{"id":932,"date":"2016-04-19T15:33:04","date_gmt":"2016-04-19T15:33:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/?p=932"},"modified":"2018-02-07T22:06:23","modified_gmt":"2018-02-07T22:06:23","slug":"from-surviving-to-thriving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/from-surviving-to-thriving\/","title":{"rendered":"From surviving to thriving"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Lori Shull<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Visions_MarcBurnett_7DEC15_00081\"
Marc Burnett ‘, ’86, ’93 stands across from the Roaden University Center. Burnett is one of the longest-serving university administrators in the state.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

Tech administrator emphasizes the importance of leaving a legacy<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

For many students, Marc Burnett is more than a university administrator. He is a mentor. When he first came to Tech from Alcoa, Tennessee, he started on a journey that has \u201cgiven him the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, he wants to make sure future students have the same opportunity.<\/p>\n

Burnett has been a fixture at Tech for more than 30 years. As a student, he played for the first basketball team to call the Hooper Eblen Center home. As a staff member, admissions materials first included pictures of minorities at his suggestion. He is among the longest-serving university administrators in the state and, he says, his time on campus has been \u201ca fairy tale.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the vice president of Student Affairs begins to think of retirement, Burnett\u2019s attention has increasingly shifted from his career to mentoring others.<\/p>\n

\"Rob
Rob Owens works with current Tech students, mentoring them as Marc Burnett mentored him.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had two of the best administrators in the history of this institution as mentors, Mr. Marc Burnett and Dr. Leo McGee,\u201d said Robert Owens, \u201998 industrial engineering, \u201900 MBA, \u201903 Ed.S. instructional leadership and \u201909 Ph.D. exceptional learning. \u201cThey happen to have dark skin so it\u2019s been unique for me, because in a small Southern town race is part of the African-American reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Owens, assistant vice president of Multicultural Affairs, has studied and worked at Tech for 22 years and refers to his office as his second home. He has been part of an effort to help minority students find their place on a campus in a rural, predominantly white region.<\/p>\n

Since 1964, the population of African-Americans at Tech has slowly grown. That year, six black students, including four athletes, came to Cookeville. In 2014, more than 400 students identified as black, another 250 as Hispanic and about 150 as Asian.<\/p>\n

Though Tech\u2019s student body is becoming more diverse, Owens and Burnett are working with staff and alumni to make campus more welcoming.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spent many days when I was the only African-American students in a class. Imagine going half a day and not seeing anybody that looks like you,\u201d said Burnett, \u201982 English\/journalism, \u201986 M.A. educational psychology, \u201993 Ed.S. administration and supervision.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople can\u2019t put it in perspective, but imagine doing that.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt our Centennial, we\u2019re saying, \u2018What should Tennessee Tech be in the next 100 years?\u2019 Be even more inviting, even more culturally diverse.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pair is reaching out to Tech graduates, especially minorities, to raise money for scholarships and programs. Burnett, said every gift helps.<\/p>\n

The goal is to raise $2 million for this. According to Burnett, the effort has brought in more than $500,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just try to make a change so you can honestly say you tried to make something better. If you don\u2019t try, how will you know?\u201d said Nathan Littlejohn, \u201870 political science. \u201cI grew up during a climate of hate. Do you conform to what the others are doing? You have to have some sort of moral compass.\u201d<\/p>\n

Littlejohn grew up in the segregated South. He remembers being forced to sit in the back of the school bus and listen to racist comments during his paper route. He came to Tech, he said, to find out if all white people had the same negative attitude toward blacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had good and bad experiences; some professors I will always cherish,\u201d he said. \u201cIn \u201968, Dr. King was assassinated. I walked around Tech in a daze. Somebody hung a figure in a tree to symbolize Dr. King.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018There has to be a better way to meet and discuss issues rather than resorting to violence.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Littlejohn was instrumental in starting Tech\u2019s Black Student Organization, which promoted discussions about race. Now inactive, it has been replaced by the Leona Lusk Officer Black Cultural Center.<\/p>\n

Owens came to Tech to focus on his studies and avoid the temptation of too much partying. Despite the racial tension he and his African-American friends experienced, Owens said he stayed for the friendships and his affinity to the university. While here he learned to work with different types of people, which he says he may not have learned elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis scholarship can broaden the range of students of color. The goal is to reach critical mass so some of these issues dissipate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some seem to be dissipating already; the hope is the scholarship will continue to improve relationships and understanding.<\/p>\n

\"Martia
Martia Patty’s desire to be involved in the effort to build an endowment came from her passion for and belief in Tech’s community.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI think the younger the alumni, the better the stories. Times have changed,\u201d said Martia Patty, \u201906 biology, \u201907 M.A. and \u201910 Ed.S. instructional leadership. \u201cBeing Homecoming queen was my best moment at Tech. I was the only minority on the court. I don\u2019t know how many black Homecoming queens Tech has had, but that was a defining moment, that so many people believed in me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patty funded two degrees with help from an existing diversity scholarship. She would not have come to Tech without the aid. When she heard about Burnett\u2019s and Owens\u2019 effort to build an endowment for full-ride scholarships and other initiatives, she quickly got involved.<\/p>\n

Her motivation stems from her passion for and belief in Tech\u2019s community. That perspective is a notable shift; older alumni speak of \u201csurviving\u201d Tech.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people who were here in the 60s and early 70s were barrier-breaking. Of course they saw Tech differently and came away with different feelings,\u201d Burnett said. \u201cFor me, a couple of Tech professors taught me about working through stuff like that. One of my English professors gave me confidence to know that I could do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to how to deal with different groups of people \u2013 a lesson all students learn \u2013 Burnett and Owens hope to emphasize the importance of leaving a legacy. Their dream is that students who have benefitted from the scholarship will contribute to help future generations.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an educational institution, inclusiveness should be part of our fabric. It hasn\u2019t always been that way,\u201d Burnett said. \u201cThis scholarship is a way to leave something more than memories, to say \u2018I can help the next ones even if I\u2019m not there.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is incumbent on us to make this place more inviting for whoever wants to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

To learn more about these scholarships and programs, contact the Tech Director of Planned Giving at (931) 267-1076.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Lori Shull Tech administrator emphasizes the importance of leaving a legacy For many students, Marc Burnett is more than a university administrator. He is a mentor. When he first came to Tech from Alcoa, Tennessee, he started on a journey that has \u201cgiven him the world.\u201d Now, he wants to make sure future students […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":998,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-932","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spring16"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=932"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/932\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1150,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/932\/revisions\/1150"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}