(August 16, 2023)
The mission of the East Tennessee State University Honors College is to offer educational opportunities that will help students create remarkable stories. Many learn about these stories when students visit major cities or study abroad.
But Dr. Carson Medley, assistant dean of the Honors College and director of Prestigious Awards, wondered: “What if instead of flying more than 4,000 miles and taking our students
to London we took them through a few traffic lights down the road? Or down Tennessee’s
I-40 from the heart of the Appalachian Highlands into the soul of Music City?”
This fall, ETSU and Tennessee State University will work together in an incredible
partnership.
The Why Not Win Institute will help facilitate the initiative that will give Nashville-based
students the opportunity to immerse themselves in the Appalachian Highlands and, conversely,
allow ETSU students to experience a larger city.
“We hope to bridge the gap between different student experiences and promote synergy
among diverse communities,” said Medley.
For five days in October, TSU will host a combination of nine ETSU Honors students
and three Roan Scholars – including SGA president Trent White – during TSU’s Homecoming
week.
ETSU students will attend classes with TSU Honors students, fostering a unique opportunity
to experience the academic environment and cultural nuances of another institution.
The experience will be capped off by riding on a float through the streets of Nashville
in one of the city’s longest parades in route to the Homecoming football game.
Students from both universities will also get to meet with Larry Thornton, who wrote the book “Why Not Win?” and
served as a commencement speaker at ETSU’s fall commencement ceremonies.
Next spring, ETSU will host the TSU students for a week.
The I-40 Project (named after the interstate highway that connects the Appalachian
Highlands and Nashville) aims “to dismantle perceived differences and foster a deeper
understanding of similarities and serve as a guiding example for other schools facing
similar circumstances,” according to Medley, who said he hopes this project is just
the first stop down I-40.
“We have more than 2,500 miles to cover - lots of school and exchange opportunities
between Johnson City and Barstow, California,” he said.
The I-40 project is not only an academic endeavor but also a transformative cultural immersion, he said.
ETSU is home to a vibrant community, and aims to be an inclusive and diverse place,
even hosting conferences with well-known researchers and presenters from across the country.
“The exchange will be about capturing the different experiences of college students
from seemingly different worlds and campuses,” Medley said. “This represents the ideal
laboratory for us to understand the similarity of our experiences. Tennessee State
University students will come from a diverse set of backgrounds and most likely have
never been exposed to the geography and history of the rural Appalachian space. The
same holds true for the ETSU students entering the geography and history of the big-city
space.”