TICUA Spotlight: 

American Baptist College Graduate Dr. C.T. Vivian

Civil Rights Leader, Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient, Gifted Orator

Inducting Institution: American Baptist College

Dr. Cordy Tindell (C. T.) Vivian—a recognized civil rights hero, a field general of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the nonviolent resistance movement, a gifted orator, and a courageous advocate for social justice— embodied the mission and values of American Baptist College throughout his life’s work. 

As a student at ABC in the early 1960s, he served as a leader in student activism for racial justice including conducting the famous sit-ins and subsequent integration of lunch counters in downtown Nashville. 

Dr. Vivian went on to receive the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, presented by President Barack Obama in 2013.