Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University (APSU) will host the F. Evans Harvill Quad and Memorial Highway Unveiling on the lawn of the APSU Browning Building on Thursday, October 6th, 2022 at 2:00pm.
The APSU Board of Trustees voted unanimously on Friday, June 4th, 2021, to name the lawn as the F. Evans Harvill Memorial Quadrangle, or Harvill Quad, in honor of the late F. Evans Harvill, a 1944 and 1947 graduate of Austin Peay State University.
The event will also celebrate the State of Tennessee naming a section of College Street in memory of the late alumnus.
“Designating this stretch of College Street in memory of the late Evans Harvill is a fitting tribute to a man who had a major impact on this community and Austin Peay State University,” Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitts said. “Evans was devoted to Clarksville and his beloved Austin Peay State University. His wisdom, wit, and uncanny historical knowledge of this community will stand the test of time. I will miss him as a friend and as a wise mentor.”
Harvill passed away on Monday, May 10th, 2021. He was 95 years old. As the son of Halbert Harvill, Austin Peay State University’s third president (1946-1966), Evans grew up on the college campus. He earned his first degree from Austin Peay State University when he was only 18.
After serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, he returned to Austin Peay State University and earned a second degree in 1947. He passed the Tennessee Bar exam in 1948, the year prior to his graduation from Vanderbilt Law School. He then returned to Clarksville to practice law and went on to be the president of the Tennessee Bar Association and a justice of the Tennessee Special Supreme Court.
Harvill was a past president of the APSU National Alumni Association (NAA), served on the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR), and was a member of the TBR Selection Committee for several APSU presidents. In 2012, he gave the lead gift to help launch the Mabry Concert Hall project. The initiative raised more than $500,000 for APSU fine arts and named the concert hall in the APSU Music/Mass Communication Building for Drs. George and Sharon Mabry, long-time APSU music professors.
Harvill also established several endowed scholarships for the creative arts, the President’s Emerging Leaders Program (PELP), and in honor of his late father. In 2004, he was honored with the Tennessee Board of Regents’ Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Philanthropy. In 2017, Harvill received the George Mabry Ovation Award in honor of his philanthropy to Austin Peay and its arts programs.
“Evans Harvill made an impact on our University in many varied and meaningful ways,” APSU Vice President for Alumni, Engagement, and Philanthropy Kris Phillips said. “He has left an impressive legacy of faithful service and support that we hope it will inspire his fellow alumni to give back to their alma mater.”
To RSVP for the event by September 30th, 2022, visit, alumni.apsu.edu/harvillnaming22.
To support APSU fundraising initiatives, contact the Office of Philanthropy at 931.221.7127.
