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TSU celebrates 2020 graduates with first-ever virtual commencement ceremony

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Tennessee State University celebrated its Class of 2020 with a historic virtual commencement Saturday. More than 700 graduates and undergraduates were honored during the program.

President Glenda Glover

TSU President Glenda Glover greeted the graduates and welcomed alumni, staff and guests watching the program livestreamed on all the major social media platforms.

“It is my distinct honor and privilege to extend heartfelt congratulations to you,” Glover said. “I applaud you for having reached this extraordinary milestone in your academic career. It does not matter how long it took you, you are being honored today because you are graduating. You have endured. We honor your sacrifice. You have overcome obstacles, you have multiplied your talent, you increased your resources.”

Dr. Harold Love, Jr.

State Rep. Harold Love, Jr., a TSU alum, who brought the keynote address, told the graduates that while COVID-19 has been a hindrance to many things, they must reflect on their achievement as a successful story during this time.

“Many years from now, when we look back on 2020, we will reflect on the bright spots and good things we can point to as an indicator that COVID-19 did not completely eliminate the wonderful things of life,” said Love, who earned bachelor’s and doctorate degrees from TSU.

“In that moment, you will be able to declare that ‘yes,’ COVID-19 caused the world to change how we interact with each other, but in the midst of all of that, you graduated from college. Your gifts and graces are desperately needed to make this world a better place. Like so many before you, you heard the clarion call to enter, to learn, and to go forth to serve with an education you received from Tennessee State University. Don’t let the 24-hour news cycle cause you to have fear about what you will do next. Use that creative mind to discover cures, educate the next generation, or help someone else cope with the challenge of life.”

SGA President Katelyn Thompson

Although the delivery was different, the commencement exercises remained generally the same. The program began with a slideshow of the graduates, followed by a presentation by Student Government Association President Katelyn Thompson.

“We did it,” said Thompson, a Memphis native and double major, who received degrees in criminal justice and psychology.

“Four years ago, we took our first step as first-year students at this prestigious university. As we matriculated through our journey, we were blessed with additions to our family. Congratulations to each of you. TSU has taught us to be resilient in the face of adversity. Although we had such an abrupt stop to our day-to-day campus life, we still had the fight, the vision and the determination to accomplish this milestone.”

Tommy Evans of Belleville, Illinois, said he missed walking across the stage, but is appreciative to TSU for making sure that students received recognition another way. 

Orica Kutten received the Academic Excellence Award for the high GPA in her class.

“I’m excited, because either way, we’re being celebrated for our accomplishments,” said Evans, a criminal justice major and senior class vice president. 

Seliene Munroe Bignall, who received her doctorate in education administration, agreed. 

“I feel very, very blessed,” said Bignall of Nashville. “It has been a long journey, especially with what’s going on here and around the world.”

During the ceremony, Orica Kutten, who received her bachelor’s degree in biology, was presented with the Academic Excellence Award for achieving the highest grade point average in her class.

Just like in the past, deans of the various colleges presented candidates to President Glover for the conferring of degrees, as the graduates’ names scrolled across the screen.

Reaction to the first-ever virtual commencement was overwhelmingly positive. One comment on Facebook described the ceremony as “a grandiloquent job.”

“I watched the virtual commencement. It was a beautiful virtual presentation,” the commenter said.

Another added, “Congratulations, it was a nice commencement, and well presented.”

For the next academic year, the University is set to reopen on August 17 under a comprehensive plan that officials say will provide additional COVID-19 safety protocols to protect the health and safety of the campus community. To learn more about TSU’s campus operation plans for fall reopening, visit www.tnstate.edu/return.

Department of Media Relations

Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331

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 seven 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.

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Dr. McDonald Williams, first director of the University Honors Program, remembered

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Dr. McDonald Williams, the first director of the University Honors Program, may be gone. But Tennessee State University officials and students say his legacy continues.  

Williams, who was 101 when he passed on Aug. 11, was director of the then-Honors Program at TSU for 23 years before retiring in 1988. He also spent 30 years at the university serving as a professor of English.

Dr. McDonald Williams

“The TSU family is saddened at the passing of Dr. McDonald Williams, and our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Dr. Jamye Williams and the rest of the family,” said Tennessee State University President Glenda Glover. “Many of our outstanding alumni attribute their success to the Williams’, and especially Dr. Williams as the director of the University Honors Program for 23 years. His contributions to TSU will never be forgotten, and his legacy will always resonate throughout our institution.”

Barbara Murrell, retired vice president of Student Affairs at TSU, agreed.

“He was one of the most respected, admired and appreciated members of the Tennessee State University family and the Nashville community,” she said. “His legacy as an academician continues to inspire generations through the TSU Honors College.”

In 1963, Dr. Walter S. Davis, who was president of Tennessee State at the time, appointed a committee that was charged with studying Honors programs and determining the feasibility of establishing one at the university.

After completing its investigation, the committee recommended that TSU keep pace with many other universities throughout the country. As a result, an Honors program for freshman students was started in the fall of 1964. Sophomore through senior level course work was added yearly throughout 1968, which was the first year a student graduated with “University Honors;” a distinction now reserved for those students who successfully complete the requirements of the University Honors College, which was officially given its collegiate designation in 2016.

Dr. Coreen Jackson, interim dean of the Honors College, said Williams “laid the cornerstone of academic excellence and the standard for which this program was built upon.”

