By Tribune Staff
Photos by Aaron Grayson, TSU Media Relations
NASHVILLE, TN — After serving 11 years at the helm of Tennessee State University, a retirement reception honoring the work of Dr. Glenda Baskin Glover was held last month at the home of Rosetta Miller-Perry, founder and publisher of The Tennessee Tribune, bringing together former board members, staff, friends, community influencers, politicians and other well-wishers to congratulate and thank Glover for her tenacity, leadership and love for her alma mater.
“She retired June 30 and will go on to do even greater things as a natural born leader,” Miller-Perry said of TSU’s first permanently appointed female president.
Glover, who graduated from TSU with a degree in mathematics, said, “This time takes me full circle, I graduated in 1974, became president in 2013, and I am now retiring in 2024, which is a 50-year TSU journey.”
“She leaves a legacy of service and commitment,” said long-time friend and schoolmate, Jo Ann Davis-Davis.
The Rev. Dr. Ron Parham provided an inspired invocation calling Glover a “woman of substance,” while State Representative, the Rev. Dr. Harold M. Love, Jr., led a toast acknowledging the presidential leader as one “demonstrating character, strength and boldness.”
Other words of appreciation were shared from former TSU First Lady Edwina Hefner; Dr. Jacqueline W. Mitchell, TSU communications professor; Sharon Roberson, president and CEO of YWCA of Nashville and Middle Tennessee; Sandra D.H. Hunt, president of the Nashville Capitol City Chapter of Top Ladies of Distinction, Inc.; Van Pinnock, former TSU Board of Trustees member, along with several others. Dr. Phyllis Qualls, chief advancement officer for American Baptist College, served as emcee recognizing attendees and guiding guests down memory lane.
In closing remarks, Glover shared why she wanted to be the president of TSU, what she had accomplished and what the future holds. She also brought laughter by saying she will have more time to watch some of her old favorite TV programs, “I can now watch Matlock and Columbo and, of course, spend more time with my grandchildren.”
“When Dr. Glover first arrived at TSU as president, she was told by the ‘powers that be’ to stay away from Rosetta Miller-Perry and the Black press and, as twists and turns journey our lives, we became her greatest ally,” Miller-Perry said. With that said, one guest commented, “Your beginnings are never your endings.”
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