Tennessee State University News Service. – Tennessee State Tigerbelles Clairwin Dameus and Amber Hughes are headed to the NCAA National Championship following their performances in the East Preliminary over the weekend.
Dameus placed 10th in the women’s long jump with a leap of 6.09 meters. Her season-best was 6.16 in the Ohio Valley Conference Championship on May 15. Hughes, the reigning OVC Female Athlete of the Outdoor Championship, came in 12th in the 100-meter hurdles to earn her berth into the nation’s top track and field competition. The Atlanta, Ga. native also narrowly missed qualifying in the triple jump, placing 13th (12.77 meters). The TSU duo will prepare for a trip to Eugene, Ore. for the NCAA Championship on June 10-13.
University sports memorabilia to form part of new museum of African-American history
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Olympic Gold Medalist Wilma Rudolph, legendary track and field Coach Ed Temple, the famed Tigerbelles, and the first-ever African-American basketball team to win a national college basketball championship – and three consecutive titles – all make up the rich sports history of Tennessee State University.
The impressive accomplishments of the TSU athletics program will be part of exhibits in the Smithsonian Institution’s new National Museum of African-American History and Culture opening in 2016 on the National Mall in Washington. D.C.
Coach Ed. Temple, left, explains photo collection of his legendary coaching career to Dr. Damion Thomas, curator for the sports exhibits of the new National Museum of African-American History and Culture. Grant Winrow, TSU coordinator for the museum project, and Dr. Murle E. Kenerson, interim dean of Libraries and Media Centers, provide guidance during the display.
Dr. Damion Thomas, curator for the museum’s sports exhibits, visited TSU today to get a first-hand look at sports memorabilia on display in several buildings on the main campus.
Accompanied by University officials, including Grant Winrow, TSU coordinator for the Smithsonian project, the curator toured the Brown-Daniel Memorial Library, the Wilma Rudolph Hall, the Gentry Complex that houses many of the University’s sports mementos and souvenirs, as well as the Olympic statute.
Some of the treasured items that the curator saw included gold medals, championship trophies and track cleats, as well as photographs and portraits of TSU trailblazers like NFL quarterback Joe Gilliam, golf coach Catana Starks, and legendary coaches John Merritt and John McClendon.
Highlighting Thomas’ visit and tour was a meeting with Coach Temple, the man who took 40 athletes from TSU (Tennessee Agricultural & Industrial State University until 1968) to the Olympic Games and helped them win 23 medals — more than 157 countries in the world have ever won.
Temple, who shifted the focus from him to his Tigerbelles during a discussion, said he was pleased to know that the Smithsonian Institution was including an area in its new museum dedicated to the achievements of African-Americans in sports.
“I am glad that what they are doing will finally give these young ladies their due recognition,” Temple said. “They work hard to earn all that they achieved.”
The curator also met with Starks, the first African-American woman to coach a men’s NCAA Division I golf team when she took the job at TSU. Her trailblazing efforts was made into a motion picture titled “From The Rough” starring Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson. In the Gentry Complex, Thomas also briefly met with current OVC “Women’s Coach of the Year,” Chandra Cheeseborough-Guice, a former Olympian, who made history by snagging two gold medals at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.
Before ending his tour, Thomas gave a brief presentation on the new museum, a 400,000-square-foot building of bronze metal and glass structure. It will feature a collection of artifacts of slavery and freedom, mementos of military service, symbols of the civil rights movement, the Harlem Renaissance, as well as a comprehensive collection of fine art including paintings, sculptures, works on paper, installations, photography, and digital media by and about African-Americans.
According to Thomas, the sports exhibit section of the museum will include a room, called “The Game Changer,” dedicated to individuals like Wilma Rudolph, whose contribution went beyond the track or playing field to changing the course of history.
The museum has built a collection of 40,000 artifacts, and a staff of 160 is developing the 11 major exhibits that visitors will find at the opening next year. Smithsonian officials estimate annual visits to the African-American Museum of History and Culture will average between four to five million people in its first few years.
Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331
About Tennessee State University
With more than 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 45 undergraduate, 24 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Congratulations to 2,117 students who made the Dean’s List at Tennessee State University for the Spring 2015 semester. The honor list names all students who have achieved a grade point average of 3.0 or higher in 12 or more semester hours taken for a letter grade during the spring semester.
Students on the coveted list for Spring 2015 are listed alphabetically. Students who have opted out of publicly sharing their private information are not listed. Again, congratulations! Here are the honorees:
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Dr. Maria Thompson, a Tennessee State University graduate, and former vice president for Research and Sponsored Programs, is the new president of Coppin State University, a part of the University System of Maryland.
Dr. Maria Thompson
USM Chairman James Shea announced Thompson’s appointment recently, describing her as a “top-level academic leader.”
“Dr. Thompson’s earlier experience in building a research enterprise at an urban historically black institution positions her well to advance Coppin as a vital institution in Baltimore and the state,” Shea said.
TSU President Glenda Glover said the TSU family is “extremely” proud to see one of its products excel to such a high profile position in the academic world.
“We congratulate Dr. Thompson on becoming president of Coppin State University, a sister HBCU institution,” President Glover said. “We are very proud of her outstanding achievements and demonstration of excellence. The faculty, students and staff of Coppin State are very fortunate to have one of our finest to lead that great institution.”
Thompson, whose appointment takes effect July 1, is the provost and vice president of Academic Affairs at the State University of New York at Oneonta. From August 2009-July 2011, she served as vice president for Research and Sponsored Programs at TSU. Prior to that, she served in many other research capacities at TSU.
At SUNY, Thompson was credited with oversight of accreditation reaffirmation, and academic development for more than 6,000 students. At Tennessee State, she helped to secure more than $45 million in sponsored research funding from external resources.
“I look forward to working with the faculty, staff, students and other stakeholders of Coppin State to continue the university’s commitment to preparing graduates who are analytical, socially responsible and lifelong learners,” Thompson said. “Urban higher education plays a vital role in shaping the future of local, national and global communities and I am excited about joining a campus with a rich legacy of community engagement.”
Thompson is a 1983 graduate of TSU with a Bachelor of Science degree. She holds an M.S. from The Ohio State University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331
About Tennessee State University
With more than 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 45 undergraduate, 24 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Tennessee State University alumnus Amos Otis continues to add accolades to his impressive resume. The 1965 TSU graduate and multi-million dollar entrepreneur was recently awarded the Tennessee Board of Regents’ Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Philanthropy for his contributions to the University.
Otis received the prestigious award from TBR Chancellor John Morgan recently during his 50th graduation anniversary celebration with former classmates at TSU. The award recognizes “people and organizations that have clearly demonstrated generosity of time and resources to TBR institutions, encouraged others, promoted higher education, and provided examples of ethical leadership, civic responsibility and Integrity.”
Chancellor Morgan recognized Otis for “never excluding Tennessee State University” from his success.
“It is my honor to present TSU alumnus, Mr. Amos Otis, with the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Philanthropy for his outstanding contribution and visionary leadership to Tennessee State University,” Chancellor Morgan said.
Otis has had a very successful and distinguished career as a public servant, entrepreneur, and as an officer in the United States Air Force. He is often recognized for his business development and management skills, as well as his civic leadership, and as a member of various advisory boards. Through his success, he has touched lives in many places, including his alma mater, Tennessee State University. He established the SoBran/SComan Educational Scholarship Endowment to help keep students in school with an annual donation of more than $110,000.
In addition to Tennessee State, Mr. Otis’ philanthropy also includes the Brenda Faye Otis-Lee Educational Scholarship at the St. Jude Educational Institute in Montgomery, Alabama. He also supports numerous national causes ranging from the American Heart Association to the U.S. Marine Toys for Tots Foundation.
Otis is president and CEO of SoBran Inc., a $61 million, leading technical and professional services company that provides expertise on biomedical research, engineering and logistics programs for government and commercial clients around the world. An advocate for higher education, Mr. Otis’ storied career has had him serving as a consultant to the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences for Post-Doctoral Programs, and as Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
Aristocrat of Bands holds Edward L. Graves Summer Band Camp June 13-20
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – They have been a staple at the Tennessee State University for nearly 70 years, performing all over the country and for numerous U.S. presidents. Now the Aristocrat of Bands will bring their expertise and showmanship skills to help train the next generation of musicians during the 4th Annual Edward L. Graves High School Summer Camp.
