Tag Archives: history

Vice President Kamala Harris delivers historic commencement address at TSU, receives honorary degree 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – “I’m now a Tiger!”

Vice President Kamala Harris cheered as she received an honorary doctorate degree in humane letters from Tennessee State University after addressing nearly 600 undergraduates at the Spring 2022 commencement ceremony.

As an official member of the TSU Alumni Family, Vice President Kamala Harris joins President Glenda Glover, and University officials for the University Alma Mater song to end a historic commencement day. (Photo submitted)

Harris was hooded by TSU President Dr. Glenda Glover as the crowd looked on, including University trustees, cabinet members and mayors John Cooper of Nashville and Randall Woodfin of Birmingham, AL. 

The historic moment took place Saturday at TSU’s Hale Stadium shortly
after Harris addressed the graduates with a heartfelt commencement
speech, marking this as her first address at a University and HBCU as Vice President of the United States.

Graduate Matthew Benton, who now has a degree in business administration, said that the historic event was as inspirational as he imagined.

“I’m thankful to have had a university President like Dr. Glover with the right connections and friendships to bring Kamala Harris, the Vice President of the United States, to our campus to give the keynote address.”

Tennessee State University graduate Matthew Benton after receiving a degree in business administration . (Photo submitted)

As a fellow HBCU graduate of Howard University, Harris gave the students a chance to mirror the person they can one day become. The Vice President celebrated the 2022 graduates’ through their trials, mentioning the challenges of obtaining a degree through the COVID-19 pandemic, fundamental principles, and racial inequalities. 

Harris stated that the graduates are more than just a class of 2022 but graduates that the United States need in the near future.

“I look at this unsettled world, and yes I see the challenges, but I am here to tell you, I also see the opportunities. The opportunities for your leadership. The future of our country and our world will be shaped by you.”

The dark skies looming over Hale stadium didn’t stop Harris’ words of encouragement to shine through as she spoke value to more than one thousand attendees.

“You are fueled by self-determination,” she said. “Students from all over the world come here because they have big dreams.”

About 15-mintues into her speech, Harris’ shared a story regarding the first time she flew on the vice-presidential helicopter.

She looked out the window as the helicopter circled over her alma mater and saw her 17-year-old self again toting books around campus. “At a place just like this,” she smiled.

“That reinforced that I can be anything. Do anything. Even if it had never been done before,” she said as the crowd cheered.

“Like you, and full of hope and full of dreams with a future full of possibility. I stand before you today as the Vice President of America and as a proud graduate of an HBCU to say, there is no limit to your capacity of greatness.”

Vice President Kamala Harris smiles with TSU student on stage during historic Spring 2022 commencement day. (Photo submitted)

Harris reassured the graduates who will embark on a new journey, that their time at TSU has unlocked unimaginable opportunities.

“There is no barrier you cannot break,” she said, noting that the graduate’s perspective and experience will make the United States a stronger country. She mentioned that there will be a time that the graduates will walk into a room where no one else may look like them.

“And at that moment you must remember, you are not in that room alone. Always know that you carried the voices of everyone here and those upon the shoulders you stand,” Harris comforted the students.

A little piece of advice to the graduates from Harris: Be true to yourself.

Tennessee State University graduate Derrick Sanders Jr., after receiving a degree English. (Photo submitted)

Graduate Derrick Sanders, Jr., who now has a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in English, said that Harris telling the students to live in the moment, is what resonated with him most.

“To know now that she will forever be a part of my TSU history, and to be inducted as an official member of the Tiger Family was a tremendous honor to witness.”

As Harris is the first woman, and first person of color as Vice President of the United States, she closed out her commencement speech with a phrase her late-mother always told her.

Kamala, you may be the first to do many things … make sure you are not the last.

“I have been many first in my lifetime and as I look out at all of you today, I know I will not be the last,” Harris told the TSU graduates.

“Your country is so proud of you.” “May God bless you and may God bless America.”

The Biden-Harris Administration has invested $5.8 billion in resources and the reissuance of the White House Initiative on HBCUs. In March, President Biden announced TSU President Dr. Glenda Glover would serve as Vice Chair of President Biden’s Board of Advisors on HBCUs.

