Academic Affairs Ad?

PRESIDENT:

Glenda Glover

March 23, 2023

Dear Students and Faculty:

Congratulations to each of you for your outstanding achievements in academic excellence. We salute you even in the absence of our usual Honors Convocation this year. We recognize your hard work, dedication and determination in continuing the legacy of excellence of Tennessee State University. This year has been different for all of us but especially for you our special honorees. Although we regret not recognizing you in person, true honor has no physical boundaries.

We are very proud of 1,973 Dean’s List students and 194 President’s List students who are being recognized for their outstanding academic achievements. You represent one of our largest Honors classes ever and so we also salute our outstanding professors.

As President of Tennessee State University and as a former TSU Honors student, I commend you for maintaining a high Grade Point Average and for serving as role models for your peers. Your leadership is distinctive and your commitment is unparalleled. I wish you continued learning as you succeed in your career and may your path be blessed and prosperous.

Sincerely,

Glenda Glover President

SPEAKER: Dr. Eddie R. Cole

Eddie R. Cole, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Higher Education and History at UCLA, and the author of multi-award-winning book, The Campus Color Line: College Presidents and the Struggle for Black Freedom (Princeton University Press, 2020).

Dr. Cole’s research focuses on college presidents’ historic role in shaping racial policies and practices both inside and outside of the educational sphere. As a scholar of higher education history, his approach in covering historical material and making connections to the current, critical context has garnered respect and praise from academics as well as intellectuals and activists beyond the academy. His finesse in using extensive, historical materials to address contemporary racial issues in higher education demonstrates the role of higher education in influencing all aspects of American life. Dr. Cole’s scholarship and public writing has also been featured in The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Chronicle of Higher Education. He has also appeared on BBC World News, MSNBC, and C-Span BookTV.

Decorated and distinguished describes Dr. Cole’s contributions throughout his fresh yet fruitful career.

He has been repeatedly recognized in Education Week as one of the 200 most influential scholars in the field of education who has done the most to shape educational practice and policy. Dr. Cole received the 2018 Early Career Award from the Association for the Study of Higher Education. He was also named a 2017 Mellon Emerging Faculty Leader Award from the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, which recognized him as a professor poised “to play a significant role in shaping American higher education.” Also notable is his selection as a 2015 National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, one of the most prestigious awards for scholars working in critical areas of education research.

Dr. Cole has also received research fellowships and grants from Princeton University and the University of Chicago and has been a Dean’s Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He is also a senior fellow for the UCLA Luskin Center for History and Policy.