Ray receives Unity honor

Bedford County Mayor Eugene Ray, left, accepts an award from Sidney McPhee, president of Middle Tennessee State University. Ray was one of three African-Americans honored at the university's annual Unity Day luncheon.
(T-G Photo by John I. Carney) [Order this photo]

Murfreesboro School board chair Mary McKnight Wade and foster parent Nora L. Clark Waters were the other two honorees. Darrell Freeman, an MTSU alumnus and the founder and chair of Zycron Inc., was the keynote speaker for the luncheon, which was held in the James Union Building on the MTSU campus. Larry Flowers of WSMV-TV (Channel 4) was the master of ceremonies. The MTSU Gospel Choir performed.

MTSU President Sidney McPhee presented the honorees with their trophies. McPhee called the annual awards luncheon "the classic example of the university being engaged in Murfreesboro and recognizing those who make a difference in the lives of our citizens."

A number of local dignitaries attended the luncheon in Ray's honor, including Shelbyville Mayor Wallace Cartwright, Celebration CEO Doyle Meadows, Assessor of Property Ronda Clanton, Emergency Management Agency director Scott Johnson, and Scott Cocanougher, 2009 president of Shelbyville & Bedford County Chamber of Commerce.

Previous Bedford County recipients of the award include Dorothy Crismon, in 2003, and Marilyn Massengale, in 2007.

Ray was recognized for his service in Bedford County government, including his status as the first African-American mayor of Bedford County, and for his role in creating the Middle Tennessee Education Center, a joint effort of MTSU and Motlow State Community College.

MTEC began holding local classes last fall at Central High School and fully occupied its own space in the Medical Arts Building last month. Ray and McPhee worked closely together on plans for the project, and a ribbon-cutting for MTEC will be held Feb. 18, on the same day that McPhee speaks at the local Chamber of Commerce luncheon.

Freeman based his remarks on the Declaration of Independence and its statement that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Freeman said that even though "all men" at the time the document was signed did not include women, or "people who look like me," he has claimed the words as his own birthright. He said it is up to each person to empower themselves, to "think and talk and live like those words were written for us." He cited the examples of several black entrepreneurs who succeeded through hard work and ambition.

"Economic empowerment is not something someone does for you," said Freeman.

Freeman came from humble beginnings; his mother worked as a maid. He earned both bachelor's and master's degrees at MTSU before founding Zycron, an information technology company which now has revenues of $20 million a year. He has been involved in other ventures as well, and noted that a bank he helped found has shown a profit through the recession without accepting any Trouble Asset Relief Program (TARP) bailout funding.