Southern Magazine 022013

SPRING 2013

Departments

56: Soul Food w/ Corey Latta

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26 On Campus 5

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First Class students: Southern Miss welcomes inaugural class of nurse anesthesia program.

American Idol: Season 11 winner Phillip Phillips is scheduled to headline the annual Eaglepalooza event.

Southern Miss ‘Lifer’: School of Business professor Bill Smith began his career at USM in 1979.

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Features 13 Right man. Right time: Dr. Rodney Bennett will be USM’s 10th President.

20 Nothing but net: Meet USM men’s basketball coach Donnie Tyndall.

30 Traditions: Everybody knows USM’s colors are black and gold, but do you know why?

Events 42

Dugout Club: Brian Dozier gave keynote at 10th annual fundraiser.

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Emerson Drive: Grammy Award-winning band headlines pre-game concert.

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Black & Gold Day: Area high school seniors and parents tour USM campus.

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Kappa Delta fun: Annual KD sorority event included run, pancakes, more.

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Talented Trio: Gerald McRath, Tracy Lampley and Collin Cargill on hand for autograph signing.

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Steele Magnolias: Four Southern Miss grads inducted into Hall of Fame.

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Southern Quarterly 50th

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USM 100th Gala: Southern Miss legends turn out for party of century.

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French Quarter fun: College of Arts & Letters and Honor Forum brings NOLA to Southern Miss campus.

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Coca-Cola Rodeo: 28th Annual Southern Miss Classic Rodeo comes to town.

10 Meet the Co-Ed: Fate brought Louisiana senior Elizabeth Suss to Hattiesburg.

Cover Cover Two big events were worthy of the cover this month: The hiring of new USM President Dr. Rodney Bennett and the devastating tornado that struck campus on Feb. 10.

– Tornado photo by Matt Bush.

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From the publishers of Signature Magazine:

103 N. 40th Ave., Hattiesburg, MS 39401 (601) 268-2331 -tel (601) 268-2965 -fax DAVID GUSTAFSON | EDITOR/PUBLISHER david@HubCitySPOKES.com

BETH BUNCH | MANAGING EDITOR beth@HubCitySPOKES.com

MISSY AKINS | ADVERTISING MANAGER missy@HubCitySPOKES.com

Prologue:

{ WRITERS }

VAN ARNOLD, COREY LATTA, DAVID TISDALE, ROBERT WILSON { PHOTOGRAPHERS } LEE CAVE, KELLY DUNN, PATRICK LOWERY, MATT BUSH, ASHLEIGH JOHNSON, CHLOE ROUSE { STAFF } SHANNON FIELDER, DANA GOWER, EMILY HALL, SONYA JAMES, JOSH MLOT, CHARLEY TYNES, JESSICA WALLACE, AND BRANDON MADDOX Reproductions in whole or in part, without written permission, is strictly prohibited. No responsibility can be assumed for unsolicited manuscripts, articles, or photographs. We reserve the right to edit submissions before publication. Southern Magazine is a product of Hattiesburg Publishing, Inc., proud publisher of The Lamar Times, The Petal News, Camp Shelby Reveille, Signature Magazine, HubCitySPOKES.com and PineBeltSPORTS.com and is distributed throughout the Hattiesburg area. Mail subscriptions are available for home delivery. For subscriptions or inquiries, write Southern Magazine, 103 N. 40th Ave., Hattiesburg, MS 39401, or call (601) 268-2331.

Copyright 2012 by Hattiesburg Publishing, Inc. Find us online at:

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Winds of change strike USM campus

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he month of February began with high hopes for the Southern Miss community. The announcement of a new president was met with a renewed sense of optimism on campus. In recent months, the announcement of a new head football coach, a successful men’s basketball team, and then the selection of Dr. Rodney Bennett as the 10th president in university history couldn’t have come at a better time.

But then on Sunday, Feb. 10, an F-4 tornado swept through the Pine Belt and forever changed the look of the historic campus.

The tornado not only scattered debris throughout the campus, but also caused significant damage to the Ogletree House (home of the University’s Alumni Association), the Jazz Station, Fine Arts Building, Mannoni Performing Arts Center, McLemore Hall, and Marsh Hall.

Upon hearing of the damage to campus, Dr. Bennett drove all night from Georgia to be in attendance at a Monday morning press conference with Gov. Phil Bryant (a Southern Miss alum), Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny Dupree, and other local, state, and federal emergency management officials.

Although not formally on the job yet, Bennett knew where he needed to be and his dedication to his new Southern Miss community was most assuredly noted by Golden Eagles throughout the Pine Belt and from around the world.

While the physical destruction of campus will eventually fade in time, Dr. Bennett’s words of encouragement to students, faculty members, and the Southern Miss community at large will not soon be forgotten.

SMTTT!

David Gustafson Editor/Publisher

Kappa Delta sorority shamrock fun - Pages 46-47 www.southern.ms

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On Campus

First class students Southern Miss welcomes inaugural class to nurse anesthesia program

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he College of Nursing at The University of Southern Mississippi has added a memorable chapter to its storied history by welcoming the inaugural class of the Nurse Anesthesia Program to the Hattiesburg campus.

Following an extensive selection and interview process, 20 students were chosen for the new program, which will include 36 consecutive months of study and award a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree. The inaugural group began classes in January.

"I was extremely excited when I found out I was accepted into the program," said Kim Burks, who earned her BSN at Southern Miss in 2010. "It means a great deal to me that Dr. Stuart and Dr. Everson have the vision and confidence in my abilities for such an important career. Nurse anesthetists are essential to the medical field and patients, not only for patient safety but also high quality cost effective care and services."

Fellow NAP student Donald Welch, of Ellisville, agreed.

“The idea of being in a doctoral program and learning advanced skills has always been appealing to me.”

Dr. Katherine Nugent, dean of the College of Nursing at Southern Miss, reminded the class that “you are setting the standard for all other classes to follow. The data we collect and observations we record will be used in making evaluations and assessments about the program from this day forward.”

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Southern Miss is the first among Mississippi’s eight institutions of higher learning to offer a degree-granting nurse anesthesia program.

Dr. Vickie Stuart, a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist in Hattiesburg since 1998, introduced the idea of a nurse anesthesia program to Southern Miss administrators in 2008.

“The two years of work that was dedicated to developing the Southern Miss nurse anesthesia program has been a rewarding career accomplishment,” said Stuart, who will serve as the program’s director. “Now that Mississippi has its own nurse anesthesia program many Registered Nurses will be afforded an opportunity for an in-state education.”

The program’s mission is to supply doctoral prepared graduates with the advanced knowledge in the area of clinical specialization of nurse anesthesia. The doctoral degree prepares the CRNA to assume leadership positions in education, management and patient care by offering a curriculum concentrating on quality assessment and improvement, health care system and organizations, leadership, best evidence of practice, health policy and health care economics.

Hattiesburg’s Forrest General Hospital will serve as the primary clinical site for the students in the program.

– Van Arnold

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Phillips bringing ‘Home’ to Hub City

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eason 11 winner of American Idol Phillip Phillips is headlining Southern Miss’ 10th annual Eaglepalooza event, set for April 5 in downtown Hattiesburg.

The event, sponsored by the Student Government Association, will also feature R&B soul singer Elle Varner.

Phillips, a singer-songwriter, is an accomplished guitarist and vocalist and has been nominated for Teen Choice Awards in 2012 and is currently nominated for World Music Awards.

Varner has been featured in BET’s Music Matters campaign. The multi-instrumentalist was listed as one of the 15 Artists to Watch and is a current Grammy Award nominee. Varner won “Best New Artist” at the 2012 Soul Train Awards.

Eaglepalooza is a free concert in Downtown Hattiesburg and is open to the student body at Southern Miss and the general public. For more information on Eaglepalooza or other events sponsored by Student Government Association, visit www.usm.edu/sga or call 601-266-4407.

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On Campus

Meet: Bill Smith Business professor considers himself a Southern Miss ‘lifer’

By Ashleigh JOHNSON

B

ill Smith refers to himself as a “lifer.” The Southern Miss professor has called the university home for more than 30 years, as have many other faculty members. It’s the working environment on campus that keeps him going and what keeps his ‘lifer’ status moving forward.

