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Alumni, Black History Month, Black History Month Event, EVENTS, Featured

Black History: TSU students encourage financial literacy and wealth management in memory of ‘Black Wall Street’

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Money management and entrepreneurship were the key topics at a financial literacy workshop on Feb. 15 hosted by a group of Tennessee State University students, along with the Women’s Center, to provide awareness and empower their peers.

Gabrielle Mosby, right, one of the organizers of the workshop, presents a gift to keynote speaker Kyle Smith. (Photo by Aaron Grayson, TSU Media Relations)

Titled “Bring Back Black Wall Street,” the workshop drew from the 2020 movie “Black Wall Street Burning,” that chronicled the 1921 Memorial Day massacre of Black people and the burning of the once thriving section of Tulsa, Oklahoma, referred to as Black Wall Street.

The students said the workshop, part of a Black History Month observance, was about knowing the past, shaping the future, and holding a conversation about empowering Black people to understand true financial wealth they can build upon.

Seanne Wilson, Director of the Women’s Center, makes a comment at the event. (Photo by Aaron Grayson, TSU Media Relations)

Kyle Smith, a Nashville businessman, was the event’s keynote speaker. He said building wealth and attaining financial success start with discipline, hard work, and “surrounding yourself with the right people.”

Gabrielle Mosby, a freshman business major from Memphis, Tennessee, who is one of the organizers of the event, said Smith’s message was just what “we needed to hear.”

By age 22, and fresh out of college, Smith had started and was running a fitness business in his hometown. Two years later, he started a mobile notary business. He said his goal is to help others, build great relationships, and make an impact in other people’s lives.

“Today I just want to tell students that being an entrepreneur in the beginning takes time, it takes consistency and finding yourself a good mentor,” said Smith, 27, who owns two successful businesses in the Nashville area.

“I want them to understand what it takes to be successful in business, but also understand how to save their money and build generational wealth,” Smith said. “Too often people in my generation want instant gratification and focus on the liabilities that come with it. We need to focus on building assets. Cars, jewelry, purses and things like that won’t make us money in the long term.”

According to recent statistics, African Americans account for 13 percent of the U.S. population with significant impact on the economy, yet they lag in financial well-being when compared to other groups.

“’Bring Back Black Wall Street” is a conscious conversation that talks about the hard-hitting issue of building wealth within our Black community and how we can actively make a change,” Mosby said. “Looking at his business achievement in such a short time, Mr. Kyle Smith’s message was on point.”

Seanne Wilson, director of the Women’s Center, said the workshop was one of the many programs the center provides to empower young women, as well as young men, to think about how they spend their money. 

“As we were discussing Black history and what should be one of our focus areas for the month, financial literacy jumped out,” Wilson said. “I wish when I was in college, someone had talked to me about wealth management, saving money, and not spending unwisely. So, now I want to be proactive and help them understand the value of money and not be reckless in spending it.” 

Fellow workshop organizer Karly Miller, a sophomore pre-nursing major from Houston, said students were inspired by Smith’s message of financial management.

“It is motivating to hear about and see African Americans of the past and present who have established and maintained wealth in the community,” said Miller.

For more information on the TSU Women’s Center, visit https://www.tnstate.edu/womenscenter/

Featured photo by Aaron Grayson
Kyle Smith, a Nashville businessman, who owns two establishments in the area, gives the keynote speech at the financial literacy workshop, organized by students at TSU.

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 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.

Alumni, EVENTS, FACULTY, FEATURED, NEWS, RESEARCH, SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES

Delta Sigma Theta, Inc. National President to Speak at Women of Legend And Merit Event To Raise Scholarship and Program Dollars for Students

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Beverly Smith, national president and chief executive officer of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated, will serve as the keynote speaker for this year’s Women of Legend and Merit Award Dinner at Tennessee State University on April 10 in Kean Hall.

Smith, who also serves as the assistant commissioner and Georgia State director for Adult Education and GED Testing through the Technical College System of Georgia, said she is excited about addressing the young ladies at TSU because of the many issues facing women today.

Beverly E. Smith

“We are at a time today when the power of women really matters,” she said. “The power of our voice is clearly something of significance these days whether or not we are comfortable enough with ourselves to use or understand it.”

TSU President Glenda Glover echoed the same sentiments.

“We are extremely pleased to welcome Beverly Smith to our campus for our Women of Legend and Merit Awards Dinner, and look forward to hearing her inspiring and powerful words,” she said. “Women of Legend and Merit is in its 11th year and couldn’t have come at a more pivotal time in our nation’s history. Women should feel empowered and celebrated. Our dinner allows us to do this and raise scholarship and program dollars for students, all while partnering with the community.”

Seanne Wilson, chairperson of the event, which raises money for student scholarships, said Smith’s visit will give the young ladies at TSU an opportunity to witness a “woman of excellence” who is the head of a large body of women of excellence.

