GREENEVILLE – Tusculum University has connected its past and present with its future through the placement of a time capsule that will enable students, as well as faculty and staff members, in 100 years to know more about the history of Tennessee’s first higher education institution.
Tusculum University put a variety of items in the time capsule.
Continuing its 225th anniversary celebration, Tusculum has encased about 40 items in metal container and put it behind the date stone at the Meen Center. Tusculum celebrated the placement during a ceremony Tuesday, Feb. 11, with members of the Tusculum family and the community.
“As we recognize 225 years of preparing students for the next stage of their lives, the time capsule is an excellent way to honor our history of service,” said Dr. Greg Nelson, Tusculum’s acting president. “Just as we have learned much from our predecessors at this great university, we present these gifts to those who will follow us so they will grow in their knowledge of Tusculum.”
Dr. Greg Nelson, Tusculum University’s acting president, speaks during the ceremony.
Items in the time capsule include letters from students describing campus life, editions of the Tusculum magazine and The Tusculum Review literary publication, Old Oak Festival T-shirts, a laptop, news releases, lapel pins and banners. A touching historic item is a collection of letters from an alumnus to his mother when he was a student 50 years ago. The capsule also contains stories from other alumni and mementos from the institution’s years when it was known as Tusculum College.
Symbolizing Tusculum’s deep bond with the community, Tusculum added to the capsule an edition of The Greeneville Sun that highlighted the Meen Center, Tusculum’s newest building; a copy of the Greene County Partnership membership directory; and a Greeneville Reds schedule and program book.
Dr. Nelson reached further into Tusculum’s history, when the university was known as Greeneville and Tusculum College, to read from catalog published when the institution turned 100 in 1894. Before putting that in the capsule, he read a few passages from this document.
Chad Grindstaff, left, and Bill Fitzpatrick carry the time capsule for its placement.
For example, Dr. Nelson highlighted the leadership of the Rev. Hezekiah Balch, who came to the region in 1783 and founded Greeneville College, an earlier name for the university, in 1794. He also touted the work of the Rev. Samuel Doak, who founded Tusculum Academy in 1818, which later merged with Greeneville College.
“It is fitting for us to install a time capsule to remember them and other pioneers and what they have done for us,” Dr. Nelson said. “This is a university rich with history, but history is about telling the story of what has been. This time capsule is a belief in what will be because when it is opened in 100 years, Tusculum will be an even more thriving institution.”
For more information about Tusculum, please visit www.tusculum.edu.