“Everyone is willing to help, because the people here genuinely care. That’s what makes it such a great place to work,” he said.

Smith began his career as a Golden Eagle in 1979 and has been hooked ever since. He has no plans to leave.

Growing up in Jacksonville, Fla., as one of five children, with three sisters and one brother, Smith attended Florida State University where he originally became involved in the College of Business because he was interested in working with businesses. It was there that he became involved in marketing.

“I chose marketing because it fit my curious nature,” Smith said. “I enjoyed trying to figure out why people do what we do and an ethical way to influence others.”

Smith teaches a variety of courses, whatever the department needs, but primarily teaches Marketing Management, Professional Selling and occasionally a Creative Marketing class. This semester he is also teaching Sales Management.

Smith was busy with post-graduate work at FSU when he was recommended to a Southern Miss professor. He jumped at the opportunity, accepted a position at the Hattiesburg institution and only left for a short time to earn his doctorate at Louisiana Tech. He couldn’t stay away for long and came back to USM to continue teaching.

“I love this place. At our core, the people at USM are consumed with one thing, making the people around us better,” Smith said. “My experience with students tells me they want to learn and will respond positively to the challenges they face.”

He loves the opportunity to teach because he enjoys making an impact on his students. “Through teaching, I am able to help each student develop his or her own skills that will

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aid them in their field. As they grow at Southern Miss, they are preparing for their own future careers in marketing.”

The field of marketing itself is one that keeps growing and isn’t straight forward itself, according to Smith.

“Marketing is about moving people in targeted directions ethically. It is about change and building the capacity of individuals and organizations to recognize then adapt to that change,” Smith said. “We are required to keep learning and also must balance conflicting signals from the marketplace – all the evidence doesn’t point in the same direction when making decisions.

The short answer is marketing is fun!”

Through his teaching, Smith’s passion for marketing has inspired numerous students during his 30 years at Southern Miss. Because of this dedication, he has won several teaching awards.

Aside from teaching, Smith has also worked with many businesses and non-profit organizations to help them with their strategic and marketing planning as well as sales evaluations and measurement systems.

He is frequently asked to speak to groups and gives quite a few speeches and talks each year on marketing, especially economic development marketing.

Married to Ginger Rogers from Little Rock, Ark., Smith jokes that like her namesake, his wife can also dance. Together, they have four children – Jack, Lisa, Clay and Ginny. The couple has nine grandchildren and one great grandson.

Smith has been fortunate to have many successes in both his professional and personal life and does not take any of those for granted.

He attributes his greatest accomplishments to “my faith, my family and the opportunity to work at something I absolutely love to do. Each makes my life enjoyable.”

Ashleigh Johnson is a senior at Southern Miss majoring in Journalism and Political Science. A native of Hattiesburg, she graduated from Oak Grove High School in 2009. While at Southern Miss, she has had the opportunity to study abroad in London and participate in an internship at Seaworld Orlando.

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Meet: Elizabeth Suss Last-minute decision to attend USM was right one for senior marketing major

By Ashleigh JOHNSON

T

he decision to attend Southern Miss was a relatively last-minute one for Elizabeth Suss, but one she definitely does not regret.

With a full scholarship to Loyola in New Orleans on the line, if she chose to pursue a music major, Suss didn’t feel that was the right decision for her at the time. So, despite having no connections to the Hattiesburg university, Suss was impressed with Southern Miss and quickly saw a future for herself up the road a couple of hours.

Originally from Milwaukee, Wisc., Suss had moved to Luling, La., just outside the Crescent City with her parents, Jeff and Mary Lou, and younger sister, Ellen, when she was just four. Because they were still young children, the move to the South wasn’t a struggle for the young girls.

Though they missed their extended family, all of whom still live “up north,” their neighbors’ Southern hospitality made the transition easier. While Suss and her family still travel back to Wisconsin to visit, Suss admits she could never move back because she’s become so accustomed to the warmer climate here in the South.

Growing up, Suss spent much of her time focusing on her love of music. Aside from playing the clarinet in the high school band, Suss also studied classical piano in her spare time.

“I practiced 30 minutes every day and participated in at least two concerts a year,” Suss said. “While piano was a huge part of my life, once I got to high school I had to focus on the clarinet more and more, so my time was split.”

When Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, not only did it change the atmosphere in New Orleans, but it also changed Suss’ future in music.

“It literally changed everything,” Suss said. Following Katrina, her piano teacher was displaced and Suss was forced to find a new instructor.

“My piano career kind of ended there,” she said. “My new piano teacher was nice, but she didn’t help me grow (as a pianist),” Suss said. “If I had stayed with my original teacher, I don’t think I would be at Southern Miss, because I would have wanted to further my piano career.”

With her music aspirations left behind in a city where music is everything, Suss was still drawn to USM because of its excellent music program. But instead of letting the

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music pull her in, she fell in love with the Honors College and found herself going down a completely different path.

“The program (Honors College) was so impressive and I knew it would open so many opportunities for me,” Suss said.

Now a senior, Suss will graduate in May with a degree in Marketing.

“I love being in an environment that deals with people on a daily basis,” Suss said of her major. “Marketing is all about building relationships and that is something I have always enjoyed.”

During her four years as a Golden Eagle, Suss has taken every opportunity she could to get involved. She is currently a member of Chi Omega sorority. As a Chi-O, she has been able to get involved not only on campus, but also within the Hattiesburg community.

Suss is extremely involved in her business fraternity, Delta Sigma Pi. However, one of Suss’ best college experiences has been the opportunity to study abroad through Southern Miss’ British Studies Program, which took her to London.

“Studying abroad is something I think everyone needs to experience,” Suss said. “It was the best time of my life and I would relive every moment of it in a heartbeat.”

Traveling across England and Scotland, Suss studied Children’s Literature. She was able to venture to the 100 Acre Wood with Winnie the Pooh, and visit the places

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that inspired J.K. Rowling to write the Harry Potter series.

In London, Suss had the opportunity to view the wedding dress of Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, eat fish and chips and see Broadway plays as often as her time allowed.

During her spare time, she traveled to Brussels and Bruges, Belgium. While there, she took advantage of what Belgium is known for – chocolate shops and Belgian waffles. During a visit to Amsterdam, she toured the home of Anne Frank and went on a canal tour of the city.

“Through Chi Omega, Delta Sigma Pi and the British Studies Program, I have met some of my best friends and risen to leadership positions where I never saw myself.”

Now that Suss’ college experience is coming to an end, she hopes to use what she’s learned at Southern Miss to pursue a career in Marketing.

“My dream job would be working for a company like Clinique or Sephora,” Suss said. She has already begun applying for jobs and internships after graduation.

She currently works as an administrative assistant at the local CPA firm, McArthur, Thames, Slay and Dews.

Suss is excited about transitioning, but knows she will always be a Golden Eagle. She is even getting to share her knowledge of Southern Miss, her home for the last four years, with sister, Ellen, who plans on becoming a Golden Eagle in the fall.

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By David Tisdale

History in the making Southern Miss welcomes 10th President

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hen it was announced Dr. Rodney Bennett would become the next president of The University of Southern Mississippi, Bennett was quick to point out that one of his primary duties as the school’s leader will be helping its students succeed in meeting their academic goals through “pathways for completion.”

Bennett, currently Vice President of Student Affairs at The University of Georgia, was selected by the State Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) Board of Trustees as the institution’s 10th president following a national search. He is the first African-American to lead the university or any of the state’s historically white institutions of higher learning.

IHL Board President Ed Blakeslee announced Bennett as Southern Miss’ next president following a series of listening sessions attended by students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members.

“Students today face many challenges,” Bennett said, citing financial, work and family circumstances and obligations, among

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others. “We need to work together as a university community to help them overcome those challenges and secure their degree.”

Bennett, 46, will assume the presidency toward the end of the current semester, succeeding Dr. Aubrey K. Lucas, the university’s interim president. “We are indeed fortunate to have Dr. Bennett as our new president,” Lucas said. “He obviously has a God-given talent for relating to people, and with that talent and his experience and the support we are going to provide, he can be very successful.”

