MILLSAPS MAGAZINE
SPRING-SUMMER 2018
“Attending a liberal arts college in a capital city, my experiences as a student and a citizen are intimately connected—in many ways, they cannot be separated at all. I need academia’s critical worldview to contextualize the people and institutions I encounter, but at the same time, academia is nothing without the raw, honest moments that shape everyday life. My time at Millsaps has been distinctly defined by these two identities—how they have changed, grown, and worked together to create who I am today.” These words from Kendall Hardy, B.A. 2018, wonderfully illustrate the value of a Millsaps College education. Taken from her Laney Award-winning essay, she sums up in three sentences the essence of what Millsaps strives to provide for each and every student who enters our campus. What she describes in her essay—the delicate balance of “academia’s critical worldview” with “the raw, honest moments that shape everyday life”—has been a prominent component of the past year on our campus. We have, as a community of students, faculty, staff, and alumni, experienced many successes, but we have also been forced to deal with issues of our own doing and situations brought on by forces beyond our control. And yet, this balance is an ongoing and necessary piece of the education process, helping us all to address challenges we face in our school, in our work, and in our day to day lives. This balance forces us to think, to reason, to question—and when our students leave Millsaps with that balance in mind, we know they are going out to make a difference in our world. During commencement exercises for the Class of 2018 on May 5, I read a statement from a Millsaps advertisement congratulating Noah Barbieri, our second Rhodes Scholar in the past three years. The ad noted that after
Noah completes his education, he “ultimately wants to return to Mississippi and drive progress in his home state.” I am grateful for all of our graduates who “drive progress,” in whatever manner or profession they choose to do it. Some are doctors, some are lawyers, some are scholars, and some are writers. It is the writers we celebrate in this issue of Millsaps Magazine, the writers among our alumni and friends and the faculty who have helped to shape them over the years here on campus. Think of the progress driven by Ellen Gilchrist, Eric Griffin, Suzanne Marrs, Ralph Eubanks, Michael Pickard, William Jeanes, John Hailman, and so many more. Their commitment to the art of writing, of crafting and shaping and telling stories in their own voice and language and teaching us to do the same in our own voices and languages, has had an impact on us all, individually and corporately. This commitment is reflected in Noah’s quote from our advertisement: “Tell your family, friends, and neighbors: Millsaps is the place to be! I do not think I could have done it at any other place in the world.” The place to be, indeed!
Robert W. Pearigen, Ph.D. President
The Millsaps Imprint
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On Campus Major Methodist
Humanities Teacher Rhodes Scholar Presidential Fellow ElseWORKS Christian Center Seats Ben Watts New Sculpture
Millsaps Magazine Spring-Summer 2018 EXECUTIVE EDITOR John Sewell* DESIGN Kelley Matthews
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Major Sports Track & Field Baseball
EXECUTIVE STAFF Dr. Robert W. Pearigen, President Dr. S. Keith Dunn, Provost and Dean of the College Dr. Robert Alexander, Vice President of Enrollment and Communications
PUBLICATIONS MANAGER Nell Luter Floyd
Hope M. Carter, Vice President of Institutional Advancement
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Ruth Cummins, Nell Luter Floyd, Daniel Paulling, Hannah Saulters*, Sherry Lucas, and John Webb
Dan Hungerford, Vice President for Finance Dr. R. Brit Katz, Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students
WEB Lucy Molinaro* and Emma Stockton
Penta Moore*, Executive Assistant to the President
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Greg Campbell, Joe Ellis, Josh Haley, and Sophie McNeil Wolf
Kenneth Townsend*, Executive Director of the Institute for Civic and Professional Engagement
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Alumni
Educational Televsion Transformational Path Class Notes In Memoriam
BOARD OF TRUSTEES J. Thomas Fowlkes*, Chair; The Rev. Jerry Bostick Beam*; Ryan Beckett*; Paul T. Benton*; Carol A. Biedenharn*; Noble B. Black*; The Rev. Warren Black*; Dr. Michael Bourland*; Katherine B. Brady; James A. Coggin; The Rev. Dr. Stephen T. Cook; Rev. Claire Dobbs; John D. Durrett*; Mark R. Freeman*; Judge James E. Graves Jr.*; Judy M. Guice*; Maurice H. Hall Jr.*; Monica Sethi Harrigill*; William R. James; The Rev. Ricky James*; The Rev. Steven P. Keen*; The Rev. Vicki W. Landrum*; Charles R. Lathem*; John L. Lindsey; Paul F. McNeill*; Richard H. Mills*; Monte Rector*; Donna Ruth Else Roberts; E.B. Robinson Jr.; David B. Russell*; Roger Smith*; Mike Sturdivant*; Bishop James E. Swanson Sr.; Ward Van Skiver*; Betsy S. Walkup*
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HONORARY TRUSTEES Robert H. Dunlap*; Robert W. Pittman* LIFE TRUSTEES Gale L. Galloway; William T. Jeanes*; Robert N. Leggett Jr.*; J. Con Maloney Jr.*; John C. Vaughey; Leila Clark Wynn *Denotes Millsaps Alumnus/Alumna Millsaps Magazine is published by Millsaps College, 1701 North State Street, Jackson, MS 39210, for distribution to alumni, parents of students, and friends of the College. For the online magazine, visit www.millsaps.edu/magazine.
