Lipscomb students take part in annual Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature
Haley Coble |
Each year, college students across the state of Tennessee are given the opportunity to sharpen skills in leadership while learning government functions that some of Tennessee’s brightest leaders got as teens: State Senators Mike Faulk, Doug Oversbey and Roy Herron as well as the Chief Clerk of Tennessee Senate Russell Humphrey, to name a few.
Last month, eight Lipscomb students from the College of Leadership & Public Service’s Institute for Law, Justice & Society volunteered as delegates for the Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature (TISL) for four days.
TISL is an annual event that takes place in Nashville at the legislative chambers of the State Capitol. Its mission is to use state government as a model to 
educate and inspire Tennessee college students to the highest standards of leadership, public service and civic engagement.
TISL was started in 1966 by Douglas Carlisle, a political science professor at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Before President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Kennedy urged student activism across the country. Carlisle soon found that one way he could help cultivate student activism was through the involvement of students in state government.
“TISL is a mock legislature but more than that,” explained Marc Schwerdt, history politics and philosophy professor at Lipscomb. “Students write bills that are then debated and voted on in a legislative environment, and there are elections, lobbyists, a media aspect, politicking that goes on far past the end of the workday. All aspects of state government, except for the bureaucracy are represented.”
Lipscomb sent eight volunteer student delegates to prepare arguments for both sides of a constitutional case. Delegations compete in arguing their side against 30 different Tennessee colleges and universities.
“There are two representatives and one senator and all participate to some degree in other areas,” Schwerdt continued. “Everyone can submit a bill 
and have it debated in the House and Senate. No one is barred from participating.”
TISL gives students the chance to take an active role in learning more about government functions as well as to express their own views on public affairs. Although a majority of the students are political science majors, it is not limited to students studying politics.
“Students learn how to negotiate in a real-time environment, navigate a complex process and see politics from the inside.” said Schwerdt. “As an almost 24-hour experience in the actual Tennessee Capitol, it is a unique experience in many ways.”
Students who attended TISL include:
- Whitney North
- Hector Arrarian
- Destinee Easley
- Rebecca Galfano
- Amy Goode
- Holli McGehee
- Jhoselin Revolorio
- Pamela Moya