Lucas is serving his second stint as interim president after having served as the University’s sixth president for 21 years (1975-1996).

Mary Beth Wolverton, a sophomore from Hattiesburg, and Don Holmes, a junior from Osyka, Miss., liked what they heard from Bennett during the student listening session.

“He’s very committed to communicating with the student body, and working together with both students and faculty,” said Wolverton.

“He’s open, honest and knowledgeable, and I’m extremely im-

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Dr. Rodney Bennett speaks at a Monday, Feb. 11 press conference the morning after a devastating F-4 tornado struck the Pine Belt causing extensive damage on campus of The University of Southern Mississippi.

pressed with his resumé,” said Holmes, a junior from Osyka, Miss. “He’s very qualified to lead our university.”

Based on the input he’s received from Southern Miss constituents, Bennett is confident the university can reach new and greater heights of success. “I feel very encouraged about our future after meeting with the various members of the university community, who all want this institution to become an even better place,” he said.

Dr. Kimberley Davis, an associate professor of music, said she looks forward to the university’s students, faculty and staff supporting its new president in meeting that goal. “I believe we will all pull together behind Dr. Bennett and really move Southern Miss to the top,” she said.

Sheri Rawls, director of the university’s Learning Enhancement Center, said Bennett is “a great communicator and really enthused about being our new president.”

Becky Montague, a member of the university’s Partners for the Arts who attended the listening session for community members, concurred. “He’s very likeable and put everyone at ease (in the listening session for community members),” Montague said. “He’s very enthusiastic about being at the university and in Hattiesburg.”

Southern Miss Athletic Director Jeff Hammond said he’s excited about what the future holds with Bennett as president. “He really ‘wowed’ me in our meetings,” Hammond said. “He’s a real leader. Today marks our march forward in continuing the greatness of the university with Dr. Bennett leading the way.”

Bennett said he’s grateful for the opportunity and excited about the task ahead. “This is just one of those moments in life that you dream about and hope and pray that one day will come true, and I’m so happy my dream has come true in Hattiesburg, Miss. at The University of Southern Mississippi.”

David Tisdale is senior writer with the Office of University Communications at The University of Southern Mississippi. He is a graduate of Hattiesburg High School and Southern Miss, and has worked in journalism and public relations for the last 25-plus years. He is a 2006 graduate of the Area Development Partnership’s Leadership Pinebelt, and serves on the board of directors of the Domestic Abuse

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In Bennett’s words: On faculty and staff’s role in student success: “Every interaction with a student is an opportunity for faculty and staff to say or do something that helps create a path toward completion for them. Regardless of your background, once you come to work at Southern Miss, you’re an educator. You have an opportunity to either lift up a student or beat a student down, to support a student or not support a student.

I take that very seriously. I will expect everybody to see themselves as a part of education mission of Southern Miss and work to create pathways of completion for students.”

On communication with students: “Even when the news isn’t encouraging or uplifting, just shoot straight. When I do that, we normally find we’ve got some great partners at getting us to a better place.

At every institution with which I’ve been affiliated, students have been among the workhorses of moving the institution forward. There is nothing that a group of students, when asked, won’t do to support their institution that will end up being their alma mater. We've got to invest in students, support them and hold them accountable.”

On faculty and working together: “I don’t know how to be a senior administrator without involving the stakeholders. My natural instinct will be to call somebody and say, "Let’s get a group of people together and see where we need to get as many voices in the conversation as we can.”

On community: “Throughout my life, I’ve been richly blessed. I’ve had so many wonderful opportunities come my way. I know in my heart I have to find ways to give back and share that with other people. One of the ways is through my involvement with the community and community service. I also really believe that working at a number of institutions of different sizes and complexities, the university has to be a good partner to the community. We cannot make decisions only thinking about what’s good for the university. We have to make decisions about what’s good for the community. What are the implications of what we’re doing at the university on the community? Under my leadership here, we’ll really work to have a robust relationship with the city and see ourselves as partners.”

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On tuition: “I’m very sensitive to the cost of attendance for students. I don’t think the university ought to as the first option balance and steady the ship on the backs of students through raising tuition. I think we have to really be sensitive to the cost of attendance. What we don’t want to do is put students in a situation to where they are conflicted between being able to do well academically and participate in student life versus going to wait tables and working two jobs.”

On the tornado that struck campus: “This is our institution. It is going to succeed or fail based on what we do and our commitment to its success. We cannot depend on someone else to do it. We cannot depend on someone else to pick up the debris.

We cannot depend on someone else to have the passion to make Southern Miss what we want Southern Miss to be and continue to be. You have to ask yourself, “What can I do? What is my piece of the puzzle that makes the complete picture?” This is our university, and together we can take Southern Miss To The Top!”

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Incoming University of Southern Mississippi President Dr. Rodney Bennett discusses the Center for Gulf Studies' designation as a Research Center of Excellence during a news conference held March 7 at the Gulf Park campus in Long Beach. Pictured with Bennett is Gov. Phil Bryant.

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Joseph Cook

Claude Bennett

J.B. George

1912-1928

1928-1933

1933-1945

Presidents of the University of Southern Mississippi 1912-2013

Robert Cook 1945-1954

Martha Saunders

2007-2012

William McCain

1955-1975

Aubrey Lucas

Horace Fleming, Jr.

Shelby Thames

1975-1996

1997-2001

2002-2007

Rodney Bennett

2013-

And now the rest of the story...

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ince its formation in 1912, the University of Southern Mississippi has had 10 different university presidents at its helm. Some have been more “colorful” than others. Here’s what we bet you probably didn’t know: n The first president, Joseph Anderson Cook, oversaw construction of the original buildings and guided the school during its formative years. He watched it progress from a two-year college to a four-year degree-granting institution, and saw enrollment increase from 220 to 1600.

Then, on September 28, 1928, at the behest of Gov. Theodore G. Bilbo, Cook was summarily dismissed by the Board of Trustees. The reason given was Cook's age (he was sixty-five). But onlookers saw it as a political ploy, because Cook had not supported Bilbo in the recent gubernatorial election.

Cook once advised parents not to send their children off to college with pockets full of money. According to him, "six bits" was sufficient cash for a married man to carry on his person, and "two bits" was plenty for a single person. n Dr. Jennings Burton (J. B.) George, an STC alumnus,

became the school's third president on July 1, 1933. Dr. George was the first president to hold a doctorate.

However, during his freshman year at Mississippi Normal College (1915), J. B. George helped dig stumps on campus for six cents per hour. During his sophomore year, he worked as a janitor for $1.00 per week. n Dr. Robert Cecil Cook (no relation to Joe Cook) became the institution's fourth president following his discharge from the Army on July 6, 1945.

At the time of Cook's presidency, there was another Dr. Cook in Hattiesburg, who was a physician. One day, the maid at the president's home answered the telephone and discovered that the caller was a frantic mother in search of medical assistance for her sick child. Unable to convince the woman that she had the wrong number, the maid blurted out, "Lady, this here Dr. Cook can't do nobody no good!" n Dr. Richard McLemore was named acting president, effective January 1, 1955, and served in that capacity until August 17, 1955.

Selection of the school's fifth president was interesting, to say the least. Many on campus wanted Dr. McLemore for the new chief. But, after six months, Dr. Cook (19451954) resigned from the State Times and announced that he wanted his old job back.

This created a division among Cook supporters and McLemore supporters, so the Board of Trustees went offcampus in search of a new president.

They settled on Dr. William David McCain, the State Archivist. While President, McCain's driving ambition was to achieve university status. To that end, he completely reorganized the academic programs into colleges and schools.

Finally, everything was in place, and on February 27, 1962, Governor Ross Barnett signed the bill that made Mississippi Southern College a university -- The University of Southern Mississippi.

McCain is said to have nicknamed a room in the president's home "Mobile." When he desired privacy, he would go into that room, and callers were told that the president was "in Mobile." n On July 1, 1975, Dr. Aubrey Keith Lucas became the sixth president of USM. Dr. Lucas had a long history at USM, having served as instructor, Director of Admissions, Registrar, and Dean of the Graduate School. He was also an alumnus.