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www.millsaps.edu
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Just the beginning of their success stories May 5 was a meaningful, memorable morning for the Class of 2018 graduates during Commencement at Christ United Methodist Church. Rain moved the ceremony from the Bowl, which is the traditional site on campus, to the church where student achievement was celebrated. The College conferred 191 undergraduate degrees and 40 graduate degrees. Honorary degrees were also presented to: • Richard Ford, a Jackson native and author of the novel “Independence Day” that won both the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1996. • Dr. John M. Perkins, a Mississippian who founded the Voice
been before…Since we have been in college there has been a wave of advancement and implementation of methods that distort reality. “Some of these methods include the advancement of ways to steal our personal information, artificial intelligence, alternate reality programming, and the advancement of marketing that exploits our biases. Because of this over the last four years it might actually, after all we have learned at Millsaps, be harder for us to decipher truth than when we began. To counteract the distortion of facts and to move society forward it will take people like us with liberal arts educations to use acute reasoning, make cohesive arguments, and build relationships and trust with those around us.” Kendall Hardy of San Antonio, Texas, was recognized as the recipient of the Frank and Rachel Anne Laney Award. The Laney Award is given to the graduating senior who has written the finest essay reflecting the value of a Millsaps liberal arts education. Dr. Keith Dunn, provost and dean of the College, read an excerpt from Hardy’s essay: “The time preceding graduation is inevitably both confusing and exciting. I am thankful to have been studying the last-
of Calvary Bible Institute in 1964 and has since been a tireless
ing words of thinkers from our past to guide me through the decisions
voice against racism and an advocate for the development of
I faced. While considering my options, Plato’s “Apology” and “Crito”
health clinics, thrift stores, youth programs, and other initia-
continued to resonate with me. I have grown as a student and a citizen
tives serving disenfranchised communities.
in conjunction with each other because of what this community, city,
• Dr. Gordon Edgar Brown Jr., a 1965 graduate of Millsaps who is the D.W. Kirby Professor Emeritus of Geological Sciences at Stanford University and a highly recognized researcher. Noah Barbieri of Belden, who will attend Oxford University in
and state have given me. For the next two years, I will be working as an English teacher in Holly Springs High School. “In ‘An American Marriage,’” Tayari Jones writes, ‘home is not where you land, it’s where you launch.’ I have somehow landed here, in Jackson, Mississippi, and this community has set me up to launch in
England this fall as the second Rhodes Scholar from Millsaps in the
any direction I choose. I am choosing to take what I have learned and
last three years, received the Founders’ Medal and addressed the audi-
am promising to return it to the community that has grown me. That is
ence. The medal is presented to the graduating senior who has the
what it means to be a student, and a citizen.”
highest grade point average for the entire course of study completed at
Mariah Jane Gibson, B.A. 2017, of Clinton, N.Y., recognized with
Millsaps College and a grade of Excellent on comprehensive examina-
the Charles Sewell Award as the Outstanding Master of Business
tions.
Administration graduate, advised graduates: “Don’t do anything in life
“Millsaps has given many of us the voice, tools, and has set us
because it makes sense. Do it because you know it is right. Practicality
upon a path to make a difference,” said Barbieri. “As an example,
deals in safeness and guarantees, which life is apt to destroy. Dreams
Millsaps has taken me, a boy from rural Mississippi, a boy who has
take a lifetime to fulfill, a lifetime of striving and hoping and believing
dreamed for as long as I can remember of making a difference in this
in your own power to overcome the more realistic, attainable, and safe
world and opened the entire world to me. I had big dreams coming
plots of life. You must dare from within.”
