Jacksonian Magazine - Summer 2015 by Jackson State University

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Engineered to succeEd

JACKSON STATE UNIVERSITY

Engineering Building Wing addition

Welcome to JSUOnline

JSUOnline degree programs were designed with your busy life in mind. These programs allow you to take advantage of college studies and obtain a degree while you balance your family life and employment. You can earn a quality education and work toward achieving your long-term career goals at your convenience. No campus visits necessary. Take all classes online.

Programs offered: Undergraduate • • • •

Childcare and Family Education, B.S. Healthcare Administration, B.S. Professional Interdisciplinary Studies, B.S. Technology, B.S.

(Concentration in Emergency Management Technology)

Groundbreaking for the JSU College of Science, Engineering and Technology Classroom Complex June 18, 2015

The Engineering Building at Jackson State University, designed as a contemporary teaching tool for science and engineering programs, is a remarkable manifestation of applied engineering technologies. In fact, it is the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certified* building in the city of Jackson, Mississippi.

Graduate • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Business Administration, M.B.A. Early Childhood Education, M.S.Ed. Education, Ed.S. (Concentration in School Counseling) Education, Ed.S. (Concentration in Psychometry) History, M.A. Health, Physical Education and Recreation, M.S.Ed. Reading, M.S. Science and Math Teaching, M.S.T. (Concentration in Biology) Special Education, M.S.Ed., Ed.S. Sport Science, M.S. Education Administration Supervisions, M.S. Education Administration, Ed.S. (Concentration in Higher Education) Master of Arts in Teaching, M.A.T.

(Concentration in Elementary and Secondary Education)

Engineered to succeed FACILITY EXPANSION UNDERWAY Inside cover

Passport to the World A NEW APPROACH TO STUDYING ABROAD

For more info visit www.jsums.edu/jsuonline, call 601-979-0779 or email jsuonline@jsums.edu

Page 22

Now, to accommodate the rapidly growing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields at JSU, a two-story, 23,352-square-foot wing is being added. This significant addition is due in large part to the strong support from Gov. Phil Bryant as well as leadership from the Mississippi Legislature, including the Honorable Phillip Gunn, speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives and distinguished alumni, the Honorable Angela Cockerham and the Honorable Kenneth Wayne Jones, chair of the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus. Offices, classrooms and student areas for the Department of Computer Science and the Department of Industrial Systems and Technology will be housed in the wing. It also will include 3-D visualization technology, robotics, and small computer laboratories. The expansion of the Engineering Building aligns with JSU’s commitment as a Carnegie Foundation-designated “high-research activity” university, to provide students and faculty an environment in which to excel. We invite you to be part of this exciting endeavor. *LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and is a rating system for “green” buildings. Supported by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), LEED Certification recognizes a subset of buildings that were designed, built, and/or maintained with sustainability in mind.

8.5 Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Jacksons, MS Permit No. 329

1400 John R. Lynch St. P.O. Box 17144 | Jackson MS 39217

Apply Today!

Engineered to succeEd

JACKSON STATE UNIVERSITY

Engineering Building Wing addition

Welcome to JSUOnline

Programs offered: Undergraduate • • • •

Childcare and Family Education, B.S. Healthcare Administration, B.S. Professional Interdisciplinary Studies, B.S. Technology, B.S.

(Concentration in Emergency Management Technology)

Groundbreaking for the JSU College of Science, Engineering and Technology Classroom Complex June 18, 2015

Graduate • • • • • • • • • • • • •

(Concentration in Elementary and Secondary Education)

Engineered to succeed FACILITY EXPANSION UNDERWAY Inside cover

Passport to the World A NEW APPROACH TO STUDYING ABROAD

For more info visit www.jsums.edu/jsuonline, call 601-979-0779 or email jsuonline@jsums.edu

Page 22

JSU ENGINEERING BUILDING PHASE II

The College of Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET) is a highly respected academic unit that supports the threefold mission of Jackson State University by: • Providing high-quality education in science and technology; • Advancing scientific knowledge through research; • Providing technical expertise to businesses, industries and governmental bodies. CSET offers 16 bachelor, 10 master, and four doctoral degree programs and has distinguished itself with outstanding faculty and staff dedicated to providing both the quality education and science leadership necessary to achieve the highest possible level of excellence. Jackson State University is committed to expanding CSET with the support of corporate partners and private sustainers. Please contact Dr. Richard Alo, CSET dean, or Angela Getter, Fund Development officer, to learn how you can assist. Dr. Richard Aló, dean (601) 979-2153 richard.a.alo@jsums.edu College of Science, Engineering and Technology 1400 John R. Lynch Street P.O. Box 17098 Jackson, MS 39217 Angela Getter Fund Development Officer (601) 979-0976 angela.y.getter@jsums.edu

Join a Community of

SCHOLARS THE GRADUATE SCHOOL

The decision to pursue a graduate education is a serious one, requiring commitment and hard work. The benefits of earning a graduate degree are many: Opportunity to earn more money and to gain more professional respect Opportunity for scholarly growth Opportunity to elevate your current career – or change your career path. The Graduate School at Jackson State University is here to challenge minds and change lives. Contact us today so we can help you chart a course that meets your needs, fits your schedule and expands your intellectual horizons.

For more information please call 601.979.2455 or email us at graduate@jsums.edu.

CONTENTS

SUMMER 2015 Volume 14, No. 1

19 Scholarship winners 46 Fall Football Schedule 56 Honor Roll of Donors

Lawmakers and the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees give the green light to Jackson State University to establish the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first School of Public Health and approve $2 million in funding in the process.

The decision to bring Jackson State Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s outsourced online program in-house in Fall 2014 quickly pays off, with enrollment above 300 and growing and its initial seven programs increasing to 19.

Passport to the World, a new faculty-led study abroad program operating under the umbrella of JSU Global, opens up international study opportunities and, in doing so, is expected to be emulated nationwide.

COVER STORY

JSUONLINE

JSU GLOBAL

12 CELEBRATE

Book festivals and events statewide mark the centennial birthday of author and JSU educator Margaret Walker.

EATURES

Famed poet Nikki Giovanni speaks on campus during a Margaret Walker centennial celebration event.

The Jacksonian is published biannually by the Jackson State University Office of Communications. The U.S. Department of

Education Title III program helps fund its production.

Interim Executive Director of University Communications Robert Jeuitt

Director of Public Relations Olivia Goodheart

Editorial/design consultant Tammy Ramsdell

Writers 20

featured

UNVERSITY LEADERSHIP 08 | Four more years

Record enrollments and expansion are noted with the renewal of presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s contract.

CONNECTING

16 | Civil rights daughters

JSU brings the daughters of Medgar Evers and Malcolm X together publicly for the first time.

PARTNERSHIPS

20 | Support our tigers

Historic partnership with the Jackson Zoo includes adoption of Eko, a tiger cub.

CAMPUS TO COMMUNITY 9, 10 | Hot topics

Former Gov. Haley Barbour and Congressman Bennie Thompson talk politics, HBCUs.

40 | In a class of their own

JSU graduates largest class ever, and NAACP president, alum delivers commencement address.

STUDENT LIFE

35 | Adapting from Algeria

Marketing major and photographer Anissa Hidouk shares insights as an international student.

Photographers

Charles A. Smith, chief photographer Deontae Williams Anissa Hidouk, JSU student

Guest photographer

FACULTY

26 | Two weeks in Brazil

Professor Kenyatta Stewart creates a study abroad program that ignites the imagination.

Kenyatta Stewart, JSU art professor

Graphic Design Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Artagnan Winford, art director

36 | Russian resolve

Dr. Tatiana Glushko positions JSU as a worldwide advocate of writing centers.

ALUMNI IN ACTION

30 | Brave in a New World

Gabrielle Frazier spends three years teaching overseas and adventuring across Europe and Asia.

University Communications 1400 John R. Lynch Street H.P. Jacobs Administration Tower Second Floor P.O. Box 17490, Jackson MS 39217 jsutoday@jsums.edu 601-979-2272

42 | Justice for all

Judge Carlton Reeves discusses voting rights, activism and his days at JSU.

47 | Revamped rec complex

Grand reopening, including the Payton Center, reflects emphasis on recreation, fitness and health.

Jim Ewing L.A. Warren Bette Pearce Jeff Ayers Tammy Ramsdell

Facebook - Jackson State University Twitter and Instagram - @JacksonStateU

IN BRIEF

Cover photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

A picture is worth a thousand words.

See related photo galleries at

WWW.JSUMS.PHOTOSHELTER.COM

WWW.JSU.EDU Keep up on the latest news and events. Explore campus and course offerings.

Leadership

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Dear Jacksonians: Through education, our students are given the groundwork to pursue many paths in life, and the latest is one Jackson State University has long waited to offer. Earlier this year, our state lawmakers, the governor, and the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees approved our proposal — and backed it with $2 million in funding — to create a School of Public Health, the first in the state of Mississippi. The ramifications are far-reaching. Healthcare, long at the forefront of national conversations, is directly tied not only to every one of our citizens but to the very economic health and wellbeing of our state. As the only university in the state offering a doctoral public health degree program, we are well versed in healthcare’s many complexities, from prevention strategies to policymaking. We also are ideally located to further advance the capital city’s emerging healthcare corridor. The Jacksonian details this endeavor in its cover story and further offers a look at other exciting developments, including a major expansion of our College of Science, Engineering and Technology building now underway, our revamped recreational center, our new Passport to the World program operating under the JSU Global umbrella, and our unique partnership with the Jackson Zoo designed to help preserve the endangered Sumatran tiger species. Finally, no issue of The Jacksonian would be complete without coverage of our students, faculty, staff, alumni, corporate partners, donors and friends. Your incredible accomplishments and support, in fact, have necessitated making this our largest issue to date. Thank you all and enjoy The Jacksonian. Carolyn W. Meyers President Jackson State University

jackson state university

Cover Story

JSU SCHOOL of PUBLIC HEALTH

Changing the healthcare landscape of mississippi

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Cover Story

“Public health is essential to everything we do in the state — our well-being, economic development. JSU’s future and the state’s future are interlocked.” — Ron Davis, Mississippi Public Health Association president

By Jeff Ayers

ississippi for decades has ranked last or near the bottom among all states in a slew of lifethreatening or life-altering health conditions — obesity, diabetes, infant mortality. These conditions are exacerbated by factors that shut many of the state’s residents out of access to affordable healthcare and forces those who can afford it but live in small towns without practicing doctors to drive dozens, if not hundreds, of miles to Jackson and other large cities to seek treatment. Jackson State University — through its School of Public Health — plans to both attack the ailments that claim the lives of so many Mississippians and uplift the communities where they live by encouraging healthier lifestyles and by addressing health disparities facing under-served and at-risk populations in particular. A first for the state of Mississippi, the School of Public Health also will figure prominently into the growing role of healthcare as an economic driver in the state. The school’s studies will focus not so much on simply diagnosing and then treating a particular condition in a clinical setting but on connecting the proliferation of conditions to communities and addressing them through policymaking and various services. Improving the health and quality of life in such communities will help lower the risk of chronic health problems spreading from generation to generation, says Dr. Marinelle Payton, a professor of epidemiology at JSU. “We’ll have public health practitioners that will have the knowledge that you can get only with a public health curriculum,” she said. The Mississippi Legislature this year approved $2 million

to help establish the School of Public Health, and fundraising will be done over time to help the program grow. The School of Public Health will be part of JSU’s College of Public Service and will be based at the Jackson Medical Mall. A nine-person search committee will select the school’s dean. That panel includes not only JSU educators and administrators but one undergraduate and graduate student each as well as Dr. Mary Currier, director of the Mississippi Department of Health. “I am honored to be a part of the selection committee. This new School of Public Health could have impact across the state, setting the public health research agenda that will further the knowledge about how best to improve the health of the population of Mississippi,” Currier said. While JSU has offered master’s-level studies in public health since 1999 and a doctorate degree in the field since 2005, the School of Public Health will represent the university’s most structured yet multifaceted exploration of the discipline to date. Dr. Ricardo A. Brown, dean of JSU’s College of Public Service, has said broadening the university’s public health studies accomplishes “our longstanding goal to address the healthcare needs of the residents of Mississippi.” The School of Public Health will feature three departments — Behavioral and Environmental Health, Health Policy and Management and Epidemiology and Biostatistics. It also will expand from three to five the number of curriculum concentrations JSU’s public health program offers. But the effect of the School of Public Health is expected to reach far beyond the classroom. It could help Mississippi address many of the longterm health issues that plague the state and also provide a new talent pool of health professionals — practitioners, researchers or educators — for areas

GOVERNOR, STATE LEADERS

What it means “Not only can our state benefit from more healthcare providers and professionals, our economy can benefit from growth in the healthcare sector.” — Gov. Phil Bryant “We need more public health professionals to study and practice here, particularly in the rural areas. The School of Public Health at JSU will help address our challenges in building a healthy Mississippi.” — Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves “Healthcare is one of the most important issues we deal with day to day and will drive the economy and jobs into the future. Creating a School of Public Health at Jackson State University will produce students who can work in the public health arena. Representative Angela Cockerham worked closely with me to achieve the required funding, and we are all proud that we got this done for our state.” — Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn “Mississippi’s health challenges are well documented. All of our universities share the task of addressing these issues, and Jackson State University’s new School of Public Health is an excellent example of this. Through education, research, and treatment, our universities are helping to improve the health and quality of life of all Mississippians.” — Aubrey Patterson, president of the IHL Board of Trustees at the time of authorization “This new School of Public Health could have impact across the state, setting the public health research agenda that will further the knowledge about how best to improve the health of the population of Mississippi.” — Dr. Mary Currier, director of the state Department of Health

jackson state university

Cover Story

Ricardo A. Brown, dean of the College of Public Service, says the establishment of a School of Public Health meets JSU’s “longstanding goal to address the healthcare needs of the residents of Mississippi.”

Photo by Charles A. Smith| Jacksonian

with a dearth of those professionals or other health advocates. “Not only will it solidify the Capital City as a premier healthcare provider for the state and region, but it will provide a national model for meeting professional healthcare needs,” JSU President Carolyn W. Meyers said when the School of Public Health was announced earlier this year. The need for improved healthcare in Mississippi is clear. The Minnesota health nonprofit United Health Foundation, in its 2014 “America’s Health Rankings” list, ranked Mississippi last overall in the country in terms of people’s health. The study found about 35 percent of Mississippians are obese. Nearly 25 percent smoke. Roughly 38 percent say they don’t get regular exercise. The state, according to the rankings, has an infant mortality rate of 9.1 per 1,000 people. The state that fared best in those rankings, Hawaii, had an infant mortality rate of 5.1 per 1,000. Payton says Mississippi is full of areas where there are “no sidewalks, no recreation centers that are affordable to all” and are marked by “a lack of exercise, a lack of nutrition.” Without focal points for physical activity or a network of professionals who can help people lead healthier lives and in turn create healthier communities, she continued, these communities will continue to watch many of their residents die from heart attacks, diabetes complications and other maladies that can be prevented with a proactive approach. In public health, she said, “You ask, ‘Why? Why do we have this disease (in a certain area) in the first place?’ ” Jobs and the economy A healthy community not only helps its people live longer lives but makes those people better equipped physically to have long-term gainful employment, says Ron Davis, president of the Mississippi Public Health Association. A healthy workforce, he continued, in turn helps draw more jobs and investment to that area. “Public health is essential to everything we do in the state — our well-being, economic development.

the jacksonian

JSU’s future and the state’s future are interlocked,” he said. Indeed, the School of Public Health figures to be a significant asset for the city of Jackson and the state in growing healthcare as an industry. City and state officials are working to create a healthcare corridor that would stretch from I-55 to I-220 and constitute a network combining existing hospitals and clinics with new treatment facilities, laboratories and places where medical supplies are manufactured or distributed. Statewide, Gov. Phil Bryant has backed the creation of “healthcare zones,” typically designated areas along major highways where medical companies are offered tax breaks and other incentives to locate. Jackson Medical Mall’s location on Woodrow Wilson Avenue puts it and the School of Public Health at the heart of Jackson’s planned healthcare corridor and just minutes away from the largest, most technically and scientifically advanced hospitals in the state.

“Not only can our state benefit from more healthcare providers and professionals, our economy can benefit from growth in the healthcare sector,” Bryant, who backed the $2 million in state funding for the School of Public Health, said during a visit to JSU earlier this year. “This program will be a very important part of the healthcare landscape in Mississippi.” It could also help provide more health practitioners, researchers and related professionals to cities and towns with little or no such services. The United Health Foundation study found Mississippi has 81.8 primary-care physicians per 100,000 people. That’s in stark contrast to Hawaii, where there are 140.2 such physicians per 100,000 people. Davis acknowledges starting pay for new practitioners in Mississippi isn’t as great as in other parts of the country and that practitioners, especially in poor or rural areas, “can’t live on promises. They’re going to go where there are patients who can pay.” Still, he says the School of Public Health could help not only train a new generation of professionals but encourage them to stay in Mississippi to develop their careers. Ayers settlement The creation of the School of Public Health at JSU is one of the most notable manifestations yet of the long-term goals set forth in the settlement of a lawsuit filed in 1975 by Jake Ayers Sr. on behalf of his son, Jake Ayers Jr., then a JSU student. The suit contended Mississippi’s three historically black colleges and universities — JSU, Alcorn State University and Mississippi Valley State University — were essentially segregated from the state’s other higher-education institutions in terms of resources and support and had been receiving a disproportionate level of state funding compared to those other schools. The three universities, state officials and the U.S. Department of Justice hammered out a $503 million settlement agreement, finalized in 2002. It includes the three HBCUs splitting $246 million for academic programs. The payments were to be made over the course of 17 years and commenced in 2005. Establishing a School of Public Health had long been a goal for JSU in the wake of the settlement. By the time the Ayers settlement had taken hold, schools in states like Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana and Alabama, each with long-term healthcare problems comparable to Mississippi’s, had established public health studies on undergraduate and post-graduate levels. It is anticipated that students wishing to pursue such careers in public health will now look to Mississippi as an option. Improving the health and quality of life in communities will help lower the risk of chronic health problems spreading from generation to generation, says Dr. Marinelle Payton, a professor of epidemiology at JSU. Jacksonian photo

Cover Story

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

Gov. Phil Bryant discusses his support for a new School of Public Health with Jackson State University leaders during a recent visit to the university.

Related programs The School of Public Health also aims to bolster interest and enrollment in JSU’s current public health programs. The university estimates enrollment in its masterand doctorate-level public health studies to grow by 10 percent each year during the next five years. It could open more eyes to a relatively unexplored part of the healthcare industry in the process, Davis says.