It was under his watch that in 1995, a donation to the University of $150,000 produced spectacular results. The money was donated by Hattiesburg laundress, Miss Oseola McCarty, and represented the majority of her life's savings.

Dr. Aubrey Lucas and Dr. Rodney D. Bennett.

No one could have predicted the local, national, and international response to her selfless act.

Miss McCarty received countless awards, including the Presidential Citizen's Medal, and her name became a household word. By association, USM also became a household word.

Dr. Lucas stepped down from the presidency on December 31, 1996, but would return to the position on an interim basis two different times – first from 2001 to 2002 and then again from 2012 to 2013.

Since the fourth grade, Donnie Tyndall has known he wanted a life that consisted of...

Nothing but net!

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D

onnie Tyndall remembers the scene like it was yesterday. Tyndall, a fourth grader at St. Catherine’s, a small private school in Ravenna, Michigan, was normally the water and ball boy for the seventh and eighth team. But on this day, Randy Helson, Tyndall’s neighbor who was also the coach of the team, allowed Tyndall to dress out.

“Randy was nice enough to allow me to be around the team and be involved even though I was in the fourth grade. Then, he did even better,” Tyndall said. “We were playing a team that wasn’t very good and Randy knew that on the front end. He told me I could dress out if I wanted to and maybe he would put me in and give me a chance to play.”

Helson called Tyndall’s number late in the game. He jumped up and into the game he went into, from his eyes, into the world of the

By Robert Wilson

Photos by Matt Bush

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giants. But it didn’t stop Tyndall, even at this young age a kid full of competitiveness, passion and drive.

“Here I was a fourth grader going up against these seventh and eighth graders and I scored my first basket with a layup,” Tyndall said. “The crowd was cheering. I got a natural high from scoring that basket and playing in that game. I had never felt like that before. I was a good athlete in other sports, but literally from that day forward all I wanted to do was be a basketball player.”

So Tyndall took some “Pistol” Pete Maravich homework videos from his coaches and spent countless hours in his driveway perfecting those moves.

While all of his friends went to the beach on the lakes in Michigan or to the movies, Tyndall spent his time dribbling and shooting. When he went to the park, he was most always the only white kid playing so the other kids would call him Larry Bird, John Stockton and Chris Mullen.

“I never drank and never smoked because basketball was going to be my way out,” Tyndall said. “I was a gym rat. All I ever wanted to do was be a pro basketball player, but my genes limited me to that possibility. Once I finally figured out my sophomore or junior year of college that I wasn’t going pro, there was no other direction my life was going to take other than to be a basketball coach.”

Fast forward a few decades, several jobs and many miles to the South, Tyndall is in his first year as the University of Southern Mississippi men’s basketball coach.

While his dream of becoming a pro basketball player fizzled while he was playing at Morehead State, his goal of being a college basketball coach didn’t. Tyndall gained experience with stops as an assistant coach at LSU, Idaho and Middle Tennessee State before becoming the head coach at his alma mater, Morehead State in Kentucky. He wasn’t ever going to leave his alma mater except if he found the “perfect situation.” Tyndall found it in Hattiesburg.

“I had opportunities to leave Morehead State a couple of different times, but it wasn’t the right fit. I always said to my president, athletic director and fans at Morehead State that I was so prideful to come back and be the head coach,” said Tyndall, who won 114 games in six seasons at

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Morehead State. “The community had embraced me and we were having great success. Call a spade a spade. I could have probably coached there another 20 years and never worried about job security and rode off into the sunset. If I felt there ever was a perfect situation I would consider leaving. I think Southern Miss is one of those unique situations for my personally, maybe not for everybody, because it is right in the heart of my recruiting network. I spent four years at LSU so I have ties to Louisiana. I recruited Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama extremely hard at Morehead and now it puts me even closer to those places. We recruited Mississippi in the past. So I felt with my network of recruiting this area of the country we would be able to get very good players.

“There was also great tradition here. Larry Eustachy had great success with last year’s team. M.K. Turk had great teams, won the NIT and had a couple of NCAA Tournament appearances. I felt like there was a tradition of having some success and having great coaches and players here. I felt like over time, as we grow it and develop it and our facilities improve, we could be one of those up and coming programs like a VCU, Wichita State or a Gonzaga of the South type of places. Now I’m not talking out of turn. I know how long it takes to grow and develop that type of program, but I just felt like for me, personally, coupled with the fact my comfort level with (Southern Miss athletic director Jeff) General Hammond and talking to all the people who had either worked or went to school at Southern Miss or lived in Hattiesburg. I couldn’t find one person to say anything negative about any part of the campus or the community. I felt like it was the right time and a special fit.

“I am so glad I made the move. I certainly miss the people at Morehead and coaching at my alma mater, but it was everything I ever hoped it would be at Southern Miss.”

And Tyndall has been everything Southern Miss had hoped for. Taking one of the least experienced teams in all of Division I, Tyndall has guided the Golden Eagles to one of their best records in school history and one of the top spots in Conference USA. And the fans have noticed too. The average home attendance is the best since the mid 1990s.

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“We are the least experienced team in the country tied with Mississippi State and Lipscomb University in Nashville. We have six years of Division I experience and only four returning players, and Mississippi State and Lipscomb having losing records,” Tyndall said. “So most of the time not much experience in Division I basketball leads to a lot of losses and not much success. We are certainly way ahead of the curve and I give a lot of the credit to the players. We have such a new team with some many new guys contributing with a new system and a new coach. Guys have bought in and been receptive. Every new coach has bumps in the road with different guys through the year, with them resisting you, especially early. I thought we got over that early and guys bought in and that’s why we had success early.

“Our team is limited. We don’t play a post player over 6-5. We don’t have a lot of playmakers on the perimeter.

Guys have really defended and rebounded. That’s usually a theory for having success. And think about this: We had only three home games in the first 13. So we had an inexperienced team and taking them on road to places like Georgia, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State, Arizona, Wichita State and Morehead State. It wasn’t an easy road to hoe, yet we found a way to be successful. We have a re-

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silient bunch.”

Southern Miss fans need only to look at Tyndall’s track record to see that success was coming, specifically the historic day of March 17, 2011, when Tyndall’s tiny Morehead State team shocked the world and the basketball crazy state of Kentucky. Morehead State, on a 3pointer with 4 seconds to play, upset tradition-rich Louisville and Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

“It was surreal. And even today when I think back about it I am amazed at what took place and how it all fell into place,” Tyndall said. “We were at little tiny Morehead State and the only two NCAA Tournaments the school had played in 25 years were the two we had been to (in 2009 and 2011) and you are playing one of the two in-state powers and playing a Hall of Fame guy in Coach Pitino. We were able to upset them in the NCAA Tournament in the biggest stage of all. It was the biggest win in school history in any sport and I am still prideful of that because I am a graduate from there and played there. So many people around that community will go to their grave saying, “you remember that time when we beat Louisville in the NCAA Tournament?” It was very humbling and there is no other word to use other than

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awesome. It was very overwhelming to think that that all happened at little ol’ Morehead State.”

That incredible moment on the biggest stage in college basketball didn’t come without a lot of hard work and many long hours. Tyndall believes he received a tremendous background for his dedication to the sport of basketball from his mom and stepfather, Dave and Judy Lightfoot. Tyndall’s parents were divorced when he was young and he considers Dave his father.

“My mom and dad were both educators,” Tyndall said. “My mom was a teacher, then a principal. My dad was a teacher, principal and superintendent of schools. So education has always been at the forefront of everything I’ve done and certainly I’ve tried to engrain that into my teams. At Morehead, we graduated 13 of our 14 seniors that went through the program. My parents were very well educated, goal-oriented people. My mom in particular was as hard-working an individual as I’ve ever seen. I remember as a young boy, she was finishing up her degree at night, she was driving back and forth on some bad winter nights that you have in Michigan and she went on to work on her master’s so she could be a principal while working at a small private school. She was making $6,500 a year at school, raising two kids and trying to go to school to be a principal. Her work ethic, driven to achieve her goals, certainly helped me, even as a young boy, engrain into my mind about work ethic and when you put your mind to something making it happen. ...Continued, Page 27

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Here we go again After a rocky start together at Morehead State, Tyndall and senior Dwayne Davis are on solid ground this season.

