JOHNSON CITY (Sept. 25, 2020) – Cory Whitfield, a graduate student in East Tennessee
State University’s Master of Social Work Program, was recently elected to serve as
the student representative on the National Association of Social Workers, Tennessee
Chapter’s (NASW-TN) Board of Directors.
As student representative, Whitfield will assist chapter office members in promoting racial and social justice and strengthening and promoting the social work profession in Tennessee. He will work alongside 17 other social workers from across the state who serve on the board.
Whitfield currently resides in Elizabethton with his wife and two sons. He earned his bachelor of social work (BSW) at ETSU in May 2020. He will complete his master of social work (MSW) in spring 2022.
“It was easy to see when Cory was in the BSW Program that he would be an asset to the social work profession,” said Dr. Brittany Wilkins, director of ETSU’s MSW Program. “Cory decided to continue his education at ETSU in the MSW Program. He has taken on several roles in the department and it’s exciting that he now has an even larger platform from which he can impact change.”
Whitfield chose to pursue social work because of its versatility.
“Social work is a huge profession with limitless potential and endless growth,” Whitfield said. “It is one of the few professions where one individual can impact change on the most minute, micro level and up to the grandest of macro levels.”
Whitfield credits his journey at ETSU to Dr. Angela Radford Lewis, who served as Vice Provost and Special Assistant to the President for Strategic Initiatives before her death in January 2019.
“Before Dr. Lewis’s untimely passing, she saw the potential in me and opened the door for me to attend ETSU,” said Whitfield. “She provided me with a life-changing opportunity, and I hope that my efforts have made her proud.None of this is possible without her, and I am forever indebted.”
NASW-TN, with approximately 2,000 members, is the major professional social work organization in the state. NASW is committed to advancing professional social work practice and the profession; and to promoting sound social policies.
ETSU’s Department of Social Work is housed in the College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences. To learn more, visit www.etsu.edu/crhs/socialwork/.