MTSU Names Honorees, Speaker for Feb. 8 Unity Luncheon; Ticket Deadline Jan. 31
Middle Tennessee State University’s Black History Month Committee has selected the honorees for the 27th annual Unity Luncheon set for Feb. 8 on the Blue Raider campus.
Coordinated through and hosted by the Office of Intercultural and Diversity Affairs, the Unity Luncheon is an MTSU tradition that has been around since 1996 where the university honors “unsung heroes” within the community during Black History Month.
Honorees are age 50 or older who have resided in the Middle Tennessee area for 20 years or more and who have made outstanding contributions to their community
This year’s honorees and their honored categories are recently retired MTSU professor Marva Lucas (Education); Joe and Sybil Rich (Community Service); Michael McDonald (Advocate of Civility); Stacy Windrow (Excellence in Sports); and Vanessa Alderson (Contribution to Black Arts).
“We are so excited to honor another stellar group of citizens from our community who have given of themselves to touch the lives of their neighbors throughout the region and state,” said Danielle Rochelle, director of MTSU’s Office of Intercultural and Diversity Affairs.
Honorees will receive their awards at the catered-meal luncheon, which will be held 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8, in the Student Union Ballroom.
Tickets are available online only through Jan. 31 at https://bit.ly/mtunity2023 and will not be available at the door. Prices are $20 for students and $35 for nonstudents. A table of eight seats is available for $280.
Keynote speaker for the event is Memphis attorney and councilman JB Smiley Jr., founding member of Smiley and Associates PLLC.
Smiley is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law. While in law school, he served as a member of the Law Review, Moot Court Board, and as vice president of the Black Law Students Association. Smiley successfully passed the Arkansas and Tennessee Bar exams, while writing his first book, “Born with It: Unleashing Your Greatness.”
He started his law firm in 2017 and was named to Memphis Flyer’s Top 20, Under 30 class the following year when he was also appointed policy adviser to the Shelby County Clerk and served until his election to the Memphis City Council in October 2019. As a council member, Smiley is hair of the Public Works, Transportation, and General Services Committee and the council liaison for the Urban Art Commission.
For more information, call 615-898-5812 or email Danielle.Rochelle@mtsu.edu.
