Tennessee Equality Project honors MTSU for inclusive campus environment

A presentation at the annual Boro Pride festival is now a point of pride for the entire MTSU community.

The Tennessee Equality Project Foundation presented its Champion of Equality Award to MTSU during Boro Pride Saturday, Sept. 7, on the public square in Murfreesboro.

Tennessee Equality Project board member Paul Brisco, in purple shirt, presents the Champion of Equality Award to Will Langston, a psychology professor and faculty adviser to MT Lambda, during the Boro Pride festival Sept. 7 in Murfreesboro. At right, in black T-shirt, TEP Rutherford County Chair Justin Miller looks on. Both Brisco and Miller are MTSU alumni. (Photo provided)

Tennessee Equality Project board member Paul Brisco, wearing purple, presents the Champion of Equality Award to Will Langston, a psychology professor and faculty adviser to MT Lambda, during the Boro Pride festival Sept. 7 in Murfreesboro. At right, TEP Rutherford County Chair Justin Miller looks on. Both Brisco and Miller are MTSU alumni. (Photo submitted)

“We are really proud of all of the efforts of our faculty, staff and students that have made it possible for us to receive such prestigious recognition,” said Will Langston, a psychology professor and faculty adviser to MT Lambda, a student organization that supports the LGBTQ+ community.

“MTSU has deliberately built a more inclusive culture for LGBTQ students, faculty and staff,” Chris Sanders, TEP executive director, said before the festival. “Those actions, in turn, have laid a strong foundation for their outreach in the wider community.”

Sanders cited MTSU’s partnership in Boro Pride as a factor in the decision, along with an important statewide gathering that’s been a part of the university calendar since its inception in 2014.

“The university’s annual LGBT+ College Conference has become an important focal point of service to the Tennessee’s LGBTQ population,” Sanders said.

“We are especially grateful for the leadership of the of the students in MT Lambda, Will Langston and members of the LGBTQ+ College Conference Organizing Committee and Advisory Board and Daniel Green and Josh Rigsby of (the Office of) Intercultural and Diversity Affairs,” said Dr. Deb Sells, vice president for student affairs and vice provost for enrollment and academic services.

For more information about LGBTQ+ projects and support at MTSU, contact Langston at 615-898-5489 or will.langston@mtsu.edu or the Office of Intercultural and Diversity Affairs at 615-898-5812 or ida@mtsu.edu.

— Gina Logue (Gina.Logue@mtsu.edu)