Faculty, students and community members gathered in the East Tennessee Room on Friday, April 10, to celebrate the recent release of the book “Involving Rural Communities in Improving Their Health: Skill Sets and a Best Practice for Organizers” by Bruce Behringer. The event included a panel with Behringer, Dr. Megan Quinn and Dr. Aliyah Smith-Gomez.
Behringer’s book focuses on practical strategies for engaging communities and building trust to address rural health. The discussion centers on this new release by Behringer, who formerly served as the National Rural Health Association President in 1992, as director of the ETSU Office of Rural and Community Health and Community Partnerships, and as deputy commissioner for continuous improvement and training for the Tennessee Department of Health.
The themes outlined in the book were further explored during the panel discussion. The panel opened with Behringer reflecting on his time at ETSU and how community-engaged scholarship worked in rural health across several colleges at ETSU. He shared how important it was to engage around community-identified issues.
Following, Dr. Aliyah Smith-Gomez and Dr. Megan Quinn shared how this plays out on campus today with ETSU Elevates and getting ETSU students off campus early.
ETSU Elevates is a pitch competition featuring projects for students paired with community partners to address societal issues. In October 2025, Dr. Aliyah Smith-Gomez’s ETSU Elevates submission recently received the first-place prize of $3000 to further the project. Her submission, Project MANNA, helps connect black farmers and mothers in the Appalachian region.
As the discussion continued, Dr. Quinn highlighted many wonderful ongoing efforts at ETSU throughout many disciplines, including the Center for Rural Health and Research. Each panelist finished the conversation by emphasizing the value of professional collaboration. Dr. Quinn expressed that community-engaged learning is mutually beneficial, supporting students, the University and the community.
A short Q&A followed by closing remarks. At the end of the event, it was revealed that Behringer had made a generous donation. Proceeds from the first year of sales from his book “Involving Rural Communities in Improving Their Health: Skill Sets and a Best Practice for Organizers” will go to ETSU Elevates to support students and the community.
Improving rural health is not a one-time effort, but a long-term commitment built through collaboration, listening to the community, and holding trust at the center of the work.
