LAST CALL FOR TICKETS TO GUBERNATORIAL FORUM MAY 10
MARTIN, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin’s WestStar Leadership Program will
host a gubernatorial forum from 5-7 p.m., May 10, in Watkins Auditorium of the Boling
University Center. Attendees must have a ticket to enter the auditorium. Tickets can be
downloaded free of charge until May 7 by visiting eventbrite.com and searching for “WestStar.”
A welcome reception for attendees and candidates will begin at 4 p.m. in the Boling University
Center Welcome Center. Both events are open to the public, and a link to a live webcast of the
forum will be made available closer to the event date.
All attendees must enter through the main doors to the Boling University Center off the Mt. Pelia
Road parking lot. Metal detectors will be used at the doors, and all bags are subject to search. No
one will be permitted to enter Watkins Auditorium while a candidate is speaking.
Meg Kinnard Hardee, a political and legal affairs reporter for The Associated Press who bylines
as Meg Kinnard, will serve as forum moderator. Each candidate will have 15 minutes to discuss
questions posed by Kinnard, and speaking order will be randomly determined prior to the event.
Diane Black, a Tennessee congresswoman representing the 6 th District; Randy Boyd, former
commissioner of Tennessee Economic and Community Development; Karl Dean, former mayor
of Nashville; Craig Fitzhugh, minority leader of the Tennessee State House of Representatives;
Beth Harwell, speaker of the Tennessee State House of Representatives; and Bill Lee, president
and CEO of Lee Company in Nashville, have confirmed participation in the event.
Candidates will be introduced by Brett Lashlee, chairman of the 2018 WestStar Leadership
Development class, following official welcomes from Dr. Keith Carver, UT Martin chancellor,
and Dr. Charley Deal, WestStar executive director. The forum is coordinated by the 2018
WestStar class as a group project.
For more information, contact Virginia Grimes, WestStar program coordinator, at 731-881- 7298
or vgrimes@utm.edu.
