1 transfer partner," said Oppmann, who handed out MTSU swag to students. “You will enter MTSU poised to do great things, and a great education already behind you with our partner, Motlow State Community College, our No. Representing MTSU, Andrew Oppmann, vice president of Marketing and Communications, congratulated the students. (As more confirmations arrive, an updated list will be maintained here.“They have set goals for themselves and, if we’re supporting them to achieve those goals, I’m excited for that," said Hope Bakari, the assistant principal at La Vergne High and director of the Early College. Renaming Forrest Hall is imperative if we are truly to be a campus where each and every student can flourish and where the accomplishments of our students, community members, staff, and faculty can be celebrated and honored. In remembering and grieving our past wrongs we find ways to move forward. We also ask that we not forget this history as if it never happened. As they have done, we call for all ties to Forrest to be severed. Today, we raise our voices in accord with MTSU’s current students and those who have come before us.
These efforts have prompted MTSU presidents and boards to take action, and this continues through to the present moment. MTSU has also worked to dissociate itself from Forrest through years of protest, led by many courageous MTSU students. MTSU has associated itself with Forrest for decades. Living in a community, we share the joy and the pain of our collective history. soldiers and leader of the massacre of Black U.S. We live in the hope that today will be the day MTSU ceases to honor Nathan Bedford Forrest-a slave trader, KKK leader, killer of U.S. Recognizing that MTSU students have led the way on issues of equity on campus, starting with Sylvester Brooks in 1968, we-the undersigned group of MTSU faculty, staff, students, alumni, and administrators and Middle Tennessee community members-write in support of the current student-led effort. Strayer said in an email, “At the end of February 2021, Sidelines published an open letter asking for feedback on the Forrest Hall issue. Organized by MTSU Professor Jeremy Strayer, a letter of support was signed by over 600 people. However, the support from the rest of MTSU and Murfreesboro was astounding. Lee, and the Tennessee Historical Commission relayed there was nothing more they could do. The letter included a request to change the name of Forrest Hall. In 2021, Sidelines wrote an open letter to the Tennessee Historical Commission and Governor Bill Lee. In 2016, public outcry persuaded the administration of MTSU to “seek approval for a name change from Tennessee government entities.” MTSU’s request to change the building’s name was denied. Their actions did not result in any change of the building’s name.
In honor of Forrest, the building harbors large letters on the front wall, spelling out Forrest Hall. In 2006, MTSU students protested the name of the ROTC building on campus.
In 1990, MTSU’s student chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, NAACP, succeeded in requesting the administration remove the bronze plaque of Nathan Bedford Forrest from the outside wall of Keathley University Center. In 1968, Sidelines published a guest column from Sylvester Brooks, a Black student from Memphis, Tennessee, titled ”Dixie: What Does It Mean?” In this column, Brooks discussed the usage of Confederate flags, the Dixie fight song and the homage MTSU paid toward Confederate General and Ku Klux Klan leader Nathan Bedford Forrest. For decades, Sidelines, students and the faculty of Middle Tennessee State University have fought for equality and equity for African American students.
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