Vice President and Dean of Students Dr. Melanie Tucker holds first fireside chat this semester

During the delicate times of the proposed New Deal and WWII, President Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated the first fireside chats. With the goal of opening a line of communication between the White House and the general population of our country, Roosevelt took to the radio to broadcast his first fireside chat in 1933.  

This type of unaltered and direct communication between administration and population is free from the dangers of misquotation or misrepresentation. Roosevelt used this platform to discuss the issues of the times, and it was generally well received.

The idea of the fireside chat has been re-created in both large and small platforms from political campaigns, to corporate keynote events to our very own campus.

Dr. Melanie Tucker, Vice President and Dean of Students at Maryville College, held the first of what will become many fireside chats in the Proffitt Dining Room (PDR) on Tuesday, Oct. 10. The tone was casual, with Tucker and a small group of students seated around a clump of large round tables.

The conversation started with some general information that Tucker had prepared to share. After that, the dialogue took on a different form in the manner of a two-way conversation.

“It is important to me to have a discussion with you students about some of the goals we have for this year,” said Tucker.

Tucker went on to elaborate on the details of her goals for improvements on campus. This includes three divisional work groups whose focus will consider a variety of things like our living and learning environment and new ways to develop student leadership on campus.

These are just a few of the exciting ideas that were discussed during the 30 minute  meeting. I would highly encourage students to join in the conversation during the next fireside chat. Times and locations of future fireside chats with be posted in the MC Today emails.