MTSU Board of Trustees votes to name new student-athlete center in honor of board chairman, wife

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — The Middle Tennessee State University Board of Trustees unanimously voted Friday, June 6, to name the soon-to-be-completed Student-Athlete Performance Center in honor of Board Chair Stephen Smith and his wife, Denise.

Trustees, convening in a special meeting, approved a recommendation by President Sidney A. McPhee to add the Smiths’ names to the $66 million building, which is connected to the north end of Floyd Stadium and set to open before the football season this fall.

Vice Chair Christine Karbowiak Vanek presided over the brief meeting, as Stephen Smith did not attend and recused himself from the board’s deliberations on the matter.

Christine Karbowiak Vanek, vice chair of the Board of Trustees at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tenn., presides over a special board meeting held Friday, June 6, at the Miller Education Center during which trustees voted unanimously to name the soon-to-be-completed Student-Athlete Performance Center in honor of Board Chair Stephen Smith and his wife, Denise. (MTSU video screen capture)

This conceptual rendering shows a Floyd Stadium view of the new Student-Athlete Performance Center that broke ground Thursday, Jan. 26, outside the stadium at Middle Tennessee State University. The center will serve as the new home of Blue Raider Football. (Courtesy of MTSU Athletics Communications) — This conceptual rendering shows a Floyd Stadium view of the new Student-Athlete Performance Center at Middle Tennessee State University. The center, which will serve as the new home of Blue Raider Football, is set to open this summer. (Courtesy of MTSU Athletics Communications)

The university received a request in April from former Gov. Bill Haslam and former U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon recommending that the center be named for the Smiths.

Stephen Smith, chairman, Board of Trustees — Stephen Smith

The Smiths were recently recognized with the Blue Raider Impact Award for their decades of fundraising and service to the university and its athletics programs. Stephen Smith, who played baseball for MTSU, is a member of the Blue Raider Sports Hall of Fame.

McPhee said MTSU’s Building Naming Advisory Committee reviewed and endorsed the request, as per policy, sending it to him for his endorsement and presentation to the trustees.

The center will serve as the new home of Blue Raider Football, as well as contain a variety of facilities for the continued support of all MTSU student-athletes, including new athletic training, weightlifting and nutrition areas.

A formal ribbon-cutting ceremony for the facility is planned for July 30, with details to be announced soon.

— Andrew Oppmann (Andrew.Oppmann@mtsu.edu)