to Millsaps, but never could I have imagined being chosen as both a
Tanner Menist, B.B.A. 2017, of Jackson, was recognized as the
Truman and a Rhodes Scholar, and being on track to do a master’s in
Outstanding Master of Accountancy Graduate. Anna Lynn Sit of West
economics at the University of Oxford before pursuing a Ph.D. at MIT
Monroe, La., earned the Don Fortenberry Award, which recognizes the
and a law degree from Harvard. I will forever be indebted to this magi-
graduating senior who has demonstrated the most notable, meritori-
cal place and each of you for holding me to my dreams.”
ous, diligent, and devoted service to Millsaps with no expectation of
Barbieri went on to say he has had the opportunity in the last year to become friends with some of the top undergraduate students from
recognition, reward, or public remembrance. Dr. Brent Hendrixson, associate professor of biology at Millsaps,
the top universities in the world, and he is confident that the liberal
received the Distinguished Professor Award. He earned his B.A. from
arts education at Millsaps is equal to that the other students received.
the University of Northern Colorado, his M.S. from West Texas A&M
“I would take the reasoning and communication skills of the aver-
University and his doctorate from East Carolina University.
age Millsaps student every day of the week,” he said, “and thank goodness we have these reasoning and communications skills. We live in a time where facts and reality are less certain than they may ever have
Millsaps Magazine Spring-Summer 2018
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Meet Reya Hayek, a 2018 graduate from Greenville who majored in biochemistry with a minor in business administration and has been accepted into medical school at the University of Mississippi. She was captain of the tennis team and a member of Kappa Delta sorority, both of which she credits with leading to personal growth and happiness during her years at Millsaps. Q: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE ACTIVITIES TO WHICH YOU DEVOTED TIME?
A: I was a representative of the Student Body Association, a member of Greek life, a Foundations Leader, a tutor for the Millsaps chemistry department, a member of the Senior Year Experience Committee, a student representative on the All-College Council, president of Catholic Student Organization, treasurer of SAACS Chemistry club, and a member of quite a few honorary societies. Every organization gave me great memories and life lessons.
Q: WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO ATTEND MILLSAPS?
A: The pre-med program and Millsaps’ success in preparing undergraduate students for medical school influenced my decision. The fact that I would have the ability to play a collegiate sport and participate in Greek life made Millsaps all the more perfect.
Q: WHAT DID YOU LIKE ABOUT MILLSAPS?
A: I love that Millsaps offered me the chance to do all I wanted to do in college with constant support from peers, professors, coaches, and administrators. Because of that, I grew as a student, a friend, and a teammate. 4
www.millsaps.edu
Q: WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR INCOMING MILLSAPS STUDENTS?
A: Keep an open mind when it comes to classes that you take and choosing your major. Find something that interests you and enjoy learning about it. College is your time to explore your interests, so take advantage of it. Also, line up numerous internships. They are an amazing way to observe different fields of work and can help you realize what you want to do in life. Do not be afraid to ask for help or advice. There are many people at Millsaps who are well connected in Jackson and across the country, and they are more than willing to make a phone call or make introductions.
Q: DO ANY MATCHES THAT YOU PLAYED AS A MAJOR STAND OUT? WHICH ONE AND WHY?
A: This year, the women’s team played DePauw University, a nationally ranked team, in Memphis. We were not expected to beat this nationally ranked team, but we did. The match that made a big difference was my partner and me winning a tight doubles match 9-7, which gave us the lead going into the singles matches. Splitting the singles 3-3, that doubles match put us ahead and gave us the win. It was a tough, long day, but we pulled out a 5-4 win. It was definitely one of the most stressful, intense, and exciting matches that I have ever played. The fact that it helped my team land a national ranking just made it all the best.
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Meet Will Selman, B.S. 2003, an assistant professor of biol-
ogy at Millsaps. He earned his doctorate from the University of Southern Mississippi and joined the Millsaps biology department in 2016 after working for six years as a research biologist at Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Louisiana. Q: WHAT APPEALS TO YOU ABOUT FIELD BIOLOGY?
A: I have always found myself outside or wanting to be outside. As a kid, I played outside and rode my bike all over the neighborhood—at least until the street lights came on! My friends and I constructed forts in the woods, I went on camping trips for Boy Scouts, and most of all, I spent time with my dad in the outdoors hunting and scouting the woods. I was always interested in animals, including the birds at our bird feeder and turtles that crawled into our backyard. As a field biologist, I enjoy the observational learning part when out in the field, but I also enjoy collecting data and ultimately, analyzing and publishing the data. Once published, I hope that the results can inform local, state, or federal managers and/or conservation organizations to better protect species and their habitats. Because many populations and habitats are being lost annually, it is of utmost importance to collect data now to inform decisions in the future. Without this data, decisions can only be made on assumptions or even worse, our best guesses.