“People have thought of public health as some place where you go to get a birth certificate or a death certificate, or to receive a shot. We like to think of ourselves as a first line of defense for (safer, healthier) food, water,” he said. Payton adds the unfolding Affordable Care Act and its aim of providing more cost-effective healthcare to more Americans, particularly those who until now

School of Public Health search committee • Chair, Dr. Loretta Moore, vice president for Research and Federal Regulations, JSU • Dr. Mary Currier, director, state Department of Health • Dr. Manoj Sharma, professor, College of Public Service, JSU • Dr. Issac Perkins, professor, College of Public Service • Dr. Wilbur Walters, associate dean, College of Science, Engineering and Technology • Dr. Glenda Windfield, Faculty Senate president • Dr. Bettina M. Beech, University of Mississippi Medical Center • Deshonda Fortune, undergraduate student • Christopher Lane, graduate student

haven’t been able to afford it, could create an ideal framework for the School of Public Health to gain significant traction in Mississippi’s healthcare landscape. Public health, she continued, is easily compatible with other, more established fields of health study. “Those students who are in medical school can get a public health degree. Those students who are in public health will have the chance to earn a medical degree.” Mission Since debuting 16 years ago, JSU’s public health program has grown to include an Institute of Epidemiology and Health Services Research and a Center of Excellence in Minority Health and Health Disparities. The program has struck various partnerships with health-related agencies where students can gain real-world experience to complement in-class learning. It also provides an avenue for annual conferences on

health disparities and men’s health. And JSU has set high ideals for its public health studies. In its mission statement spelling out the goals of those studies, the university says public health not only is a way of reducing the risk of serious disease and adding years to people’s lives but acts as a beacon for “the pursuit of social justice to enhance health and the quality of life, and helps to eliminate health disparities in the state of Mississippi and beyond, while providing a broad intellectual framework that fosters the development of public health values,” especially for “under-served and at-risk populations.” “The challenge for the program,” the statement continues, “is never to forget its mission and to remain focused on the well-being of the community through identification of its health needs and by contributing to efforts to meet the needs.” ONEJSU

jackson state university

Leadership

President Meyers’ contract renewed How to best reach and serve students, as both an HBCU and the state of Mississippi’s only designated Urban University, has been at the core of both physical expansion and the introduction of nationally groundbreaking programs since Dr. Carolyn W. Meyers assumed the presidency in 2010. This spring, the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees voted to extend Meyer’s contract by four years, essentially reaffirming the university’s vision and its method of implementation. “Dr. Meyers has taken Jackson State’s mission as Mississippi’s only urban university very seriously, expanding opportunities for students throughout the metro area and beyond,” said Alan Perry, who recently stepped into the role of IHL Board president. “By expanding into Madison County and downtown Jackson, the university is reaching out to students, particulary nontraditional students who have responsibilities, who may

not otherwise have an opportunity to earn a degree and fulfill their dreams.” The advances made at JSU under Meyers’ leadership have been both massive and fastpaced and include the recent approval and related funding from the state to create a School of Public Health, a first for Mississippi. The “firsts” don’t stop there. The university was the first in the nation to introduce a program to provide all incoming freshmen with iPads to complement an emphasis on cyberlearning. That effort, coupled with the development of INNOVATE and CREATE, one-stop, high-tech centers for faculty and students, earned the university a coveted Apple

Distinguished School designation. Enrollment within her first year climbed to a new high and has continued, to today’s 9,508 students, with the university graduating its largest class this spring. JSUOnline, brought in-house and launched in the fall, is also seeing continued growth. Gifts and pledges have soared from $274,000 in FY2010 to $1.018 million in FY2014, and active alumni membership has increased significantly. The Academic Progresss Rate (APR) for athletes reflected one of the best overall performances within JSU history in her first year and remains strong. The immediate future looks to be just as fastpaced as JSU prepares to open this fall University Pointe, an apartment-type living complex, to meet growing housing needs. And, an expansion of its Engineering Building to accommodate the growing demand of those entering science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields is underway. ONEJSU

Photo by Deontae Williams | Jacksonian

Roundtable focuses on rejuvation of Jackson’s business climate About 30 representatives from business, government and nonprofits gathered at the first Jackson Business Developers Roundtable at Jackson State University earlier this year to discuss rejuvenating the capital’s business climate. Topics ranged from increasing nonprofits’ involvement with business de velopment to promoting local businesses. The Vision 2022 Business Development Plan for the city of Jackson also was discussed.

the jacksonian

Jackson State University’s Department of Entrepreneurship and Professional Development, chaired by Dr. Mary M. White, interim vice president for Institutional Advancement, and the Mississippi Development Authority’s Entrepreneur Center hosted the event. Michael Harris, associate manager of the MDA’s Entrepreneur Center, served as moderator. Panelists included Teresa C h e e k s - Wi l s o n , F e d e r a l Reserve Bank of Memphis; John

Brandon, bureau manager of the Entrepreneur Center @ Mississippi Development Authority; Janita Stewart, Mississippi district director of the U.S. Small Business Administration; and Willie Jones, president and CEO of Dependable Source Corp. of Jackson. Organizations represented included: Mississippi Department of Education; LABA/Link LatinAmerica Business Association; BankPlus; Mississippi e-Center@ JSU; 1 Million Cups – Jackson; Innovate Mississippi; WeBase

Management Solutions, LLC; Jackson Chamber of Commerce; Venture Incubator; City of Jackson Business Development; Millsaps Else School of Management; Hinds County Economic Development Authority; Mayor’s Office, city of Jackson; JSU Community E n g a g e m e nt ; M i s s i s s ip pi Development Authority Minority and Small Business Development; JSU C enter for Business Development and Economic Research; and Women for Progress of Mississippi. ONEJSU

Campus to Community

Congressman champions HBCUs Perceptions in Washington, loan programs must be addressed, Thompson says Historically black colleges and universities are increasingly coming under fire in Washington as questions about their value and relevancy continue to surface. Consequently, HBCUs need to aggressively work to change the conversation, said U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., during a campus tour. In the nation’s capital, he said, there is a plan to start ranking the 105 institutions and correlating them to betterfinanced universities. “To compare an HBCU to Harvard or Princeton is patently unfair,” he said. “If the conversation is not modified, it’s a clear and present danger for a number of HBCUs or minority-serving institutions, in general. Sadly, this is becoming more of a part of the discussion.” He said the Congressional Black Caucus takes “absolute offense to any conversation that demeans those institutions.” The congressman also took aim at the high cost of educational loan programs for students, suggesting that the U.S. should make them interest-free, with the principal being the only obligation.

“We need to look at what a 1 percent or 2 percent interest drop would mean for someone trying to get a college education. The default rate on Parent Plus Loans is miniscule compared to other loan programs or other investments where we had to write off.” Jackson State University President Carolyn W. Meyers echoed Thompson’s concerns, describing JSU’s ongoing hunt for Pell Grant and Parent Plus financial assistance. However, she said, “We kept every student who was eligible academically in school through our own resources. It was tough, but we succeeded because of our commitment to the students.” Meyers, too, acknowledged that the entire conversation about HBCUs is flawed. “We’re different sizes, have different people and serve diverse communities. If you look at the educational needs of our country, it’s to the nation’s benefit for all of us to thrive. Without HBCUs, an entire segment of the population would not have had the opportunity to achieve the American dream. We gave validity to the principles on which these campuses were set up.” ONEJSU

Student Government Association students talk with U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., right, during a campus visit.

—L.A. Warren

Photo by Deontae Williams | Jacksonian

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Campus to Community

Former Miss. Gov. Haley Barbour — speaking on the value of a two-party system — encourages students to consider a broader political affiliation.

Barbour talks politics...

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And Katrina

Barbour’s swift and decisive response to Hurricane Katrina nearly 10 years ago thrust him into the national spotlight. During a February visit to JSU, Barbour recounted the days after Katrina devastated the state. The damage, he said, “looked to me that this must be what Hiroshima looked like.” “We didn’t think it could get any worse than Camille,” he said, referring to the 1969 storm. But Katrina, which struck the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005, was two disasters in one: It had winds powerful enough to collapse the roof of the Emergency Operations Center on the Coast that had withstood Camille; and a storm surge that created a 38-foot wave — twice as high as Camille. “Mississippi got knocked flat,” Barbour said. Hurricane winds stretched 200 miles inland. Nearly every county in the state was declared a disaster area. Some 64,000 homes on the coast were made uninhabitable. Damages topped $32 billion. While New Orleans got the nation’s attention for its flooding, Mississippians tackled the job of rebuilding, said Barbour, who has written a book about Katrina that will be published in August. ONEJSU — Jim Ewing

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

If you want to talk politics in Mississippi, bringing former Gov. Haley Barbour to the table makes sense, and that’s what Jackson State University did — twice this past semester — through its Mike Espy Scholars-in-Residence series. Barbour cut his political teeth in the administration of Ronald Reagan. The prominent Washington lobbyist was chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1993 to 1997 and served two terms as Mississippi governor from 2004-2012. During an April appearance, Barbour — speaking on the value of a two-party system — encouraged students to consider a broader political affiliation. In his first term, he said he only received 10 percent of the Mississippi black vote but that increased to 25 percent in his re-election. “It’s easier to govern” when there is overlap of the black vote, he said. Politicians, he said, should look out for the broad range of voters when governing. Closing Republican primaries to all but registered Republicans would be bad for the party and the state, he said. Already, the trend in national political parties — and how congressional districts are configured — is to concentrate people of one party. The effect is that Congress is polarized: too many people right or left and “hollowed out” in the middle, he said.

Campus to Community

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

Dr. Mary M. White, JSU’s interim vice president for Institutional Advancement, and Dr. William McHenry, executive director of the Mississippi e-Center@JSU, display a $160,000 gift from Toyota. The money will be used to fund the Haley Barbour scholarship for five select freshmen.

TOYOTA GIVES $160K TOWARD $800K COMMITMENT Toyota Manufacturing Mississippi, in the second year of its $800,000, five-year scholarship commitment, awarded $160,000 for five select freshmen to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) studies. “This will provide top students access to study

engineering and the sciences and energize them to pursue those careers,” said Dr. William McHenry, director of the Mississippi e-Center @JSU which administers the scholarships. Each year, five freshmen are awarded $8,000 per year for four years totaling $32,000 each. The 2015 recipients will be named later this

year. The 2014 scholars are: Phylana Adams, civil engineering, Osyka, Miss.; Jeremiah Cazenave, biology, Dallas, Ga.; Gerald Daniels, computer engineering, New Orleans; Ralph Smith, computer science, Jackson, Miss.; and Taylor Turley, chemistry, Florissant, Mo.

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

Melinda Heath, Nissan; JSU President Carolyn W. Meyers; JSU Devopment Officer Angela Getter; 2nd District U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson; Jeffrey Webster, director of Diversity and Inclusion at Nissan; state Rep. Kenny Wayne Jones; Tosha Garner, Nissan; and College of Science, Engineering and Technology Dean Dr. Richard Alo mark Nissan’s donation.

JSU President Carolyn W. Meyers and executives for Yates Construction forge a new relationship. Joining the celebration are, from left, JSU Development Officer Constance Lawson; Dr. Richard Alo, College of Science, Engineering and Technology dean; W.G. “Bill” Yates, chairman of Yates Construction; Meyers; William Yates, president of Yates Construction; and Paul Musick, vice president of Yates Construction.

NISSAN DONATES $75K

YATES CONTRIBUTES $100K

Jackson State University received a $75,000 donation from Nissan to promote STEM training as part of $250,000 given to HBCUs overall in March. “There is no better gift that we can give as good corporate citizens than an education for our workforce,” said Jeffrey Webster, director of Diversity and Inclusion at Nissan.

Yates Construction has contributed $100,000 to enhance the College of Science, Engineering and Technology as well as the College of Business. The combined effort of JSU and Yates Construction is geared toward helping improve the economic climate of the state.

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Connecting

‘This Is My By Tammy Ramsdell and Jim Ewing

Phone calls, emails, interviews, lectures, tours, meetings, and more phone calls. Dr. Robert Luckett has been a very busy man since joining Jackson State University in 2009 as the director of the Margaret Walker Center for the Study of the African-American Experience. It’s a schedule that the native Mississippian has become accustomed to since planning started six years ago for this year’s centennial birthday celebration of writer and educator Margaret Walker. Fittingly, “This is My Century” is being used for the celebration theme, after the last poem Walker wrote. As a driving force behind the centennial celebration, Luckett clearly embraces the busy schedule. “Our goal is to return her to the national consciousness, to lift her up to the place she deserves. When we talk of other Mississippi writers — Eudora Welty, Richard Wright, Faulkner, Tennessee Williams — she’s never on the list. And that’s crazy. We need to give her her due.”

Statewide attention In that spirit, Walker’s life and work figured prominently at the Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration in February and The Oxford Conference for the Book in March. The city of Jackson, the Jackson/Hinds Library System, the Mississippi Humanities Council and the organizers of the new Mississippi Book Festival to be held in August in Jackson are among those rallying around the effort. Jackson Mayor Tony Yarber selected Walker’s Jubilee as the book for his citywide 2015 reading initiative, and several lectures and panel discussions are scheduled through November. A gala celebration on what would have been Walker’s 100th birthday — July 10 — is to be held at JSU.

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Mississippi native Dr. Robert Luckett is working on a collection of essays, “Remembering Margaret Walker,” and an electronic book on the connection between Medgar Evers and Margaret Walker.

Memories Jackson State also put Walker in the spotlight during its 47th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Convocation. Keynote speaker Paula Giddings, a professor of AfricanAmerican studies at Smith College, recalled several stories from her friendship with Walker. Walker was only 21 when she published her signature poem, For My People, Giddings said. That poem “wasn’t just her signature poem, but our signature poem as a people.” Giddings, who edited the book, A Poetic Equation: Conversations between Nikki Giovanni and Margaret Walker, published in 1974, recounted Walker’s GIDDINGS struggles in returning to graduate school, taking out loans, moving to Iowa, having to care for her children, and ultimately reinventing herself and returning to JSU where she carved an arc as a leading literary light. [continued on page 14]

Connecting

| student life |

y Century’

THE LIFE AND LEGACYOF MARGARET WALKER As a professor of English at Jackson State University in 1968, Margaret Walker Alexander founded the Institute for the Study of the History, Life, and Culture of Black People. Already an accomplished author, she stood at the forefront of a nascent Black Studies movement, but the Institute also reflected her immersion in 20th century African-American history and culture. During her lifetime, she had the unique opportunity both to be mentored by the likes of W.E.B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, and Richard Wright and to be a mentor to writers such as James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, and Maya Angelou. Born in Birmingham, Ala., on July 7, 1915, Walker was reading and writing by the time she was 5. When her family settled in New Orleans in 1925, her writing flourished after meeting Hughes, who encouraged her to leave the South to complete her education. Graduating from Northwestern University, her father’s alma mater, in 1935, Walker stayed in Chicago to work with the Federal Writers’ Project. There, she developed a close friendship with Wright and joined his Southside Writers Group. In 1937, Walker wrote her seminal poem, For My People, for which she became the first black woman to receive the Yale University Younger Poets Award. By 1949, Walker and her husband, Firnist Alexander, had moved their three children to Mississippi so she could join the English Department at JSU. While at JSU, she completed her doctoral dissertation, a neo-slave narrative inspired by the memories

“Our goal is to return her to the national consciousness, to lift her up to the place she deserves.”

—Dr. Robert Luckett

of her maternal grandmother, Elvira Ware Dozier. Published in 1966, Jubilee represented 30 years of research and reflection and has never since been out of print. Alexander’s lasting achievement at JSU was the Institute for the Study of the History, Life, and Culture of Black People. As its director, she organized several conferences that were the first of their kind, including the 1971 National Evaluative Conference on Black Studies and the 1973 Phyllis Wheatley Poetry Festival. After 30 years of teaching, Walker retired as Professor Emerita and donated her literary and administrative papers to the Institute that she had founded and that was subsequently named in her honor. The Margaret Walker Papers at JSU constitute one of the single largest collections of a modern black, female writer anywhere in the world. The Walker Center houses close to 40 significant manuscript collections such as the papers of former U.S. Secretary of Education Roderick Paige and a large oral history repository with more than 2,000 interviews. ONEJSU Source: Margaret Walker Center at JSU

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Connecting

‘This Is My Century’

[continued from page 12] Walker had the knack of making people “better than they knew,” she said. “She loved to try new things, anything.” Jackston State University President Emeritus Dr. John A. Peoples Jr., among honorees at a For My People Awards Luncheon that same day, also recalled his friendship with Walker. She was “one of my favorite colleagues,” he said. “She was a great person.”

Going forward Judging by the traffic to the Margaret Walker Center — about 7,000 visitors expected by the end of 2015, up from 2,500 in 2009 — Walker’s profile is being raised. In fact, Luckett said the interest in the civil rights movement itself “is going through the roof.” He expects the number of visitors to grow with the anticipated opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in downtown Jackson in 2017 and from interest sure to be generated from a national traveling exhibition about Walker opening at the DuSable Museum of AfricanAmerican History in Chicago in January. Using Walker’s life as a lens, the exhibit “examines the African-American experience from slavery, emancipation and Reconstruction through the Great Migration, The Harlem Renaissance, the modern civil rights movement and beyond.” ONEJSU

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

“For My People”

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

Photo courtesy of Randy Klein

Randy Klein (at piano) is the composer of For My People, a song cycle featuring the poetry of Margaret Walker. His documentary film scores include Emmy winners Free To Dance, Beyond Tara – The Extraordinary Life Of Hattie McDaniel and Richard Wright – Black Boy. Lead vocalist Aurelia Williams, (right), is a recording artist and Broadway songstress.

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Connecting

| student life |

Margaret Walker

Centennial Events

Photo by Deontae Williams | Jacksonian

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

1. Nikki Giovanni delivers a keynote address. 2. Doris Derby describes her work during the opening of her photo exhibition. 3. Poetry Out Loud features Margaret Walker works. 4. A commemorative poster designed by Walker Center staffer Brandon Thompson.

Upcoming MARGARET WALKER CENTENNIAL JUBILEE PICNIC Tuesday, July 7, 11:30 a.m. Ayer Hall, Jackson State University

“FOR MY PEOPLE: A NEW MUSICAL WORK” featuring the JSU Chorale Friday, July 10, 5 p.m., JSU Student Center Ballroom

Plans for “This is My Century: The Life and Legacy of Margaret Walker” were announced in December at Jackson State University’s Margaret Walker Center with a reading and book signing by Carolyn Brown, author of Song of My Life (University Press of Mississippi). Having authored a biography on Eudora Welty, the Jackson writer found it surprising that no such biography existed on Walker. Determined to change that, she wrote Song of My Life, discovering much about the friendship between the two along the way. In February, high school students gathered on campus to participate in Poetry Out Loud, reciting Walker’s poetry. In April, the Toni Morrison Society’s Bench by the Road Project came to JSU in honor of Walker, with a keynote address by famed poet and social activist Nikky Finney, as part of the Margaret Walker annual Creative Arts Festival. Also delivering a keynote address in April was Nikki Giovanni, world-renowned poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. Her friendship with Walker spanned decades. A Poetic Equation: Conversations Between Nikki Giovanni and Margaret Walker, authored by the two literary giants, was published in 1974. Giovanni’s address came at the opening of Dr. Doris Derby’s documentary photography exhibit, The Black Arts Movement, Black Power and the Struggle for Civil Rights in America, currently on display in the Johnson Hall Art Gallery. Derby was an instrumental part of the Mississippi civil rights movement. Her photography captured many aspects of the movement as it was unfolding along with key figures such as Walker, Myrlie Evers and Fannie Lou Hamer. Her work has been exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution and several other venues across the United States.

