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Not Horsing Around

The MTSU equestrian team won the 2025 National Intercollegiate Ranch and Stock Horse Association Division 2 National Champion title. Students competed in the versatility ranch horse events, showcasing their talents in ranch reining, cow work, ranch trail, and ranch riding. Team members were Marci Leath, Kenlee West, Alyssa Davis, Keira Wagner, and Simone Allen. MTSU also earned national runner-up honors in the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association’s Western Competition. mtsunews.com/mtsu-stock-horseteam-wins-national-title

Up for Debate

The MTSU debate team participated in two friendly debates against the Irish Times National Debate Champions from Ireland in March, continuing a decades-long relationship. The topic was “This House Believes NATO is Obsolete.” The Irish team typically visits five to seven universities around the U.S., with MTSU being the first stop. Pat Richey, director of forensics, has coached the Blue Raider debate team to 11 individual and team national championships.

mtsunews.com/irish-times-nationaldebate-champions-return-to-mtsu

A Read on Literacy

MTSU’s College of Education recently hosted nearly 200 educators from across the world at its 12th annual Literacy Research Conference, where students, scholars, and educational leaders present research and practices related to literacy to address the stagnant or declining national literacy scores across the country. Approximately 43 million U.S. adults are functionally illiterate, representing 21% of the population. In addition to a keynote speaker, there were 51 presentations from 58 educators and students.

mtsunews.com/college-of-educationliteracy-conference-2025

One of a Kind

MTSU’s College of Media and Entertainment marked a historic milestone in May with its inaugural graduate from the Motion Design concentration—the first of its kind in the state. Sarah Varni was the program’s first student when the concentration was added in Fall 2022 to the Video and Film Production degree. In the expanding field, professionals create moving visual imagery for TV, film, video games, social media, websites, and more.

mtsunews.com/mtsu-celebrates-firstmotion-design-graduate

Elite Engineering

Vishwas Bedekar, an MTSU associate professor, was awarded the same national honor for the second time in three years. Bedekar, coordinator of the Mechanical Engineering Technology concentration in the Engineering Technology program, was named one of eight Society of Manufacturing Engineers Distinguished Faculty Advisor Award winners for 2024. Bedekar’s research focuses on energy-harvesting materials and manufacturing processes. An author of more than 30 publications, he also holds a U.S. patent.

mtsunews.com/mtsu-bedekar-receivesnational-honor

Those Who Can, Teach

Bob Gordon, associate professor and interim chair of the Department of Media Arts, recently received MTSU’s second Conference USA Faculty Achievement Award. Gordon, who has taught at MTSU since 2007, has made it his mission to ensure students get hands-on experiences and skills to give them a competitive advantage in the job market by managing, producing, and directing events for ESPN+, awards shows, and the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival.

mtsunews.com/bob-gordon-receivescusa-faculty-achievement-award