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Whereas, President Conn is an alumnus and is now in his fortieth year at Lee University, having joined the psychology faculty in 1971; and

Whereas, Dr. Conn first served as Vice President for Institutional Advancement for nineteen months prior to being appointed President; and

Whereas, when President Conn assumed the role of President, student enrollment at Lee was just under 1,200 students and has now topped 4,300 students setting an astonishing record of twenty-five consecutive years of enrollment growth, and the third largest student population of a private university in Tennessee; and

Whereas, President Conn has enlarged the Lee University campus in Cleveland, Tennessee from approximately twenty-two acres to over 125 acres today, beautifying the area between Central and 20th Streets and Ocoee and Maple Streets; and

Whereas, under his leadership, President Conn has built more than twenty-five new buildings on the campus, including such structures as Dixon Center, Curtsinger Music Building, Student Union, Humanities Center, School of Religion and the Math and Science Complex; and

Whereas, in 1997, Lee College made the successful transition to Lee University and is now recognized as a “Top Tier” university by U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges edition; and

Whereas, Lee University has added multiple new programs over the last quarter century, including new majors, numerous Masters programs, the Poiema project, study abroad, and a service learning initiative; and

Whereas, the Lee University service learning initiative has been recognized nationally with the U.S. President’s Higher Education Honor Roll for Community Service, one of only six institutions recognized in 2009; and

Whereas, since 1986, Lee University athletics has grown from four sports to thirteen, with several national recognitions for academics and competition in the NAIA, including three consecutive national championships in women’s soccer; and

Whereas, Lee University has nurtured its Evangelical Christian identity, maintaining its roots with the Church of God denomination and placing strong emphasis on the spiritual development of all students in the classroom and student life; and

Whereas, Dr. Paul Conn has served longer than any of the seventeen previous presidents of Lee University, which was founded in 1918 as Bible Training School; now, therefore,

I, Beth Harwell, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the One Hundred Seventh General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, at the request of and in conjunction with Representative Kevin Brooks, do hereby proclaim that we join with the Lee University community and his family and many friends as they celebrate Monday, August 1, 2011, as Dr. Charles Paul Conn Day in the State of Tennessee, honoring and commending him for his exceptional leadership of Lee University over the last twenty-five years.