MORE INFORMATION Several JSU professors will be lecturing or leading discussions about Margaret Walker and her works at libraries throughout the metro area this summer and fall. Storytelling workshops for children also will be offered. For a complete schedule of events, visit: JSU Margaret Walker Center www.jsums.edu/margaretwalkercenter/projects-and-programs/ Mississippi Humanities Council www.mshumanities.org/index.php/events Jackson/Hinds County Library www.jhlibrary.com/calendar-category/Margaret-Walker-Alexander-Centennial-Events

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Connecting

Reena Evers-Everette & Ilyasah Shabazz JSU brings daughters of civil rights icons together publicly for first time; visit includes trip to Evers’ childhood home, where her father, Medgar, was gunned down. The home now operates as a museum. The daughters of slain civil rights icons Malcolm X and Medgar Evers say theirs is a club “no one would want to join.” Reena Evers-Everette was 8 on June 12, 1963, when a sniper’s bullet felled her father, Mississippi NAACP Field Secretary Medgar Evers, in the driveway of their Jackson home. Ilyasah Shabazz was 3 on Feb. 19, 1965, when her father was assassinated in the ballroom of a New York City hotel.

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A speaking engagement at JSU in February brought the two together publicly for the first time. It marked the first visit to Jackson for Shabazz. During the trip, the women visited Evers’ childhood home in Jackson. Built in 1957, the home was rededicated in 2013 as a small museum preserving the memory of the civil rights leader.

Connecting

Photos by Anissa Houduk | Jacksonian

Top left: Ilyasah Shabazz, second left, and her daughter listen to Pam

Bottom row: Reena Evers-Everette and Ilyasah Shabazz share

Junior, JSU Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center manager,

emotional moments at the Evers home.

during a tour and museum visit (top right) where Medgar Evers’ portrait is prominently displayed.

Far right: Ilyasah Shabazz, left, and Reena Evers-Everette pose with

Top center: Reena Evers-Everette spends time with Ilyasha Shabazz’s

civil rights activist Hollis Watkins.

daughter while at the home where Evers lived as a child.

Tougaloo College operates the Medgar Evers museum. Tours by appointment: (601) 977-7706 or (601) 977-7839 or email mwatson@ tougaloo.edu. To take a virtual tour, visit Mississippi Public Broadcasting’s website: www.everstribute.org/house_tour.php.

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Academics

A degree of JSUOnline, launched in-house in Fall 2014, meets students where they are; enrollment growing By L.A. Warren

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

By the numbers

306 Enrollment 20 First graduates 19 Programs 18

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While the JSUOnline degree program at Jackson State University is becoming more popular with traditional students, it’s especially helping nontraditional students pursue their educational goals. “Since many people can’t take time away from work, online assists them. With the way things are in the world, you must have online to reach the busy population. Family members and parents have jobs, children, church and other activities. Yet, many still want an education,” said Tamika Moorehead, assistant director of JSUOnline. Furthermore, she said, the online program is great for people living in faraway ZIP codes. JSUOnline, located in the INNOVATE Center in the H.T. Sampson Library on the main campus, began with seven programs in Fall 2014. Today, it has 19. Before the inception of JSUOnline, the university outsourced this service to a Florida company, which offered two degrees. Eventually, JSU restructured the program, bringing the operation in-house. “JSUOnline already has accepted 68 new students — freshmen and transfer students,” Moorehead said. “The vision of the program is to continue to expand degree offerings, including criminal justice and social work.” This spring, JSUOnline graduated its first class, conferring 18 undergraduate degrees in early childhood education and two MBA graduate degrees. It also enrolled 306 students and aims to at least double that number in the near future.

“Family members and parents have jobs, children, church and other activities. Yet, many still want an education.”

— Tamika Moorehead, assistant director of JSUOnline

Keith Riley, academic evaluator for JSUOnline, said the program focuses on providing quality support to faculty and students. Because there is no face-to-face interaction with the instructor, he says students must be disciplined by not falling behind in the accelerated classes that last just eight weeks. “We monitor carefully to see if students are active in their classes. We also monitor faculty.” Additionally, Riley says the JSUOnline team pays strict attention to other needs of enrollees. “We deal with financial aid and registration, including advising online. We take care of them totally.” Meanwhile, Moorehead agrees with other academic officers throughout the country who say that an online curriculum is critical for institutions’ long-term strategy. “I believe the way things are within the world, we thrive by providing a method to help people reach the next level of their careers.” This fall, she said, the program will include an evaluation system that measures class setup, quality and content. “Using this rubric, we will be able to improve standards. By improving quality, we also can increase the number of our online courses,” Moorehead said. ONEJSU

Academics

Oh! Oh! Oh!

Hercules Scholars DAVIS

Joyner Foundation Supports JSU, Scholars As a February designee of the Tom Joyner Foundation’s “School of the Month” fundraising campaign, a yearlong national spotlight beams on Jackson State University. It aims to reel in donations from listeners of The Tom Joyner Morning Show. The show airs in more than 100 markets nationwide, reaching nearly eight million listeners weekly. Joyner also put JSU in the spotlight when he spent several days in late April and early May broadcasting his show live from the WJSU-FM’s offices at the Mississippi e-Center@JSU. During that time, he sat down with WJSU General Manager Gina Carter-Simmers for an exclusive interview on a range of topics, including police shootings of unarmed African-American males and the accompanying unrest; social activism; scholarships; and the future of college graduates and HBCUs. ONEJSU

WILLIAMS

ANDERSON

The Tom Joyner Foundation named four JSU students Hercules Scholars. The program is named after Hercules Joyner, the late father of radio personality Tom Joyner, who was a strong supporter of higher education. The scholars, recipients of $1,500 each, are Claude Davis Jr. of Harvey, Ill., a freshman majoring in accounting; Christian Williams of Memphis, Tenn., a freshman majoring in business; Jeremy Anderson of Baton Rouge, La., a sophomore majoring in mass communications, and Marcus Sidney of Gretna, La., a junior majoring in earth system science. To donate to JSU through the School of the Month campaign, visit wwwtomjoynerfoundation. org/jackson-state-universitynamed-february-schoolmonth/

SIDNEY

$405K in ROTC scholarships awarded Two incoming freshmen have landed ROTC scholarships totaling more than $405,000. Melvin McCrory III (pictured above) of Jackson is making history by becoming JSU’s first recipient of the prestigious national Commander’s Leadership Scholarship. JSU’s Lt. Col. Timothy Henderson presented McCrory with the prestigious four-year Air Force ROTC scholarship, one of 8,200 given nationwide. Totaling $252,658, it includes tuition and a monthly stipend. McCrory plans to major in computer engineering. Melvin Williams Jr., also of Jackson, is the recipient of the three-year advance Army ROTC scholarship, which totals $153,101. He plans to major in biology with a concentration in physical therapy. ONEJSU

Chemistry major lands $210K fellowship

Harold Owens III, a senior chemistry major, has been accepted into the University of Michigan’s Chemical Engineering Ph.D. Program this fall on a fellowship totaling more than $42,000 per year for up to five years. Owens, 21, a native of Indianapolis, is a JSU MARC (Maximizing Access to Research Careers) Scholar. A man of many talents, he is also considered one of the best yo-yo masters in the world. You can watch him in action in a number of videos on YouTube. ONEJSU jackson state university

Partnership

Historic zoo partnership supports global conservation By Jim Ewing

Jackson State University has more than a tiger as a mascot. It has adopted the real deal. Through a unique partnership sealed in November with the nearby Jackson Zoo, the university pledged $120,000 over three years to not only help raise a rare Sumatran tiger cub but adopt the entire tiger exhibit. Named Eko, which is Indonesian for “first born,” the male cub is now a year old. The exhibit, renamed the Jackson State University Tiger Exhibit, helps finance care for the growing tiger and his habitat. It also provides refuge for two adult tigers — male Emerson and female Sari. Through the partnership, Jackson State furthermore provides educational kiosks and play areas for children, teaching exercises and special rates for zoo memberships for JSU faculty, staff, students and alumni. “This partnership between the Jackson Zoo and Jackson State University is an important milestone in the history of both institutions,” said JSU President Carolyn W. Meyers. “For Jackson State, this is proof positive of our embracing our community here as well as another investment in future leaders for the rest of the 21st century,” she added. “Adopting Eko and his habitat affords cross-disciplinary teams of JSU students the opportunity to design and implement experiences that will ignite the flame of learning.” Meyers helped plan projects and

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academic activities for students. One idea that promises to be quite popular is the soon-to-be-installed “Tiger Cam” being coordinated through JSU’s INNOVATE center at Sampson Library and the Mississippi eCenter@JSU. The zoo’s executive director, Beth Poff, called the partnership an exciting opportunity. “First off, we are neighbors. Secondly, this will benefit the Sumatran tiger breeding program and conservation efforts. And lastly, it will contribute to the well-being of west Jackson.” Josh Friedel, Jackson Zoo’s director of Major Gifts and Annual Fund, facilitated the partnership. The agreement “establishes an extensive relationship in which both parties will work together to achieve mutually desired long-term goals,” he said. He added that he was “honored and proud to work with Dr. Meyers and her staff to see this historic agreement come to fruition.” To promote the partnership, “How Do You Zoo JSU” was held during JSU’s annual Blue and White Tiger Fest on campus April 11. The zoo brought small animals for petting and offered membership information. Then, on April 25, a communitywide JSU Zoo Day was held at the zoo to officially celebrate the tiger adoption. The JSU mascot was available for photos; the JSU band performed; and children were treated to face-painting and carousel rides. ONEJSU

Partnership

Sumatran tigers

Why adoption matters The adoption of the JSU Tiger Exhibit is monumental for the animals and the community. Sumatran tigers are critically endangered, with fewer than 400 remaining in the wild. Photo courtesy of the Jackson Zoo The Sumatran tigers Eko (above) as a cub with are part of a Species mom Sari and a year later (left). Survival Plan at the Jackson Zoo and are also the main focus for global conservation efforts. This tiger subspecies is found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Its scientific name is Panthera tigris sumatrae, and adults can reach upward of 300 pounds. Sumatran tigers are the smallest surviving tiger subspecies and are distinguished by heavy black stripes on their orange coats. They are protected by law in Indonesia, with tough provisions for jail time and steep fines. But despite increased efforts in tiger conservation — including law enforcement and anti-poaching efforts — a substantial market remains in Sumatra and the rest of Asia for tiger parts and products. Sumatran tigers are losing their habitat and prey quickly to deforestation, and poaching shows no sign of decline. Global conservation efforts, therefore, are critical if the Sumatran tigers are to survive. — Jackson Zoo and the World Wildlife Fund

Welcome Eko and join today Photo by Deontae Williams | Jacksonian

JSU zoo membership Individuals: $5 per year Families: $25 per year Hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily (except Christmas) Location: 2918 West Capitol St. (easily accessible from JSU campus, I-20, I-220, and I-55) www.jacksonzoo.org/jackson-state-university-3 JSU zoo supporters are encouraged to use the social media hashtag #HowDoUZooJSU. jackson state university

JSU Global

Photos by Charles Smith Photos by Deontae Williams

Sugarloaf Mountain Peak in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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JSU Global

Passport

to the

WORLD

It doesn’t matter where you grew up. The sprawling suburbs. A small town in the Delta. If you are a student at Jackson State University, the message is the same: You are going places. By Bette Pearce and Tammy Ramsdell

This summer, 72 students are participating in Jackson State University’s new Passport to the World program, a nationally groundbreaking, condensed study abroad approach designed by JSU Global to prepare a workforce equipped to both succeed and lead in what is now a highly competitive, global economy. Whether they choose to stay in Mississippi, move to one of the nation’s sprawling metropolises, or end up in another country, they are part of a global marketplace. And JSU is bringing that message home with unprecedented clarity. “We live in an global, complex, interdependent world without borders,” said Dr. Priscilla D. Slade, special assistant to the provost for JSU Global and Community Colleges. “As an institution of higher learning, we are creating a pipeline of graduates with global competencies that will empower them to compete and make viable contributions as global citizens.”

Photo by Kenyatta Stewart | Jacksonian

Today’s landscape Statistics bear this need out. According to the latest numbers available from the U.S. State Department, international trade supports more than 320,000 Mississippi jobs with customers in 194 countries buying Mississippigrown and manufactured goods and services, resulting in $12.2 billion goods exported in 2012. From manufacturing, including global automakers Nissan and Toyota, agriculture, high-tech start-ups and the military to the growing healthcare

industry, global markets and applications are already a part of the landscape. “To remain competitive we need a workforce with global competencies,” said Mississippi Congressman Bennie Thompson. Carl Newman, as Jackson Municipal Airport Authority CEO, sees firsthand the role both Hawkins Field and the Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport play in global economic development. It’s crucial, he said, that JSU help students “develop global competencies and learn to live and work with individuals throughout the world.” Newman, because of such expertise, is part of a 10-member JSU Global Board of Advisors being formed “to help determine future study abroad destinations and course topics,” said Slade. Carly McKie, marketing and trade assistant at the Mississippi World Trade Center — one of more than 300 World Trade Centers in 100 countries — said Mississippi “is never going back to being a state economy.” Regardless of location, in fact, she said international experience is a growing focus of many companies as they recruit. “It’s absolutely imperative that students today have an international education, and personal communication with people in other cultures is something you really can’t teach,” McKie says. “You have to experience it.”

National model

Traditional study abroad programs last several months and cost thousands of dollars. Jackson State University wanted

related stories Life in Senegal | 25

Exploring Brazil | 26 Celebrating 25 years of diversity | 28 English as a Second Language | 29

Teaching, traveling | 30 International Visitors Center | 33 A look back | 33

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JSU Global

Jackson State University students gather documents and have photos taken for passports as part of JSU Global’s new Passport to the World program.

a more affordable alternative, Slade said, with exposure to cultures beyond predominantly European destinations. And it wanted to reach a greater number of students. The Passport to the World program delivers just that. It offers intense, abbreviated study opportunities, created and led by JSU’s own faculty, first two weeks overseas, then two weeks on campus. A groundbreaking partnership with the Council on International Education Exchange, announced in January, brings that organization’s site expertise into the mix. Offerings this summer include France (Paris); Spain (Madrid); China (Shanghai); Brazil (Rio de Janeiro and Salvador da Bahia); and Dominican Republic (Santo Domingo). The unique arrangement offers students six credit hours and allows the program to be incorporated as part of tuition, with many students eligible for financial aid to cover the $2,000 price tag. Dr. John P. Pellow, president and CEO of CIEE, which operates international programs at 140 universities across the U.S., expects the

Help them take flight Tax-deductible donations for student airline and related Passport to the World travel expenses can be made to: Crowdrise.com/jsupassporttotheworld JSU Global, 1400 John R. Lynch St. PO Box 17103, Jackson MS Make checks, money orders payable to Jackson State University Foundation. For more information, visit www.jsums. edu/global or call (601) 979-1611. approach launched at JSU to be “emulated all across the country.” Ever mindful of the costs associated with international travel, JSU and CIEE went a step further, pledging, as part of its partnership, to provide 100 students each with passports. To showcase the partnership, CIEE kicked off its Passport campaign — aimed at getting 10,000 passports to students nationwide — at JSU in February.

According to the National Institute for International Education, less than 10 percent of the 300,000 students earning degrees in the U.S. in 2013-’14 studied abroad. By comparison, more than 800,000 international students attended U.S. colleges and universities. Jackson State University’s Passport to the World program serves as its pledge toward NIEE’s goal of doubling the number of U.S. students with study abroad experience by the end of the decade. Jasmine Harvey, a 22-year-old social work major from Macon, Ga., appreciates the effort underway at JSU. Because of it, she signed on to study in Paris. “I hope to gain a further understanding of a foreign country, its people and its culture,” she says, “and gain a cultural competence to be able to travel anywhere and adjust.” Slade has no doubt that such a goal will materialize for Harvey and others. “All of the students traveling abroad this summer will have a definite edge and a higher level of marketability,” she says, “as well as experiences that will last a lifetime.” ONEJSU Dr. John P. Pellow, left, president and CEO of the Council on International Education Exchange, and Dr. Priscilla Slade, special assistant to the provost for JSU Global and Community Colleges, talk about the groundbreaking Passport to the World partnership.

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JSU Global

Photos by Charles Smith & Deontae Williams | Jacksonian

Studying in Senegal Welcome to the wonderful world of Wolof By Bette Pearce

When Dequindre Robinson graduated Robinson said living in Senegal gave her from Jackson State University in May, she a greater appreciation for life in the U.S. took away more than a major in psychology “Education there is so inadequate. Some and a minor in French. students didn’t have teachers She also carried with her warm in classrooms or even books, memories of a new “family” in yet students still had a great Africa, as well as knowledge of eagerness to learn. We take our Wolof. opportunities in this country for What’s Wolof, you ask? granted.” It’s the language of the Wolof Robinson said she also people of Dakar, Senegal, where made friendships with fellow Robinson, through a scholarship, international students. spent four months at the Council “There were about 40 students on International Education from all over the world when I ROBINSON Exchange Language Institute. was there — Japan, China, France. “I wanted to diversify myself, We all came together in Africa. learn about other cultures and meet new Despite our differences in ethnicity, we people,” Robinson said. She also wanted found a way to unite through a similar goal, to improve her French. “I was minoring to learn and to expand our horizons outside in French, and Senegal is predominantly our comfort zones and our own cultures.” French-speaking.” Robinson said she’s kept in close touch However, she got more language education with her Senegal host family. “I miss them than she bargained for. Her host family and keep in touch over Facebook and spoke Wolof as well as French. Instagram.” In May, she said, she sent them “I thought I spoke French fairly well pictures of her wedding dress. until I got in a country where French The 23-year-old Saginaw, Mich., native is actually spoken all the time. It’s quite will begin a career as an English teacher in different; accents can make understanding Detroit this fall. challenging,” she said. “I would love to go back to Senegal Challenging all the more, she laughs, was someday,” she said, “to visit my teacher when her host family would switch from there, my host family and some very good French to Wolof. connections I made there.” ONEJSU jackson state university

JSU Global

By Tammy F. Ramsdell

He was raised in West Point, Mississippi, but as the son of two educators, Kenyatta Stewart, a Jackson State University art professor, always has been keenly aware of a world much bigger than the small town he grew up in. And it’s an awareness that he wanted to share with students. So he set his sights on creating his own hybrid study abroad program to Brazil two years ago. “Some of our students have never been out of the state, let

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alone the country. I wanted to open their eyes to what’s out there,” said Stewart, who spent 15 years in the commercial design and broadcast industry before joining JSU. “I wanted to give them a global perspective … they need to realize they are competing these days in a global market.” While many study abroad programs — especially in the art world —revolve around Western Europe, Stewart took a decidedly different approach, choosing Rio de Janeiro and Salvador as focal points.

