MTSU has addressed one of the shortfalls a listener brought-up last week in a WGNS' program that focused on a study to change the name the ROTC building. In last week's broadcast with Senator Bill Ketron, a local resident and alumnus, voiced concern that of the 15 persons on the committee, the senator was the only one who had gone through the ROTC program in Forrest Hall. On Monday (11/16/2015), Dr. Sidney McPhee announced that retired U.S. Army Brig. Gen. R. David Ogg Jr. will join the task force.
President McPhee said, "General Ogg's perspective as a graduate of MTSU's ROTC program and a flag officer of our armed forces will be valuable to the deliberations of the task force."
The university announced in June that it would engage the community on the name of the campus building that houses MTSU's ROTC program and is named after Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest.
During the radio broadcast, MTSU Vice President and Spokesperson Andrew Oppmann e-mailed WGNS stating that the university definitely will have opportunities for area residents to give input. He said, "I think the first one will be Dec. 2 and the second will be in January, sometime after the holidays." NewsRadio WGNS will keep you informed.
In a press release from MTSU, they say that the decision to look into possibly changing the name Forrest Hall came following a mass shooting at a historically black South Carolina church that prompted a national discussion about Confederate iconography on public property.
Senator Ketron stressed . . .
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The controversy is centered around what is perceived as attempts to change or cover-up history. Senator Ketron noted that university supporters have already started contacting him saying they would stop financial support to the university and cross the institution off their wills should changes be made for what some perceive as political correctness. He noted that this is not the first time efforts of this type have been made at the university. As Senator Ketron pointed out, issues of this type seem to pop-up each generation.
Ogg becomes the 15th voting member of the task force, which includes faculty, alumni and student representation, as well as community members.
Ogg, a member of the university's Military Science Alumni Chapter Hall of Fame, received his officer's commission through MTSU's Army Reserve Officer Training Corps program after graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1978. He earned a master's degree from MTSU in 1987.
He retired from the Army in 2010 after 32 years of service and lives in Murfreesboro, where he works as a consultant to the defense industry.
Forrest Hall was built in 1954 to house the ROTC program, but wasn't dedicated until 1958, when the name became official. It was chosen because of Forrest's notoriety as a military tactical genius and his ties to Middle Tennessee, including being born in the region.
McPhee said the panel has been asked to recommend by April whether the building should be renamed; retain the name but with added historical perspective; or recommend that no action or change is warranted.
The Tennessee Board of Regents would have to approve any recommended name change and the university is also researching whether other state authorities would have to give approval as well.