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hen new Southern Miss men’s basketball coach Donnie Tyndall walked into his first meeting with his new team last May he saw a familiar face --- Dwayne Davis. But the freshman Tyndall knew five years ago at Morehead State has grown into a mature senior now.

“When I walked in Dwayne’s eyes were as big as saucers because he couldn’t believe it and I’m sure all he thought was ‘Here we go again,’” Tyndall said. “But we met and talked for about 45 minutes. I could tell right away he had grown up and matured. Dwayne talked about the mistakes he had made.”

“I was shocked to see Coach, but I was a different guy then than I am now and I believe I’ve proved that to him,” Davis said. “I’ve made some mistakes, but I learned from them.”

Davis, a 6-foot-5, 204-pound guard who sat out last season at Southern Miss due to academics, has blossomed into the Golden Eagles’ leading scorer and has been in the Top 10 in Conference USA in scoring, 3-pointers made, 3-point percentage and free throw percentage during this season. And he is on pace to graduate.

Said Tyndall: “Dwayne is like a son to me. I’m so proud of what he has done.”

But it has been quite a journey. Davis was a hot shot recruit from Philadelphia when he signed at Morehead State where Tyndall was the head coach. But their relationship got off to a rocky start.

“He was the Philadelphia Player of the Year and was a non-qualifier academically,” Tyndall said. “He was going to sit out the whole year, then have four years to play at Morehead, but his first semester he was about 240 pounds and didn’t handle his business. It was the first time he was away from home. He didn’t do what he was supposed to do in school and had a couple of run-ins off the floor. We basically moved Dwayne along and put him in a junior college and said if he proved himself after a couple of years we would possibly welcome him back.”

Davis played at Redlands (Okla.) Community College as a freshman, then at Midland (Texas) College as a soph-

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omore. He led Midland to a national junior college runner-up finish and former Southern Miss coach Larry Eustachy signed Davis. But Davis wasn’t academically eligible and had to sit out last season. And then Tyndall reunited with Davis when he was hired last May. “Dwayne is a very passionate and emotional guy like myself and when you are like that, you don’t always handle things the right way,” Tyndall said. “There have been a couple of times this year where I’ve had to go right at him and challenge him. He gets emotional too. That’s a good thing. He has proved himself as a player and is having a great senior year. He is a captain on our team and helping us win. He is on track to graduate in May. I’ve told him he will leave this school with a degree in hand.

The ending of this story is so neat and so special. It is one of those unique situations where things don’t go well early and end up almost like a fairy tale.”

“I am so grateful for everything now and don’t take anything for granted,” Davis said. “I have a positive attitude about life and I’m trying to be a good influence on everyone I meet. I’m getting ready for the real world when I graduate.

“I will be the first one in my family to receive a college degree. I want to be a good example for my younger sister (Tysheea Lumb, 19) and younger brother (Andre Robinson, 11) and my three year-old son (Sahjir David Davis).”

– Robert Wilson

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“My dad was a principal and superintendent. He was in a leadership position and you know that when you are in that position everyone isn’t going to love you or agreed with your decisions. He was superintendent while I was in high school and I was able to watch him and see how he handled adversity and how he dealt with people who didn’t agree with his decisions or the rules he set forth. I watched him handle those situations with poise and professionalism and those are lessons I learned from him. In coaching, not everyone is going to like you or agree with what you do or what play you run. You can’t be bothered by that, you have to stay the course and do what you think is going to be productive. You have to stick to your beliefs and what is going to work. I watched my dad do that all during high school. Many people loved him, but there were times when some weren’t happy with him. Yet, he always handled it professionally so people could see it his way and he could follow his plan for success.

He would get late night phone calls from people who were disgruntled, but I never saw him lose his poise or his composure and those are things I specifically remember about my dad growing up.”

The two coaches who Tyndall gives credit for his success both have strong Mississippi ties. John Brady is from McComb, played at Belhaven College and was an assistant at Mississippi State. Kermit Davis, Jr., is from Leakesville and played at Mississippi State and coached there as an assistant. Brady is now at Arkansas State, Davis at Middle Tennessee State.

“Those two are great mentors to me,” Tyndall said.

“John gave me my first chance at Division I basketball when he was the head coach at LSU and really 80 percent of everything I do is modeled after him and the way he did things. Kermit and I became good friends while assistants at LSU and I worked for Kermit for four years at Idaho and Middle Tennessee State. He is a great people person and a great coach. I learned a great deal from both guys and certainly would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for those two men.”

The move to Hattiesburg has been tremendous for Tyndall except for one very important part of his life is daughters, Taylor, 13, and Gracie, 10. They live in Kentucky with their mom (Tyndall is divorced).

“I knew making the decision I wouldn’t be seeing my daughters as often,” Tyndall said. “They lived an hour away from me when I was at Morehead. That’s been the hardest part of my job is that I don’t get to see them as frequently, but we talk on the phone every single night.

They’ve been here five or six times. That’s been the only

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negative about this job. In my seven years as a head coach, my kids were always around. They’ve been on my bench since they were 6 and 3. My oldest was eating a Rice Krispy treat on the bench during the game and Erin Andrews was interviewing her on national TV. How much bigger does it get than that? And a couple of years later, we are beating Coach Pitino and Louisville while my girls are on the bench. When we hit a 3 with a couple of seconds to go to win the game, Taylor is jumping up and down on the bench going crazy. Then after the game, she is on the court in the mob and hugging the players. Those are moments she was never ever forget.

Long after Daddy is long gone, those are the things she will think about.

Those are the memories I will have when they aren’t around all the time.

They’ve had opportunities like that that most kids never get. That is really, really cool.”

Tyndall does have a significant other in his life, his fiancée Nikki Young.

“We’ve been dating for about four years. Nikki played basketball at the University of Kentucky and I met her about a year after I was divorced,” Tyndall said. “She is a great girl. Nikki took a year off to help me get organized and she has been helping with (Southern Miss head women’s basketball coach) Joye Lee-McNelis some. We will probably get married summer after next. She understands the game having been a part of a Division I program. Nikki understands the work load. When I got divorced I said I would never get married again and within a year I fell in love.”

Another plus has been Tyndall’s parents, who have been able to stay in Hattiesburg for most of this season.

“My parents came to Hattiesburg late this summer and fell in love with it,” Tyndall said. “They normally spend about five months of the year in Florida, but decided to come down here instead. They came around the first of the year. They’ve lived with me. That’s cool to have your folks right here. Mom makes cookies for the team.”

So by all accounts, Tyndall’s first year at Southern Miss has been success. He has been able to continue his dream of being a college basketball coach and still receive a natural high like he did with his first basket in the fourth grade.

Robert Wilson is a national award-winning sports writer who worked at The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss., for more than two decades and covered Southern Miss athletics from 1989-1998.

He is now a publisher, author, teacher, tutor, free-lance writer and business developer and lives in Jackson. Email him at robert@southern.ms

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Flying high..

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hainsaw artist Dayton Scoggins has been busy reshaping an ailing live oak located on campus at The University of Southern Mississippi into a beloved icon.

The tree, located on the east side of the Walker Science Building and across from the west entrance of the R.C. Cook Student Union was carved into a golden eagle, the university’s mascot, during a day-long project.

“Dayton is a local carver whose work is well known from some of the (Hurricane) Katrina trees on the coast,” said Loren Erickson, superintendent of campus landscape for Southern Miss. “This tree is dead and would be in need of removal regardless, but the chance for it to remain as an art piece makes its loss much easier to absorb.”

Preservation and maintenance of all trees on the Southern Miss Hattiesburg campus is coordinated through the university’s Tree Management Task Force. When a tree is no longer viable and has to be removed, another tree is planted to remediate the loss to the campus landscape.

However, on this occasion the task force commissioned Scoggins, an international award-winning artist, to transform what remains of the tree trunk into a banking golden eagle.