Q: HOW DO YOU MAKE THE SUBJECTS YOU TEACH MEMORABLE? A: I take my students outside as much as possible—particularly my upper-level students—to tap into their observational skills and curios-
ity about the world around us. It is one thing to learn in the classroom about the physics and mechanics of bird flight, but another thing to see it happen when an eagle soars on the wind. As an example, I recently took my ornithology class to a bald eagle nest in Madison County, a 30-minute drive from campus. They watched an adult bald eagle fly back to the nest with a fish grasped in its talons and saw it tearing the fish apart and feeding the two large chicks in the nest. This type of experience can be transformative for some students, and ultimately transformative for species conservation. Even though many of my students will not become field biologists (many will enter the medical field), they at least know that these critters are out there and are informed citizens and hopefully advocates for conservation.
Q: WHAT IS YOUR AREA OF RESEARCH? A: My research broadly focuses on understanding vertebrate life history and ecology and using this information to guide conservation and management decisions about population, species, or community levels. My research is primarily conducted locally and includes population surveys for two Pearl River turtle species, the Ringed Sawback and the Pearl Map Turtle. Both of these turtles are found nowhere else in the world except for the Pearl River system in Mississippi and Louisiana, which I think is pretty cool. I also have two undergraduateled research projects at LeFleur’s Bluff State Park; one is trapping aquatic turtles in the Pearl River floodplains and the other is tracking box turtles using radio telemetry. Millsaps Magazine Spring-Summer 2018
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ACCOLADES Millsaps faculty spend time in the classroom, but that's not all they do. They find time for research and creative endeavors, and they participate in professional activities that expand their knowledge and enhance their teaching. Our staff members stay busy, too. Here are some of their recent professional activities.
Faculty JESSE D. BEELER, professor of accounting and Hyman F. McCarty Jr. Chair of Business Administration, and M.Acc. student Jonathan Panter presented their paper, titled “Carbon Accounting: A Call for Regulatory Guidance” to the 2018 annual Western Region Meeting of the American Accounting Association.
GEORGE BEY, professor of anthropology, director of the Millsaps Yucatán program, and Chisholm Foundation Chair in Arts and Sciences, published a new edited volume entitled “Pathways to Complexity: A View from the Maya Lowlands” with Florida University Press (2018). His co-editor was Kathryn Brown, with whom he wrote the introduction and concluding chapters. He also contributed the chapter “The Earliest Ceramics of the Northern Maya Lowlands.”
CHERYL COKER was invited to perform during the Music by Women Festival March 1-3 at the Mississippi University for Women in Columbus. Coker and Ken Graves, principal clarinet for the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, performed their submitted work “I Never Saw Another Butterfly” by noted American composer, Lori Laitman. Coker was asked to learn “Summer Songs” by American composer Elizabeth Gartman, which she performed with New York pianist Jonathan Levin. Millsaps Professors Emeriti CATHERINE FREIS,
RICHARD FREIS, and GREG MILLER published their second book of translations of, and commentary on, the Greek and Latin poetry of the Renaissance poet and Anglican priest George Herbert: “George Herbert’s Latin Verse.” For copies, contact the publisher of the George Herbert Journal Special Studies and Monographs, Professor Sidney Gottlieb (spgottlieb@aol.com).
ERIC GRIFFIN, Janice B. Trimble Professor and chair of English and director of the Latin American Studies Program, wrote “Cervantes, Shakespeare, and The Spanish Gipsy (1623): A Postmortem Encounter,” which was honored in January in Madrid by the Real Academia Española [Spanish Royal Academy] and the Asociación de Cervantistas [Association of Cervantines], for its contribution to Anglo-Spanish literary study. Griffin has been named a Francis Bacon Foundation Fellow of the Huntington Library in San Marino, Calif., where 6
www.millsaps.edu
he will conduct research during his upcoming sab-
17-time Grammy winner and nominee for Classical
batical.
Producer of the Year. The recording took place in
DEBORA MANN, assistant professor of biology, coauthored the following publications: “Seasonal migration by a terrestrial salamander, Plethodon
websteri (Webster’s Salamander)” in Herpeto-
the American Academy of Arts & Letters auditorium, one of the great recording spaces in Manhattan. The composers featured on the recording include two Pulitzer Prize winners (one of whom won a MacArthur Fellowship) and a Pulitzer final-
logical Conservation and Biology (April 2017);
ist. The album is available on Amazon, iTunes,
“Genetic characterization of Webster’s Salaman-
Spotify, and other streaming apps and on NAXOS
der (Plethodon websteri) within a fragmented landscape, using novel microsatellites” in Herpe-
Music Library through the Millsaps library databases.
