MTSU pair share Veteran Leadership Award at summer Stole Ceremony

Middle Tennessee State University graduating veterans and faculty members gather for a group photo in August in the Miller Education Center’s second-floor atrium on Bell Street in Murfreesboro, Tenn. MTSU’s Daniels Veterans Center has hosted more than 30 Graduating Senior Stole Ceremonies in the past decade. (MTSU file photo by Andy Heidt)

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Ross List and Virgil Teter both began their military careers in the 1990s in different branches, and now the soon-to-be Middle Tennessee State University graduates have a new shared experience to go along with working for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Both received the Veteran Leadership Award during the summer 2025 Graduating Veteran Stole Ceremony Thursday, Aug. 7, in the Miller Education Center’s second-floor atrium on Bell Street.

Florry “Flo” Holden, center, of Murfreesboro, Tenn., is flanked by Middle Tennessee State University Provost Mark Byrnes, left, and Keith M. Huber, senior adviser for veterans and leadership initiatives, Thursday, Aug. 7, during the summer 2025 Graduating Veterans Stole Ceremony in the Miller Education Center’s second-floor atrium on Bell Street in Murfreesboro. Holden served in the U.S. Navy. (MTSU photo by Andy Heidt)

Hosted by the Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Center, it marked the 31ststole ceremony where graduating veterans receive special red stoles — a symbol of their military service — to wear at commencement.

Nearly 50 student veterans will graduate with an estimated 722 of their peers at 9 a.m. Central in Hale Arena inside Murphy Center at 2650 Middle Tennessee Blvd. Thirty attended the stole ceremony.

Middle Tennessee State University graduating seniors Ross List, left, and Virgil Teter, both from Murfreesboro, Tenn., congratulate each other for the Veterans Leadership Awards they received during the Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center Graduating Veterans Stole Ceremony Thursday, Aug. 7, at the Miller Education Center on Bell Street in Murfreesboro. They and nearly 50 senior veterans will be among approximately 722 graduating at 9 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 9, in Murphy Center. (MTSU photo by Andy Heidt)

Ross List, left, and Virgil Teter, both from Murfreesboro, Tenn., are both presented the Veterans Leadership Award from the Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center during Middle Tennessee State University’s summer Graduating Veterans Stole Ceremony held Thursday, Aug. 7, in the Miller Education Center’s second-floor atrium on Bell Street. Presenting the award is Dr. Laurie Witherow, second from right, vice provost for enrollment management, and announced by Dr. Hilary Miller, Daniels Center director. (MTSU photo by Andy Heidt)

“It’s an honor to be given an award,” said Teter, 46, of Murfreesboro, in attendance with his family. “Seeing who my peers were (in the audience), it’s hard to feel deserving.”

Teter, who is a health and wellness coach at the VA’s Alvin C. York campus in Murfreesboro, entered the U.S. Army reserves at 17 in 1996, exiting as an E-4 specialist in 2004.

Admitting he was “shocked” to receive the honor, List, 47, of Murfreesboro, adds that “this is what I do every day. It’s my job — my mission — to help those who are lost (in the system).”

List medically retired as a master sergeant from the U.S. Air Force in 2018. His family joined him at the ceremony.

Both praised the Daniels Center, which averages a combined 1,200 student veterans and family members each semester, and operates out of rooms 124 and 316 in Keathley University Center.

Keith M. Huber, MTSU senior adviser for veterans and leadership initiatives and retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, told the graduating veterans “to never lose sight of your service and be proud of your service. … Veterans know how to build a team, lead a team and how to put team above self.”

Huber introduced David Corlew, who guides the partnering Journey Home Project founded by the late country music icon Charlie Daniels, who the veterans center is named for along with his wife, Hazel Daniels.

U.S. Army Lt. Col. Michael McLaughlin of College Grove was announced as the new professor of military science (department chair), replacing Lt. Col. Arlin Wilsher, who is retiring.

Middle Tennessee State University Provost Mark Byrnes, left, and Keith M. Huber, right, MTSU senior adviser for veterans and leadership initiatives, congratulate Jason Gulley of Smyrna, Tenn., during the Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center Graduating Veterans Stole Ceremony Thursday, Aug. 7, in the Miller Education Center’s second-floor atrium on Bell Street in Murfreesboro, Tenn. A veteran service officer, or VSO, in the Daniels Center, Gulley will earn his master’s degree in aerospace maintenance. (MTSU photo by Andy Heidt) — Middle Tennessee State University Provost Mark Byrnes, left, and Keith M. Huber, right, MTSU senior adviser for veterans and leadership initiatives, congratulate Jason Gulley of Smyrna, Tenn., during the Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center Graduating Veterans Stole Ceremony Thursday, Aug. 7, in the Miller Education Center’s second-floor atrium on Bell Street in Murfreesboro, Tenn. A veterans service officer, or VSO, in the Daniels Center, Gulley will earn his master’s degree in aerospace maintenance. (MTSU photo by Andy Heidt)

Cadet awaits commissioning

Also receiving a stole was Ryan Stallsmith, 24, of Nolensville and Pomona, California. He is the lone cadet who will be commissioned Friday, Aug. 8, in the ROTC building and graduate with a bachelor’s degree in applied leadership.

“This is a steppingstone to something greater,” said Stallsmith, a member of the Tennessee Army National Guard who has received a conditional job with the U.S. Secret Service. “I want to establish my career and follow my dreams.”

For more information about the Daniels Center, call 615-904-8347 or visit https://www.mtsu.edu/military/.

— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)