[163] MTSU class helps women ‘stay alert, stay alive’ for credit, experience Nov. 6

MURFREESBORO — A meeting, event, exhibition, and convention management class in the MTSU Jones College of Business could have lasting benefits for anyone concerned about safety and self-defense.

Students in professor Virginia Hemby’s “Professional Meeting, Event, Exhibition and Convention Management” course will present “Stay Alert, Stay Alive” at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 6, in the State Farm Lecture Hall of the MTSU Business and Aerospace Building. A printable campus parking map is available at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParkingMap.

The purpose of the event is to make women on the MTSU campus more aware of their surroundings and various ways to protect themselves. Retired Murfreesboro police detective Amy Dean will lecture, and retired U.S. Navy Seal Chris Lunsford will demonstrate self-defense techniques.

Hemby, a professor in the Department of Marketing, says 55 percent of the students’ grades for this class will be based on planning the event — booking the venue, soliciting sponsors and providing refreshments, among other logistical details.

“They have to do evaluations of the people who attend to see if they got anything out of it,” said Hemby. “I have to see a written project report on every phase, every step that they took in this process.”

Robert Grubb, a junior business education major from Murfreesboro, said the course will prepare students for careers in a profession that needs more practitioners in the Middle Tennessee area.

“There’s a tremendous need for these folks, particularly in Nashville and surrounding communities,” said Grubb. “They have to go out of state in order to find qualified meeting planners, and that’s ridiculous.”

The class is an experiential learning course that also falls under MT Engage, the university program that emphasizes integrated thinking to enhance students’ educational experiences with an eye to improving retention and graduation.

“Stay Alert, Stay Alive” is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Hemby at 615-898-2369 or Jaye Kiblinger, executive aide in the Department of Marketing, at 615-898-2902.