About Tennessee State University

Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a premier, historically black university and land-grant institution offering 39 bachelor’s degree programs, 24 master’s degree programs, and eight doctoral degrees.  TSU is a comprehensive research-intensive institution with a R-2 Carnegie designation and has a graduate school on its downtown Avon Williams Campus, along with the Otis Floyd Nursery Research Center in McMinnville, Tennessee.  With a commitment to excellence, Tennessee State University provides students with a quality education in a nurturing and innovative environment that prepares them as alumni to be global leaders in every facet of society. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.

TSU History Professor, Author Wins Humanities Fellowship to Study Medieval Religious Spaces in England

Dr. Elizabeth Dachowski
Dr. Elizabeth Dachowski

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – A Tennessee State University History professor will participate in a four-week seminar on “Arts, Architecture and Devotional Interaction” at the University of York in York, England, this summer.

Dr. Elizabeth Dachowski is one of 16 teachers selected nationwide as National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Scholars to attend one of 30 seminars and institutes supported by the NEH.

The Endowment is a federal agency that supports enrichment opportunities at colleges, universities and cultural institutions each summer to help faculty work in collaboration and study with experts in humanities disciplines.

Dachowsky, author of First Among Abbots: The Career of Abbo of Fleury, who also teaches world history and upper-division courses in pre-modern Europe, said the seminar will focus on medieval religious spaces.

“York’s archival resources will be very useful in my current research project, which grew out of my book on Abbo of Fleury,” Dachowski said. “Recent research on how communities used spaces is very exciting, and this seminar will give me a chance to develop materials that will fill out my medieval and early modern history courses.”

Her research interests include ecclesiastical politics in France around the year 1000, cross-cultural interactions in monastic communities, and hagiographical writings as historical sources.

At the York Seminar, Dachowski will work on cross-cultural interactions among medieval monks, as well as study the alien priories and cells of Yorkshire, and search for references to foreign monks in English houses.

“York is an incredible city, and I’ve long thought that it would be a great base for exploring the historical sites of Britain,” Dachowski added.

Topics for the 30 seminars and institutes offered for college and university teachers this summer include Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia: literature, the arts, and cinema since independence; American Maritime People; America’s East Central Europeans: migration and memory; arts, architecture, and devotional interaction in England, 1200–1600; black aesthetics and African diasporic culture; and bridging national borders in North America, among others.

According to the NEI, the nearly 437 summer scholars who participate in these programs of study will teach over 113,925 American students the following year

Additionally, Dachowsk and her fellow scholars participating in the summer program will each receive a stipend of $3,300 to cover travel, study and living expenses.

 

 

Department of Media Relations
Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331

 

About Tennessee State University

With nearly 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 38 undergraduate, 22 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.

TSU History Professor Receives Scholar Excellence Award For Work in African Studies

Dr. Adebayo Oyebade
Dr. Adebayo Oyebade

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Dr. Adebayo Oyebade, professor of History at Tennessee State University, was the recipient of the Senior Scholar Excellence Award for Research and Teaching during the annual Africa Conference held recently at the University of Texas, Austin. Presented April 5, the award recognizes deserving scholars who have made a mark in the field of African studies.

Oyebade received the award due to his “intellectual interests in the nexus of African security and international relations, including Africa’s placement in the United States’ foreign policy,” and for “advancing scholarship on African historiography and the African Diaspora” according to the award citation. He was also recognized as a superior educator in a broad range of Africa-oriented topics such as pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial Africa.

“It was an honor to be recognized by a group of my peers for my contribution to the academic study of Africa and its Diaspora,” said Oyebade.

This is the 10th year the award has been presented by the conference, which has been held annually for the past 14 years at the University of Texas, Austin. The conference is one of the largest academic gatherings of scholars of Africa and African Diaspora, and draws students and scholars from all over the world. This year, more than 150 scholars attended representing universities from Africa, Europe, Asia, Latin America and North America.

Oyebade joined the faculty at TSU in 2002 as an associate professor of History and was promoted to full professorship in 2007. His work has been recognized through several grants and fellowships including the Franklin D. Roosevelt Institute, a Ford Foundation fellowship, and funding from the Harry Truman Library Institute.

He received a similar accolade, “Research and Creativity Excellence Award,” in November 2013 from the University of North Carolina during a conference on African Historiography.

A noted author, Oyebade has written more than eighty scholarly articles, chapters and reviews. In addition, he has published eight books including his latest, The United States’ Foreign Policy in Africa in the 21st Century.

 

 

Department of Media Relations
Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331

 

About Tennessee State University

With nearly 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 38 undergraduate, 22 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.