JSU Global

Photos by Kenyatta Stewart | Jacksonian

STEWART

This summer, he is returning to Brazil — Salvador Da Bahia to be exact — with another group of students as part of JSU’s new faculty-led Passport to the World program. “Salvador, the first capital of Brazil, was the destination of African slaves during the transatlantic slave trade,” he said, explaining his choice for the 2013 trip. “With its heavy African influence, it’s considered the cultural

heart of Brazil.” Choosing a destination, however, was only a starting point. Site visits, which Stewart in part funded out of pocket, and months of research preceded the actual 2013 trip, as did the finalization of studies — two weeks abroad and two weeks on campus with courses in computer graphics and Web design. The nine students who went were equipped, through the university, with iPads for research and related course work. Stewart is quick to emphasize the “study” aspect of the program. Although many unfamiliar with the field still see art as an easy, even sometimes expendable, pursuit as compared to math and science, for example, it is anything but. “Art is more than pretty pictures,” he said, characterizing its study and commercial implementation as a “visual science” requiring both analytical thinking and creative problem solving. In fact, the students’ fields of study included not

only graphic design, but biology and computer science as well. It is against this backdrop that visits were made to dozens of historical sites, schools, churches, museums and open-air markets. The beaches were dazzling and the scenery beautiful, said Stewart, but it was a visit to a favela (slum) in Salvador that made one of the biggest impressions. “There was a dialogue between these kids in the favela and our students,” said Stewart, “and they were in awe of seeing not one but nine college students in front of them who looked just like them.” Although college is free in Brazil, the public education system is so lacking (four hours a day for those who do attend), that the ability to pass a college entrance examination is nearly impossible. “To them, being a college student is likened to winning a lottery,” said Stewart. “That was just one instance of many that changed our students’ perspective, to see what opportunities they have and to take advantage of them.” ONEJSU Photos, opposite page: Women in Pelourinho, the historical district of Salvador, dress in traditional Afro-Brazalian clothing. Above, clockwise from top left: JSU students visit Mestre Bimba’s Capoeira school; Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics and music; the Selaron Stairs, created by Chilean artist Jorge Selaron; Christ the Redeemer, the world’s largest Art Deco statue of Jesus Christ, in Rio de Janeiro; artwork on the street of Pelourinho; and a TV station interview with JSU student Cammrynn Stith about the then-upcoming World Cup.

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JSU Global

Celebrating campus

diversity

Jackson State University celebrated the rich languages, cultures and contributions of its 315 international students and dozens of faculty — representing 60 countries — during its 25th annual International Week March 23-27, and the International Programs Office was officially renamed JSU Global. The Global Opening Day Ceremony featured dignitaries and alumni celebrating the power of JSU’s growing diversity. Kayla Wilson, a JSU music education major, sang a benediction in Swahili before the food — including fresh sushi —was served on the plaza in front of the Student Center. Highlights of International Week included a rousing Parade of

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Flags with global music dancers from local schools; a model United Nations and an international movie night, bazaar and fashion show. Dance and sports were also part of the festivities, and cultural mementoes were distributed from several countries, including Czechoslovakia, Cambodia, Nicaragua, South Korea, China, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, India, Tanzania, Kenya, Vietnam, Yemen and Turkey. Scholarships and awards were presented at the International Scholarship and Awards Banquet to students and those who contributed to the many programs over the years. The featured speaker was Wilbur Colom, a prominent lawyer, businessman and philanthropist from Columbus, Miss. ONEJSU

JSU Global

Photos by Charles A. Smith and Deontae Williams | Jacksonian

Partnering with Mexico ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY Jackson State University awarded English language proficiency certificates to 73 students from 10 countries for successfully completing the month-long English as a Second Language Institute program. Receiving certificates at the Dec. 11, 2014, ceremony were 42 students in the Proyecta program — the largest at any university in the U.S. — and 31 students in the ESLI program, from the Universidad Tecnologica de la Huasteca Hidalguense in Hidalgo, Mexico.

“This is a part of a larger initiative by the United States and Mexico to develop a 21stcentury workforce for the mutual economic prosperity of both countries,” said Dr. Priscilla Slade, special assistant to the provost for JSU Global and Community Colleges. Many students are returning to JSU in the fall — 14 to graduate school and two to undergraduate programs. ONEJSU — Bette Pearce

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Alumni in Action

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Alumni in Action

BRAVE IN A WORLD NEW SHE DIDN’T KNOW THE LANGUAGE. OR ANYBODY. FOUR MONTHS OVERSEAS AS A JSU SENIOR HAD CHANGED HER. THERE WAS A WHOLE WORLD OUT THERE TO EXPLORE. By Bette Pearce

Not yet 30 years old, Gabrielle Frazier is part of a young and burgeoning global citizenry. She’s studied in China, taught in Japan and visited some of the great cities of Europe and Asia — London, Paris, Rome and Istanbul. She’s even taken her parents’ advice to “spread her wings” perhaps more literally than they would have liked, skydiving and bungee jumping during her solo overseas excursions. “I’ve experienced things I thought I’d never be capable of doing,” says the 2010 Jackson State University graduate, who recently returned to Jackson. Frazier, who spent four months of her senior year studying in China, credits her alma mater for making available otherwise unexplored opportunities. “I’d never thought about studying abroad before, but I went for it,” says Frazier, the 28-yearold daughter of Mississippi state Sen. and Mrs. Hillman (Jean) Frazier. “When I got home from China, I wanted more experiences abroad. I caught the travel bug.” That travel bug led to a three-year stint in Japan as an English teacher through the Japan Exchange and Teacher program. Japan established the exchange program in the 1980s. About 5,000 individuals worldwide apply each year, with some 1,000 accepted.

Shortly after graduating with a degree in English, Frazier was contacted by JSU’s Career Services Office about the program. “They really do a great job keeping graduates and students abreast of different career opportunities, not just locally but around the world.” When JET representatives visited campus, “I remember sitting in that meeting and thinking this was just perfect for me. It was a paid position, I would be living on my own, and it just seemed like an adventure that fit well in my life and where I was at the time,” Frazier says. After a yearlong application process, Frazier was accepted into the JET program. She left for Takasaki only two months after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated large portions of Japan. Since Takasaki is located in central Japan, about a two-hour train ride from Tokyo, Frazier did not see the devastation that others who would become close friends had lived through. “They are real heroes,” she says. “These same friends and colleagues,” she says, “were really surprised to learn that I did not speak a word of Japanese.” “But I got along fine. I took a beginner’s course in Japanese when I got there, and I worked with a Japanese teacher in teaching primary and secondary English. Many Japanese already speak English as a second language.”

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Alumni in Action “I never would have thought about traveling to other countries by myself. I learned to have the courage to try different things and experience life to its fullest.”

Photos courtesy of Gabrielle Frazier

Gabrielle Frazier’s solo trips through Europe and Asia include a dive over a waterfall (cover photo) and bungee jumping (below). While teaching in Japan, her parents, state Sen. Hillman and Jean Frazier, of Jackson, take the opportunity to visit and enjoy the customs.

Wanting to experience as much as possible, Frazier used vacation time and holidays for a broad range of “adventures.” In addition to skydiving and bungee jumping over river rapids, she took a plunge off a waterfall; snow skied in the shadow of Mt. Fujiyama; and traveled to cities throughout Europe and Asia. “I never would have thought about traveling to other countries by myself,” Frazier says. “I learned to have the courage to try different things and experience life to its fullest.” Frazier made many close friends in Japan, so much so that “Takasaki came to feel like my community,” she says. “I didn’t have a car, so I rode a bicycle or walked everywhere, as many people in Japan do. I came to feel so connected to the people and the community. When you’re not confined in a car, as we are

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here, you find yourself striking up conversations with others and getting closer to the people in the community.” Frazier had the option of extending her stay another two years, but at the end of her third year, she says, she was ready to return to Jackson and to her parents. Sen. Frazier is both amazed and proud of his daughter. “When I was her age, a big trip was going to the (Gulf) Coast,” he says. “She went far beyond her small geographical area.” He’s also noticed a marked maturity. “She grew up fast and has so much to share now,” he says. “It was wonderful seeing her grow and develop an appreciation of other cultures. “When her mother and I visited her in Japan, we were so impressed at how she navigated through the city. She went there alone, she made

many friends, learned the language and became very independent.” Sen. Frazier adds that a world made smaller by technology — citing regular visits over Skype — eased concerns about their daughter being so far from home. A longtime member of Mt. Galilee Missionary Baptist Church, Gabrielle Frazier now spends much of her time involved in activities at Word of Life Church in Flowood, which she joined upon her return from Japan. “It was my family and Mt. Galilee that I thought of often while I was away,” she says. “My faith is very important to me, and I love being involved in my church’s activities.” As for her future career path, she remains unsure. “It would be nice to find a job that involves traveling … but without God and His support, I have no journey.”

JSU Global

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

Professional women from Colombia visit with Dr. Priscilla Slade, second from right, special assistant to the provost for JSU Global and Community Colleges.

International Visitors Center of Jackson: A vital link By Bette Pearce

The International Visitors Center of Jackson at Jackson State University — one of 100 such sites across the U.S. and the only one at an HBCU — operates under the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, through its contacts with foreign embassies, to provide numerous services, from translators and transportation to escorted tours. Formally established in 1986, initial programming efforts actually

started in the 1960s through the Mississippi College and University Consortium under the direction of Dr. Cleopatra Thompson. Visitor numbers vary, said Shirley Harrison, interim director of JSU Global, the umbrella under which the center operates, but have topped 500 in a month’s time. “We arrange visits with people and at places specific to their professional or cultural interests — medicine, business or manufacturing — and oftentimes

civil rights and the Mississippi Blues Trail,” said Harrison. “Many foreign visitors want an upclose and personal experience with U.S. culture so some local residents serve as civilian ambassadors,” she added. “They may meet for a chat over a cup of coffee, or they’ll invite visitors into their homes for dinner. Lifelong friendships have been developed.” Harrison’s most memorable experience, she said, involved medical professionals from Russia.

During a tour of the University of Mississippi Medical Center, the group was taken to a neonatal unit where “we saw tiny infants struggling for their lives. It so touched all of us. You could just feel it; nobody had to say a word. We all felt how fragile life is and how grateful it makes us for all the other healthy children in the world.” There were no political differences, no cultural boundaries, she says. “It was an aha moment for all of us.” ONEJSU

A look back with Dr. Ally Mack: 1st International Studies dean By Bette Pearce

Long before the digital age of iPads and smartphones and social media sites that allow instant access to all corners of the globe, Jackson State University was on the forefront of what is now a commonly termed global economy. Dr. Ally Mack, chairman of JSU’s political science department in the 1980s, was named the first dean of the Division of International Studies in 1993, which became the Office of International Programs and recently rebranded JSU Global. “Initially,” Mack says, “students were from countries like Nigeria and other parts of Africa. Through our efforts, we were able to enhance the enrollment of students in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Latin America.” Now, as then, she holds the same view: “It’s crucial that we build relationships among people around the world. Getting students

“It’s crucial that we build relationships among people around the world.”

— Dr. Ally Mack

involved internationally is something that must take place, and I think there is a greater acknowledgement of that today.” Mack, who retired in 2012, also headed a four-person committee whose effort led to the formal establishment of the International Visitors Center of Jackson at JSU in 1986. Mack said she is proud of how the international programs at JSU have expanded, from English as a Second Language courses, translation services and learship forums to faculty exchanges and

ancillary services for international students. But she is especially proud of the way the students use their experience to help change the world. “When some of our students who come here go home, and then move up in the upper echelons of government, they are able to really influence the state of the world from the positions they’ve been able to move into.” It’s through those personal experiences, she says, that the world will become a better place. Her ultimate goal, she says, “was always having the world as we know it become a better world, a world where we no longer have an Iraq, or an Afghanistan, but where we can go beyond that and, in humane fashion, address the issues that confront us.” ONEJSU

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Campus to Community

Kenya native designs own future

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

By L.A. Warren

Native Kenyan and former Jackson State University student James Kithuka said coming to the U.S. involved adapting to its “abrasive, fast pace” and understanding the historical stigma of Mississippi. “We learn in Kenya to be humble, but meekness in the U.S. is seen as weakness,” he said. “You have to be firm and assert yourself because it sets the tone for the day and business. Basically, you have to take your respect.” He describes Mississippi as one of the best places for business but said people unfamiliar with the state believe challenges are greater here. He refutes that notion, although before

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emigrating he had little knowledge of the state’s sordid past. “In Kenya, we knew about civil rights struggles but not the full scope. We didn’t know that Mississippi was still considered to be behind,” meaning slow in development and stigmatized for severe prejudice. He said a German tourist visiting Kenya expressed shock that he was considering relocating to Mississippi. “I asked what was wrong with Jackson, Mississippi, but he didn’t comment much — just gave an unusual look and tone. Perhaps he felt it might be rude to demonize a choice

I had already made. “I was oblivious to the state’s history.” Nevertheless, Kithuka, born in Nairobi, made the transition by enrolling at JSU after moving to Mombasa. It was in Mombasa that he met visiting Jackson native Don Thigpen, who touted opportunities at JSU and in Mississippi. After Thigpen sent him enrollment papers, he was accepted into school and began studying computer engineering. Since international students don’t get financial aid, he eventually ran out of money. He then took time off to hone his arts skills, which led to the creation of his graphic design company, Impact Image, in 2010. His office, located in the Mississippi e-Center@ JSU, 1230 Raymond Road, produces brochures, promotional cards, annual reports, retractable banners, and much more. Marketing mostly on referrals, JSU is one of his primary clients, along with other schools and organizations such as oil industries, law firms and entertainment companies. Comparing “toned-downed” Jackson to larger cities, he said the lifestyle is different but far from that expected by many in Kenya. He recounted how a visiting relative was stunned by the economic progress in the state, negating the impression of a rural place with just dirt roads and farm animals. Kithuka said even though a person can be taken advantage of through aggressive U.S. business practices, “I don’t want to stop the gentle nature in me. Kenyans go on respect for each other, but you constantly have to work hard here.” Still, he said, America’s global influence has led to exponential growth in Kenya, where English is the official language and Swahili is the national language. “Countries in Africa copy the West,” he added, “and improvements in communications have changed everything. The economy is stronger in Kenya. Now, a lot of people are choosing to stay there rather than search for better education elsewhere.” Also, Kithuka said the West has spurred greater acceptance of liberal conversations in Kenya on controversial social and political issues. Kithuka describes himself as “a legal alien” but says he aims to take the oath of citizenship within a year since he now has a family with his American wife. Crediting his parents for their influence, he says he’s also confident that the U.S. is the greatest country in the world. “It’s the land of opportunity,” he said. “I can’t imagine liking any other country better than the U.S., which has been taking on immigrants since its inception.” ONEJSU

Student Life

“Generally, I can do whatever I want here. Because I’m free only when I get married in Algeria, my parents wanted me to have an international experience to help me grow.”

Jacksonian photo

Anissa Hidouk, a marketing major from Algeria, always has a camera with her, often shooting for the Office of University Communications. See her photographs of the Reena Evers-Everett and Ilyashah Shabazz visit in the The Jacksonian, page 16.

Adapting from Algeria By L.A. Warren

Jackson State University student Anissa Hidouk says she experiences “reverse culture shock” when visiting her Algerian homeland, a nation that voted in March to criminalize violence against women who are often abused. “Women have to watch their backs and choose where they hang out because we have a lot of sexual harassment in the streets.” However, she still has an affinity to Algiers, the capital and her birthplace, because her family resides there. Hidouk said her mother was anxious about her move to the

U.S. because she had heard of many shootings, but Hidouk calls the U.S. a land of opportunity. “Personally, I feel more threatened back home than in the U.S.,” said Hidouk, who speaks highly of its economic, political and social advantages. Still, she said, “it’s scary to be in a country where you don’t know all the laws, and if I lose my passport I’m basically nobody.” In a culture where families try to protect females, relatives were against her plans to study abroad. However, Hidouk credits her father for spearheading her departure to JSU. Although Hidouk lacked solid Englishspeaking skills, her eldest sister,

who earned an MBA at JSU, urged her to enroll in 2011 with another older sister. She spent two months of intensive study in the English as a Second Language program. Because of the language barrier, the first semester was tough, but “my professor and the faculty were really helpful.” She’s now a junior pursuing a degree in marketing. As a Muslim, it took her time to adjust to cultural differences such as religion and food. Nevertheless, Hidouk said living in the U.S. remains the best decision. “Generally, I can do whatever I want here. Because I’m free only when I get married in Algeria, my parents wanted me to have an international experience to help me grow.” She said U.S. parents don’t mind children dating, but, in Algeria, “a woman has to stay pure until marriage.” Furthermore, Hidouk said males or females don’t live by themselves even if they’re 30 or 40 and that, due to expenses, some married couples live with their parents. “Because we don’t learn to be

totally responsible in Algeria, I’m glad my parents allowed me to face difficulties on my own here.” She said she doesn’t understand why many struggling U.S. adult offspring never return home. It seems, she said, that some parents don’t necessarily feel obligated to care for older children. “In Algeria, our parents make us rely on them.” Even though Hidouk appreciates the friendships, freedom and prosperity in the U.S., she suspects her attachment to family and culture will lure her back to “conservative” Algeria. The decision will be difficult, however, since in the U.S., “anyone can start out poor and become a millionaire.” Compared to her friends in large northern U.S. cities, she said her adaptation to American culture is easier in a smaller place such as Jackson. Also, she said she’s impressed with the size of the international community on JSU’s campus. Describing Algeria as rude, she said Mississippians are refreshingly hospitable. “They greet you, open doors for you and never make fun of your accent,” she said, adding, “JSU has changed my life forever.” ONEJSU

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Faculty

on her bookshelf

Russian resolve

WRITING CENTER COORDINATOR USES BACKGROUND TO RAISE JSU’S INTERNATIONAL PROFILE By Tammy Ramsdell

As a child growing up in the Soviet Union, Tatiana Glushko never would have dreamed that someday she would become Dr. Tatiana Glushko, coordinator of the Richard Wright Center for Writing, Rhetoric, and Research at Jackson State University. She didn’t, after all, speak English. But she distinctly recalls, as a 12-year-old, wanting to learn the language. “I didn’t have access to reading and writing (in English), but I was on a constant quest for knowledge.” It was a quest that her mother

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supported. She got her daughter books, and they started reading together. “I was fascinated by the ability to speak another language,” Glushko says. Although traveling never entered her mind — she was, after all, living behind the Iron Curtain — she wanted to communicate with those who came to the Soviet Union, to “tell them about our country, the beautiful places and the historical landmarks.” The opportunity for travel, albeit limited, would soon materialize, however. Her father, in the military, was transferred to Poland and then to what was East Germany.

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

“Moving at an early age, being exposed to different cultures,” she says,” sparked the possibility of ‘going places’ .” Eventually her family returned to their home country. She ultimately became an English as a Foreign Language instructor at Amur State University in Blagoveshchensk. In 2004, she came to JSU as an exchange ESL instructor. Two years later, Glushko, who holds a minor in Russian, entered JSU’s master’s program in English and started tutoring at the Richard Wright Center. She joined the staff in 2009. Last year, she earned a Ph.D. in urban higher education. “I just came to Mississippi and never left,” she says. “This is home.” Making it home, though, has been a process, by its very nature laden with insecurity and unfamiliarity. Still, it provides a unique perspective when working with students. “I know what it is like to feel different, to struggle to express thoughts,” she says. “It feels like walking with my head upside

So, what does a writing professional read? Dr. Tatiana Glushko recommends The Black Russian by Vladimir Alexandrov (2013, Grove Press). It is the acclaimed biography of Frederick Bruce Thomas, the son of Mississippi slaves who became a millionaire impresario in Tsarist Moscow and “The Sultan of Jazz” in Constantinople. A small world, indeed.

down … when you don’t own the language.” Similar feelings, she says, apply not only to international students but to those from the U.S. Learning to write in an academic setting, even with English as a native language, can seem every bit as foreign. “Both,” she says, “require an adjustment to a particular audience.” Her background serves her well, too, in positioning JSU as an advocate of writing centers, a concept foreign to many countries, including Russia. In conjunction with a colleague from Russia, she recently offered a writing session, via Skype, at Amur State. Some 50 people, including diplomats, attended. “In Russia,” she says, “it is difficult to express ideas without being attacked.” It is her hope that in her native country, in fact in any country, people will embrace the value of writing and the freedom of expression that goes with it. “We need to learn to negotiate our differences without destroying each other — to see differences as a good thing.”

