Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature

The history of the Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature is a story of students taking the initiative and providing leadership to organize themselves for learning about state government and expressing their views on state issues.

In 1966, Dr. Douglas Carlisle, a political science professor at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, approached the Student Government Association with the concept of TISL. Dr. Carlisle was familiar with similar programs in North Carolina and South Carolina.

Events of the 1960s were important to TISL's founding. President John F. Kennedy's emphasis on student activism motivated young people across the nation before he was assassinated in 1963. His death heightened the resolve of many students to participate and make a difference. Important federal laws under President Lyndon Johnson such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and other far-reaching programs were focusing attention on the role of government. Student activism over the Vietnam War was growing.

It was also an exciting time in Tennessee politics. In Nashville, the Tennessee General Assembly was demonstrating the first stirrings of independence after decades under the control of the governor's office. The 1962 Baker v. Carr decision, a Tennessee case of national significance, led to the first redistricting of the legislature since 1900. This, in turn, produced a flood of new state senators and state representatives to change the political dynamic.

The legislature also began annual sessions after voters approved a constitutional amendment changing the legislative calendar. Consequently, Tennesseans were paying more attention to their state government than they'd paid in a long time. Republican Howard Baker's election to the U.S. Senate in 1966 introduced two-party competition for statewide offices and raised interest in politics.

The UTK student most intrigued with the TISL concept was Phillip Moffitt. Together, Moffitt and Dr. Carlisle contacted other student government associations across the state. At Vanderbilt University, they caught the interest of student Charles Bone. Bone and Moffitt were to become the first and second governors of TISL.

Records suggest that an organizational meeting occurred on the Vanderbilt campus in the spring or summer of 1966. The 1st General Assembly occurred in the fall at the State Capitol. Since that time, TISL has convened in nearly every academic year. The General Assembly has been displaced from the Capitol occasionally, usually because of construction. It has sometimes met in the auditorium of the War Memorial Building and in committee rooms of the Legislative Plaza.

The Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature Foundation was incorporated in 1976 under TISL Governor David Lillard Jr. and received a 501(c)(3) classification from the Internal Revenue Service a year later as a further result of Lillard's work.

In 2014, the record for most colleges in attendance was broken. With 43 colleges and universities in attendance, the 45th General Assembly of the Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature was the largest group of students to attend the conference.

The Governors of TISL and the schools they represented are listed below. The incumbent Governor is James Matthew Wyatt, and is indicated below in bold.

Several alumni of the TISL program have gone into government and public serve in Tennessee and other states. Below is a list of TISL's notable alumni and positions they hold today.

• The Official TISL Website
• Tennessee Intercollegiate Supreme Court
• Appellate Moot Court Collegiate Challenge