Slated to take place at TSU June 13-20, the camp is designed for rising ninth through 12th graders to help foster the musicianship and marching expertise of young musicians.
During the eight-day camp, students will have the opportunity to learn about marching technique, dance and musicianship. The camp closes out with performances designed to showcase what the students have learned during the course of the week.
According to Dr. Reginald McDonald, acting Director of Bands, students from as far as Chicago, Atlanta, Kansas City, Kansas, and Memphis, Tennessee, will come to the University to learn the rigors of performing as a member of TSU’s Aristocrat of Bands and what it takes to be successful in today’s collegiate band programs.
“We are excited to be offering this opportunity for area high school students interested in expanding their marching and music skills,” said McDonald. “Not only will this expose students to the basic elements of the Aristocrat of Bands, but also experience college life for a week. When they return to their high school, they will have the tools to be a productive member of their high-school marching band.”
Cost for the camp is $275 for non-residential, and $375 for residential campers. All students must bring their own instruments, with Drum Majors supplying their own major instrument as well as mace. Flag bearers must bring their own flags, while twirlers must bring batons.
The camps ends with musicians performing at the Edward L. Graves Scholarship Gala, June 19, and again for parents and the general public on Saturday, June 20.
To register or for more information, call Melva Townsend at 615.963.2525 or email mtate01@tnstate.edu.
Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331
About Tennessee State University
With more than 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 45 undergraduate, 24 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – For years the Tennessee State University women’s track program has been known for its sprinters and relay teams. On Friday, the Tigerbelles lived up to their legacy by clinching the 2015 Ohio Valley Conference Championship, the first since 2008 and the eighth overall under legendary Coach Chandra Cheeseborough-Guice.
Coach Chandra Cheeseborough-Guice
A former Olympian, who made history by snagging two gold medals at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, Cheeseborough-Guice was also named “Women’s Coach of the Year.”
She could not hide her excitement as the Lady Tigers finished 128.5 points ahead of Eastern Illinois with 127 points, and defending champions South Missouri with 108.5 points.
“I am so excited right now,” said Cheeseborough-Guice. “These young ladies stepped up and got it done. We were down in numbers, but the numbers we had shored up against the larger squads. I am so proud to be a Tigerbelle.”
TSU President Glenda Glover was equally excited about the Tigerbelles’ championship.
President Glenda Glover
“On behalf of the University, I congratulate the team and coaches for an outstanding performance on winning the OVC championship,” President Glover said. “We are so proud of you all for persevering and giving it your all to come out as champions. Your heart, talent, commitment and sportsmanship have brought us much pride. Again, congratulations!”
The track teams’ championship is the second TSU OVC title this year. On March 7, the TSU women’s basketball team was crowned OVC Champs following a 64-60 win over No. 1 seeded UT Martin. The victory clinched the Tigerbelles a place in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1995.
In Saturday’s meet, despite delays due to lightening and heavy rains, the Tigerbelles managed to claim seven events and 23 scoring finishes. Amber Hughes, Diera Taylor, Christian Pryor and Kayla Pryor teamed up for the 4×400 relay and crossed the line first in a time of 3:44.96.
Hughes led the way as she claimed four-top finishes and broke a 29-year old record. The sophomore broke the tape in 13.27 in the 100-meter hurdles to erase an OVC Championship mark, which had been around since 1986.
Hughes also claimed the top spot in the 200-meter dash (23.66) and the triple jump (12.90m/42-04.00). The Atlanta product was also a member of the 4×100 relay team that placed third.
“Somehow we were not expected to win this tournament,” Hughes said. “We just wanted to do well, but when it came down to it, the whole team mind shifted and we gave it our very best. That’s how we were able to win. It was a team effort.”
For the second year straight, Clairwin Dameus won the heptathlon as she amassed 5,396 points. The total was three points shy of her OVC record of 5,399 set in 2014.
