UTM Students Attend Governors’ Forum

 
 
Martin, Tenn. — The University of Tennessee at Martin WestStar Leadership Program partnered with the Tennessee Press Association and other individuals and organizations to co-sponsor a gubernatorial candidate forum during the Tennessee Press Association Winter Convention on Feb. 1 at the Nashville Public Library. More than 70 current WestStar class members and alumni traveled by chartered bus to hear candidates answer questions and address issues in the race for Tennessee governor.
The non-partisan forum was open to all candidates and supported WestStar’s strategic vision to promote economic development in West Tennessee and encourage participation in the upcoming election. Participants were Democratic candidates Carl Dean and Craig Fitzhugh and Republican candidates Kay White, Bill Lee and Randy Boyd. Each offered opening statements, answered questions submitted by Tennessee Press Association member newspapers and closed the forum with final statements. Eric Barnes, publisher and CEO of The Daily News Publishing Co. Inc. in Memphis and TPA president, was the forum moderator.
Traveling with the WestStar group and attending the forum were UT Martin communications students Holly Seng of Union City, Emma Bruner from South Fulton, Rikki Erwin of Brighton, and Ashley Shores of Lebanon. Erwin and Shores also participate in the university’s Ned Ray McWherter Institute, a mentoring program that includes engagement and networking opportunities for selected students.
The current WestStar class is the program’s 29^th since WestStar was established in 1989. Thirty class participants were competitively selected by the program’s board of directors to learn new leadership skills and develop strategies to help communities solve problems and maximize potential. Participants are selected from all occupations and levels of community and regional involvement. WestStar has graduated 798 class members since the program began.
 
 
 
 
Photo: Students Rikki Erwin, a senior from Brighton; Ashley Shores, a senior from Lebanon; Emma Bruner, a junior from South Fulton; and Holly Seng, a senior from Union City. Erwin and Shores also participate in the university’s Ned Ray McWherter Institute, a mentoring program that includes engagement and networking opportunities for selected students.