Briefly

UNIVERSITY HIGHLIGHTS BancorpSouth visit paying dividends

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

Dr. Robert Blaine, right, dean of JSU’s Undergraduate Studies and CyberLearning, discusses cutting-edge technology of the INNOVATE and CREATE centers during a campus tour with Michael Booker, left, BancorpSouth senior vice president of corporate banking, and James “Dan” Rollins III, CEO of BancorpSouth.

Emergency preparedness focus of conference

The first Institutions of Higher Learning Partners in Preparedness Conference brought to campus eight Mississippi universities’ chiefs of police, law enforcement and emergency personnel for what could be a regular series of conferences to share best practices for emergency preparedness. At the April 15 conference, information and tips were shared related to training, communication and safety techniques, recovery issues from natural disasters and the National Incident Management System.

CEO of Flashnotes shares best digital practices with faculty

Mike Matousek, founder and CEO of Flashnotes, met with JSU faculty to discuss best practices for the digital teaching tool. Forbes magazine described Flashnotes as one of the 12 companies transforming education to watch this year. Matousek launched Flashnotes, an online student-to-student marketplace for class study material, in 2009 while a student at Kent State University.

Saturday school bell rings

Jackson State University and Jackson Public Schools partnered to offer Saturday School tutoring sessions prior to standardized testing in March. Dr. Lennie M. Little, director of the Center for Teacher Quality, recruited education majors to help at Wilkens Elementary, Blackburn and Whitten middle schools and Wingfield High School. Subjects covered included math, English, reading, history and biology.

Sandy Hook mom speaks

A mother who lost her child during the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting rampage in Newton, Conn., in 2012, was the featured speaker during the Mississippi Child Welfare Institute Conference. Held in Jackson in February, it was hosted by the Jackson State University College of Public Service’s School of Social Work. Scarlett Lewis started the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Foundation in honor of her son.

James “Dan” Rollins III, CEO of BancorpSouth, and Michael Booker, BancorpSouth senior vice president of corporate banking, toured the INNOVATE and CREATE centers and the state-of-the-art stock market trading room in the College of Business in a February visit. “We’re looking to build a relationship to help build staff for us,” Rollins said. “We need future leaders in our company. We want to make sure that we’ve opened the doors, to make sure that we come and meet and get to know the students as they are coming through the system so that they can ultimately join our company and be a part of our bank.” Headquartered in Tupelo, BancorpSouth has 292 commercial banking, mortgage and insurance locations in Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas.

School of Journalism making headlines

Media training today, President Carolyn W. Meyers says, must shift to produce “digital storytellers equipped for emerging occupations.” Subsequently, the JSU Department of Mass Communications is being transformed into a School of Journalism, and returning to JSU to lead the effort is former department head Dr. Elayne Hayes-Anthony. She comes from Belhaven University, where she had served as chair of the Department of Communications for the past 10 years.

Blackburn Middle School gets laboratory designation

Jackson State University has entered a key phase of its historic relationship with neighboring Blackburn Middle School by designating it a laboratory school. A year in the works, Dr. Daniel Watkins, dean of the College of Education and Human Development, said the concept offers more ambitious ideas to revolutionize learning and instruction for Blackburn’s faculty and its nearly 450 students.

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Student Life

Decked out for prancing, dancing

The Sonic Boom of the South debuted new uniforms during JSUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2014 Homecoming game. Dowell Taylor, director of bands, said it had been at least 10 years since the band had new uniforms. Roderick Little, associate director of bands and director of marching bands, designed the uniforms, inspired by those worn in the â&#x20AC;&#x2122;70s. The uniforms were purchased with discretionary funds at the direction of JSU President Carolyn W. Meyers. Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

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Student Life

CAMPUS SCENE Planting seeds: Jackson

Jacksonian photo

Spring Break: Volunteering to help the elderly, families Assisting the elderly and terminally ill, fixing meals, reading stories to children: It’s not the way most people imagine college students spending spring break. But that’s what a group of Jackson State University students did during their six days away from campus in March. Twenty-eight students traveled to Atlanta as part of the Alternative Break program. Eltease Moore, Jackson State University Community Service coordinator, said students spent time preparing meals at Project Open Hands, which assists the elderly and terminally ill receiving nursing care, and at Atlanta Mission, a transition home for women and children. They also assisted at Sheltering Arms, a day care center. Asean Davis, 19, a freshman in civil engineering, plans to participate again. “It let me see how community service makes a difference. It enlightened me working with kids, because they pick up things so fast.” James Griffin, 19, a sophomore in accounting, volunteered at a food bank. “The variety of circumstances under which a person can need assistance was an eye-opener,” he said. “You don’t have to be living in a box to have a rough time.” Previous Alternative breaks have included service work in Chicago, Washington, D.C., a Gullah Geechee community in South Carolina and in New Orleans’ ninth ward following Hurricane Katrina. — Jim Ewing

State University students competing in the Blueprint Mississippi Social Business Challenge at the state Capitol March 12 didn’t win an award, but they still plan to carry their idea to fruition. Sierra Jackson, 20, and Javis Jones, 20, both junior business majors, want to start an on-campus organic farm run by students to provide food for the west Jackson community. Dr. Ramin Maysami, dean of the JSU College of Business, commended the students for their perseverance. “It’s still a winning proposal,” Maysami said following the competition.

Broadcast awards: First-

place winner WJSU-FM and mass communications’ TigerTV in the College of Liberal Arts Department earned 19 combined honors during the annual Mississippi Associated Press Broadcasters Awards April 18. NPR-affiliate WJSU received first place for its spot news coverage of the 2014 death of Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba. Garnering 14 awards, the 24-hour news and jazz station was among top winners in professional and collegiate categories. Mass communications’ TigerTV received several second- and third-place honors.

Public comment: JSU students voiced issues at the March 25 Jackson City Council and April 20 Hinds County Board of Supervisors meetings on campus. Dr. Patricia Murrain, coordinator of Speech Studies, introduced students to the Council. LaTonya Curley, a fourth-year graduate student in Public Policy Administration, led the public comments session at the Hinds meeting. Jean Frazier, State Relations coordinator, organized both events.

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

CSET students judge science fair: A banner at the entrance of Blackburn

Middle School reads: “Failure is not an option.” That didn’t appear to be a remote possibility, according to a dozen JSU students from the College of Science, Engineering and Technology who volunteered to judge the school’s science fair. Jamera Barnes, a second-grade science teacher and 2008 JSU alumna, hopes JSU students will turn their involvement, in its second year, into a tradition. More Campus Highlights at www.jsums.edu/news/

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Student Life

In a class of their own

2015 commencement a historical high; first JSUOnline graduates walk the stage

Cornell William Brooks, president of the NAACP, returned to his alma mater May 2 to deliver a rousing commencement address about social involvement. Describing the class of 2015 as the “Class of Now” during his address at the Mississippi Veterans Cornell William Brooks Memorial Stadium, he reflected on events that have made national headlines such as the deaths of Frederick Gray, Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin. “This is an extraordinary moment. This is an extraordinary time. This class arrives at a powerful moment in history — uncomfortably situated between the past and present.”

Brooks also recounted his circuitous route to Jackson State. As a high school senior in Georgetown, S.C., he received a number of letters from colleges nationwide, including several Ivy League schools. He also received one from JSU offering him a scholarship. Brooks tossed it. Then, another letter came from JSU, welcoming him for fall enrollment. He recounted his father’s explanation: “ ‘Boy, when I saw that letter in the trash can I forged your signature and sent it in.’ He added, ‘Son, never throw away money.’ ” The moral of the story, he added, “is that I believe you should go to a historically black college. It will benefit you; it will shore you up.” Following the address, JSU President Carolyn W. Meyers conferred degrees on more than 700 undergraduates, the largest graduating class in the university’s history. Another first was the graduation of 20 students from JSUOnline, the university’s digital degree program. The night prior, 352 students received graduate degrees in ceremonies at the Lee E. Williams Athletics and Assembly Center. —L.A. Warren

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Student Life

Photos by Charles A. Smith & Anissa Hidouk | Jacksonian

“This is an extraordinary moment. This is an extraordinary time. This class arrives at a powerful moment in history — uncomfortably situated between the past and present.”

— NAACP President Cornell William Brooks

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Alumni in Action

By Jim Ewing

.S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves is an imposing figure on the bench at the federal courthouse in Jackson, but he breaks into a grin speaking of his years as a student at Jackson State University. The 1986 grad says he almost didn’t go to JSU. “Thank God for OJ,” he said. Orange juice, that is. In 1982, the Yazoo City High School senior had an Air Force ROTC scholarship at another university and was awaiting results of the required physical. Meantime, he kept getting calls from Dr. Maria Harvey of the JSU honors program who thought he would be a perfect match. After months of waiting

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and time growing short before school would start, the physical results came back showing an anomaly. Apparently, although he had been told not to eat or drink anything prior to the physical, he had consumed some orange juice at a rest stop beforehand that threw off the results. Since there was no time to retake the test, he called up Dr. Harvey and asked, “Is it too late to come to JSU?” The rest, as they say, is history. At JSU, Reeves, 51, met Lora McGee (class of ’86), the woman who would become his wife. Although they had both grown up in Yazoo City, he didn’t get to know her until he was in the last semester of his senior year. They

were seated near each other in a business law class. He was smitten from the start. Their daughter, Chanda, 20, is now a junior at JSU studying psychology.

LEGAL CAREER

Reeves’ legal career is quite distinguished. After graduating from the University of Virginia Law School in 1989, he worked as an extern with then-Hinds County Supervisor Bennie Thompson, now 2nd District U.S. congressman. He was a law clerk for former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Reuben Anderson before joining the staff of the Phelps Dunbar law firm. That led him to be tapped by

U.S. Attorney Brad Pigott as chief of the civil division, from 1995 to 2001. After Pigott left the post, Reeves joined him as a partner in the firm of Pigott, Reeves, Johnson and Minor. In 2010, President Barack Obama appointed him to the federal court bench. The prestigious list of jobs and people, Reeves said, all go back to the people, places and relationships he formed at JSU. “I loved politics,” he recalls. He used to watch political conventions on television and was glued to the set during Watergate. He worked in Robert G. Clark’s failed 1982 congressional campaign. Naturally, he majored in political science at JSU.

Alumni in Action

jackson state university

Alumni in Action

at a glance • A Lifetime JSU Alumni member, Judge Carlton Reeves is the first of his family to graduate from a four-year college, first to be a lawyer and first to be a judge. He’s the second AfricanAmerican federal judge from Mississippi. • The most important advice for students: “Read. I tell students that all the time. Reading improves writing skills.”

“We had the most caring people at Jackson State in the Political Science Department” — Ally Mack, Les McLemore, Mary Coleman, Roy DeBerry, George Mitchell, Charles Holmes — “all of those folks had a genuine interest in our success.” Holmes was the pre-law advisor “and he used to always encourage us to think about applying for law school and to think about going away because ‘you can always come back home,’ ” he said. “You can get into Ole Miss or Mississippi College but let’s just see if you can get to other places.’ ” The outlook, said Reeves, encouraged him to apply to UVA. Holmes’ advice paid off for several of his cohorts, who went from JSU to law schools at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, and other big-name schools. “And Jackson State prepared all of us to do that,” Reeves points out. Rob Long, Lee Frison — “we all hung out together at Jackson State” — and another older JSU grad, Ottowa Carter, all went to UVA law school, he said.

STUDENT ACTIVISM

Jackson State was a hotbed of activism when he was in school, Reeves said. Protests were held against the Institutions of Higher Learning

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over funding. “We were always protesting, mostly led by a young man named Thomas Fox,” he said. “We marched on the state Capitol.” And they enlisted students from other Mississippi historically black colleges and universities to march. The Jake Ayers college desegregation case was still only in its beginning stages.

“But for the vote, I would not be where I am now.” While the federal lawsuit would eventually award $503 million to HBCUs in Mississippi for past underfunding, conditions were far different then. “At that time, the campus was small, the facilities were not up to par.” At one protest, at Ole Miss, “I remember going up to one of the dorms and seeing just how nice their dorms were vis a vis what was at Jackson State. It opened my eyes.” The Rev. Jesse Jackson came to campus in 1984 and led a march to the Hinds County Courthouse for JSU students to register to vote. It was at that march that Reeves got to know Lora better. They both marched and when it was over, the

JSU cafeteria had already closed. Lora was living with her sister who suggested he have dinner with them. “And we started dating,” he said. They married in 1990.

THE POWER OF A BOOK

Another experience at JSU, he said, that “opened my eyes” was a book. He thought he had a good education in Yazoo City, and he did, he said. But Professor Charles Holmes told him in his sophomore year that he should read the book Yazoo: Integration in a Deep Southern Town by Willie Morris. Being from Yazoo City, he had met Morris and knew all the people mentioned in the book, but he had never read it. Morris’ wife, Jo Anne Pritchard Morris, had taught him in school. His was the first class in Yazoo City that was integrated from first grade through high school graduation. They had the first integrated prom. But reading Morris’ book gave him a perspective that was at once encompassing, intimate and lasting. Jackson State allowed him to grow as a person, he said. As a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, Reeves assumed some leadership positions. He also ran for Student Government Association president, but “I lost by just a handful of votes.”

Alumni in Action

Photos by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

Even that turned out well for him, proving a valuable lesson: A failure doesn’t mean you are going to fail. The defeat, he said, changed his life, as he began to focus less on politics and more on becoming a lawyer. He took an internship at the Dockins and Wise law firm and that “gave me the opportunity to work in a law office and see what was going on and see how things are done, and it gave me a chance to meet black lawyers.” Reeves struggled to find a way to get back to Mississippi, to find a job after he graduated from law school. “I graduated in May and I had no money coming in.” Working for Thompson helped him get the clerking job with Anderson that led to other opportunities. “Again, relationships, people who care, who care about you, are fundamental.” He said he has no ambitions beyond serving out his lifetime appointment of federal district court judge. “I love this job,” he says. “I think this is the greatest job anybody can have.” “You face all kinds of issues, and you are the judge. Unlike on the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court, those judges have to get a second vote and, I guess on the Supreme Court side of things, it’s a miserable feeling I would imagine

if you’re always on the 4 side of a 5-4 decision.”

VOTING MATTERS

Civil rights, police power and education are all issues that he faces, and they are all important, he said. They demand his attention, keep him up to date, and require great study. But to single out one issue that he finds important above all others, he said when asked, is to vote. “But for the vote, I would not be where I am now.” Also important, he said, is having African-Americans in the legal profession. Lawyers have always had privilege, always had power, he said, but in Mississippi most black lawyers are only first or second generation. Only a handful of blacks were practicing law in the 1960s in Mississippi. White lawyers can have generations of lawyers in their families, he said, and this has influenced law and public policy. “In Mississippi, those who have been in power have been white people. You cannot disconnect the educational level, the economic status, and all that, the way the laws have been set up in the past, to prop them up on the backs of black folk. You cannot disconnect the condition of HBCUs and everything else, without tying it to that legal, historical context because

Mississippi did everything legally to deprive people like myself of attaining that position.”

OPPORTUNITIES

Today, Reeves is a firm believer in JSU and HBCUs in general. “I believe that those opportunities to allow me to grow came because of Jackson State — the things that we were involved in on campus and the people who cared enough about us to want us to succeed. I just don’t think those opportunities would come to individuals at the majority institutions. I’m a firm believer in the HBCUs and their nurturing.” Jackson State University and HBCUs “give you the opportunity to learn about yourself,” he said. “I learned so much about Carlton Reeves, so much about Yazoo City, so much about Mississippi at JSU.” In addition, he said, “you are encouraged, you are trained to do well, to be competent.” If students aren’t tops in their class, a school like JSU “understands,” he said, with the approach that “you can give me something, and I can mold it. I can produce. Just give it to me. I can make it work. You don’t have to be the 4.0 students … we can make you productive citizens. All you have to do is want to learn. We can do that for you. I think HBCUs do that.” ONEJSU

High-profile cases U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves’ address to three young white men prior to sentencing in the 2011 slaying of James Craig Anderson, a black man, is now celebrated as one of the most powerful statements about racial violence in the South. You can read it at: http:// ow.ly/KyymT In November 2014, Reeves granted a preliminary injunction blocking Mississippi’s ban against same-sex unions. In his 72-page order, Reeves said, “Mississippi continues to change in ways its people could not anticipate even 10 years ago. Allowing same-sex couples to marry, however, presents no harm to anyone. At the very least, it has the potential to support families and provide stability for children.”

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Partnership

SEPT. 5

@Middle Tenn. St.

OCT. 3

OCT. 17

Nov. 7

Alabama St.

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SEPT. 19

Tennessee St.

@Alabama A&M

Grambling St.

SEPT. 12

NOV. 21

@Prairie View A&M

SEPT. 26

@Southern

Tx. Southern

OCT. 24

OCT. 31

Ark. Pine Bluff

NOV. 28

Alcorn St.

@Ms. Valley St.

Campus to Community

Recreational complex revamp

Photos by Deontae Williams | Jacksonian

Grand reopening, including Payton Center, broadens focus, programs By Jim Ewing and Robert Jeuitt

Jackson State University held a grand reopening of its Recreational Complex at the Walter Payton Center earlier this year. The revamped facility includes an expansion to reflect a new primary focus on recreation and increased emphasis on fitness and health. “JSU is investing in expanding its recreational offerings to students because studies have shown that behind sports, recreational facilities are the No. 2 student recruitment tool,” said Jennifer Probert, the complex’s senior assistant director of marketing and membership. The JSU Recreation Complex encompasses more than 100,000 square feet with stateof-the-art equipment and workout space. It includes the Walter Payton Center, the TB Ellis facility and swimming pool, tennis courts and a track and field area. Built in 2005, the Payton Center was named for legendary football star Walter Payton, an All American at JSU. He was one of the most prolific running backs in the National Football League. The Payton Center, significantly upgraded, also sports a different look. The rotunda’s makeover features inspiring artwork along the ceiling, and a replica Walter Payton jersey hangs in the main hallway, which also is draped with flags emphasizing available health programs. Four Cybek machines have been added to the workout area.

“I think it’s a lot better,” said JSU freshman and complex volunteer Mahogany HopkinsBuckley. “We have new equipment … that will help people in their workout.” The New Zealand native is one of 75 student employees at the complex. The physical changes at the complex come with an expanded offering of group fitness classes — from six to 40, Probert said. The classes include premium fitness instruction for those who want advanced, intense workouts. All staff members are certified and CPR-trained instructors. Student, staff, alumni and community memberships are offered at special onemonth, six-month and one-year rates.

AMENITIES • 18,000 square feet of cardio, weight training • 3-court basketball gymnasium • 3-lane pool • 4 fitness studios • 3 racquetball courts

• 1 squash court • 1 wellness suite • 2 intramural fields • 12 tennis courts • Outside track, field • 40 fitness classes • Massage therapy • Consultations • Child care

JSU President Carolyn W. Meyers said students expect top-notch facilities, and the upgrade was done with their needs in mind. “This generation is more health-conscious,” Meyers said. ONEJSU jackson state university

Athletics

SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS Hall of Fame: The Black College Football Hall of Fame inducted

legendary Jackson State University football coach W. C. Gorden at a February ceremony. Gorden, JSU’s winningest football coach, was named head coach in 1977 and served until 1991. He was selected from a list of 25 finalists.