“This is an opportunity for them to meet women from varying organizations and diverse positions in life, and to hear their stories and their struggles and how they made it,” said Wilson, who serves as coordinator of the TSU Women’s Center.

According to Wilson, the Women’s Center is a “safe zone” for women at TSU who experience issues such as fear, anxiety and depression, as well as domestic violence, homelessness and the lack of food.

Wilson said the purpose of this event is to empower and uplift the female students at TSU.

Smith said the influence of her father, a civil rights activist, as well as powerful women in her family and early mentors such as legends Dorothy Heights and Althea Gibson helped propel her to success.

“You can’t be what you can’t see, and I think that certainly holds true especially for us in our communities. A lot of times it is very difficult to be what you can’t see,” she said. “If we celebrate who we are and who we have been, it gives us an opportunity for greater heights.”

This year’s honorees are Vivian Wilhoite, Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County property accessor; Dr. Tameka Winston, TSU interim chair of Department of Communications; Many Bears Grinder, commission of the Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs; and Tina Tuggle, Tennessee Titans director of community relations.

Awards will also be presented to retired educator Gwendolyn Vincent, and TSU freshman Natalie Cooper.

To purchase tickets for the April 10 awards dinner or learn more about the Women’s Center, visit http://www.tnstate.edu/legendandmerit/.

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.

Alumni, EVENTS, FACULTY, FEATURED, NEWS, RESEARCH, SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES

TSU students graduating with jobs say university has prepared them to succeed

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – When Maya Davis and Cametria Weatherspoon receive their degrees and head to Lockheed Martin to begin their careers, they will be aiming for success because of preparation received at Tennessee State University.

Career Development Center
TSU’s Career Development Center gives students tools they need for success. (photo by Emmanuel Freeman, TSU Media Relations)

Davis and Weatherspoon will be among more than 800 graduates from various disciplines on May 6 at the undergraduate commencement in the William Jasper Hale Stadium on TSU’s main campus.

The duo continues the university’s legacy of students who have received job offers and are ready to move right into the workforce.

Weatherspoon, 24, who majored in electrical engineering, will take an electrical engineering associate position. She will work in programming at Lockheed Martin’s Space Systems Company in Littleton, Colorado.

Lockheed Martin recently received a $100 million contract from the U.S. Air Force to support efforts related to the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, or JASSM.

“Having a job after I graduate is a blessing,” said Weatherspoon, a Memphis, Tennessee native. “I’m very excited.”

Davis, a 23-year-old computer science major from Nashville, will head to Lockheed Martin’s Orlando, Florida, location where she will work on a logistics system for one of the company’s fighter jets.

Davis said she is nervous about relocating, but shares Weatherspoon’s sentiment about already having a job: “It’s exciting.”

Both students, and others, credit faculty at TSU and programs like the university’s Career Development Center with motivating them and providing the tools they needed to not only get their jobs, but be successful.

“The professors at TSU were reliable and very helpful,” said 22-year–old Mathew Smith of Nashville. The agricultural education major is currently a high school student teacher, and plans to teach full time after he graduates in May.

“It’s been quite rewarding,” Smith said of student teaching. “And honestly, the most influential and experience learning I’ve had throughout TSU.”

Meghan Lambert, a nursing major from Bolivar, Tennessee, has a job lined up with Methodist University Hospital, which has also agreed to pay for her post-graduate degree.

WOLM
The TSU Women’s Center’s Link to Success program connects students with professionals in the workforce. (photo by Lucas Johnson, TSU Media Relations)

She said Linked to Excellence, a program in TSU’s Women’s Center that connects students with professionals in their field, was very helpful.

“It put me in contact with employers,” Lambert said. “I feel like my hard work at Tennessee State University really paid off.”

Jamal Coleman is coordinator of marketing, technology and communications at the Career Development Center, which helps students with their resumes, and provides tips on interviewing techniques, among other things.

“Our main goal is to help them get a foot in the door,” Coleman said. “It’s a great satisfaction when I hear about students getting these opportunities.”

Along with Lockheed Martin and Methodist, other companies where TSU students are going, and are currently working include Bank of America, Boeing, BMW, Raytheon and Rolls-Royce.

Dr. Bethany King Wilkes is director of student services in TSU’s College of Engineering. She said each semester students in the department “consistently receive lucrative job offers from top companies across the nation.”

“I frequently get calls from companies wanting to recruit our students because they know we have a pool of highly skilled individuals qualified for technical jobs that are hard to fill,” Wilkes sad.

TSU’s undergraduate commencement will begin at 8 a.m. Nationally-syndicated radio personality Tom Joyner will be the keynote speaker.

Graduate commencement service will be on May 5 at 5 p.m. in the Howard C. Gentry Complex. Congressman Jim Cooper will deliver the address.

Department of Media Relations

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 38 undergraduate, 25 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.