tological Conservation and Biology (April 2017); and “Clarification of the nature of the contact zone
STEPHANIE R. ROLPH, B.A. 1999, associate profes-
between Plethodon websteri and P. ventralis at the
sor of history, is the author of the book, “Resisting
Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge in Bibb
Equality: The Citizens’ Council, 1954-1989,” avail-
County, Alabama, USA” in Herpetological Review
able from LSU Press. Her essay on the origins of
(September 2017). She also co-authored the entry
the state flag was published online for Mississippi
on “Native Plants” in “The Mississippi Encyclope-
History Now. She been appointed to serve on the
dia” (University Press of Mississippi, 2017).
board of directors for the Mississippi Historical So-
ROBERT MCELVAINE, professor of history, published a piece in The Washington Post on Nov. 30, 2017,
ciety, 2018-2021, and to serve on the Programming Committee for the Southern Historical Association for 2019.
“I’m a Depression Historian. The GOP Tax Bill is Straight out of 1929.” It was the most-read piece of
JULIE RUST, assistant professor of education, pre-
the day both on the Post and on Reddit. It led to
sented in November 2017 with music/education
four television appearances on various shows on
major Sarah Altman “Beyond the field journal:
CNN and MSNBC, as well as radio interviews on
Becoming a teacher through multiple modes” at
two public radio stations. It also led to interviews
the National Council of Teachers of English. At
for two podcasts, “Serious Inquiries Only” (March
the same conference, Rust also presented “Empow-
4) and “The Road to Now” (March 12).
erment across modes and contexts: High school-
SHELLI M. POE, assistant professor of religious studies, director of the Initiative for Vocational Inquiry and director of Vocation, Ethics, and Society, published “Locating Prayerful Submission for Feminist Ecumenism: Holy Saturday or Incarnate Life?” in Feminist Theology (January 2018). At an author-meets-critics panel in November 2017, which featured her new book, she presented “Essential Trinitarianism: Schleiermacher as Trinitarian Theologian” at the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting in Boston.
LYNN RALEY, associate professor of music, is celebrating the release of a new solo piano album, “Maëlstrom: Contemporary American Piano Music,” on the Nimbus label out of the UK. The CD was a few years coming to fruition, from the commissioning of “The Haroun Piano Book” by Charles Wuorinen (using musical material from his opera “Haroun & The Sea of Stories” from the novella by Salman Rushdie), to the final recording project. Raley’s producer was Max Wilcox, a
ers stepping up in the digital dialogue project” with Murrah High School English teacher Sarah Ballard. Rust presented at the Literacy Research Association (November, 2017) alongside Christy Wessel-Powell, assistant professor of literacy education at Purdue University: “Im(mobilizing) literacies: Collaboration to expand meaningfulness.” In January, Rust presented “Breaking down walls: Connect classrooms with technology,” as second author alongside Beth McCay, high school English teacher at Pisgah High School, at the Mississippi Educational Computing Association. She also presented two single-authored papers at the American Educational Research Association (2018): “Boundary-making, boundary-breaking: Playful entanglements in the digital dialogue project” and “Liberal arts meets digital tools: Faculty perspectives on teaching, learning, and technology.”
WILL SELMAN, B.S. 2003, assistant professor of biology, along with 15 Millsaps undergraduate authors recently published the article entitled “Thirty-six new county records for herpetofauna
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of Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee: results
Nineteenth Century Studies: “Cruelty and Com-
and initiative in support of men and women who
from an undergraduate herpetology class assign-
passion in the Early Nineteenth Century: Garden
serve America in the National Guard and Reserve.
ment” in the journal Herpetological Review. This
Pests and the Inculcation of Virtue,” vol. 26, 2012
The award also recognizes support and receptive-
manuscript was the result of an undergraduate
[publ. 2017], pp. 101-114. She wrote the entry on
ness of members of the military on campus. Em-
class assignment in herpetology during the spring
“Marie Hull” in The Mississippi Encyclopedia,
ployees at the center includes SUZI NYBERG , career
2017 semester. He also co-authored three recently
edited by Ted Ownby and Charles Reagan Wilson,
specialist for the Else School of Management; ELY-
published manuscripts entitled “A comparison of
University Press of Mississippi, 2017, pp. 601-602.