Celebrity hoops: More than a dozen public officials joined in

“Celebrity Game Hoops” during Jackson State University’s Local and Statewide Public Officials Night in February at the JSU/Texas Southern University women’s and men’s basketball games. A mixed roster of alumni team players from the Jackson City Council joined forces with Scholar-athletes: The Mississippi House and Senate third annual “Breakfast of members to take on an aggressive Champions” recognized team of JSU students from the 137 scholar Tigers and Student Government Association Lady Tigers who earned and other student activity groups.

Bowling: JSU’s women’s bowling

team had an outstanding 2014-2015 season. The Lady Tigers won first place at the SWAC West Roundup with a record of 10-2, and they were named SWAC Regular Season Champions after the SWAC East Roundup with a record of 19-5.

Washington Nationals draft JSU infielder Melvin Rodriguez Jackson State University infielder Melvin Rodriguez is headed to the major leagues. The Washington Nationals selected the Manati, Puerto Rico, native on the third day of the Major League draft in June. He was taken in the 18th round and was the 554th pick. He is the first Tiger to be drafted since Pernell Halliman was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 40th round in 2008. Rodriguez was named to the National Baseball Writers All America third team and the American Baseball Coaches Association All-Region second team. Other honors include: Louisville Slugger All-American; C Spire Ferriss Trophy finalist; SWAC Player of the Year; SWAC Co-Hitter of the Year; an AllSWAC first team selection; and SWAC All-Tournament team member. He also was on the Dick Howser Trophy Watch List. Rodriguez recorded a .422 batting average and had 97 hits, 22 doubles, seven home runs, 61 runs and 65 RBIs. He also posted a .477 on base percentage and a .635 slugging percentage to go along with a .961 fielding percentage.

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Tiger fest, football: Jackson

State University welcomed the community to food, fun, music and sports at its annual Tiger Fest on April 11 at the JSU campus on Walter Payton Drive. Presented by the JSU Tiger Fund and the JSU Division of Athletics, Tiger Fest featured the Blue & White Spring Football Game along with a Greek Step Show and concert.

Social media’s full court press: Jackson State University’s

at least a 3.0 grade point average through the summer of 2014. All 18 sports were represented at the February event organized by the JSU Division of Athletics. The team breakdown was as follows: football, 34; women’s soccer, 16; baseball, 14; men’s track, 11; softball, 10; volleyball, 8; men’s tennis, 6; men’s basketball, 5; women’s basketball, 5; women’s tennis, 4; bowling, 3; men’s golf, 2; women’s golf, 1; and women’s track, 1. Of the 137 student-athletes, four recorded a perfect 4.0 GPA; 58 finished between the 3.5-3.99 range; and 75 recorded between a 3.0-3.49.

social media department hosted its first #GreeksAtPlay initiative to boost attendance at the men’s and women’s basketball games. Ashton Hall, JSU social media associate, said the initiative encouraged Greek fraternity and sorority organizations to adopt specified games throughout the season. Follow JSU athletics at www.jsumsnews.com.

Athletics

Myers gets ‘Big Break’ on Golf Channel

Photo by JSU Athletics/Jacksonian

Standout golfer and Jackson State alumnus Clay Myers parlayed his skills on the course into an appearance this spring on the Golf Channel’s hit series, Big Break the Palm Beaches, and became a fan favorite in the process. The series was shot in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, at Jack Nicklaus’ PGA National Resort & Spa. The stakes were high for the cast of 12 — $50,000 and an opportunity to play in the PGA Tour’s Barbasol Challenge in June. “I learned I have what it takes — how to dig deep and how to bring out that fierce, competitive side of me,” said the 24-yearold, who made it to the final four before being eliminated. While at JSU, Myers, coached by Eddie Payton, led the university to four SWAC titles and was named 2012 SWAC Golfer of the Year. Shortly after graduating with a degree in accounting, Myers qualified for the 2012 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills in Colorado. Being the only African-American among 300 qualifiers further solidified his desire to play golf professionally. “I couldn’t believe I was the only AfricanAmerican in the field,” said Myers. “It seemed like a sign, that this was what I was supposed to do, play tournament golf to inspire more diversity in the game at its highest level.” Myers, a Memphis native, lives in Orlando, Fla. He continues to work a variety of jobs to fund his budding golfing career, including commercial work for television. He’s also caddied for Cheyenne Woods, niece of legendary golfer Tiger Woods, on the Symetra Tour.

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Staff

Armed with experience

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

Public safety officer, now studying social work, a voice of encouragement By L.A. Warren

Although a career in law enforcement means putting your life on the line, fear never has gripped Jackson State University Public Safety Captain Angela Butler. Rather, the fulfillment that comes from helping others motivated her to pursue her lifelong passion and was furthered by watching television shows such as Law & Order, Magnum, P.I. and Miami Vice. Butler, a native of Jackson, is now in her 20th year at JSU, describing it as one of the best places to work and attend school. She also is a junior studying social work. “I love the atmosphere. I love interacting with people from all over the world, particularly learning about their cultures. I get to help students whose parents bring them here. “Once they’re dropped off, I’ve had the privilege of ‘adopting’ some of them to let

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them know that JSU is not about partying but about learning.” In her role as administrative captain, Butler is a supervisor and office manager, handling payroll and dispatch — emergency and nonemergency calls. In addition, she assigns parking decals and reserved spaces and files Uniform Crime Reports to the FBI. While some of these tasks may seem mundane, her job at times has been an emotional roller coaster. She recounts a case that took a toll on her and reverberated throughout the city and state. In 2007, the slaying of JSU student Latasha Norman was a wrenching moment. Butler said she had numerous friendly encounters with Norman before the tragedy. “It touched me even more because her body was found in the neighborhood where I grew up,” she said. “When I get home I have to take off this uniform. I’m still human. Emotionally, there is some wear and tear.” For seven years, Butler worked with Crime Prevention and Safety to try to avert harm and assist victims of rape and assault. “Now, I’ve been able to refer people to the Latasha Norman Center at JSU,” which was named after the slain student. The facility assists people in coping with

domestic violence and other issues that speak profoundly to Butler, a single mother of three daughters — 13-year-old twins and a 3-yearold. Also, Butler grew up as the youngest of four girls in her family. Throughout her decades at JSU, she said she’s seen many positive changes, citing the university’s expansion with the Mississippi e-Center@JSU, the Madison campus and the new downtown location. As the main campus grows, she said she’d love to see a parking garage built. Away from work, the law enforcement officer says she’s incognito. “No one seems to recognize me. I’m not a flashy person, but I do have average people clothes,” she joked. As well, Butler said she loves to bowl, averaging 190. Her competitive spirit and athleticism (she played basketball and ran track in junior high and high school) have spread to her older daughters, who power lift. Also, on some weekends, she assists with a friend’s catering and wedding-planning business. In the future, Butler aspires to become a deputy chief or assistant chief. However, she says her biggest joy for now is encouraging youth to excel. ONEJSU

Accomplishments

Faculty/Staff Notes Edwards-Evans promoted, joins president’s cabinet

Dr. Nicole EdwardsEvans, promoted to vice president for Enrollment Management and Institutional Research, Edwards-Evans joins the president’s cabinet. She oversees enrollment management, institutional research and assessment, accreditation and JSUOnline. Previously, Edwards-Evans served as associate provost for Institutional Research, Planning and Enrollment Management in which she was instrumental in pushing JSU to a record enrollment of more than 9,500 students.

White, named interim VP, joins president’s cabinet Dr. Mary M. White has been appointed interim vice president for Institutional Advancement and is a member of the White president’s cabinet. White oversees and leads Alumni and Constituency Relations, the Center for University-Based Development, Community Engagement, Department of Events, the JSU Development Foundation, Metro Jackson Community Prevention Coalition, University Communications and the Welcome Center. She is the inaugural chairperson and associate professor of the Department of Entrepreneurship and Professional Development in the College of Business.

Skelton appointed director of DSEI

Dr. Gordon Skelton has been named director of Data Sciences, Engineering and Intelligence in the College of Science, Engineering Skelton and Technology. The new post brings together CSET areas of interest throughout the campus. Skelton, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,

has directed CSET’s Center for Defense Integrated Data at the Mississippi e-Center@ JSU since 2005.

Hayes-Anthony heads Mass Communications Dr. Elayne HayesAnthony, who served as director of the Department of Mass Communications in the Hayes-Anthony 1990s, has returned to the position. She comes from Belhaven University in Jackson where she had served as professor of communications and chair of the Department of Communications since 1998. A native of Jackson, Hayes-Anthony was the first African-American female to serve as a news anchor on WJTV-Channel 12 in Jackson.

Blaine Undergraduate Studies and CyberLearning dean

Dr. Robert Blaine is the new dean of Undergraduate Studies and CyberLearning. Blaine, special assistant to the provost for Blaine CyberLearning and associate professor of music, has served as interim associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts, among other duties. He has blazed a trail in the university’s incorporation of online learning and is an Apple Distinguished Educator. Blaine and a team of other JSU faculty and staff launched the 2012 iPad Technology Advantage that equips freshmen with iPads. The program also tracks student progress.

Azevedo named dean of Liberal Arts College

Dr. Mario Azevedo has been named dean of the College of Liberal Arts. Azevedo served as interim dean, College of Public Azevedo Service, which includes the School of Health Sciences, School of Social Work and School of Policy and Planning, from 2009-2013; as acting dean, College of Public Service, in 2008, and as interim associate dean, School

of Health Sciences, 2007-2009. He came to JSU in 2006 from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he had served as chair and Frank Porter Graham Professor in the Africana Studies Department, College of Arts and Sciences. Azevedo also had worked in the JSU Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. He earned a Ph.D. in history at Duke University in 1975.

Leggette named to HBCU Advisory Conference Board

Dr. Evelyn J. Leggette, associate vice president for Academic and Student Affairs, has been named to the College Board’s HBCU Leggette Advisory Conference. The century-old College Board is a nonprofit organization designed to expand access to higher education. Leggette will work with other members of the board on the academic affairs side of the HBCU conference in setting topics that will be of interest to department chairs, vice presidents and presidents on how to improve and work together on the issue of student success. Members of the advisory panel are selected from the academic, financial aid and enrollment communities from member institutions of the College Board.

Humanities Council recognizes band director

Dowell Taylor was recently honored with a Mississippi Humanities Council Teacher Award. Taylor is assistant professor of music and Taylor director of the nationally renowned Sonic Boom of the South marching band. He has served as director since 2012. He also served in that capacity from 1984-1992. In accepting the award, Taylor spoke on “The Arts: A Struggle for Survival.”

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Accomplishments

Faculty/Staff Notes Calhoun honored for ‘dedication to teaching’

Dr. Thomas Calhoun, interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts, has won The Mid-South Sociological Association’s Distinguished Career Calhoun Award. The award was presented at the 2014 MSSA Conference in Mobile, Ala. A sociology professor, Calhoun was selected because of his “tireless dedication to teaching,” said MSSA President Dr. Timothy B. Gongaware.

Huntington lectures at Princeton

Dr. Yumi Park Huntington, assistant professor of art, lectured recently at Princeton University on Andean pre-Columbian ceramics. Huntington An art history teacher, Huntington is writing a book titled Pre-Columbian Ceramics: A Thematic Approach. She says her study is the only one of its type in the U.S. that looks at utilitarian objects from the archeology of the Andean region and catalogs them from the standpoint of social stratification, religious practices and the makers’ ethnicity. Huntington recently won a $10,000 annual grant from a private philanthropist to further her research. She has taught at JSU since 2011.

Legislature honors professor, student

Dr. Zikri Arslan, professor of chemistry, and student Harold Owens III were honored by the Mississippi Arslan Legislature as part of Higher Education Appreciation Day/Working for Academic Excellence. The event is held annually to recognize academically talented students and faculty members from the state’s institutions of higher learning. Owens is the winner of the JSU Student of the Year HEAD/WAE Award and is

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a JSU Presidential Scholar. He has been awarded a full scholarship to the graduate program in chemical engineering at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Arslan previously worked as a National Research Council post-doctoral research associate at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s James Howard Marine Sciences Laboratory in Sandy Hook, N.J., and as an assistant research scientist at University of Maryland Chesapeake Biological Laboratory.

Anderson named to board of directors

Dr. Brian Anderson, associate professor of social work, has been elected to the Association of Baccalaureate Social Anderson Work Program Board of Directors. He also was named Social Work Educator of the Year at the 43rd Alabama/ Mississippi Social Work Education Conference held at Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Ala., an honor previously won in 2009. Anderson was recently accepted to the third cohort of the Academy for Research and Scholarly Engagement at Jackson State. He is an accreditation site visitor for the Council on Social Work Education and serves on CSWE’s Council on Leadership Development.

Former police chief oversees JSU’s safety

Lindsey Horton, former chief of police for the city of Jackson, joined Jackson State University’s leadership team as associate vice Horton president for safety and security. He oversees safety and security at all JSU sites and venues and coordinates emergency and risk management across the university by continuously upgrading procedures, protocols and policies needed to keep the university safe.

the art of teaching Master filmmaking class: Multiple

award-winning acclaimed actor, director and producer Tim Reid, along with other members of the Legacy Media Institute of Petersburg, Va., presented a two-week master class on filmmaking to 11 aspiring multimedia students. Reid, best known for his roles in the television series Frank’s Place, Sister Sister, and Tremé, chose two students to join LMI in London Reid for a two-week film workshop in June. They also presented their work in a public screening at the end of May.

Art from afar: Art scholars traveled

across continents to introduce Korean and Chinese art to Americans and give their work to JSU’s permanent art collection. Ceramics scholar Dr. Dong Hun Chung of WonKwang University in South Korea led the delegation, which included Fang Man, a ceramic artist and art professor at China’s Jingdezhen College and Wang Xing Kim Quing, an associate professor of design at Hengshui University in Hebei Province in China. Hyun Chong Kim, JSU professor of art and ceramics, curated the show that featured dozens of works, including ceramics, textiles and oil paintings, some never before seen in America.

Liberal Arts fest: The JSU College

of Liberal Arts touted its academic offerings at LA Fest March 30, with a courtyard luncheon and jazz entertainment. Each of the college’s disciplines — Arts, Humanities, and Behavioral and Social Sciences — explained success in cultivating skills in research and analysis; written and oral communication; visual literacy; and creative expression in the arts.

Alumni in Action

Golden Tigers: The Class of 1965 Classmates set $100,000 fundraising goal during yearlong anniversary celebration Fifty years after graduating, members of the class of 1965 donned doctoral caps and gowns to receive diplomas during the Golden Diploma Ceremony during May’s commencement exercises. The anniversary celebration and accompanying fundraising drive will culminate with homecoming activities in October. Class members hope to raise $100,000 and surpass the class of 1964’s challenge to meet its $68,000. Money raised by Golden Tigers helps ensure baby Tigers will have opportunities to create their own memories at Jackson State University.

A defining moment: 1964 demonstration

Ballard-Crockett

In 1964, then 20-year-old Mamie Ballard became the unintentional catalyst of a student demonstration and protest on John Roy Lynch Street. A white motorist hit Crockett as she was crossing Lynch Street going from the cafeteria to her dormitory room. In those days before the pedestrian plaza, Lynch Street was a busy thoroughfare connecting downtown to west Jackson. Students resided on the north side of the street but ate meals, attended classes and used the library on the south side. During rush-hour traffic in mornings and afternoons, students literally took their lives into their own hands to get to and from their dorms. Ballard survived with a broken leg, bruises and

lacerations, but students — who long had been pushing for a traffic light — began demonstrating when police let the driver go. Five years later, following another demonstration and the shooting of 14 students and the death of two young men, James Earl Green and Phillip Gibbs, the plaza was constructed and traffic was rerouted around the campus onto Terry Road (now University Boulevard). These days Crockett is a retired Jackson Public Schools administrator but came back to her “dear old college home” for the Golden Anniversary 50th Reunion of the Class of 1965. ONEJSU

In his own words Editor’s note: Father Charles A. Wonch, SCJ, a veteran, graduated from Jackson State University in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in industrial management. Like so many, he holds a special place in his heart for his alma mater. We are sharing his unsolicited letter, with his permission, as a testament to the value of getting an education and pursuing one’s dream. I have always been thankful and proud of the education that I received while studying at Jackson State Wonch University. I had finished my tour of duty in the U.S. Air Force and had moved back to Mississippi to live, work and start a family. While working at Kuhlman Electric Company in Crystal Springs, (Miss.), I heard about the opportunities of completing a degree at JSU. I was encouraged from the first meeting with admissions about gathering all the college credits I had accumulated since graduating in 1965 from Colville High School in Colville, Wash. After talking to the VA and Kuhlman management, I started the task of working

full time, going to school full time, and working for the Catholic Church while starting a family and building a home. My wife is long gone, and my children are grown and have families of their own. But since I had received such a good education at JSU, I attended Springhill College in Mobile, Ala., and received a Master of Theological Studies degree. I worked with many parish priests and churches around central Mississippi while working for 15 years as a purchasing supervisor at Grand Gulf Nuclear Station. God seemed to be calling me to come and follow Him and be of service to His people where ever He wanted to send me. This prompted me to start looking at the priesthood in the Catholic Church. I was accepted to join and study with the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and moved to Milwaukee in 1995 — leaving all behind.

I continued my studies at Catholic Theological University in Chicago and received a Master of Divinity degree. I was ordained to the priesthood in Jackson, Mississippi, by Bishop William Houck and served in the Indian Missions in South Dakota for nine years. All of this was possible only by the good education and encouragement that I received while studying at JSU. Thank you so much for the great foundation. I continue to pray for great success of the school and all of its students. It is wonderful to get The Jacksonian and see how far so many have gone with their lives. Sincerely yours, Through the Sacred Heart of Jesus Father Charles A. Wonch, SCJ

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Alumni in Action

classnotes ’60s

Samuel Jefferson Jr., (’68) who

served as director of Sports Information at JSU from 1973 until his retirement in 2002, was inducted into the College Sports Information Directors of Jefferson America Hall of Fame during a ceremony in June in Orlando, Fla. He graduated from JSU in 1968 with a major in speech communication and English literature.

’70s

Dr. Rose Harper Austin, (’72) a mem-

ber of the Jackson State University Alumni Hall of Fame, received the 2015 IMPACT award from the Women’s Guild in Houston for outstanding Harper Austin community contributions. After retiring from the Lone Star College System in 2009 as the dean for Institutional Effectiveness, Austin became an education and nonprofit consultant and an adjunct professor at Springfield College. In 2010, Austin made history as the first African-American woman to serve as a Rotary district governor in Texas. She graduated from JSU in 1972, receiving both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English literature, and earned a Doctorate of Education degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of Houston.

Dr. Mary D. Coleman (’73) has been

named Chief Operating Officer for the Crittenton Women’s Union, a Boston-based nonprofit innovator in helping low-income women and their families become economically self-sufficient. For the past five years, Coleman had served as Coleman dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Lesley University where she co-developed a Master of Science in Management degree. Prior to Lesley University, Coleman was associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and director of the Center for University Scholars at Jackson State University. Coleman was a postdoctoral fellow in public policy at

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University of Maryland and in liberal arts at Harvard School of Law, and holds a doctoral degree and a master’s degree in political science from University of Wisconsin-Madison, as well as a bachelor’s degree in political science from Jackson State University.