Photo by Chloe Rouse

This Issue: Black & Gold

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lack and gold have been Southern Miss’ colors since the beginning, thanks to a woman named Florence Burrows Pope who, with her husband, Moran, was in the school’s first class in 1912. In an oral history recorded by former University President William D. McCain in 1965, Mrs. Pope told of being the senior class sponsor at Carson School during the 1910-11 school year when her classmates were arguing about selection of the class colors.

“On a trip home, I saw great masses of Black-Eyed Susans in the pine forests. I decided to encourage my senior class to gather Black-Eyed Susans to spell out the name of the class on sheets to be displayed during exercises on Class Day. I then suggested black and gold as class colors, and my suggestion was adopted.

One of the teachers at Carson, Miss Edna Burns, then brought black and gold hatbands in Jackson for the two boys in the senior class, Charlie Laird and Moran M. Pope.”

On Aug. 4, 1912, Burrow and Pope were married and the next month they entered Mississippi Normal College in its first class. Many years later, she recalled that Pope “wore his straw hat to Mississippi Normal College and students laughed at his black and gold headband.”

Soon after school opened, a committee was appointed to make recommendations concerning school colors and Florence was placed on the committee.

“We were charged with selecting colors which no other college in Mississippi had adopted,” she said. “Marye Miller suggested that the colors be maroon and gray. I suggested that they be black and gold. The two suggestions were submitted to the student body, and the student body voted to have black and gold as the school colors.”

Since that day, mascots, names, customs and the campus have changed, but black and gold have remained.

Photo by Matt Bush

Photo by Charley Tynes

Photo by Matt Bush

Photo by Matt Bush

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Southern Miss Police Officer Jared Pierce stands just outside the Ogletree House, which was seriously damaged by a tornado that struck the campus on Feb. 10.

– Photo by Kelly Dunn

Winds of fate

Southern Miss police officer, others come to aid of tornado victim

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ometimes, the winds of fate will put a person in the most unusual, uncomfortable, unforgettable circumstances. That is precisely where University of Alabama sophomore Annelise Moreau found herself as she came face-to-face with a monstrous tornado that raked the Hattiesburg area, including The University of Southern Mississippi campus, on Feb. 10.

“I was horrified because I had a front row seat into the center of a tornado. I was sure I was going to die,” said Moreau, 20, who was driving through Hattiesburg as the weather worsened that Sunday evening. “Most people don’t usually get to see the guts of a tornado and go on to describe it.”

The F-4 twister destroyed or damaged nearly 2,000 homes along a trek that took it through seven South Mississippi counties – Marion, Lamar, Forrest, Perry, Jones,

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Greene and Wayne. Several people suffered minor-tomoderate injuries, but the storm claimed no lives.

Most Southern Miss students were away for a Mardi Gras holiday when the tornado tore through the front part of campus. Six buildings suffered extensive damage, including the venerable Ogletree House which contained the Alumni Association offices. Approximately 75 trees were lost, including four legacy oak trees estimated to be nearly 90 years old.

Moreau rode out the tornado in her Toyota Camry less than 100 feet from the decimated Ogletree House. Mere minutes after the storm passed, Southern Miss Police Officer Jared Pierce found a dazed and panic-stricken Moreau screaming for assistance.

“In that moment after the storm, there was no one else but me and her,” said Pierce, a member of the Southern

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Photo by Matt Bush

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Photo by Patrick Lowery

As she pulled onto Hardy Street, Moreau began to notice the sky growing more ominous behind her... Electrical transformers began exploding intermittently

Miss UPD since 2009. “I just knew I had to get her to safety and away from any more danger at whatever cost. Her life was at stake.”

The lives of two complete strangers became forever intertwined that fateful day. Here’s how it happened: Moreau had spent the weekend with her parents enjoying Mardi Gras festivities in her hometown of Mandeville, La. Traveling north on Interstate 59, en route to her apartment in Tuscaloosa, she encountered a digital sign that flashed a tornado warning.

Unsure of what action might be the best to take, Moreau phoned her parents – Jim and Julie Moreau -- for advice.

“My parents pulled up the weather map and told me to take the next exit and drive down Hardy Street to the Southern Miss campus and then find a big building to get into,” said Moreau, who was traveling with two companions – her cat, Sully, and hedgehog, Ponchy.

As she pulled onto Hardy Street, now heading east, Moreau began to notice the sky growing more ominous behind her. Even worse, electrical transformers began exploding intermittently. Still conversing with her parents, Moreau found an entrance to the Southern Miss campus that ultimately took her to Championship Lane – a service road that runs adjacent to the Ogletree House.

Moreau had no idea that she had turned and parked directly into the tornado’s path.

“I told my parents that I was about to be in a tornado; that it was headed right toward me,” she said. “Momma told me to get out of the car and get in a ditch, but there was no time and no ditch. Just then I watched the alumni building split, and I completely lost it. I watched it crack, then it seemed like the broken section started to slightly rise. Then the bricks tumbled down into a heap and the lighter debris lifted and then dissolved into the sky.”

What took less than 30 seconds felt like an eternity to Moreau, who sat helplessly as the ferocious wind and debris pounded her car. “I started screaming, ‘I love you’ over and over ...continued, Page 38

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Photo by Charley Tynes

‘I watched the alumni building split, and I completely lost it. I watched it crack, then it seemed like the broken section started to slightly rise.

Then the bricks tumbled down into a heap and the ligher debris lifted and then dissolved into the sky.’ - Annelise Moreau

Photo by Lee Cave

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Photo by Patrick Lowery

Map illustration by Charley Tynes

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Photo by Matt Bush

Photo byUSM Public Relations

Photo by USM Public Relations

again to my parents hoping that if these were my last words, they would mean something,” she recalled.

Huge branches from a nearby oak tree slammed into the car and two windows shattered shortly thereafter.

With rain, wind and debris now stinging her face Moreau began to seriously ponder her mortality.

“I remember thinking, if I’m going to die, do I want to keep my eyes open and watch it happen, or just close my eyes and let it happen? So I kept opening and closing my eyes as my mind was racing,” she said.

Jim Moreau could only listen helplessly as the tornado terrorized his daughter. He concedes that the possibility of never seeing her again crossed his mind.

“It’s horrible the thoughts that run through your head in a nanosecond of terror,” said Moreau, who has a general dentistry practice in Mandeville, La. “I say repeatedly that I have prayed for many people in many situations.

This was the most desperate I have cried out to God for

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help, knowing there are times when He will let His nature do its worst.”

And suddenly, the fury ended. Pierce, who had watched the tornado’s progression from his UPD cruiser, raced to the front of campus where he discovered a frantic Moreau.

“She was quite shaken and visibly upset,” said Pierce.

“She was on the phone with her parents and trying to explain to them where she was. She didn’t know what to do with her car, and I advised her that it wasn’t going to go anywhere anytime soon and that we needed to get her out of the weather.”

Pierce escorted Moreau to Wilbur Hall, one of the women’s dormitories on campus, and quickly briefed residents there on what the Alabama student had just endured. The outpouring of concern surprised and soothed Moreau.

“I have never been so loved by so many strangers in my life,” she said. “Even now, I don’t remember all of their

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Photo by USM Public Relations

‘I have never been so loved by so many strangers in my life.

Those girls were heaven-sent, but without Officer Pierce being my first sign of hope and help, I would have stayed in my wet and torn-up car.’

- Annelise Moreau

Photo by Matt Bush

names. But if I saw them again, I’d recognize them immediately and show even more of my gratitude. These girls were heaven-sent. But without Officer Pierce, being my first sign of hope and help, I would have just stayed in my wet and torn-up car.”

Pierce, the father of a 10-week old daughter, does not consider his actions that day to be heroic. “I thought about how I would want an officer to treat my baby girl if she were ever in that predicament,” said Pierce. “I didn’t do anything special. I was doing what I have been called to do and that is to serve people,” said Pierce.

Chief Bob Hopkins noted that Pierce’s decisive action “exemplifies the commitment of the University Police Department and Southern Miss in providing the best service possible to the campus community and its visitors.”

“I am extremely proud of Officer Pierce’s vigilance during that time of crisis and his commitment to Annelise

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and her need for assistance,” said Hopkins.

