FHU alumni visit campus to speak with students

November 10, 2023

Ryan Hodges,

HENDERSON, Tenn. – Freed-Hardeman University invited alumni back to campus during homecoming to speak to current students.

Professors in the various departments asked some of their former students to come back to the classroom and share some wisdom with their classes.

Director of Alumni Engagement, Chris Ramey, explained why this is such a big day for the campus.

“It’s really special to have moved it to homecoming weekend because homecoming weekend, whether it’s here or whether it’s at a church you attended growing up, it’s about reconnecting and reuniting with people that you love. So it’s really special to have these alumni back. Every year I’m always amazed at what I learn about what someone’s doing in their job, how they are impacting their community, and how they are serving,” Ramey said.

Amy Anguish graduated from Freed-Hardeman in 2004. Since then, she has published 13 books.

She was asked to come speak to an English class Friday morning. She talked about how thankful she is to be asked to come back.

“It’s an honor because while I was a student here the people who came and talked to us, they became some of my mentors later and they are some of the reasons why I actually ended up being an author,” Anguish said.

Dr. Margaret Payne is the professor who asked Anguish to come speak to a class. She says that this day truly shows the family aspect that the university has.

“We love our alums because we love our students. Freed-Hardeman is a family both with the faculty and staff and the students. We go to church with them, we go to class with them, we hear their woes in our offices. So we become a family, and when they go out into the world and do things, they continue to be our family,” Payne said.