True Blue Tour hits Lebanon, Chattanooga with $163K-plus in scholarships awarded

By Nancy DeGennaro and Jimmy Hart

LEBANON and CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee State University representatives hit two of the three grand divisions of the state last week — Lebanon and Chattanooga — on the 14-city True Blue Tour student recruitment initiative with a total of $163,500 in scholarships presented.

Sidney A. McPhee, MTSU President — Dr. Sidney A. McPhee

“I promise when you come to MTSU, we’ll treat you very special. It’s a safe campus and you’ll get an incredible academic education,” MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee told students and their families who gathered for an evening reception held Tuesday, Sept. 23, at the Farm Bureau Exposition Center in Lebanon.

The three-month recruitment tour includes university administrators, advisors and staff who travel to locations in Tennessee and Alabama to showcase all MTSU has to offer — over 300 undergraduate and graduate degree majors and concentrations, nationally ranked student programming and over $2 billion invested in academic facilities over the last 20 years on a 550-acre campus located in the heart of Middle Tennessee.

Middle Tennessee State University alumnus Jason Lawson, district attorney general for Tennessee’s 15th District, spoke to school counselors and college advisors at a luncheon held at the university’s True Blue Tour student recruitment stop on Tuesday, Sept. 23, at the Farm Bureau Exposition Center in Lebanon, Tenn. (MTSU photo by James Cessna)

Most of the tour stops offer daytime luncheons that cater to school advisors while evening receptions provide interactions and information to students and their families — both incoming freshmen and transfer students like 39-year-old Amy Frazier.

Frazier attended a college in her home state of Kentucky before leaving to join the workforce. For the past decade, she’s been busy homeschooling her three children.

But recently she had a dream about going back to school. When she saw the tour was coming to a venue near her Lebanon home, Frazier knew God was giving her a nudge.

This time, the self-avowed creative will be focused on art education.

“My art room is my safe place and I want to provide that for students,” said Frazier, who also wants to inspire her own children to pursue a college education.

Middle Tennessee State University President Sidney A. McPhee, center, stands with students who were among the lucky winners in the scholarship drawings at the True Blue Tour recruitment stop for prospective students held Tuesday, Sept. 23, at the Farm Bureau Exposition Center. in Lebanon, Tenn. Twelve students won a total of $17,500 in scholarships. (MTSU photo by James Cessna)

Middle Tennessee State University Admissions staff, from left, Kerrington Dougherty, Jay Wilson and Allison Lovett talk with a potential Blue Raider during the university’s True Blue Tour student recruitment stop held Tuesday, Sept. 23, at the Farm Bureau Exposition Center. in Lebanon, Tenn. (MTSU photo by James Cessna) — Middle Tennessee State University Admissions staff, from left, Kerrington Dougherty, Alexandria Hamilton and Allison Lovett talk with a potential Blue Raider during the university’s True Blue Tour student recruitment stop held Tuesday, Sept. 23, at the Farm Bureau Exposition Center. in Lebanon, Tenn. (MTSU photo by James Cessna)

Wilson Central High School counselor Lauren Fung attended the daytime luncheon, where she was presented $6,000 in scholarship funds to disperse among students. All three of Fung’s children are Blue Raiders — one is a professional pilot, another is in graduate school after earning a music degree, and her youngest is pursuing a speech-language pathology and serves as a True Blue Ambassador.

“MTSU is such a good value,” said Fung, whose children took advantage of guaranteed scholarships offered by MTSU in combination with other incentives and scholarships.

Many of Wilson Central students participate in dual enrollment, which allows high school juniors and seniors to take college-level courses to earn high school and college credits. “If they do dual enrollment, they are more likely to want to continue at MTSU,” Fung said.

Middle Tennessee State University College of Basic and Applied Sciences advisor Jennifer Danylo talks with Wilson Central High School counselor Lauren Fung during the university’s True Blue Tour luncheon held Tuesday, Sept. 23, at the Farm Bureau Exposition Center in Lebanon, Tenn. A total of $25,000 in scholarships was given to school counselors who will distribute them among students planning to attend MTSU. (MTSU photo by James Cessna)

Chattanooga stop ‘a fabulous event’

MTSU’s Sept. 25 tour stop in Chattanooga again drew enthusiastic interest for both the counselor’s luncheon and the evening reception for prospective students and their families, both held at The Chattanoogan Hotel on Broad Street.

Danitza Gonzalez, a senior at East Ridge High School in Chattanooga, was thrilled to walk away with a $1,000 scholarship from among the $9,000 in scholarships awarded by McPhee that evening.