Moreau had visited the Southern Miss campus briefly once before as a high school student trying to decide between attending college in Hattiesburg or Tuscaloosa. A die-hard Alabama fan, she acknowledges and appreciates the unique bond that ties her to Southern Miss.

“Officer Pierce definitely holds a special place in my heart now,” she said. “There no way to talk about the horror I felt and then contrast that with how it felt to feel safe again. He was a blessing. They all were. Literally, they were answered prayers.”

Van Arnold serves as assistant director for news and media relations at The University of Southern Mississippi. He has worked in the Office of Communications for 3 1/2 years. Prior to that he spent 30 years at the Hattiesburg American newspaper in a variety of roles, including sports editor and assistant managing editor. Arnold is a Hattiesburg native and a Southern Miss alumnus (1979).

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Shamrock fun!

T

he Kappa Deltas at the University of Southern Mississippi recently held a weekend of fun which included a pancake breakfast fundraiser and their own Super Bowl football game.. –See more, Page 46, 47

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DUGOUT CLUB BANQUET

Batter up!

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ormer Southern Miss baseball standout Brian Dozier was the keynote speaker for the 10th annual Dugout Club Banquet held at the Thad Cochran Center. Dozier played at USM from 2006-09 before being drafted by the Minnesota Twins.

Billy and Blake Brown

Chad Caillet

Samantha and Paul Walley

Ashley and Cheyenne Causey, Alexis Huddleston

Bob and Michelle Palmer

Christian and Larry Doleac

Brooke Dial, Carol Tindle

Finley Hewes, Jerry Gundlach, Temple Innis

Emily Branch, Jimmy Pierce

Andy and Donna Brown

Temple Innis, Billy Hewes, Finley Hughes, Jerry Gundlach

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Jena Carroll, Sherri Giannini

Rocky Heathcock, Kelly Jarvis, Karen Johnson

Tod McInnis, Derwin Bales

Jimmy Pierce, Hayward Anderson

Kalan McWilliams, Marlie Moorhead

Rachel Patrick, Theresa and Russell Hewitt

Joey Harris, Breck Kline

Marie and Steven May

Kaite Witlicki, Richard Ellis

Tyler and Gerry Fletcher

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EMERSON DRIVE CONCERT

Katelyn Gibson, Andrew Slemaker

Travis Broadus, David Sliman, Jacob Creel, Nick Stevens, Madison Rosonet

Erica Lee, Dane Jennings, Harley

Fun afternoon

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rammy Award-winning band Emerson Drive brought its high-energy show to USM and local food vendors set up for for a Taste of the ‘Burg at Pride Field. The men’s basketball team hosted the University of Alabama Birmingham following the festivities.

Joe and Maggie Clark

Susan Broadbridge, Alexis Gennusa, Sarah Thiel

Kelly McLeod, Charlie Easterling, Travis Thornhill

Nicolet Hopper, Macie Case, Jamie Jackson

Sandra and Steve Sessums

Tinsley Garren, Valerie Remich, Brandon Baker, Erin Mehta Page 44

Ted Tomeny, Anna Womack SOUTHERN MAGAZINE

Terri, Meredith, Drew and Ty Irons

Danedra Rogers, Ashlea Hodge, Faythe Tate

Jessica Taylor-Potts, Nadia Potts, Peri Brown, Glen Nelson

Spencer Stewart, Alex Gieger, Will Chandler www.southern.ms

D Andie Nowak, Janice Nowak

Alanna Fopiano, Sabrina Young

Melissa Blair, Candace Young

Jennifer Parker, Kristen Bertram

Bridget Kirkwood, DeAhna Wright, Matthew Rodgers

Lacey Higbee, Hannah Oswalt, Katie Barnes

Andre Heath, Carmen Hall, DeTrell Miller

Mary Ann Adams, Claire Kimberly www.southern.ms

Mandi Harley, Emily Lymon

Ally, Dennis, Kristie and Emily Rhodes

Tori Hopkins, Emily Freeman

Koneshia Lewis, Nia Edwards, Kabrea Jones

Elizabeth, Mary Lou, Jeff and Ellen Suss

Ashlyn Has, Marissa Hamilton

Melanie Gilmore, Kathy Johnson, Elizabeth Tinon

Susan Graham, Brianne Nugent

Mary and Lynn Ward

Alvin Holder, Debrah Booth, Amlan Mitra, Meredith Barefield, Sandra Nash

Megan Wilkinson, Haley Lewis

Julie Fletcher, Morgan McCullough

SOUTHERN MAGAZINE

uring the annual Black and Gold Day on the USM campus, high school seniors and their parents were invited to tour the campus and check about scholarship possibilities.

BLACK & GOLD DAY

Welcome srs.

Kristen Rizzuto, Rebekkah Unbehagen

Brianna Fontaine, Victoria Green Page 45

KD SHAMROCK EVENT

Erin Gibson, Sarah Jayne, Chelsie Hilton

Brittany Compton, Ashley Hebert, Haleigh Hughes

Meggie Merritt, Mallory Maples

Luck of KD

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he Kappa Delta sorority held its annual Shamrock events which included a run, pancake breakfast and their very own Shamrock Super Bowl football game. Proceeds raised funds for the sorority’s charitable projects.

Rebecca Valentine, Allison Stennis, Pageann Stephens, Brandy Freeman

McKenzie Raley, Rachel Beech, Ardan Thornhill

Ansley Davis, Elizabeth Osborne, Brice Harkey, Alex O’Barr Amy Hooper, Rachel Causey, Taylor Magee, Brittan Masse, Anna Tauchar, Alex Steel

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Omar Abdulhafiz, Ashton Swartzfager, Donkan Craddock, Gabby Brooks, Jacob Fitzgerald

Ashley Hebert, Erin McLeod, Lane Hebert, Alexa Moore, Daisey

Lauren Killgore, Heather Chopin, Nancy Miller, Mary Kathryn Lauderdale

Anna Cubbage, Kelsey Cannon, Leslie Goff

Renee Bourdreaux, Riley Langford, Madeline Bordelon, Kelsey Douset

Alexis Tymkin, Kinsey Eiland

Ashton Swartzfager, Savannah Barlow, Ellen Douglas, Jacob Fitzgerald, Clark Kunz, Hunter Nichols, Daisy

Matt Woods www.southern.ms

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AUTOGRAPH SIGNINGS

Gerald McRath, Tracy Lampley

Morgan Cook, Lindsey Tatum

Lindsey Tatum, Brandon Teasley, Morgan Cook

Jerry and Steve Dyess

Steve Strickland, Catrel Pollard

Jasmine Cooper, Mikkel Ware

Anna Grissett, Susan Waldrop

Trio of talent

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ampus Book Mart on Hardy Street hosted Gerald McRath (Tennessee Titans), Tracy Lampley (USM player) and Collin Cargill (Florida Marlins) for an autograph signing the day before the tornado struck and did extensive damage to both the Book Mart and USM campus.

Josie and Sarah Price

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Collin Cargill, Tracy Lampley, Gerald McRath, Jeremy Snowden

Barry and Sandra Hunter

Stan, Thomas and Cindy King

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Chelsey Everett, Kristina Carroll

USM MASS COMMUNICATIONS

Allan Nation, Pat West, Pam Firmin

Kaleigh Kulotta, Jonathan McGowen, Engitshun Magee

Steel Magnolias

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Christopher Warshauer, Nikki Shelton

Steve Coleman, Scott Boyd, Chuck Cook

Emily DeVoe, Kaleigh Culotta

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Jae-Hwa Shin, Wesley French

Christopher Campbell, Melissa Scallan

Kenneth McLaurin, Emily DeVoe, Engitshun Magee

Jill Coll, Fei Xue

Leslie Nash, Keenon Walker

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he USM School of Mass Communication and Journalism honored four USM graduates with induction in the MC Hall of Fame. They were Rebecca Baldwin, Margaret Loesch, SallyAnn Roberts and Dr. Martha Saunders.

