At 150, Fisk University celebrates rich history, new era

It was the wellspring of the civil rights movement in Nashville and one of the nation's premier educators of black leaders in the 19th and 20th centuries.

And leaders at Fisk University hope a yearlong celebration of that rich history will serve as a springboard that helps them carve out a new niche in another era.

Fisk marks the 150th anniversary of its founding this year, and administrators are planning a long slate of "sesquicentennial" events to mark the milestone, starting with a Founders' Day ceremony Saturday, the same day classes began in 1866.

In an exclusive interview this week with The Tennessean, Frank L. Sims, Fisk's interim president, said the anniversary presents an opportunity to look forward. Sims outlined the broad strokes of a new master plan meant to address longstanding challenges that have sometimes threatened to overshadow the university's historic legacy.

“We had the stretch where we struggled with a few things," Sims said, referencing the university's well-publicized money problems. “We believe that we managed through that and that we can now see a better and brighter future."

Fisk celebrates history with eye on its future

Fisk's interim president wants to improve finances

Sturdier finances a must

The success of Fisk's next phase will depend in part on leaders' ability to manage the recovery from decades of financial instability.

“Fisk University’s been broke since 1866," joked Reavis Mitchell, a Fisk professor who teaches a class on the history of the university. “Fisk’s legacy is well known within the United States for bringing together people from diverse backgrounds for conversations, but it’s been very difficult to find support for that.”

Recent developments have highlighted those struggles while suggesting that conditions might be improving.

Fisk's accreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges was put on a two-year probation that was lifted in 2013 after an overhaul of financial practices.

And the university engaged in a seven-year legal battle to sell part of the Alfred Stieglitz Collection, which was donated to the university by Georgia O'Keeffe in 1949. The university eventually agreed to a multimillion-dollar deal to share the collection with the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas. It was a move that leaders at the time said helped keep the university from closing.

The Fisk Board of Trustees selected Sims to serve as interim president in September because of his extensive experience as a business executive. At the height of his professional career at Cargill Inc., Sims said, he managed an $8 billion branch of the company with 5,000 employees.

Sims said he is applying that experience to strengthen the university's financial practices. He also said administrators would use the sesquicentennial year to encourage hefty donations that would bankroll critical renovations to the university's residence halls, where run-ins with mold and bugs have become common over the years.

That repair work is slated to begin as soon as this summer.

“We face a little bit of, maybe you could say, a greater challenge in the sense that we have infrastructure work that we need to focus on in addition to those other day-to-day type things," Sims said. “We believe that we are beginning to put in place today the type of things that will allow us to be a competitive force in the marketplace."

Academics still a draw

Fisk's academic programs have been a bright spot for the school even as its endowment has been precarious.

Alumni earn more doctorate degrees in the natural sciences than minority graduates from any other college or university in the nation, officials say. And the school consistently ranks among the nation's best liberal arts colleges.

That pedigree is what drew sophomore Courtney Jack to Fisk. The pre-med and psychology major said her close relationships with peers and professors made the small school feel like a family.

Other students are drawn in by past students' renowned roles in the civil rights movement. During an interview this week with three student leaders, legendary alumni such as W.E.B. Du Bois, Diane Nash and U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., came up often.

“Seeing that they were able to stand up for their rights, it’s kind of like a model for us, if you will, of what we could possibly do," said junior Lamar Allen, who is vice president of the student government. “That is a part of the Fisk legacy, and to be here, that is something that is kind of instilled in us."

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An enduring role

Fisk has built on its efforts to educate underrepresented minorities in recent years by making an intentional effort to offer scholarships to undocumented students who would have to pay expensive out-of-state tuition rates at Tennessee's public colleges. Mitchell, the historian, sees the move as a natural extension of Fisk's mission, and one that signals the long-term durability of its mission.

“You have to continue to prepare people for the future. You can’t lean on the past,” Mitchell said. “As long as there’s a population in this country and people coming into this country which need opportunity and which need a welcoming environment to grow, to see themselves change, then there’s a role for Fisk University.”

Reach Adam Tamburin at 615-726-5986 and on Twitter @tamburintweets.

If you go

Fisk University will celebrate Founders' Day at noon Saturday at Fisk Memorial Chapel near the intersection of Phillips Street and 17th Avenue North. Mayor Megan Barry is scheduled to speak, and the Fisk Jubilee Singers will perform.