Dameus continued her busy weekend as she finished second in the long jump with a leap of 6.16m (20-02.50) and placed sixth in the 400-meter hurdles (1:04.35). The junior was also a member of the third place 4×100 team.
Freshman Kayla Pryor and sophomore I’mani Davis recorded the final two individual championships for the Tigerbelles. Pryor claimed the title in the 400-meter hurdles in a time of 1:00.18, while Davis won the high jump as she cleared the bar in her second attempt at 1.73m (5-08.00).
Davis, also a member of the Lady Tigers basketball team, became the first athlete in TSU history to be a part of OVC championship teams in two separate sports. The Tulsa, Oklahoma native is a two-year starter with the Lady Tigers and just completed her first season with the Tigerbelles.
With three members qualifying, the next stop for the Tigerbelles is the regionals in the NCAA East Preliminary Round in Jacksonville, Florida May 28. Hughes will represent TSU in the 100-meter hurdle and the 200-meter dash. Dameus will participate in the long jump, and Davis the high jump.
Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331
About Tennessee State University
With more than 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 45 undergraduate, 24 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Dr. Harriette Bias- Insignares, a longtime professor at Tennessee State University and the first African American Poet Laureate/Ambassador of Letters for the State of Tennessee has died. She was 72 years old.
A graduate of Fisk University, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and George Peabody College of Vanderbilt University, Bias-Insignares had been an educator for more than 40 years. She taught English as a second language, rhetoric and public address, theatre and journalism.
Bias-Insignares began her career teaching English and physical education in Bucaramanga, Colombia, from 1964-65. She later became the Spanish resource consultant for the Chicago Board of Education from 1966 until 1968, and the director of the Tutorial Center at the University of Wisconsin from 1970-72. From 1977 until 1980, Bias-Insignares was an assistant professor of Speech at the University of Tennessee in Nashville.
Dr. Harriette Bias- Insignares from the 1993 TSU yearbook, Tennessean. Bias-Insignares joined the faculty at Tennessee State University as an associate professor of Communications, a position she held from 1981 until 2000.
Dr. Bias-Insignares joined the faculty at Tennessee State University as an associate professor of Communications, a position she held from 1981 until 2000. While at the University, she received the TSU Outstanding Teacher Award, the TSU Foundation Scholars Award, and the TSU National Broadcasting Society Journalism Teacher of the Year Award. Her other awards included the Consortium of Doctors Trailblazer Award, and the Society of Professional Journalists’ David L. Eshelman Award.
Bias-Insignares started writing poetry in earnest following the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Bobby Kennedy. Since 1977, she served the state of Tennessee as its Official State Poet and Arts Advocate under the title “Tennessee’s Ambassador of Letters.” To honor her for her many years of service to the people of Tennessee through poetry, Bias-Insignares was named the first Poet Laureate of Nashville.
A native of Savannah, Georgia, Bias-Ingnares was widely recognized as a poetess, storyteller, and oral interpreter. In her role as Tennessee’s state poet she wrote poetry honoring men and women like Vice President Al Gore, Colin Powell, and Eartha Kitt, as well as groups such as The National Urban League and the Negro Ensemble Company.
Her awards in Poetry included the Society of Poets International Poet of Merit Medallion, the Phyllis Wheatley Poetry Award, the Alpha Kappa Alpha Award for contributions to American literature, and the Tennessee Governor’s Spotlight Award for Contributions to the Arts. In addition, Bias-Insignares was also recognized for the Desert Storm Poetry Memorial she created, the first poetry memorial honoring the military in the nation. For her efforts she received the Adjutant General’s Distinguished Patriot Medallion, for “singular sacrifice and commitment to sustaining the pride and patriotism of our armed forces.”
Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331
About Tennessee State University
With more than 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 45 undergraduate, 24 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – A team of astronomers using ground-based telescopes in Arizona, California, and Hawaii recently discovered a planetary system orbiting a nearby star that is only 54 light-years away from our solar system. All three of its planets orbit their star at a distance closer than Mercury orbits the Sun, completing their orbits in just 5, 15, and 24 days.