Camille Stutts-Simms (’78) was appoint-

ed to the school board of Jackson Public Schools — Mississippi’s second-largest school district — last fall. Stutts-Simms, an independent insurance broker, co-owns the Royal Bleu Boutique, located at One University Place on the JSU camStutts-Simms pus, with daughter Marissa Simms. Stutts-Simms received a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Missouri, which led to a career with IBM. She graduated from JSU in 1978 with a degree in biology.

’80s

Michael Chatman (’81) is the face of a

new United Airlines international ad campaign, “Making the world feel like home in any language.” The ad has been prominently displayed in New York Times Square, on some of Chatman the city’s buses and in other venues and publications worldwide. Chatman was named a 2011 JSUNAA STAR (Special Thanks And Recognition) by the metro New York chapter. He graduated from JSU in 1981 with a degree in mass communications.

Vernon Ross (’82) is the new director of

STEM & Generations Engagement for Lockheed Martin Corp. Culture, Diversity and Equal Opportunity Programs and, as such, develops and leads STEM higher education and generational initiatives. Ross designed and launched the Lockheed Martin Cyber Security Talent ManRoss agement Initiative that included the Lockheed Martin Cyber University. He graduated from JSU in 1982 with a degree in computer science and mathematics. He received his master’s degree in computer education from Philadelphia University and a Doctor of Educational Leadership and Innovation degree from Wilmington University.

Matthew Bradford

Alumni in Action

’10s

Dr. Earlexia Norwood, M.D. (’84),

director of Practice Development and Community Health Education at the West Bloomfield Hospital in Detroit, was named the 2014 Legacy of Leaders Distinguished Alumni of the Year by the National Black College Alumni Norwood Hall of Fame Foundation Inc. Norwood is a member of the hospital’s board of governors and the inaugural president of the Organization of Physicians, Academicians, and Executive Leaders.

Dr. Gerald L. Roberts Weatherspoon (’84)

has been named a 2015 Teaching Excellence Award winner at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., where he is the associate chairman for the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. In 2002, Weatherspoon Weatherspoon became the first African-American to be granted tenure in science and engineering at George Mason and remains the only African-American faculty member tenured in its College of Science. He graduated with honors from JSU with a bachelor’s in chemistry in 1984 and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, Davis, in 1995.

Tramell Tillman (’08) made his

Off Broadway debut in Tis a Pity She’s a Whore in April. He spent this past summer in upstate New York as a member of the Chautauqua Tillman Theatre Conservatory. He also recently finished shooting a brief role in a new web series, Difficult People, from executive producer Amy Poehler. The mass communications major graduated from JSU in 2008 and received an MFA in theatre from the University of Tennessee Knoxville.

Stuart P. Lott (’08) has joined

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP as an attorney in the firm’s Banking and Financial Services Practice Group and its Financial Services Litigation and Compliance Team. He was also recently appointed vice Lott chairman of the Minorities In the Profession Commitee of the Young Lawyers Division of the American Bar Association. Lott earned his J.D., with a concentration in business law and regulation, from Cornell Law School and his B.B.A. in finance, summa cum laude, from JSU in 2008.

Christopher Herro, (’10)

’90s

Chad A. Smith of Atlanta has

received the YMCA of Metro Atlanta’s 2014 Volunteer of the Year award for his service at the Arthur M. Blank Smith Family Youth YMCA. Smith, a commercial pilot and FAA-certified flight instructor, assists in his son’s classroom and leads cheerleading practices for his daughters’ classes. Smith also volunteers at Sheltering Arms Early Childhood Education & Family Center and the Kindezi School. Smith graduated from JSU in 1997 with a degree in finance.

Herro

band director at Edna Karr High School in New Orleans, accepted an invitation — made in person by The Lord Mayor of Winchester — to perform in London’s New Year’s parade. Herro graduated from JSU in 2010 with a music education degree.

ALUMNI APPLAUSE Jackson State University shares the success stories of its alumni through Alumni Applause, a website of the Office of Alumni and Constituency Relations. To submit information and a photo for the website and future editions of The Jacksonian, please visit: www.jsums.edu/alumni/category/alumni-applause/information For more information, contact Mea Ashley, alumni program specialist, at mea.e.ashley@jsums.edu or (601) 979-2942.

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Partnership

| honor roll of donors |

jackson state university

honor of roll donors FY2013-2014

Alumni, friends, corporations, foundations and organizations continue to provide invaluable support for scholarships, academic programs, facility upgrades and other needs. Indeed, it is our donors, including some who choose to remain anonymous, who help maintain the foundation on which great futures for Jackson State University students are built.

We thank you for your loyalty and generosity. The Department of Advancement Services makes every effort to verify the accuracy of its Honor Roll of Donors. If your name does not appear, is listed in the incorrect category or is misspelled, please call 601-979-0418 or email johnyelle.lee@jsums.edu.

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jackson state university fy2013-2014

$100,000 and Above

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi Foundation Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. National Headquarters Robert M Hearin Foundation Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund WeatherVision, Inc.

$50,000 - $99,999 Hursie Davis-Sullivan Heeers, P.A. Alma Pittman Winston Pittman Regions Bank Richard Sullivan The Estate of Bennie J. Wren

$25,000 - $49,999 Joe Tatum Union Pacific Corporation

$10,000 - $24,999 Beatrice Anderson James Anderson Anonymous BankPlus Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi, Inc. Danella Catchings Howard Catchings James Covington C Spire Foundation for Education & Economic Development, Inc. Golda Franklin Jimmie Franklin Willie Houston iVision IT Consultants John McGowan Charles McTeer Carolyn W. Meyers Julie Miller NAVSEA Lou Sanders Southern Heritage Foundation, Inc. Leland Speed Spring ‘81 Heroes Luther Williams Ruth Williams

$5,000 - $9,999 Abbott Laboratories Foundation

AJA Management & Technical Services Geraldine Barnes Thomas Calhoun Willie Farmer Lee Frison Lawrence Gordon H. D. Catching Insurance Agency Andrell Harris Paul Hemphill Horne CPA’s and Business Advisors Charles Johnson Roy Jones JSU Alumni Players Association JSU Greater Washington D.C. Area Alumni Chapter, Inc. My Joy, Inc. William Overton Payton Family Foundation, Inc. Porter’s Insurance Agency Saatchi and Saatchi North America, Inc. Steven James Insurance Agency Eugene Stewart Worth Thomas Byron Turner Sonda White James Wiley Margaret Wodetzki

$2,000 - $4,999

100 Black Men of Jackson Richard Alo Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Gamma Rho Chapter American Honda Motor Co., Inc. Anthony Anderson AT&T Corporation George Barnes Jessie Bishop Blakstarr Miki Bolton Wilson Robert Braddy Artrie Caston Fulton Caston Marcus Chanay Clarice Clayton-Johnson Calvin Cunning Regina Davis-Myers Dixon Hughes Goodman, LLP Elinor Draine Tellis Ellis

Enterprise Holdings Foundation Alvin Flowers E Foster Velvelyn Foster Frito-Lay, Inc. (Texas) Eva N. Gaines Richard Gaines Rosalind Hal Larry Heard Mary Heard Solomon Henderson Hesselbein Tire Co., Inc. Lindsey Horton Tyree Irving Jimmie L. Sandifer Real Estate Co. Maxine Johnson Michaelle Jones Laawandaa Jones-Horton JSU Class of 1963 JSU Memphis Alumni Chapter JSU Meridian Alumni Chapter JSU Metro New York Alumni Chapter JSU Scott County Alumni Chapter JSU St. Louis Alumni Chapter Defronia Kelly Robert Kelly L.A.D. Engineering Technologies Herbert Loving Cynthia Melvin Mississippi Manufacturers Association MJT Integrated Systems Solutions, Inc. Loretta Moore Sedric Myers Darryl Pilate Will Pugh Michael Robinson Shell Oil Company Foundation Pasqual Slaughter Doris Smith Herman Smith Southern AgCredit St. Paul M.B. Church State Farm Insurance Companies Kenyatta Stewart The P & G Fund of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation Beverly Toomey TPG Global, LLC

Walgreens Michael Walker Wanda Walker Vernon Weakley Frazier Wilson Bobbie Wilson Stephanie Wilson-Coleman Terry Woodard Demetrice Wraggs

$1,000 - $1,999

Advanced Therapeutic Concepts, Inc. Ivye Allen Farshad Amini Bertrand Antoine Gregory Antoine ASEE AT&T Foundation Bank of America Foundation Bank Management Systems, LLC BankPlus (Ridgeland) Fred Banks Stanley Blackmon Bolden Body Shop & Wrecker Service Geraldine Brookins Phillip Brookins C. Jerome Brown Jacqueline Brown Timothy Brown James Brownridge C & B Enterprises Bernice Cain Percy Cain Capitol Drywall Supply, Inc. Capitol Physical Therapy, P.A. Billy Carcamo Alveno Castilla Geraldine Chaney Coca-Cola Foundation Coleman, Alexander, Prosser Foundation, Inc. Robert Cook William Cooley Meredith Creekmore Cummins, Inc. Steven Cunningham Johnnie Daniels Virgie Davis Mark Dawson Dorothy S. Thompson Realty Hosea Dorris Education Connections Consultants Empowerment Corporation

Environmental Management Plus, Inc. Mehri Fadavi Mary Fielder Jones First Commercial Bank Velvelyn Foster Vivian Fuller Funches and Associates Jeff Good Willie Hall Ashton Hamme Jimmie Harmon BoNita Harris Eunice Harris Alferdteen Harrison Paula Haynes-Hicks Lionel Henderson Aaron Honeysucker Honeysucker & Honeysucker, Inc. IBM Matching Grants Program J.M.C. Healthcare Services, PC Jack and Jill of America Malcolm Jackson Mildred Jenkins William Jones Aaron Jones Julia Jones JP Morgan Chase Foundation JSU Hattiesburg Alumni Chapter JSU Jackson-Hinds Alumni Chapter JSU Nashville Alumni Chapter Josephine Kelly DeJonnette King Vanessa King Kathy Knighton-Rondon Angela Kupenda L3 Communications Barbara Large John Large Jeanne Luckett Madison Heart Clinic, P.A. D.E. Magee Elizabeth Mahaffey Robert Mahaffey David Malone Tricia Mayes Annie McCants Timothy McCarty Debra McGee Metro Home Inspection, LLC James Minor Mississippi Power Foundation Moore Healthy Family Medical Clinic, LLC Eddie Munson

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| honor roll of donors | Vounzell Murphy Anantha Muscu National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame John Neal Louise Nichols Wilfred Noel Novartis US Foundation Narah Oatis Barbara Ousby Calvin Ousby Yolanda Owens Marcia Owens Dana Pace John Peoples Perrylee Home Health Care Services, Inc. Quinn Healthcare, PLLC Walter Rayford Marcus Reed Rissah Temple NO 130 A.E.A.O.N. MS Sanderson Farms, Inc. Roderick Scott Ingrad Smith Alean Smith Ernest Smith Socrates Garrett Enterprise, Inc. Eric Stringfellow Gloria Tatum Tatum & Wade Herman Taylor Vivian Taylor Wilson Taylor Henry Temple George Terry The Clorox Company Foundation Andre Towner Annie Ulmer United Way of Metropolitan Nashville Vercell Vance Voice Of Calvary Ministries Clemontine Whitaker Jackie Williams Elise Winter William Winter Nellie Winters Tolliver

$500 - $999

Rose Austin Cecilia Bacchus James Bacchus Dury Baggett Pamela Banks Johnnie Barnes Willie Bell Louis Beverly Sarah Binion Charles Bishop Blackmon & Blackmon Leon Bland Juanita Bluntson

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Marilyn Bolden Robert Bonds BP Management Tamika Bradley Charlie Bridges May Bridges Mary Brookins Dian Brown Veronica Brown Donna Bruce Brenda Bunley Lillie Campbell Paul Campbell Clyde Canady Gwendolyn Caples Driscoll Carr Eddie Carr Gina Carter-Simmers Cesco, Inc. Natalie Chadwell James Clark Pearl Clark College Hill Baptist Church Patrick Collins Community Foundation of Greater Jackson, Inc. William Cooley Catherine Cooper Lawrence Cotton Patsy Daniels Melvin Davis Ronald Davis Ella Davis Davis Temple Church of God In Christ Deborah Dent Louisa Dixon Matthew Dockins Charles Doty DSH Entertainment, Inc. ECHO Debra Estes Dianne Everett Eltorry Ficklin Connie Fitzhugh Follett Higher Education Group Jean Frazier Dorothy Funches James Garner Yancy Gideon Ina Graves Synarus Green Adell Hall Legert Hamilton Edgar Hardy Kevin Harris Harvey’s Fish Hut Bennye Henderson Derek Henson Perjetta Hightower Thelma Hill Clarence Hogan D’An Howard-Carter Charles Hull IMS Engineers

IMS Logistics, LLC Sherman E. Jackson Jackson Music Awards, Inc. William Jenkins Annette Johnson Leslie Johnson Reuben Jones Louise Jones Arthur Jones Velina Jones-Dixon JSU Former Cheerleaders & Tumblers Club JSU Milwaukee Alumni Chapter JSU Rankin County Alumni Chapter JSU SE VA Alumni Chapter JSU Tupelo/North MS Alumni Chapter Ramzi Kafoury Mildred Kelley Carlos King Lampton High School Reunion Lekisha Laster Clara Lee M3A Architecture, PLLC Mahaffey’s Quality Printing, Inc. Audrey Martin Alfred Martin Mayo Mallette, PLLC Iva McCants Charlette McInnis Griffin McLaurin Members Give Marty Miller Mississippi Economic Council Mississippi Minority Business Alliance Patricia Mitchell Mount Carmel Ministries Mark Newsome LaVerne Nichols Once for All, Inc. Jim Perry Pfizer Foundation Matching Gifts Program Pfizer, Inc. James Pickens Laverne Pilate Annette Pridgen Boddu Rao James Renick Velma Richmond Spann Alesha Russey Mary Scott Larry Sehie Bernice Shelwood Lecluster Sherrod John Shoemake Almetia Simmons Stanley Sims Gordon Skelton

Robert Smith Magnoria Smothers Charles Spann John Steel Mary Sutton Jana Talley James Tate Ada Taylor Paul Tchounwou Mary Terry Henry Thomas Brenda Thomas Lee Thompson James Torrey Aminata Traore TRUIST Francis Tuluri James Turner Rosetta Walker Wilbur Walters Jeremy Ward Vera Watson Bertha West Glen Whittaker Anthony Wilcher Dorothy Williams Willis Clinic, PPLC Maudie Wilson Dura Wilson James Wilson Victor Wyatt Alberta Yeboah Jeffrey Zubkowski

$100 - $499

A & L Heating and Air Demetrius Abram Jamie Abrams William Abshaw Alean Adams Jamea Adams-Ginyard Tim Adler Jennette Alexander Chester Allen Vonda Allen Amerimac Chemical Corp. Christopher Amos John Anderson Rosia Anderson Lisa Anderson Ulos Anderson Wilfret Anderson Annie Anderson Ruby Anderson Shawanda Anderson Victor Andrews Another Chance Enterprise Adult Services Donna Antoine-Lavigne Annie Archie Arender Plumbing & Heating Supply & Parts, Inc. Rosie Arnette Ronica Arnold

Christopher Artis Mea Ashley AT&T Federal Political Action Committee Ernestine Azevedo Peter Azogini B.B. King Museum & Delta Interpretive Center Amin Baaree Helen Bailey Josephine Bailey Kathryn Baines Ezra Baker Clemon Baker Debbie Ballard Mamie Ballard-Crockett Barron Banks Helen Barnes Vincent Barnett Evelyn Bass-Haley Joe Beard Joseph Beard Beck Funeral Home Sandra Beckard Vinnie Beckley Marie Belay Vanessa Bell-Calloway James Belton Alisa Benjamin Willie Bernard Pamela Berry Charlie Bibbs Mary Bibbs Marrice Biggers John Billups Millard Bingham Charles Bingham Lillie Bingham Phyllis Bishop Mollie Blackmon Willie Blackmon William Blakney Aubrey Bland Theresa Bland Green Tasha Blevins Erica Bolden Mack Jordan Bonner Quinton Booker Frances Booth Janice Bracey Charles Bradley Douglas M. Breland Annie Brew Paulette Bridges Hunnando Brim Arthur Britton John Brooks Donald Brooks Dorothy Brooks Reddix Bessie Mae Brown Bonnie Brown Carolyn Brown Debra Brown Edgar Brown Jacqueline Brown Lillian Brown

| honor roll of donors | Yolanda Brown Eva Bruce George Bruce Brittney Brumfield Carver Brunner Woodard Anthony Brunson Kenneth Burks Daarel Burnette Annie Burney Pamela Burney-Wilson Ralph Burns Tim Burns Catherine Burpo Beneta Burt Billy Bush Gloria Butler Thomas Christine Byrd CA Technologies Matching Gifts Program Katherine Cage George Cain Peggy Calhoun John Calvin Louis Cambridge Dwayne Campbell Leon Campbell Derrick Cannon Phyllis Caples Rosemary Cargin Martin Carodine Sherri Carr Janice Carr Deandre Carr Charles Carraway Conrad Carriere James Carson Earlcine Carter Alphonse Carter Cissye Carthan Michael Casey Hilda Casin Craig Cassidy Donald Causey Central State Troopers Coalition, Miss. Chapter Jean Chamberlain Milton Chambliss Brenda Chapman Luddie Chapman Albert Chapman Chevron Humankind Matching Gift Program Farah Christmas Darryl Christmon Laura Claiborne Jennetta Clark Alfred Clark Stant Clark Kimberly Claxton Ethyle Dean Clay Henry Clay Jennie Clay Lapearl Clayton Melissa Clayton Leon Clincy

James Coffey Carolyn Coleman Mary Coleman Jimmie Collier Clara Collier Earsell Collier Walter Collier Thaddeus Collins Kenneth Collins Trence Collins Combined Human Support Services Ricardo Comegy Sara Conard Elaine Coney Louvenia Conner William Cook Corning Incorporated Foundation William Cotton Henry Cotton Robert Cowherd Ronnie Cox Mary Cox Linda Cox Ernestine Crate Jert-Rutha Crawford Cynthia Cross-Green Billy Crowther Bryant Cunningham Andre Curry June Dampier Frances Dancer Doris Dancy Dessie Daniel-Mayfield Linda Daniels Samuel Davis Garry Davis Kevin Davis Roosevelt Davis Dawinna Davis Edna Davis Milliard Davis Benjamin Davis Diane Davis Sharon Davis Gwendolyn Davis Charity Dean-Cannon Roy DeBerry Delta Air Lines Foundation Willie Don Denard Kermit Dilworth Cynthia Dismuke Debra Divinity Sheretta Dobbins Charles Dockery Marydale Donald Cecelia Dorsey Lamatha Doss Perry H. Doss Juanita Doty Lorraine Dozier Frank Drayton Dadra Driscoll Joe Eckford Laverne Edmonson Veronica Edwards