SSA KLIPSCH, internship coordinator; DEENA LI KAM WA , M.B.A. 2018, student employment coordinator; MAJOR CHRISTOPHER DAVIS, military instructor, and STAFF SGT. RICHARD MESSER , military specialist.
reproductive assessment techniques to determine the reproductive activity of diamondback terrapin
STEVE SMITH, professor of philosophy and religious
(Malaclemys terrapin),” “Hybridization between
studies, published an article, “What We Have
Mottled Ducks (Anas fulvigula maculosa) and Mallards (A. platyrhynchos) in the western Gulf Coast,” and “Whooping Crane multiscale habitat use and movements in Louisiana wetlands.” These manuscripts were co-authored with Jordan Donini and Roldan Valverde from Southeastern Louisiana University; Robert Ford and Sabrina Taylor from Louisiana State University; and Bradley Pickens (National Audubon Society), Sammy King (LSU), Phillip Vasseur (Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries), and Sara Zimorski (LDWF).
NATHAN SHRADER, assistant professor of political science and director of American Studies, was recently elected as vice president of the Mississippi Political Science Association and will organize the association’s 2019 annual conference. In addition to conducting more than a dozen media interviews regarding state, local, and national politics, Shrader has been engaged in public opinion research on Mississippi politics. Shrader and the Political Science Department have partnered with Chism Strategies—a firm founded by Millsaps alumnus Brad Chism, B.A. 1982, — to produce three Millsaps College/Chism Strategies State of the State Surveys since September 2017, garnering considerable attention from the news media and policymakers. Shrader’s research on school board politics, “All Politics is Organizational” was published in Commonwealth this past winter while his review of Arlie Russell Hochschild’s “Strangers
Time For: Historical Responsibility on the Largest Scale,” in the Journal of the Philosophy of History
BRIT KATZ, vice president for student life and dean
(January 2018 - advance publication online).
of students, serves on the NCAA National Inclu-
HOLLY M. SYPNIEWSKI, associate professor of classical studies, and Rebecca R. Benefiel (Washington
sion and Diversity Committee. He attended the annual Diversity and Inclusion Forum in Indianapolis, Ind., from April 14-16.
and Lee University) published “The Greek Graffiti of Herculaneum” in the American Journal of Ar-
NELL LUTER FLOYD, publications manager, was
chaeology, 122 (April 2018), pp. 209-44.
named the 2018 SBA Mississippi Small Business
MARIA WALLACE, assistant professor of education,
Journalist. The Mississippi District Office of the Small Business Administration honored Floyd
published four articles in the 2017-2018 academic
along with the Mississippi 2018 Business Persons
year: “The paradox of un/making science people:
of the Year and additional award recipients during
Practicing ethico-political hesitations in science
a dinner on May 3 in Jackson.
education” in Cultural Studies of Science Education; “Dreaming and immanence: Rejecting the
KEN THOMPSON, registrar and director of institu-
dogmatic image of thought in science education”
tional research, was elected to the Board of the
in Cultural Studies of Science Education; “Per-
Mississippi Association for Institutional Research
turbing possibilities in the post qualitative turn:
and was appointed to the Southern Association
Lessons from taoism (道) and ubuntu” in the Inter-
of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers’
national Journal of Qualitative Studies in Educa-
Journal Editorial Board.
tion; and “Subjects in the threshold: Opening-up ethnographic moments that complicate the
SOPHIE MCNEIL WOLF, creative content manager,
novice/veteran science teacher binary” in Issues
presented “How Adobe Spark Changed Our Social
in Teacher Education. Wallace also presented her
Strategy and Saved Our Bacon” at the 2018 Social
research at two academic conferences (American
Media and Community national conference,
Educational Research Association & The Bergamo
hosted by the Council for Advancement and Sup-
Conference on Curriculum Theory). In May, Wal-
port of Education, in New Orleans.
lace was awarded the 2017 Distinguished Dissertation award for Louisiana State University’s College of Human Sciences and Education.
in Their Own Land” was published in the most recent edition of Oklahoma Politics. Shrader also partnered with Dr. Kenneth Cosgrove from Suffolk
Staff
University in Boston to co-author a piece for The
LAUREN BARATTINI, B.B.A. 2015, admission coun-
Hill, a leading Capitol Hill newspaper, advocating
selor, received her M.B.A. from Millsaps College
a new pathway forward on protecting voting rights
on May 5.
and the integrity of America’s election process.
LEE ANNE BRYAN, B.A. 1993, executive director of
ELISE SMITH, professor of art history, gave a pre-
alumni and parent relations, along with Dr. Caro-
sentation on “Vistas Obstructed and Constructed:
lyn J. Brown, published “Introductions to Welty”
Trees in the Garden and Art of Mary Seton Watts”
in “Teaching the Works of Eudora Welty: Twenty-
at the Nineteenth Century Studies Association
First Century Approaches” (University Press of
conference in Philadelphia in March. She gave a
Mississippi, 2018).
presentation on “Image and Text in the Correspondence of Dora Carrington,” SECAC, Columbus,
The Millsaps Center for Career Education received
Ohio in October 2017. She published an article in
the Seven Seals Award for meritorious leadership
Millsaps Magazine Spring-Summer 2018
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CAMPUS EVENTS
SCHOLARS, AUTHORS, AND FILMMAKERS WERE AMONG VISITORS IN RECENT MONTHS.
