Last week, Sidelines discovered that the June Anderson Center for Women and Nontraditional Students was quietly shut down and that diversity scholarship information was redacted from the 2025 to 2026 online scholarship guide.
The president’s office has not provided a statement on the future of the money historically used for diversity-based scholarships. Sidelines also asked if the president’s office had a statement about the JAC on July 15, but has not received one yet.
“Dr. McPhee is out of the country at the moment, thus a significant time difference and communication delays with the back and forth that happens with fulfilling such requests,” MTSU’s media relations team said in an email to Sidelines.
University Provost Mark Byrnes is also out of the country.
After sharing the news about the JAC on social media, students shared their experiences with MTSU’s state-mandated removal of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs. These are some of their stories.
Eily Jacobs, an upcoming senior at MTSU, was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis when she was 14, which leaves her with chronic pain in her left knee and right hip.
“It’s difficult, especially when I have to sit or stand for long periods of time in class or at work,” Jacobs said.
She lost her MT Diversity Scholarship, worth $1000, which she used to pay for food and gas for her hour-long commute to school. Now, she will have to rely on her savings.
She saw the schoolwide email about Tennessee Public Chapter 458, which ended the scholarship, but didn’t understand it at first. Jacobs only found out her’s was gone when she heard from a classmate who lost theirs.
“It is what it is,” Jacobs said.
Another student, Blaire Myers-Wilson, a junior studying animation, also lost their diversity-based scholarship and felt like MTSU abandoned them.
Myers-Wilson worked a full-time job in high school and moved out at 17. Despite the circumstances, they remained on the honor roll all through high school and college.
“Honestly, I feel a bit enraged,” Myers-Wilson said. “I think what people misunderstand about diversity-based scholarships is that they aren’t just free handouts.”
They ultimately felt like the university let them down; all of the effort they put in no longer applied because they were considered diverse.
“I feel very cheated for all of that to just vanish,” Myers-Wilson said.
Like the rest of the students interviewed, Myers-Wilson did not receive any individual notice that their scholarship was gone; instead, they found out through a mass email sent to the entire student body.
“I don’t know if MTSU is planning anything, but I’m a couple of weeks away from having to pay my tuition,” Myers-Wilson said. “I don’t feel there’s a lot of communication or a lot of pushback to show that they really care.”
They will still be able to attend MTSU in the fall, but said that things will be more complicated because of the tuition increase and the loss of their scholarship.
Another scholarship recipient, Autumn Gray, lost her scholarship due to the Dismantling DEI Departments Act.
“I logged into Pipeline, saw it was gone, and I immediately started to freak out a bit,” Gray said.
She was thankful she had another scholarship and is living off campus next semester. She said she would have had to pay $2,000 in housing fees if she had been on campus. Gray gets upset when others say that those who had diversity-based scholarships are lazy or do not put in the work.
“Everyone I know works at least two jobs while being full-time students and still doesn’t have the money to pay one or two thousand dollars out of pocket on top of their bills,” Gray said. “Not everyone has the same financial support.”
She also talked about how she would miss the JAC, which helped her on multiple occasions. Gray would regularly hang out or study in the Intercultural Diversity Affairs office in the Student Union, which housed the JAC.
Myers-Wilson also had a brief but memorable interaction with the JAC.
“At one point during my college experience, I was homeless for a few weeks when I was between housing,” Myers-Wilson said.
They went to the JAC for advice and learned about some places that could house them, and about resources like the student food pantry and other helpful resources.
“The fact that I had that opportunity is just amazing to me,” Myer-Wilson said.
To contact the News editor, email [email protected].
For more news, visit www.mtsusidelines.com, and follow us on Facebook at MTSU Sidelines and on X and Instagram at @mtsusidelines. Also, sign up for our weekly newsletter here.
Your donation will support the student journalists of Middle Tennessee State University. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.
The Student News Site of Middle Tennessee State University
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