“He had a vision for where the program needed to go and subsequent directors have carried that vision forward,” Jackson said.

TSU President Glenda Glover (center) with Dr. McDonald Williams, and his wife, Dr. Jamye Coleman Williams. (Submitted photo)

At an Honors Convocation in March of this year, about 2,340 TSU students with grade point averages of 3.0 or higher were recognized. Of that number, 283 were on the President’s List. Those students maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout their matriculation.

Orica Kutten is currently in the Honors College and is the recipient of a scholarship named after Williams. She said she’s grateful for the scholarship, and all that Williams did to help make the College what it is today.

“He should be celebrated for all the good he has done,” said Kutten, a senior biology major who lives in Nashville.

Honors student Jerry Kibet of Kenya said Williams laid a foundation that allows “students to realize their potential.”

“His legacy has impacted me to be a better person,” said Kibet, who is majoring in aeronautical and industrial technology. “When other students see me, and the way I carry myself, they want to be a part of this, the Honors College.”

Williams and his wife, Dr. Jamye Coleman Williams, who spent 14 years as the head of TSU’s Department of Communication, were honored at the Scholarship Gala during Homecoming in 2014.

In tandem, the Williams’ co-edited the 1970 publication, The Negro Speaks: The Rhetoric of Contemporary Black Leaders. They have also been co-recipients of numerous accolades and awards, including the 2002 Joe Kraft Humanitarian Award by the Community Foundation.

Funeral services for Dr. Williams will be in Atlanta and Nashville.

A public viewing and visitation with the family will be on Thursday, Aug. 15, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Murray Brothers Funeral Home, 1199 Utoy Springs Rd., SW, in Atlanta. The funeral will be held on Friday, Aug. 16, at 11 a.m. at Big Bethel AME Church, 220 Auburn Ave., NE, in Atlanta.

In Nashville, a public viewing will be held on Sunday, Aug. 18, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Lewis & Wright Funeral Directors, 2500 Clarksville Pike. The interment will be on Monday, Aug. 19, at 11 a.m. at Historic Greenwood Cemetery, 1428 Elm Hill Pike.

To learn more about the University Honors College, visit http://www.tnstate.edu/honors/about/.

Department of Media Relations

Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331

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 38 bachelor’s degree programs, 24 master’s degree programs, and seven 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.

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TSU Students’ Research Focus on Finding Cure for Heart Disease, Cancer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Two Tennessee State University students and their professors have embarked on research projects that could lead to prevention, and possibly a cure, for the nation’s deadliest diseases: cancer and heart disease.

Orica Kutten is a sophomore biology major. (Photo by Courtney Buggs, TSU Media Relations)

Jaquantey Bowen, a senior biochemistry major, and Orica Kutten, a sophomore majoring in biology, presented their projects to fellow students and faculty on Friday during the inaugural Honors Ted Talk, a forum organized by the Honors College to give students and faculty an opportunity to present their work to the campus community.

Motivated by personal tragedies in his family, Bowen, of Fishers, Indiana, has made it his life mission to put an end to heart disease, which is responsible for nearly 610,000 deaths in America each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

His research project, “A Potential Avenue to Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease: An Analysis of the Effect of Genetically-Induced Hypercholesterolemia on Zebrafish,” has also been presented at Harvard and the Brigham Young Women’s Hospital, where it received rave review.

Near his 18th birthday while a freshman at TSU, Bowen’s maternal grandfather died from heart disease, the same disease that claimed his paternal grandfather’s life and several others in his family.

“From that day forward, I vowed to put an end to heart disease,” said Bowen, a graduate of the highly competitive Harvard BWH Stars Program for Summer Research. He maintains a 4.0 GPA and has done field research with “some of the best and notable experts in cardiology.”

“The science behind my research is basically to look at the fundamental mechanisms that lead to heart disease, especially the connection between high cholesterol and atherosclerosis,” said Bowen, who will receive a bachelor’s degree with concentration in cell and molecular biology and a minor in chemistry.

For Kutten, her research project, “Microtubule Actin Crosslinking Factor 1 a Target in Glioblastomas,” or MACF1, aims to identify new and novel targets for the treatment of cancer and to improve therapies for a variety of different cancers.

A native of Cape Coast, Ghana, Kutten said growing up in Africa, much of the discussions were around malaria, a tropical infectious disease.

“But when I learned that cancer was the second cause of deaths, I knew it was an area I would like to study,” Kutten said. “During my time in the lab I have actually learned a lot of concepts that I didn’t actually know before, and which have been very helpful in my research.”

Dr. Coreen Jackson, interim dean of the Honors College, said the importance of Bowens’ and Kutten’s research topics and the participation in the forum are some of the reasons why Ted Talk was established.

“Ted Talk is a wonderful opportunity for all students from all areas to share their research, to share their inventions and creations with the TSU community,” Jackson said. “It is one thing to do all this wonderful research and it just sits on the desk or it is published in the book and no body hears about it. So anyone who has something to share is invited to Ted Talk.”

Mariel Liggin, a freshman biochemistry major, was one of the many students who attended the forum. She said she was impressed by the two presentations, which encouraged her to get more serious about developing her own projects.

“I am glad I came,” Liggin said. Coming here and listening to Jaquantey and Orica gave me an idea of what to do when I start my own research.”

Department of Media Relations

Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331

About Tennessee State University

With more than 8,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 38 bachelor’s degree programs, 25 master’s degree programs and seven doctoral degrees. 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.