James Martin
Tricia Walker
U.S. Congressman Gregg Harper
Angela Ball
Jennifer Chang
Shaka Synder
Lucy J. Allen
U.S. Senator John Kennedy
MILLSAPS 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF ARTS & LECTURE SERIES The Millsaps Arts & Lecture Series presented “Mississippi Mavericks – Innovative Musicians of Mississippi – in Commemoration of the New Mississippi Museum of History” on Jan. 19. The program featured James Martin and friends and celebrated the lives and work of some of the state’s musical innovators, including Howard Johnson (blues musician), Milton Babbitt (American Modernist), Lehman Engel (Broadway composer/producer), William Grant Still (dean of AfricanAmerican composers), and more. As part of a Millsaps Arts & Lecture Series on March 20, representatives from the GRAMMY Museum in Cleveland, the only one outside of the original one in Los Angeles, discussed the mission of the museum and shared information about its educational programs. Special guest musician Tricia Walker performed and provided insight into what makes Mississippi the birthplace of America’s music.
MILLSAPS INSTITUTE FOR CIVIC & PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT Congressman Gregg Harper spoke Feb. 12 at the College during an event sponsored by the Millsaps Institute for Civic & Professional Engagement. A Republican who represents Mississippi’s 3rd congressional district, Harper reflected on topics such as health care, education, and the economy. He also provided updates on the 2018 legislative session and other news from Washington, D.C.
VISITING WRITERS SERIES Distinguished poet, essayist, and travel writer Richard Tillinghast read from his most recent book, “Journeys into the Mind of the World,” on Feb. 14 at Millsaps. His appearance was an installment of the 2017-2018 English Department Visiting Writers Series. Acclaimed poets Angela Ball and Jennifer Chang read from their new books “Talking Pillow” and “Some Say the Lark” on March 1 as part of the 2017-18 Millsaps English Department Visiting Writers Series.
MILLSAPS FORUM “Lessons Learned: Following the Protests at the University of Virginia and Charlottesville” was the topic of the March 23 Friday Forum on campus. Shaka Syndor, assistant dean of students at the University of Virginia, discussed pre-protest briefings and preparations of the university and the Division of Student Affairs, reactions during the protests, and the post-protest debriefings about enhancing its emergency response. Lucy J. Allen, who served as project director for construction of the new Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in downtown Jackson, presented the 2018 Rabbi Perry Nussbaum Lecture on April 13 at Millsaps. Pamela Junior, director of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, and Rachel Myers, director of the Mississippi History Museum, joined Allen in presenting “From Vision to Decision: A Truth Telling Journey of Two Mississippi Museums.” Dr. John D. Bower endowed the series in 2008 in honor of Nussbaum, who served as rabbi at Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson from 1954 until 1974. U.S. Senator John Kennedy, longtime treasurer of Louisiana, spoke at Millsaps on April 20 and reflected on his political experience including the current climate in Washington and the state of the U.S. judiciary. The Elise and William Winter Speaker Series sponsored the event. 8 www.millsaps.edu
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New initiative created to provide unique ministry opportunities The Millsaps College Office of the Chaplain has created a new initiative known as Major Methodist. “Through this program, we will enhance the relationship between Millsaps College and The Mississippi Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church through unique ministry opportunities,” said the Rev. Dr. Joey Shelton, B.B.A. 1982, chaplain and director of church relations at Millsaps. “The Major Methodist effort will also introduce a broader audience to Millsaps College and the role of the Office of the Chaplain as it relates to the Center for Ministry and our proposed Youth Academy
for Theological Formation and a Worship Resource Academy, both of which will be Wesleyan in nature. Early Methodist Societies were ecumenical with Anglicans, Moravians, and others. We hope that people will catch the vision for theological and spiritual formation that spans age and experience and join us in the Major Methodist movement, regardless of denominational ties.” The initiative will raise funds as seed money for these new ministries and help expand existing ministries, he said. The Major Methodist plan calls for the establishment of friend groups of eight to 12 people who will encourage Millsaps College-related people to give to the Millsaps Annual Fund, and for Mississippi United Methodists to ensure that their local congregation meets 100 percent of apportioned mission shares. Anyone who would like to be a Major Methodist is asked to contribute $100 annually for ministry start-up and ministry maintenance for all areas of the Office of the Chaplain: Church Relations, the Center for Ministry, College Chaplaincy, and Campus Ministry. For more information, contact Joey Shelton at joey.shelton@ millsaps.edu or 601-974-1226.