The astronomers, from Tennessee State University, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of California Observatory found the planets using measurements from the Automated Planet Finder (APF) Telescope at Lick Observatory in California, the W. M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, and the TSU APFs at Fairborn Observatory in the Patagonia Mountains of southern Arizona.
The TSU moonlight telescopes at the Fairborn Observatory in the Patagonia Mountains of Southern Arizona helped researchers discover a planetary system orbiting a nearby star that is only 54 light-years away from our solar system. (courtesy photo)
The team discovered the new planets by detecting the wobble of the star HD 7924 as the planets orbited and pulled on the star gravitationally. The APF and Keck Observatory traced out the planets’ orbits over many years using the Doppler technique that has successfully found hundreds of mostly larger planets orbiting nearby stars. In coordination with the APF and Keck Observations, the TSU APF made crucial brightness measurements of HD 7924 over nine years to assure the validity of the planet discoveries.
TSU has also been developing and operating robotic telescopes for over 20 years.
“The robotic telescopes are a wonderful advancement,” said TSU astronomer, Dr. Gregory Henry, who oversees the operation of seven robotic telescopes for his research. “They take away the tedium of all-night, manual observing sessions and produce far more superior data.”
One of the TSU robotic telescopes discovered the first transiting extrasolar planet in 1999, providing final proof of the existence of other planetary systems.
The Keck Observatory found the first evidence of planets orbiting HD 7924, discovering the innermost planet in 2009 using the HIRES instrument installed on the 10-meter Keck I telescope. This same combination was also used to find other super-Earths orbiting nearby stars in planet searches led by UH astronomer Andrew Howard and UC Berkeley Professor Geoffrey Marcy. It took five years of additional observations at Keck, a year-and-a-half campaign by the APF Telescope, and nine years of APT monitoring to find the two additional planets orbiting HD 7924.
According to Henry, the Kepler Space Telescope has discovered thousands of extrasolar planets and demonstrated that they are common in our Milky Way galaxy. However, nearly all of these planets are far from our solar system, he said.
“Most nearby stars have not been thoroughly searched for the small ‘super-Earth’ planets (larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune) that Kepler found in great abundance,” Henry added.
This discovery shows the type of planetary system that astronomers expect to find around many nearby stars in the coming years.
“The three planets are unlike anything in our solar system, with masses 7-8 times the mass of Earth and orbits that take them very close to their host star,” said UC Berkeley graduate student Lauren Weiss.
Henry added that TSU automated telescopes will also make an important contribution to automated planet discovery.
“The APF measurements of the planetary host star’s brightness will allow us to determine whether star spots are mimicking the presence of a false planet,” said Henry.
The robotic observations of HD 7924 are the start of a systematic survey for super-Earth planets orbiting nearby stars. University of Hawaii graduate student B. J. Fulton will lead this two-year search with the APF as part of his research for his doctoral dissertation. Henry will measure any brightness changes in the same stars with the TSU APTs.
“When the survey is complete, we will have a census of small planets orbiting Sun-like stars within approximately 100 light-years of Earth,” says Fulton.
The paper, “Three super-Earths orbiting HD 7924,” has been accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. Other authors of the paper are Howard Isaacson (UC Berkeley), Evan Sinukoff (UH), and Bradford Holden and Robert Kibrick (UCO). The team acknowledges support of the Gloria and Ken Levy Foundation, NASA, NSF, the U.S. Naval Observatory, the University of California for its support of Lick Observatory and the State of Tennessee through its Centers of Excellence program.
Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331
About Tennessee State University
With more than 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 45 undergraduate, 24 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – The Birmingham Board of Education has named an alumna from Tennessee State University as the system’s new superintendent.
Dr. Kelly Castlin-Gacutan, who currently serves as the deputy superintendent of operations at Bibb County Schools in Georgia, was announced as the new superintendent on Tuesday. She is expected to start her work in Birmingham no later than July 1.
Castlin-Gacutan has worked in education for 20 years, serving in various roles ranging from a K-12 educator and assistant principal, to district-level administrator.
Dr. Castlin-Gacutan earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Tennessee State University in 1991, her Master of Education in Early Childhood Education from Brenau University, and her Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University.
Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331
About Tennessee State University
With more than 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 45 undergraduate, 24 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.
