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The Manchester Area Chamber of Commerce welcomed Middle Tennessee State University Deputy Athletic Director Lee De Leon during a recent Chamber luncheon.

De Leon spoke on a variety of topics during the luncheon, ranging from the school’s fundraising efforts to athletic and academic accomplishments.

“We have had a really good run of success recently,” he said. “Last year was kind of a banner year.”

De Leon highlighted MTSU’s 2022-2023 academic accomplishments, which include the graduation of 48 student athletes and a registered NCAA success rate of 94.

“That is our number one priority, to graduate student athletes and we are actually really, really good at it,” he said. “That means that 94% of the student athletes that come to MTSU graduate, the ones that stay graduate. So, it is a really, really good record we have going.”

The university football team is in the top five in the country for athlete graduation, De Leon added.

MTSU also enjoyed its share of athletic accomplishments in recent history, enjoying four CUSA championships and having three teams ranked in the top 25 nationally during 2022-2023.

Season ticket sales have also increased in every ticketed sport.

“We are starting to get more engaged and better engaged in the community,” De Leon said.

It was also during this time that MTSU welcomed aboard a new head football coach Derek Mason.

“We had an unbelievable amount of interest across the country,” De Leon said. “You would not believe the amount of people who wanted this job.”

While he had taken some time from coaching following some time with Oklahoma State, the Arizona native was already familiar with Middle Tennessee from his time coaching at Vanderbilt University between 2014 and 2020.

“He came in and blew us away,” De Leon said. “He knows this area, and he knew how good high school football was in this area and he wanted to recruit this area and win with kids from Middle Tennessee.”

In the area of fundraising, De Leon spoke of the university’s Blue Raider Athletic Association.

“Our job is to raise money to support our student athletes to make sure they have the best four years possible at MTSU,” he said. “Whether that is uniforms, equipment, travel, our coaches recruiting budgets, we have to pay for their scholarships…we have to pay for their championship rings when they win.”

“Those things cost money and we need to raise that money for our kids,” De Leon added.

With about 1,100 current members, De Leon said the goal is to have a total of 2,025 members by the close of 2025.

“Membership starts at only $100,” he said. “That is $8.33 cents a month.”

De Leon said the fundraising goes beyond what the university can do on its own.

“We don’t just want to be Murfreesboro’s school,” he said. “We are Middle Tennessee State University, that involves Coffee County, that involves Manchester, that involves Tullahoma.”