King University 2019 Spring Commencement Exercises

Dr. Craig McDonald to Serve as King’s Spring Commencement Speaker
BRISTOL, Tennessee — Dr. Craig McDonald, a retired faculty member who enlightened King
University students for more than three decades with his vast knowledge of English grammar and British Literature, will serve as guest speaker for the university’s Spring 2019 Commencement exercises on Saturday, April 27.

The 10 a.m. ceremony will be held on the Campus Oval and will honor more than 350 graduates who
have earned undergraduate, graduate and professional studies degrees. Craig Streetman, assistant
professor of Philosophy, will serve as faculty marshal.

McDonald began his teaching career at Glenville State College in West Virginia and came to King in 1982. Although he left for a brief time to serve as head master at Sullins Academy, a nearby private school, he returned within two years to continue teaching at King until his retirement in 2017. During his long tenure at King, he was well loved and highly respected by students for his focus on the fundamentals of good writing and his lessons on Shakespeare

McDonald holds degrees from Davidson College, the college of William and Mary, and the University of York. The title of his address is “The Janitor at the Gate.”

Other highlights of the ceremony include the presentation of the M. Jeffrey Byrd Distinguished Service Award, the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award, and the R.T.L. Liston Award for Academic Excellence.

Those unable to attend the ceremony are invited to view it via live streaming at
http://webcast.king.edu.

Governor Scott Closes All K-12 Public Schools, State Colleges, State Universities and State Offices to Begin Preparations Immediately

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Today, Governor Rick Scott is directing all public K-12 schools, state colleges, state universities and state offices to close Friday, September 8 – Monday, September 11.

Governor Scott said, “Today, I am directing the closure of all public schools, state colleges, state universities and state offices for their normal activities effective Friday through Monday, to ensure we have every space available for sheltering and staging. Floridians are facing a life-threatening storm in Hurricane Irma, and every family must prepare to evacuate. Our state’s public schools serve a vital role in our communities as shelters for displaced residents and staging areas for hurricane recovery efforts. Closing public schools, state colleges, state universities and state offices will provide local and state emergency officials the flexibility necessary to support shelter and emergency response efforts.”

For detailed shelter information, visit www.fldoe.org/irma and www.floridadisaster.org/info.

U of M Education Fair Will Connect Students and Alumni to Career Opportunities

Memphis, Tennessee - The University of Memphis Career Services Office and the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences will offer current students and alumni an opportunity to network with local and regional school districts. The Education Career Fair will be held Tuesday, March 24, from 1 to 4 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom.

Several school districts in the local and surrounding areas will provide students with information on employment opportunities within their districts. U of M students and alumni can network, obtain career information and gain experience talking to the school district representatives. Attendees should bring resumes. Business professional attire is strongly recommended.

The fair is free for U of M students and alumni; it is not open to the general public. For more information, visit the Career Services website at www.memphis.edu/careerservices or call 678-2239.

U of M Will Host Screening of Documentary Girls in the Band March 24

Memphis, Tennessee - The University of Memphis Career Services Office and the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences will offer current students and alumni an opportunity to network with local and regional school districts. The Education Career Fair will be held Tuesday, March 24, from 1 to 4 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom.

Several school districts in the local and surrounding areas will provide students with information on employment opportunities within their districts. U of M students and alumni can network, obtain career information and gain experience talking to the school district representatives. Attendees should bring resumes. Business professional attire is strongly recommended.

The fair is free for U of M students and alumni; it is not open to the general public. For more information, visit the Career Services website at www.memphis.edu/careerservices or call 678-2239.

U of M Design Collaborative Will Hold Kickoff Event March 21 at Central Station

Memphis, Tennessee - The University of Memphis Design Collaborative will hold a kickoff event Saturday, March 21, at Central Station’s Hudson Hall (at South Main and GE Patterson). The event is called “Let’s Stay Together, Memphis: Relationship Therapy for the City and Its Citizens.”

An open house/drop-in session will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Those who attend can join their fellow citizens in writing “love letters” to the city of Memphis. This input will help the Design Collaborative set priorities as it engages in public planning and design. There will be an interactive community meeting and entertainment by Stax Music Academy.

A second session, from 2 to 4 p.m., will focus on “sticky issues” conversations. Interactive “therapy” sessions will address some of the issues that cause the most tension in the city-citizen relationship, including transportation, public investment, neighborhood revitalization and place-making. Entertainment will be by The Passport.

