JACKSON, Tenn. — Nov. 21, 2007 — Two 51社区 students received the Douglas Carlisle Award as part of the Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature Nov. 8-11 at the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville.
Senior Amanda Pennington and junior Stephen Lynch were two of the nine recipients of the Carlisle Award from among the 120 delegates in attendance from 15 schools across Tennessee.
The award is given to the students who have made the greatest contribution to the TISL during the year.
TISL is a type of mock legislature, according to Jason Castles, director of Union鈥檚 Office of Student Leadership Development.
鈥淭he overall purpose of TISL is to give college students the opportunity to become more involved in government,鈥� he said.
Union sent 14 delegates to this year鈥檚 General Assembly: Lynch, Pennington, Micah Roeder, Brad Boswell, Ryan Hoover, Josh Allen, Josh Pettigrew, Josh Clarke, Jordan Scott, Rachel Donaldson, Allison Ulmer, Katie Mohler, Malory Keeton and Courtney Bragg.
In addition, Amanda Bush served at TISL treasurer this year.
Roeder was elected by the General Assembly to serve as lieutenant governor, and Hoover was appointed chief ambassador by Kenneth Taylor, the newly-elected TISL governor.
鈥淥verall, being able to take a group of students from Union to Capitol Hill to present legislation brings everything together about what we do here at Union 鈥� integrating faith and learning,鈥� Clarke said. 鈥淭o see Union interact with schools from across the state, and to see how we can interwork with them to make a difference in the lives of people in the state of Tennessee has been very exciting.鈥�
As part of the TISL General Assembly each year, delegates present legislation to be voted upon by the entire body. Union students presented 18 pieces of legislation 鈥� on such issues as mandatory steroid testing for high school students, making the sale of methamphetamine more difficult and required government classes for all high school students.
All but two of those pieces of legislation passed both the TISL House and Senate, according to Clarke.
After the TISL General Assembly concludes, the TISL Executive Council meets to determine which legislation will become 鈥減riority legislation.鈥� That priority legislation is then presented to actual Tennessee government leaders 鈥� the governor, the speaker of the House and the speaker of the Senate.
鈥淭hose bills from TISL actually go into the hands of the state legislature,鈥� Clarke said. 鈥淭ISL has had a long history of presenting legislation to the General Assembly, and then it becoming real law in the state of Tennessee.鈥