Mr. Brandon Rahshad Taylor is a Brownsville, TN (Haywood County) native who graduated from Cumberland this May with a B.S. degree in Exercise Science. Mr. Taylor also spent his four years as a football athlete for the Phoenix as a team captain. 

Brandon is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated. He serves as the current Second Vice District Representative for the 5th District of the fraternity he holds near and dear to his heart. 

Brandon has a son, Amir Rahshad Taylor, with his life partner Breneesha La’Shae Dunn. He is a family man, and he enjoys working out and spending time with his family in his past time. 

Annah Smith is a Lebanon local who graduated from Friendship Christian School in 2016, after attending there since first grade. From there she went to Freed-Hardeman University where she graduated summa cum laude in May of 2020. She obtained two degrees: a B.A. in Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations, and a B.A. in Photography. 

While she was a student at FHU she was involved in the leadership of her social club, Chi Beta Chi. She served as a community service representative, ads manager, and Makin Music director. She was also blessed to be able to study abroad for a semester in Europe.

Her love for communicating with young people and their families was fostered during her internship at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in Seacrest Studios during the summer of 2019. She comes to CU after nearly a year of working as a photographer for LifeTouch school portraits. Annah is excited to begin her role at Cumberland to help students grow to love it here! 

Reggie Blair began his professional career working for Dell Technologies as an Inside Accounts & Sales Team Manager. In that role, he managed and developed several accounts for higher education, state and local government, and K-12 organizations. Additionally, he oversaw training efforts for newly hired sales representatives, while also coaching tenured representatives for specialty roles in corporate account development. While he enjoyed the opportunity there for many years, he felt a calling to pursue a role in higher education.

In 2008, Blair decided to make a vocational change by returning to his alma mater and starting a career in the admissions office. Blair worked in the admissions office at Lipscomb University for 13 years, ultimately culminating his career as Sr. Director of Admissions. During his time in the office of admissions, he served in a variety of capacities, including training and oversight of recruitment activities for admissions counselors, managing and directing graduate recruitment efforts for the School of Computing, operating as principal representative for local community college partnerships while increasing the recruitment and retention of prospective transfer students, admissions athletic liaison, and serving as the primary institutional contact for K-12 schools within the National Christian School Association (NCSA).

Blair joined Cumberland University as Vice President for Enrollment Services in the fall of 2021. Under his leadership, Cumberland achieved the highest overall enrollment to date of 3,072 students in the fall of 2023. He is also actively involved in several community organizations, including 100 Black Men of Middle Tennessee, Tennessee Latin American Chamber of Commerce (former board member), Information Systems Security Association (ISSA), and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

Blair holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Master of Science in Information Security from Lipscomb University, and he is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Higher Education Leadership at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas.

Tina graduated in 1989 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Tennessee Technological University.  While at TTU, she was a student member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and was chosen to Chi Epsilon, a national civil engineering honor society.  She also earned her State of Tennessee EIT certificate.  

After graduation, she began her work career assisting the city engineer and reviewing commercial construction building plans for the City of Columbia/Maury County.  From 1992-1996, she worked for Metro Water Services in their engineering department where she performed analysis of sewer lines, availability studies, and computer sewer modeling for Metropolitan Davidson County.  Tina began home educating her 3 children beginning in 2001.  In 2011, she began six years of teaching chemistry and physical science at New Life Academy and was selected by her students as the 2017 Teacher of the Year.  She began working at Cumberland University in June of 2017.

Tina most enjoys spending time with her family and friends.  She is active in her church where she taught 3rd grade for 15 years and vacation bible school.  She has also volunteered and been a member of the Greenvale Community Center since 2000.  She and her husband Greg reside in southern Wilson County.

 Susan Marshall went into retail management, when she was 19 years old. She worked the first ten years for Kroger. She left and relocated to North Carolina and worked for Lowe’s Food for five years. Susan missed Middle Tennessee, so she returned to work for Kroger. She then started managing a Hallmark store in Franklin. At which time she decided that working management hours conflicted with her family time. She then came to work for Cumberland University and has enjoyed the balance of work and family. Susan has four grandchildren ages 13|7,4, and 2 which are the light of her life.

Nova joined Cumberland University in October of 2013 and started working with the Advancement office. In September 2018 she moved to the admissions office to work with incoming students.

Prior to coming to Cumberland, Nova has been active in real estate obtaining her Tennessee license in 1996 and Graduate Realtor Institute in 1998. She owned a local business for several years and is a former employee of Wilson Bank and Trust.

Nova is married and has 2 children Scott Lawrence and Heather Lawrence Wyrick who are graduates of Cumberland. She has 2 grandchildren and enjoys cooking, sewing and spending time with her family.

Ms. LaChance joined Cumberland University in January of 2006 as the Assistant Director of Student Financial Services (SFS). In October of 2006, she was promoted to the Director of Financial Aid. Ms. LaChance administers federal, state, and institutional financial aid funds and services. She along with her staff is responsible for assisting current and prospective students with all aspects of the financial aid process. She has over 20 years’ experience in higher education administration in 2-year public, 4-year private and proprietary institutions. Ms. LaChance has held positions in Compliance, Financial Services, Enrollment Services, and as a College Bursar.

Ms. LaChance is a graduate of Cumberland University with both a bachelor and master’s degree in Business Administration. In addition, she graduated from Northern Essex Community College with an AS in Accounting and an AS in Business Management with a concentration in Computer Applications. Originally, from Salem, Massachusetts, Ms. LaChance currently resides in Gallatin, TN and enjoys spending time with family, reading, travel and life-long learning.