sized cities with populations between 100,000 and 300,000, Murfreesboro ranked an impressive 11th out of 149 cities, beating out Wilmington, N.C., Cambridge, Mass., and Madison, Wis., among others.)WalletHub writer Richard Barnardo wrote that it’s important for prospective students and families to look not only at an institution’s intellectual environment but also at the place students will call home away from home for several years. “Academic success depends on more than just the quality of a program,” Barnardo wrote. “Also important is an area that is safe, affordable, and conducive to personal development through a diversity of cultural and professional experiences.”When pitching the University to prospective students and partners, it’s not uncommon for MTSU faculty, staff, recruiters, supporters, and alumni to note that Nashville is only about a 30-minute drive from Murfreesboro. That’s certainly something worth emphasizing, but it is by no means necessary. Murfreesboro and MTSU stand on their own by any measurement—including their combined ability to provide the total college experience.I hope you think, as I do, that each edition of MTSU Magazine (this one includes stories ranging from Fulbright Scholars to hit songwriters, pop culture icons, and concrete industry experts) illustrates how being True Blue is a sweet way to live.

True Blue!