Governor Bill Haslam signed into law a new initiative to help solve key issues regarding Tennessee’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The signing ceremony took place on Wednesday, June 21, 2017 at 1:00pm at the War Memorial Auditorium.

The bill specifies that the initiative will be a unit of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission and administered by its Executive Director.

The initiative was created by Representative Harold Love Jr (D-Nashville) in a bill he sponsored in the 2017 Legislative Session and will assign personnel from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission to assist HBCU’s to increase enrollment, retention, and graduation rates by working with school presidents and administrators.

Rep. Love said, “For the first time in the history of our state there will be personnel in THEC assigned to assist all HBCU’s, both public and private, increase enrollment, retention and graduation rates through initiatives developed in collaboration with the HBCU Presidents and Legislators.”

Other members who attend the ceremony were:
• Frank L. Sims, Interim President of Fisk University
• Lawrence Hall and Shannon Romain of Meharry Medical College. Hall is the Vice-President of External Affairs and Romain is the Government Relations Director at Meharry.
• Richard Donnell, Senior Advisor to the President, Lane College.
• Richard Jackson, Vice-President of Administration at American Baptist College
• Dr. Michael Bowie and Dr. Keith Lindsay of Knoxville College. Bowie is on the Knoxville College Board of Trustees.