Two MTSU educators have been appointed to the Tennessee Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights.

The Washington, D.C.-based federal commission announced MTSU’s Professor Amy Sayward of the Department of History and associate professor Sekou Franklin of the Department of Political Science and International Relations as members Aug. 3.

The commission is an independent bipartisan agency with the mission of informing “the development of national civil rights policy” and enhancing “enforcement of federal civil rights laws,” according to www.usccr.gov.

Dr. Sekou Franklin

Dr. Amy Sayward

Sayward, who serves as her department’s interim director of general education, specializes in modern international history with a focus on the 20th century and modern United States history with a focus on the post-1945 era.

She earned her bachelor’s degree from St. Bonaventure University in 1991 and her master’s and doctoral degrees from The Ohio State University in 1993 and 1998, respectively.

Franklin’s areas of expertise are American politics and government, pressure groups and political parties, African-American politics, racial and ethnic politics, American and comparative social movements, citizen participation and urban politics.

He earned his bachelor’s degree from Santa Clara University in 1994, his master’s degree from San Francisco State University in 1996 and his doctoral degree from Howard University in 2001.

State advisory committees to the commission are responsible for reports and recommendations on state and local civil rights issues in their areas. These issues include but are not limited to justice, voting, discrimination, housing and education.

Members of state advisory committees serve four-year terms without financial compensation.

Sayward lives in Murfreesboro and Franklin lives in Nashville. Other members of the 16-member Tennessee Advisory Committee hail from Nashville, Cane Ridge, Madison, Mount Pleasant, Knoxville and Antioch.

For more information, contact Sayward at amy.sayward@mtsu.edu or Franklin at sekou.franklin@mtsu.edu or go to www.usccr.gov.

— Gina Logue (gina.logue@mtsu.edu)