Two Former Senators, One Stage: Alexander and Frist Bring a Conversation on Public Service to MTSU
For two men who spent most of their working lives in politics, Lamar Alexander and Bill Frist have a habit of showing up in the same room when Tennessee's story needs telling. On Monday, Oct. 19, that room will be Tucker Theatre on the Middle Tennessee State University campus, where the two former U.S. senators will sit down for a public conversation titled “Leadership and Public Service: Past, Present, and Future.” The event starts at 3 p.m., is free and open to the community, and ends with a reception.
Two careers, one state
Alexander represented Tennessee in the Senate from 2003 to 2021. Before that he served two terms as governor, led the U.S. Department of Education as secretary and was president of the University of Tennessee. He recently received the 2026 Robert Sparks Walker Lifetime Achievement Award for Environmental Stewardship, and the conversation will draw on his new memoir, The Education of a Senator.
Frist served in the Senate from 1995 to 2007 and was majority leader for the last four of those years. Before running for office he was a transplant surgeon, and since leaving Washington his work has centered on health care, conservation and public service. He also has a quiet connection to the host campus: MTSU's Albert Gore Research Center has spent the past four years processing his archival materials.
Why a campus audience
The talk is tied to the College of Liberal Arts, the Gore Research Center and the college's True Blue Character Blueprint, an effort to show students what character looks like in practice. It also lands on Yorktown Day, and fits into the university's America 250 programming through the American Democracy Project and the Honors College.
The people organizing it are open about what they hope the afternoon does. Louis Kyriakoudes, the Gore Center's director and a history professor, sees it as a chance to bring the university and the public together with two figures who devoted their careers to public service, and a sign of the campus's standing. Kent Syler, a political science professor who coordinates special projects for the center, hopes attendees come away understanding why public service matters and why it should be done the right way. He also pointed to the pair's record of working across party lines on issues that affected Tennessee. College of Liberal Arts Dean Leah Tolbert Lyons said the character initiative is meant to make leadership and civic responsibility part of everyday campus conversation.
If you go
Tucker Theatre is at 615 Champion Way in Murfreesboro. Event parking is free in the Smith Baseball Field lot. No tickets or registration were mentioned in the university's announcement, but anyone planning to bring a group may want to confirm with the college ahead of time. The talk follows another headline-making MTSU moment this week, a $250,000 pledge to the university's student coaching center, and it is a reminder that some of the semester's biggest draws are the ones open to everyone.
Image: illustrative, AI-generated – not the actual location.
