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Hello and thank you for joining me for this segment of "From My Notepads."
It is hard to believe that we are almost at the halfway-point of the
spring semester. Spring break is knocking at the door step,
but as we move through the spring semester we have spent considerable time and
effort
across campus studying, revisiting,
and implementing several of the findings in the report of the Committee
for 125. This report at its core
challenges the institution to ask "what if" questions and
to dream big dreams about the future ETSU
at our 125th anniversary. It is a report
that includes suggestions and recommendations related to budgets,
academic programming, student affairs and services,
housing and residence life; in many respects it touches
every aspect of the institution. But that central question of "what if"
is a question that traces its roots back
throughout significant milestone events in the history of ETSU.
In fact, more than 40 years ago, leaders at the institution asked the
question: "What if we created
the College of Medicine here in Johnson City on the campus
of East Tennessee State University?" This year we celebrate the 40th anniversary
of the Quillen College of Medicine. Though the medical school was established in 1974,
efforts to bring a medical school to ETSU began in the early 1960s.
Those familiar with the story know that these efforts were met with great
controversy;
in fact, the battle to establish an ETSU medical school
has been described as one of the most dramatic chapters in the history of
Tennessee politics.
Provisions for our medical school were made possible through the Teague-Cranston Act,
which was signed by President Nixon in 1972
and called for the establishment of medical institutions in conjunction with
already-existing VA hospitals.
With the Mountain Home VA Medical Center just across the street from our campus,
we emerged as an ideal location. Enthusiasm
for a medical school at ETSU was at an all-time high. Many great men and women
stepped forward to join President D.P. Culp and Dr.
Charles Allen to lead the fight for this proposed medical school at
ETSU. These pioneers included elected officials,
physicians, and community leaders, and, without them, the Quillen College would not be
here today.
In March of 1974, the Tennessee General Assembly approved the establishment of
the ETSU College of Medicine, but the celebration was cut short
when then Tennessee Governor Winfield Dunn vetoed the bill.
A massive effort was mobilized, led by then Speaker the House Ned McWherter,
and on March 12th, the legislature overrode the governor's veto.
Victory for the region had been achieved.
The medical school was named in honor of Congressman James H. Quillen,
a longtime leader from Northeast Tennessee who provided
pivotal leadership during the push for the institution of the Quillen College of Medicine.
The Quillen College of Medicine inaugural class of 24 medical students arrived on our
campus on August 21st, 1978
and graduated four years later in 1982. Since then,
we have awarded more than 1,700 degrees. A landmark event
in the school's history occurred in 1991 when ETSU's Division of
Health Sciences became the recipient of a $6.1 million dollar grant from the W.K.
Kellogg Foundation.
From this grant emerged our nationally recognized Community Partnerships for
Health Professions Education Program.
That initiative, along with numerous other programs,
has elevated the Quillen College of Medicine to be one of the nation's
premier institutions for rural medicine and primary care education.
Through the work of faculty, staff, and students, the Quillen College of Medicine has transformed
healthcare
across the region by increasing the availability of primary care
in subspecialty physicians. We have also made dramatic advances in research
and scientific discovery. As we reach this 40th anniversary milestone,
we honor and remember the individuals who fought tirelessly to bring
medical school to our region. We thank individuals such as Dr. Paul Stanton,
Dr. Ron Franks, and Dr. Ken Olive, and Dr. Phil Bagnell,
along with our faculty, many of whom have been part of the ETSU family since
the inception of Quillen,
for your outstanding leadership and dedicated commitment to
East Tennessee State University. I'd also like to thank Doug Taylor
who has led the Admissions Committee and has admitted every class of
students to the Quillen College of Medicine since our inception.
That is a true testament to his commitment to ETSU
and he is an integral part of the ETSU family.
We celebrate the accomplishments of our alumni, we celebrate the accomplishments
of our faculty
and all that they do to serve this region and the world,
and we look forward to what the future holds for the Quillen College of Medicine
during the next 40 years. We turn a new page in the history of the Quillen College of
Medicine
as we welcome our incoming dean Dr. Robert Means to ETSU.
I look forward to working with Dr. Means and his faculty and staff in the
months and years to come
as we continue to expand the mission the Quillen College of Medicine,
a college that is rooted in rural care, a college that is rooted
in expanding health care opportunities for citizens across the region.
As someone who has personally witnessed a change in his life
because the quality of care afforded by our physicians and residents,
I say thank you. I say thank you to the faculty and staff of the Quillen College of
Medicine.
And to everyone across campus, Godspeed, I'm looking forward to spring,
and go Bucs!