MTSU is “a top choice” for the scholar carrying a 4.0 GPA and interested in pursuing film, aware of the sterling reputation of the Scott Borchetta College of Media and Entertainment and its Department of Media Arts.

“I have talked to some of my college counselors, and since I want to do film and media entertainment, a lot of them talked about how MTSU has a really good film program, which is why I’m here in the first place,” Gonzalez said.

Middle Tennessee State University President Sidney A. McPhee, left, congratulates a surprised Danitza Gonzalez, a senior at East Ridge High School in Chattanooga, Tenn., after her name was drawn for a $1,000 scholarship during the university’s True Blue Tour student recruitment reception Sept. 25 at The Chattanoogan Hotel in Chattanooga, Tenn. (MTSU photo by Jimmy Hart)

Amy Korstange, left, associate director for Housing and Residential Life at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tenn., shares information with prospective students and parents attending the university’s True Blue Tour recruitment stop Sept. 25 at The Chattanoogan Hotel in Chattanooga, Tenn. (MTSU photo by Jimmy Hart)

Fresh off a campus visit the previous week, senior homeschooled and dual enrollment student Malachi Madison made the rounds around the ballroom with his mother, Erika, and a young family friend, to gather more information — and perhaps be a lucky scholarship recipient, though that didn’t materialize.

Boasting a 33 ACT super score, Madison plans to apply for MTSU’s Buchanan Fellowship after speaking with Honors College Dean John Vile. Madison wants to study construction management, hopefully landing a position as a site superintendent when he graduates, then moving into project management, “and then eventually, I want to run the company,” he said with a broad smile.

Chattanooga, Tenn., homeschooled high school senior Malachi Madison, left, and his mother, Erika, attend Middle Tennessee State University's True Blue Tour student recruitment stop held Sept. 25 at The Chattanoogan Hotel. (MTSU photo by Jimmy Hart) — Chattanooga, Tenn., homeschooled high school senior Malachi Madison, left, and his mother, Erika, attend Middle Tennessee State University’s True Blue Tour student recruitment stop held Sept. 25 at The Chattanoogan Hotel. (MTSU photo by Jimmy Hart)

Proud mom Erika, who noted her son has been “in the driver’s seat” of his college search, said their recent visit to campus included a stop at the “spectacular” School of Concrete and Construction Management Building. The True Blue Tour reinforced their positive impression of the institution.

“This has been great. It’s very awesome to be able to come and talk to all the different people, bringing the deans and the president,” she said. “You normally don’t get that.”

‘It’s a fabulous event’

College of Education alumnus Michelle Sheivle (bachelor’s in elementary education in ’92, master’s in school counseling in ’95) was among the nearly 90 counselors from area high schools and community colleges who turned out earlier in the day for the luncheon, where MTSU distributed $112,000 in scholarships among the schools with counselors in attendance.

Monique Ward, left, assistant director of the Scholars Academy in the Office of Student Success at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tenn., shares information with College of Education alumnus Michelle Sheivle, a guidance counselor at Coffee County Central High School in East Tennessee, at the university’s True Blue Tour recruitment stop Sept. 25 at The Chattanoogan Hotel in Chattanooga, Tenn. (MTSU photo by Jimmy Hart)

Sheivle’s Coffee County Central High School sent the most students to MTSU for fall (39), an accomplishment that earned the school additional scholarship funds that Sheivle and her fellow counselors will divvy out to their deserving students as well as share important updates about getting admitted to MTSU.

“It’s a fabulous event. … I let the students know about housing and how important it is to apply early, and I share with them in a variety of ways about these guaranteed scholarships,” Sheivle said. “This month has been college application month, so there’s been some free opportunities to apply.”

Briana Lee, in her first year as a college and career advisor at Tyner High Academy in Chattanooga, said she was “a big, huge fan of MTSU. Lots of my family members went last year from Tyner, so I advocate for MTSU a lot.”

Lee said she feels her professional role “was my calling, actually” because “I remember being a high school student and being lost. I didn’t really have anybody to show me, and my advisors were my saving grace. So I wanted to be able to come back and be that for someone else.”

The True Blue Tour stopped in Nashville Sept. 29 and will visit Clarksville Thursday, Oct. 2. Find other upcoming stops and register in advance at www.mtsu.edu/rsvp. Walkups are welcome.

— Nancy DeGennaro (Nancy.DeGennaro@mtsu.edu) and Jimmy Hart (Jimmy.Hart@mtsu.edu)