Tennessee State University Remembers Founders During 2018 Homecoming

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) - This is Homecoming week and today is Founders' Day at Tennessee State University.

TSU President Glenda Glover, accompanied by keynote speaker Council Woman-At-Large Sharon Hurt, led a procession of faculty, student leaders and administrators in Kean Hall to mark the university’s 106th birthday.

President Glenda Glover presents 2018 Founders' Day speaker Sharon Hurt with a plaque at the ceremony in Kean Hall. (Photo by Emmanuel Freeman, TSU Media Relations)

The University Wind Ensemble, led by Dr. Reginald McDonald, offered selections to a cheering audience, following presentation of colors by the Air Force ROTC Color Guard.

“This is a great day for Tennessee State University,” Glover said, as she recounted events in the University’s history from its founding in 1912 to the role it plays today as a major center of education in the nation.

“From 1912 when the then-Agricultural and Industrial Normal School for Negroes, built to provide educational opportunity for blacks, opened its doors to the first 247 students, TSU has maintained a tradition of excellence in education for a diverse population.”

Student leaders and faculty join in singing the Alma Mater at the Founders' Day program. (Photo by Emmanuel Freeman, TSU Media Relations)

In her keynote address, Rep. Hurt, president and CEO of Jefferson Street United Merchant Partnership, or JUMP, reminded the students, faculty and alumni that as members of the TSU family, they have a “rich legacy” to uphold of people who believe in self-determination.

“As you celebrate Founders' Day, remember that you have an ancestral calling to serve and support this institution,” said Hurt, a graduate of TSU. Hurt also holds a master’s degree in non-profit leadership from Belmont University.

Miss TSU Kayla Sampson, joined by Mr. TSU Darian McGhee, gives the university history at the Founders' Day program. (Phto by Emmanuel Freeman, TSU Media Relations)

“You are the keepers of a legacy of worldwide accomplishments and have the God-given right by virtue of your calling to glorify, magnify and fortify the legacy that you have inherited as a descendant of doctors, teachers, engineers, talk show host, etc.,” she said. "Whatever your profession, TSU gave you a purpose.”

Hurt, a recipient of several awards and recognitions, is a former board member of the Center for Non-Profit Management and past president of the Association of Non-Profit Executives Council, and is a graduate of the 2004 Class of Leadership Nashville. During her tenure as president of JUMP, Hurt has secured more than $4 million in funding from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program Grant to acquire and rehabilitate homes in the North Nashville community.

She thanked President Glover, also an alumna, for the invitation and for her own legacy of excellence in earning multiple degrees. She called on students to be more focused, and congratulated the university on the celebration of the 2018 Homecoming.