Dorothy Edwards Lillie Edwards Patrease Edwards Thomas Eiland Tellis Ellis Bobbie Ellis Alta Ellis-Babino ENROH Entergy Entergy Services, Inc. Antionette Epps Epps Investate, Inc. Devon Estes Marilyn Evans V. Lynn Evans Sheila Evers-Blackmon Lela Fairley Jean Ficklin Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund Florece Fields Jennifer Fields Finley Services Firefighters Limited Jannie Fishback Grace Fisher Walter Fisher Ronnie Flowers Cecil Forbes Vera Ford Billy Foster Lannie Foster Alvin Franklin Shanna Franklin William Franklin Carroll Frazier Rowland Frazier Carroll Frazier Sunny Fridge Rhonda Fulgham Ada Funches-Nelson Bobby Gaines James Galloway Keisia Galmon Pamela Gary Miguel Gates Leslie Gates-Durr Martha Gathings-Williams Lorraine Gayden Ruben Gentry William Gettis Joe Gibbs Robert Gibbs Ella Gibbs Joel Gibson Gerrick Gibson Giles and Associates, Inc. Maxine Odom Gilmore David Gilson Paul Gipson Ida Givens Roger Givens James Glass Vanella Glass Joseph Godine Debra Goodman Larry Goodwin

Vivian Gorden W. C. Gorden Loria Gordon Cynthia Gordon Ellis Goss Adrienne Graham Monroe Grant Bettye Graves Summer Graves James Graves Jr. Tiffiney Gray Albert Gray Elizabeth Gray Roderick Gray Duncan Gray Johnnie Gray Jenna Green Naomi Green Lucille Green Anthony Green Cynthia Green Heard Claudia Greene Myannaice Griffin Pollia Griffin Samuel Griffin Shallie Griffin J.A. Griffith Marcus Griffith Maxie Grishby Johnnie Gross Stanley Gunn Obra Hackett Philip Hairston Evelyn Haley Alphonso Hall Gwendolyn Handy Sam Hannibal Joyce Hansford Lovely Hardy William Harkless Rose Harless Alex Harper Tracy Harris Margaret Harris Rodney Harris Julius Harris Jeffery Harris Marc Harris Johnny Harris Terrance Harrison Jacqueline Harvey Toney Hayes Wanda Hayes Elaine Haynes Gregory Hays Cheryl Hearn Beverly Hearns Martha Hearns Avis Heath Lenora Heath Williams Joseph Henderson Annie Henderson Causie Henderson-Clay Latoya Hentz-Moore Larry Herring Michael Herrington Myrtis Herrod

Clara Herron Pamela Hervey Donald Hewitt Barbara Hill Dennis Hill Cecil Hill Betty Hill Kimberly Hilliard Sam Hines Danielle Hinton David Hoard Henry Holbrook Pauline Hollins Dennis Holloway Jerry Holmes Albert Holmes Charles Hooker Ivory Horne Joseph Horton Willie Horton Olivia Host Jonathan Houston Rosella Houston Percy Howard Benard Hubbard Thomas Hudson William Hudson Ava Hudson Mattie Hudson Gladys Humphreys Huttos Home & Garden Center, Inc. Loubirtha Irvin Isabella Ivshin J & M Funeral Home Judy Jackson Tommiea Jackson Angelica Jackson Anna Jackson Ben Jackson Lynnae Jackson Anita Jackson Karsteon Jackson Michelle Jackson Tamara Jackson Jackson Cardiology Associates, P.A. Maurice James Mavis James Curtis Jamison Kimberly Jefferson Robert Jefferson Melvin Jenkins Robert Johnson Peder Johnson Steven Johnson Omar Johnson Marlene Johnson Donald Johnson Jerome Johnson Guyna Johnson Harvey Johnson Luberta Johnson Kevan Johnson Hazel Johnson Lee Johnson Linda Johnson

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| honor roll of donors | Louise Johnson Nathaniel Johnson Pat Johnson Glenda Johnson-Marshall Bergie Jones Mattie Jones Emma Jones Brenda Jones Shirley Jones Joann Jones Faye Jones Glinda Jones Janene Jones Margaret Jones Cheryl Jones-Shaw Vera Jones-Wilkins Gladys Jones-Wilson Tommy Jordan Bobbie Jordan George Jordan James Jordan JSU Los Angeles Alumni Chapter JSU Pike County Alumni Chapter Eun Ju Patricia Juday Sunitha Kareddy Jie Ke Shelia Keahey Flora Kelly Daryl Kendrick Jessica Kennedy Yolonda Kennedy Rosie Kersh M. Keyes Hyunju Kim Robert Kincaid Candra King Charles King Rosa King Tita King-Williams Mario Kirksey Larry Kirkwood Tanisha Kirkwood Ollie Knight Leslie Knott Yu-Chun Kuo Ladies of Distinction Social & Civic Club Shirley Laird Terrance Lampkin Lucy Lane Charles Langston Ketra Lashley Patricia Lawson Belinda Lawson Arthur Lawson Rosalyn Layton Wardell Leach Marjorie Lee Jayda Lee Keith Lee Sophia Leggett Gene Leland Andrew Lenoir Jacqueline Lett

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Kevin Lewis Edward Lewis Jannie Lewis Tifanie Lewis Jason Lewis Xuejun Liang Celestine Lindsey Harriett Littlepage Roosevelt Littleton Ying Liu Michael Livingston Feleica Lockhart-Wilson Latonyia London Garry Long Ralphael Longmire Barbara Longmire Rizaldy Lopez Deborah Love B. Anne Lovelady Clarence Lovelady Shujuana Lovett Shirley Lowery-Luallen Gregory Loyd Dorothy Lucas Hersie Lucas Gregory Luckett Robert Luckett Luretha Lucky Naomi Lyles Helenstine Mabry Carolyn Macon Gwendolyn Magby Rebecca Magee Martha Magee Sophiea Major-Boyd Betty Mallett Connie Mallory Michael Malouf Felecia Mangum-Herrington Marilyn Manning Mahmoud Manzoul MARTA Employees Charity Club Etta Martin Pamela Martin Laura Mason Rodney Mayfield Arthur McCants Alvin McCathen Lois McClellan Diana McCree-Evans Cheree McCurdy Danny McElroy Mary McElroy Barnie McGee Lillian McGee Delicia McGee Elbert McGowan Shirley McGowan Ladonna McGrew McKee Law Firm, LLC Channing McLaurin Leslie McLemore Bonnie McNeal John McPherson Andrew McQueen Dwain McSwain

Donald McWilliams Angel Meeks Dewillican Middleton Mabel Middleton Alonzo Miller Hope Miller Mississippi Society of Georgia, Inc. Mississippi Tennis Association Frankie Mitchell James Mitchell Nicole Mitchell Vincent Mitchell Steven Momon Andrew Moncure Cora Montgomery Joseph Montgomery Marva Moore Emma Moore Eltease Moore Herman Moore Loisteen Moore Starlett Moore Matthew Viola Morgan Mark Morgan Tepricka Morgan Morgan Stanley c/o CYBERGRANTS, INC. Bobby Morris Ellice Morris Mariam Mosavizahed R. S. Mosley Dana Moton-Cox Emmanuel Muhammad Percy Murdock Terri Murry Whalen Monique Myrick Robert Naylor Mildred Neal Mercedes Neal Christopher Neely Yulanda Nelson New Hope Baptist Church Cherise Newell Alnida Ngare Gladis Nichols Richard Nichols Catherine Nichols Northrop Grumman Corp. Phyllis Norwood Jannifer Norwood Novo Nordisk, Inc. James Oatis Kenny O’Banner Marie O’Banner-Jackson Margie Odom Vesherler Odom-Watts One Voice Singers Tabitha Otieno Annie Owens Chester Owens Joe Owens Joycie Page Queene Paige Terri Palmer Bobby Pamplin

Renault Pannell Pannell & Associates, Inc. Stanley Parker Dwayne Parker Douglas Parker Mary Parks Anita Patlolla Isadore Patrick Rubbie Patrick-Herring Jonnie Patterson-Young Regina Peaches Pauline Pearson-Stamps Beverly Peavie Leone Peeples Cassie Pennington PepsiCo Foundation Doris Perkins Dennis Perkins Henrietta Peyton Rodney Phillips Joseph Phillips Phillips Medical Services Rose Pickett Williams Joanne Pinkston W. Randall Pinkston Ria Pinkston-Mckee Elon Pittman Rachel Pittman Dale Pittman David Polk Nicey Polk Allen Poole Artimese Porter Dion Porter Sheila Porterfield Della Posey Belfondia Pou Preston Powell, III Kenneth P’Pool Charles Prater Gwendolyn Prater Rosie Pridgen Provine Football Booster Club Mitchell Purdy Quest Fitness Club, LLC Geraldine Rainey Gwendolyn Rakes Demethria Ramseur Dharam Rana Barbara Randle-Owens Ora Rawls Patric Ray Lela Rayborn Remata Reddy Thaddeus Reed Lenora Reed Dallas Reed Demetria Reed Carla Reed Lilly Reed Bennie Richard Crandall Richard Tony Richard Donald Richardson Karmon Richardson

Eddie Rigsby Kaneitra Riley Rising Sun First Baptist Church, Inc. Dean Roberts Priscilla Robinson Lyneal Robinson Michael Robinson Reginald Robinson Salena Robinson Yvonne Robinson-Horton Ralph Ross Porter Ross Carolyn Ross Ernestine Ross Frank Ross Mildred Rucker Sybla Rule Morlyn Russell John Sampson Angela Samuel Delmar Sanders Eddie Sanders Felicia Sanders Robert Sanders Theron Sanders Jeremy Sanford Bettye Sargent Bettye Saunders Philip Saunders Savina Schoenhofer Regina Schofield Schwab Charitable Fund James Scott Troy Scott Cedric Shannon Bessie Shourts Cretonis Showers Lilly Silas Derrick Simmons Patricia Ann Simmons Derek Simms Maxine Simpson Dora Simpson Patricia Sims Phyllis Sims Catherine Singleton-Walker Karen Slade Roy Slater Demetria Sloan Jeffrey Sloan Caprice Smalley William Smiley Anna Smira Lena Smith Arnetta Smith Rhonda Smith Tony Smith Willis Smith Langston Smith Barry Smith Betty Smith Delores Smith Eunice T. Smith George Smith Gloria Smith Janet Smith

| honor roll of donors | Leroy Smith Mary Smith Naomi Smith Rodney Smith Roosevelt Smith Smith and Smith Associates Gregory Smothers SOL Engineering Services, LLC Kenneth South Carleaner Spann Clyde Speaks B Ssensalo St. Peter Missionary Baptist Church State Farm Companies Foundation Michael Stept Christine Stevens David Stevenson Tommie Stewart Evette Stewart Joyce Stokes Henry Stovall Rufus Straughter Betty Strawbridge George Stribling Corean Strong Suburban Sugar Land Women Ellina Sullivan-Sims Regenia Sulton Robert Sulton Esther Sutton Ricky Sutton Edward Swaggard Ella Swaggard John Swan Djenaba Swan Lori Swanier Shelton Swanier Lot Swarns Christopher Talbert Alma Tanksley Leila Tanksley Gladys Taylor Jesse Taylor Richard Taylor Sylvester Taylor Festers Taylor Michael Taylor Janice Taylor-Ellis Clauditte Tchakoua Alyce C. Teemer Wilson Terrell George Terrell Murlene Terry Taylor Stephanie Thanes-Harris The Bennae Group, LLC The Gaines Law Firm, LLC The Koerber Co., P.A. The Wound & Podiatry Center, PLLC Matthew Thomas Edwin Thomas Angela Thomas Kenneth Thomas

Belva Thomas Leon Thomas Peggye Thomas Rosalind Thomas Ruthie Thomas Willie Thomas Sr. Michael Thompson Wilfred Thompson Geraldine Thompson Dave Thompson Hugh Thompson Thompson Wealth Advisors, LLC Ana Thorne Sharon Thorne Joyce Thornton Toi Thurman Tramell Tillman Joyce Tillman A. C. Tipton Leonia Townsend Transworld Group, LTD Travelers Susie Travis Willie Travis April Trice Rachna Trivedi Veronica Trotter Brandel Tulsky Timothy Turner Earnestine Turner Mary Turner Robert Turner Tyrone Turner Eddie Turner Allen Turner Bonnie Turner Marvel Turner Winifred Turner Olger Twyner Union Pacific Fund for Effective Government United Technologies Lee Vance Louise Vaughn Hal Veal Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau W. D. Dickson Enterprises, Inc. F. Darrin Wade Lynn Wade Paul Wade Angela Walker Maggie Walker Annie Walker Mary Wallace Walmart Stores, Inc. Feng Wang Johnnie Waples Neari Warner Sarah Warren-Wells Christina Wash Ollie Watis Daniel Watkins Watkins Shell Store Annika Watts

Weakley & Associates Accounting & Tax Services Isom Weems James West Maurice Whalen Jean Wheeler Donald Wheelock Earl White Clarence White Valarie White Pamela Whitlock Veronica Whittley John Wicks Ruby Wiggins E. Marcus Wiggs Willie Wilcher Mary Wiley Glenn Wilkerson Larry Wilkinson Sharlyn Wilkinson Avery Williams Angela Williams Jimmie Williams Joeann Williams Veniti Williams Barbara Williams Carrie Williams Manda Williams Michael Williams Michelle Williams Vincent Williams Dana Williams Juanita Williams Velesha Williams George Williams Floyd Williams J. Williams James Williams Sophia Williams Rosalyn Williams Thelma Williams Florence Williams Bryant Gladys Willis Elbert Willis Jessie Willis Sam Willis Orvin Wills Monica Wilson Benjamin Wilson Chauncey Wilson Lillian Wilson Mary Wilson Vinnie Wilson Earlexia Wilson-Norwood Jesse Wingard James Wingard Marline Wingard Patricia Wise Aaron Witherspoon Elaine Witty WLEZ FM Cecil Wolfe Brenda Womble Damon Woodfork Mary Woodrick Ernestine Woodruff Melvin Woods

Barbara Woods Smith Ruthie Woodson Linda Wormley Delores Worthy Hopkins Wendell Wright Xiaojun Wu Jervon Young Sidney Young Moses Young Earnestine Young Jonnie Young Chandra Youngblood Calvin Younger Hongtao Yu

$1 - $99

Felix Abram Linda Adams Thomas Adams Clifton Addison Shirley Aga Georgina Agahro Anna Allen Peggie Allen Shelton Allison Allie Almore-Randle Davis Amedu Linda Anazia Winston Anderson Cora Anderson Michael Anderson Leon Anderson Carla Anderson Kristie Anderson Brittany Andrews Andria Lewis Events, LLC Armetha Anthony Johnny Anthony Florence Anthony Cornelius Antwine APAC Artists Advocates & Accolades Jeremy Armstrong Zikri Arslan Mattie Atterberry Curtis Augustine Mable Austin Mose Austin Barbara Austin Freddie Avant Jane Bailey Sharolyn Bailey Clinton Baker Robert Baker Janice Banks Amara Barcus Darnell Barksdale Elsie Barnes Lorene Barnes Lloyd Barnes Harold Barnwell Webster Bartee Beulah Barton Chancey Bass Wilbert Battle

Ashley Battle Doris Battle Camarian Bays Tramaine Beane Jacqueline Beasley Andre Beasley Jerry Beavers David Bell John Bell Cheryl Bell Denavia Bell Larry Bender Tarita Benson-Davis Tynisha Bentley Denise Berkhalter Cynthia Berry Argie Bingham Ebony Bingham Pamela Bingham-Wilson Evelyn Bishop Gloria Bland Joan Blanton Ileaser Blue Lorean Blue-Hubbard Darrell Boarden Ivy Boggs Artis Bolden Jonas Bonds Melvin Bonds Marshand Boone Sheba Borden Barbara Boss Janice Bowdre Darryl Bowen Reginald Bowens Latonya Boyd Flossie Boyd-Mcintye Beatrice Boykin J Boykin Cora Bracey-Edwards Dois Bradley Della Bradley Keirsten Bradley Roderick Branson Lenard Brent Kimberly Brewer Stephen Bright Tabatha Brim Jacqueline Brinson Seaton Tiffiney Britton Barney Broach Edgar Brookins Jason Brookins Candace Brookins Courtney Brookins Dorothy Brooks Christopher Brooks Latasha Brown Angela Brown Alberta Brown Billy Brown Virginia Brown Keenan Brown Cedric Brown Nedra Brown Mudine Brown-Harris Tatum Brownlee

jackson state university

| honor roll of donors | Erika Bryant Joann Buchanan Robert Buford Barbara Buie Larry Buie Jessmye Burciaga Bettye Burgess Kathy Burk Michael Burk Shaquita Burke Amy Burks-Berry Ebony Burson Eunice Burt Jeremiah Burton Elvin Burton Evelyn Bush Latonya Butler Carolyn Butler Christina Butler Damarr Butler Margarette Butler Greg Byndrian C & P Cotten, LLC Jason Cable Eva Caldwell Michael Caldwell Barbara Caldwell Keith Caldwell Larry Cameron Brigitte Cameron Brenda Campbell Lottie Campbell Rachel Campbell Dorothy Cannon Diana Carey Janice Carr Robert Carter Tracy Carter Margie Carter-James Willie Carthan Theodore Caruthers Cedric Casher Willenham Castilla Eddie Caston Lashonda Catchings Antoine Cater Daphne Chamberlain Lessie Chambers Anthony Chambliss Danny Chandler Reta Chandler Betty Chaney Junetta Chatman Tracey Cheatham Lula Cheatham Thomas Cheatham Walter Cheatham Candice Cherry Georgvell Christian Linda Clark Edward Clark Annie Clay Vashhti Clayton Angela Clemons Shunya Cleveland Coast Conciere

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Service, Inc. Marion Cockrell Toni Colbert Lillie Coleman Darlene Coleman James Coley Keith Collins Alice Collins Community Coffee Company, LLC Walter Conley Phillisa Conner Marcus Conway Jean Cook Leonard Cooper William Cooper Kari Copeland Rececca Corley Catherine Cornelius Kimberly Cornelius Clifton Cotton Paul Covington Brian Cowan Hope Creshon Annie Crockett Carlos Cruz Edward Curtis Verna Curtis Sharon Cushingberry Minnie Dallas Colena Daniels Jerry Danner Johnnie Davenport Della Davidson Syanthe Davis Anthony Davis Kathleen Davis Brenda Davis Cornelius Davis Brittny Davis Pearl Dawson Porter Larry Day Evelyn Days Mitchell De Jong Andrew Dent Nedra DeSavieu Bassiru Diatta Calvin Diggs Levi Dillon Carolyn Divinity Kalvin Dixon Alicia Dixon Lynn Dixon Connie Dixon Tiffany Dockins Tayia Donald Billy Donelson Jessica Donelson Carolyn Donerson Charlean Douglas Norman Douglas Peter Doyle Tonisha Drummer Juanita Duncan Soniael Duncan Dometrick Dunn

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Friday, Oct. 23, 2015

Jackson State University Grand Reunion of Classes Homecoming Luncheon featuring

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For more information call 601. 979.2282

JSU ENGINEERING BUILDING PHASE II

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Engineered to succeEd

JACKSON STATE UNIVERSITY

Engineering Building Wing addition

Welcome to JSUOnline

Programs offered: Undergraduate • • • •

Childcare and Family Education, B.S. Healthcare Administration, B.S. Professional Interdisciplinary Studies, B.S. Technology, B.S.

(Concentration in Emergency Management Technology)

Groundbreaking for the JSU College of Science, Engineering and Technology Classroom Complex June 18, 2015

Graduate • • • • • • • • • • • • •

(Concentration in Elementary and Secondary Education)

Engineered to succeed FACILITY EXPANSION UNDERWAY Inside cover

Passport to the World A NEW APPROACH TO STUDYING ABROAD

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