Mindy Phillips, Gerri Ducksworth, Charlotte McLough

Paul Linden, Vanessa Murphree

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SOUTHERN QUARTERLY JUBILEE

Aubrey Lucas, Iris Easterling, Philip Kolin, Bo Morgan

Rusty Rolison, Ashlea Maddox, Steve Moser

50 golden years

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he University of Southern Mississippi recently celebrated the Southern Quarterly Jubilee issue. The College of Arts and Letters, which edits and produces the journal, recently hosted a gala celebrating 50 years of publication excellence. The event was held at the Ogletree House, prior to the devastating tornado of Feb. 10 which severely damaged Ogletree and other USM landmarks.

Commemorative autographed issues of the Southern Quarterly were given to guests. The university has been publishing the Quarterly since 1962.

Vanessa Murphree, Jon Mark Weathers

Eric Tribunella, Jennifer Brannock, Dave Davies, Fei Xue

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Angela Ball, Steve Moser

Jay Norton, Jeanee Gillespie

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Patricia Pinson, Mary Anderson Pickard, Earnest Pinson

Luis Iglesias, Rebecca Morgan Frank

Lashonda Thompson, Andrea Wiesen

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USM 100 YEARS GALA

Julie and Alton Pierce, Mark Buchanan, Paige Bennett

Lloyd Lambeth, Deven Matthews, Will Moore, Deonne Moore

Black, Gold, Black, Gold!

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s part of the 100 Years of Championships and Commencements celebration, Southern Miss hosted The 100 Years Gala at Lake Terrace Convention Center in Hattiesburg. The highlights of this once-in-a-lifetime event included a reception, dinner, silent auction, round table discussion with the Voice of the Golden Eagles, John Cox, along with several Golden Eagle legends. Also the athletic department unveiled the Top 5 moments in Southern Miss Football history.

Paul Stafiej, Leigh Ann Holland, Michelle Pontiff

Kirsten Vok, Grady Moorehead

Mike and Phyllis Seal Page 52

Joe and JoJo Bryant, Gloria, Doug and Tatum Taylor

Felecia and James Ray Carpenter, Debbie Collins

Nate Brooks, Jerrica Brown, Nadia Nixon, Eric Zitter

Randy, Tracey, Gail and Judy Jones SOUTHERN MAGAZINE

Ella and Dr. Aubrey Lucas

Kemp Cook, Vic and Gaye Purvis

Kenneth, Brett and Ken Rushing www.southern.ms

Dan and Susie McCallum, Sherry and Mike Arrington, Carr and James Brown

Emily Dykes, Derek Houtz

Carolyn Shearer, Janet Johnston

Preston and Hayes Hansford

Lauren Courville, Kristen Smith, Sierra Howard

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Nick and Karen Crutcher, Andra and Gerry Powell

Shea Gibson, Kalynda Gunn

Ken and Erin Bradley

Bill Doherty, Leighton Miller, Moses Hill, Sandra Marciani, Kinlock Bell, Shirley Hill, Marshall Bell, Loui Marciani

Jessica Walz, Robert McDonough, Gareth Murphree

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Dr. Ronald and Charlie Graham

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FRENCH QUARTER FUN AT USM

Samantha Slayton, Megan Leamond, Donell Wilson

Camille Godwin, Anna Rawls, Vanessa Murphree

Savannah Hooper, Lizzy Rhett, Rebecca Roppolo

That’s some music

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he University of Southern Mississippi College of Arts & Letters and Honors Forum brought New Orleans jazz and culture to the Hub City as they hosted Doreen Ketchens, a musical legend from the French Quarter. Ketchens performed at the Thad Cochran Center.

Chelsea Simmons, Ashley Felder

Laura Sipsey, Steve Adamson

Ryan Parker, Yalanda Cruz, Robert Williamson

Jordan Rice, Amanda Brandon

Josh Jones, Brandon Howard Richardson Page 54

Rachael Luckett, Robyn Riley, Matthew Bennett, Kyle Stoner, Alexis Tymkin

Dr. Kimberly Davis, LeKasa Wallace, Patrick Hearns

Molly Hanberry, Savannah Rummel, Kayla Scharfenstein

Robbie and Thelma Roberson SOUTHERN MAGAZINE

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USM-COCA COLA RODEO

Kacey, Victoria and Jonathan Lavigne Keirston Mills, Debbie, Bill and Hunter Pulliam

Gracie, Audrey and Levi Batte

“Greatest Show on Dirt”

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he 28th Annual Southern Miss Coca-Cola Classic Rodeo was held at the Forrest Co. Multipurpose Center. Lecile Harris, six-time Pro Rodeo Clown of th Year, made an appearance. USM alum Micky Harrington, served as grand marshal.

Deanna Tingle, Maurice Montague, Ashton Rosario

Gray Shelley, Holly Wade

Rhonda Stephens, Braxton Rosario, Timmy Stephens

Joanna Rochelle, Jeffrey Gardner, Ashley Bowler

Will and Earnest Burton, Curtis and Tina Patrick

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Tonie Higginbotham, Brooklyn Bradyn

Susan Davidson, Betty Love

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Photo by Patrick Lowery

Hattiesburg heals.

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attiesburg hurts. The storms of February 10th left holes in the buildings and the hearts of those who live in and love the Hub City. But as absolute a reality as the damage done, another truth emerges, sure to endure through the city’s road to recovery. Hattiesburg heals.

A survey of the damage to the city serves as a hard reminder that storms are authors of despair. They rip, tear, tatter, break, and frighten. They catalyze loss. Storms undo what people have worked hard to see done. They strip away security and steal joy. What the years have given, storms can take in seconds. Hattiesburg can testify to this sense of woundedness all too well, right now.

Tornadoes are authors of despair, no doubt, but they are also composers of hope.

Soul Food The storm tore through, and the pictures of ravaged homes, roofless buildBy Corey ings, and splintered telephone poles LATTA emerged.

Amazingly, and a true testimony to the ‘Burg’s enduring spirit, other images and signs also appeared.

A large rock sitting in a landscape of debris with “SMTTT!” spray-painted in quick drawn yellow letters.

Kind hearted people trudging through homes’ remains to embrace their anguished neighbors.

Facebook posts from burdened citizens organizing cleanup and relief efforts. Prayers shot across the Twittersphere.

Images that show a sense of unity among and renewed commitment to the city not felt for years. Literally thousands of pictures have appeared to testify that despite the destruction and amidst the damage, storms can create a sense of hope unlike a city has rarely known.

And the composition of this hope, the very act of it being written in a city united to rebuild and restore, is called healing. Without the wound, there would be no healing.

Without the hurt, no mending. Without the loss of what was, no rejoicing in what still is and no faith in what can be.

This is the beauty of healing, even the beauty of the storm that creates the healing: that it instills a perspective that changes a life, and in the case of Hattiesburg, the life of an entire city.

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Author Haruki Murakami says, “When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in.

That’s what this storm’s all about.”

It is one of the great laws of healing that the healed final product is often different from its hurt earlier incarnation.

Simply put, healing changes. The change that healing brings is the promise of a better aftermath. The healed Hattiesburg will be different from the Hattiesburg so im-

Storms are authors of despair, no doubt, but they are also composers of hope. mensely hurt by tornados.

The healed Hattiesburg will be greater. It will have known the true value of loving bonds when weighed against the loss of material gains. The healed Hattiesburg will consist of neighbors really knowing their neighbors for the first time.

The healed Hattiesburg will more fully realize the proud motto of its flagship University: “Southern Miss To The Top!” A new Hattiesburg will emerge from the storm a greater city, inhabited by a more resolved people.

This collective, communal healing is what the storm is all about now. In the days and weeks of rebuilding, Hattiesburg will surpass storm’s damage through the outpouring of the citizens’ united altruism.

As the mending eclipses the hurting and the rebuilding erases the rubble, this aftermath’s truth shines: Hattiesburg Heals.

Corey lives, writes, and teaches in his hometown of Memphis. He received his PhD in Literature at The University of Southern Mississippi and now teaches theology and literature at Victory University in Memphis. A writer with multiple creative and academic publications, Corey most enjoys writing poetry and musings on culture, literature, and theological themes. He either spends his time in his favorite local coffee shop, in the gym, or at the movies. If it relates to art, music, film, literature, philosophy, or life in the South, then it interests Corey. Email him at corey@southern.ms.

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