Lunch will be provided by local food trucks between sessions.

The Design Collaborative is a joint venture between the Division of City & Regional Planning and the Department of Architecture. This collaborative will be an outreach arm of the University, focused on critical community challenges in urban design and community development. The program will be built on collaboration, with partnerships between different disciplines at the University, and partnerships between the University and the community (including grassroots organizations, non-profits, practitioners, philanthropists and local government).

The Design Collaborative will start taking on projects next fall through a structure of graduate studio courses.

For more information, visit memphis.edu/planning or email umdc@memphis.edu.

March 26 Lecture Will Discuss Black Women and the Civil Rights Movement

Memphis, Tennessee - Award-wining author and professor Dr. Danielle McGuire will deliver the Belle  McWilliams Lecture in American History at the University of Memphis. She will discuss “To Gain Title to Our Bodies: Black Women and the Long Civil Rights Movement” Thursday, March 26, in the University Center Theatre. A reception will begin at 5:30 p.m., followed by the lecture at 6 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public.

McGuire is an assistant professor of history at Wayne State University and the author of At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape and Resistance - A New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to Black Power. The 2010 book received the Frederick Jackson Turner Book Award and was named a Choice Outstanding Academic Title.

The lecture is jointly sponsored by the Department of History, the Marcus W. Orr Center for the Humanities, the Center for Research on Women, the African and African-American Studies program and the Benjamin L. Hooks Center for Social Change.

Parking is available in the adjacent Zach Curlin garage.

TTU computer science organizes national women in cybersecurity conference

Cookeville, Tennessee - Cybersecurity is one of the fastest growing fields globally. From 2007 to 2013, cybersecurity job postings increased 74 percent.

While half of the United States' workforce are women, women represent less than 15 percent of the cybersecurity workforce.

To help to meet that need, one Tennessee Tech University computer science associate professor is organizing a conference to bring together industry professionals and higher education faculty and students.

“This conference is to help to recruit and retain aspiring women in cybersecurity, and advance their careers in this field,” said Ambareen Siraj, founder and chair of the Women in Cybersecurity conference. “Cybersecurity is a growing field and increasing the participation of women and minority groups is absolutely critical to bridge existing gaps and help the workforce to perform better.”

By 2022, approximately 300,000 software development and programming jobs will be added to the economy, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Women make up about a quarter of the workforce, and adding diversity is a key goal of many academics and other professionals nationally.

Siraj secured funding from the National Science Foundation to pilot the effort and Facebook has since become a strategic partner. Last year, the response from participants was so strong that Siraj kept registration open until the fire codes of the conference space forced her to stop. An event planned for 100 people ballooned to 350.

This year, the conference will be held March 27-28 in Atlanta. Five hundred representatives from more than 200 organizations will attend, including higher education institutions, governmental and non-governmental organizations.

The conference will include different sessions for higher education, industry and research, as well as technical presentations, student research sessions and panels. Students will be able to attend a career and graduate school fair as well.

Keynote speakers include Jennifer Henley, Facebook’s director of security operations; Phyllis Schneck, the Department of Homeland Security’s deputy under-secretary for cybersecurity; Angela McKay, Microsoft’s director of cybersecurity policy and strategy; and Sherri Ramsay, CEO of CyberPoint.

Tennessee Tech celebrates 100th Charter Day

Cookeville, Tennessee - In honor of 100 years of academics, Tennessee Tech University begins its Centennial Celebration Friday, March 27, with a ”Charter Day” ceremony.

Guests are invited to attend the event, which takes place from 10:30 to 11:15 a.m. in Derryberry Hall Auditorium. The ceremony includes a historical re-enactment of events leading up to the signing of the Tennessee Tech charter and proclamations declaring March 27 “Tennessee Tech University Charter Day” in the state, county and city.

“Hitting our century mark is a huge accomplishment, and we’re commemorating the occasion with more than a year’s worth of special events and activities,” said Laura Clemons, coordinator of the university’s Centennial Celebration. “The fact that we’ve reached this moment in our history is due in large part to the people of the Upper Cumberland, who lobbied successfully for the first public college in our region.”

TTU began as Dixie College in the early 1900s. The school’s primary goal was to increase the