Eight Maryville College students recently participated in the 56th General Assembly of the Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature (TISL), a forum for Tennessee college students to exchange ideas, express opinions, and learn how state government works.
TISL’s Senate and House of Representatives, made up of students from various colleges and universities across the state and first convened in 1966, meet in the legislative chambers of the State Capitol in Nashville each November. This year, students and their sponsors gathered Nov. 20-25.
MC students served in legislative, lobbying and media roles. Their participation was made possible by the Catherine Duggar ’54 and Jean Duggar Endowment for the Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature (TISL) at Maryville College.
“This year’s TISL delegation fully embraced the experience,” said Dr. Ben Stubbs, vice president and dean of students at MC. “In networking with peers from across the state, vigorously lobbying for legislation, and debating bills on the floor, they demonstrated Maryville College students’ outstanding critical thinking and communication skills and a commitment to ‘doing good on the largest possible scale.’”
Joshua Cornell ’26 and Izzy Freeman ’28 served in the TISL Senate, while Megan Cooper ’26 and Michael Howard ’28 served in the House of Representatives. These students participated in committee meetings to review bills proposed by other college delegations, debated those bills on the floor, and initiated motions as needed. MC students acted as sponsors for five bills, four of which were passed in both the House and Senate, and three of which were signed by TISL Governor Kyah Powers.
Writing/Communication and Management double major Marlee Giles ’27 served on the TISL Media Team, a team responsible for promoting TISL and creating awareness related to proposed legislation. Giles published several articles in the daily “TISL Times” publication.
Emma Mulligan ’27, M’Kaylee Holley ’26 and Savannah Latham ’28 served as TISL lobbyists assigned to “firms” representing issues such as healthcare and the environment, and their jobs were to educate legislators about proposed bills in order to attempt to shape the outcome of the legislative session.
Both Cornell and Latham participated in TISL’s 55th General Assembly, with the former being awarded the Carlisle Award for outstanding senators. Last month, Cornell, who is double-majoring in Political Science and Environmental Studies, was presented with the Outstanding Senator Award at the end of the assembly, recognizing his hard work.
One of the bills signed by TISL’s Gov. Powers was actually a part of Cornell’s Senior Study — an integral part of the MC experience in which students conduct faculty-guided research in their major fields of study — and Powers said she wants to recommend it to Tennessee’s actual elected representatives.
“It was awesome to have the opportunity to act as a state senator again,” Cornell said. “I’m especially proud of this year’s delegation passing four bills, and especially passing my senior thesis-inspired bill, which is an act to introduce a carbon tax in Tennessee. It’s super special to win the Outstanding Senator Award, and it really gave me more encouragement to continue my endeavors in state and local government. It was just fantastic to see Maryville College show up and show out this year!”
“This year’s TISL delegation fully embraced the experience,” said Dr. Ben Stubbs, vice president and dean of students at MC.
The MC TISL delegation included a variety of students with a broad range of majors and interests. Throughout the experience, they represented the College professionally and made valuable contributions to the mock legislative process, setting the stage for greater involvement by future MC delegations, Stubbs said.
“Our returning students, Josh Cornell and Savannah Latham, did a great job of preparing the first-time delegates leading up to the trip, and they all engaged enthusiastically throughout what is a long and busy four days.”
Maryville College is a nationally ranked institution of higher learning and one of America’s oldest colleges, located in Maryville, Tennessee, between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the city of Knoxville. Maryville College offers more than 60 majors, seven pre-professional programs and career preparation from their first day on campus to their last, in the words of our Presbyterian founder, to “do good on the largest possible scale.”
Karen Eldridge, Executive Director of Communications: karen.eldridge@maryvillecollege.edu.
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