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Humanities Teacher of the Year awarded to music professor Dr. Rachel Heard, associate professor of music at Millsaps College, was the 2017 Millsaps College recipient of the Humanities Teacher of the Year award bestowed by the Mississippi Humanities Council. As a recipient of the award, Heard gave a lecture entitled “Kenner und
Liebhaber: Why the Love Affair with Eighteenth-century Keyboard Music Continues” last November on campus. The historical development of the piano has been Heard’s research area since her doctoral work at Rutgers University. More than 20 years ago, she purchased her fortepiano, a custommade replica of an instrument found in Vienna during the 1790s, and has since performed across the United States, Canada, and in Taiwan and Europe. A member of the Millsaps faculty since 2002, Heard received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Rutgers University, and her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School. She serves as chair of the Department of Music at Millsaps. She has received numerous grants and commendations, including the 2008-2009 Millsaps College Outstanding Young Faculty Award. Her three solo fortepiano recordings featuring the works of Haydn and J.C. Bach can be found on the NAXOS International recording label. Her third solo CD, “Six Sonatas, Op. 5 for Fortepiano, by Johann Christian Bach” was released in August 2015. All recordings can be found at Amazon, YouTube, and other listening services such as Spotify. Heard teaches piano at all levels, and serves as the director of the Millsaps Conservatory of Music, a community music school on the Millsaps campus that offers non-credit music lessons and classes to students of all ages. Dr. Laura Franey, associate dean for Arts and Humanities at Millsaps, said Heard brings out the best in her piano students by
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nurturing their development with a mix of patient understanding and appropriate challenge. “She also brings energy, creativity, and innovation to her roles as chair of the Department of Music and director of the Millsaps Conservatory of Music,” she said. “She truly makes a difference in the lives of Millsaps students and in the lives of individuals in the Jackson area who participate in the Conservatory and in the Summer Chamber Music Camp.” Christopher Cunningham, a junior from Pass Christian who is a music major with a piano concentration, credits Heard with bringing every facet of music to life. “She broadens its scope into more than just playing notes,” he said. “She made me realize the physicality of it, the history and evolution of music and its instruments, and the real world demands of a working musician. Her frankness is always cushioned by her compassionate and encouraging nature keeping her students motivated but not discouraged.” Heard sets high expectations for her students and supports their journeys toward excellence as a unique mother-mentor, said Sarah Altman, B.A. 2018, who majored in music and elementary education. “She is simultaneously the one who will point out the work that we still have left ahead of us and the one who will open up her door when life seems to be falling apart,” she said. “Her passionate content knowledge and talent as a musician cannot be matched, but she will never hold that above us as we seek to gain more knowledge and musicianship ourselves. In other words, she embodies the best of what it means to be an empathetic scholar: endless expertise and unceasing kindness.” Music plays a role in all facets of Heard’s life. She is married to Millsaps Associate Professor of Music Dr. Lynn Raley, also a pianist, and their daughter Gillian is a student at Bowdoin College, where she participates in the college orchestra and a popular a cappella group. The three spent the 2012-13 academic year abroad in Taiwan, where Raley taught at the National Chiao Tung University as a Fulbright Scholar. While in Taiwan, Heard gave lecture-recitals on 18th century performance practice on the fortepiano, and provided performance coaching at the university. For Heard, teaching music at Millsaps is more far gratifying than teaching at a large research university or a college-level conservatory. “At Millsaps, I can honestly say that we have strong and dedicated music majors,” Heard said. “We also have students who are reaching beyond their majors to experience all that a liberal arts education has to offer, thus allowing me to further explore my passion for helping students find and develop their creative musical ‘voice.’” Heard considers studying the arts and humanities an important part of learning what it means to be a human being. “When we examine the past—whether we are studying world cultures, interpreting historical events, or trying to understand how art is created— we enrich and deepen our perspective on who we are,” she said. “Studying the arts and humanities in a serious and meaningful way is crucial to pondering how we will create our future. There is no other way!”
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Globalization impact: a new focus for our Davis Fellows Dr. David C. Davis, associate professor of history at Millsaps College, will be the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations International Perspectives Faculty Fellow for the 2018-19 academic year. He will teach in the fall a seminar focused on local identities in the global village. Davis, along with students enrolled in the seminar and participating in a living/learning community (known as Davis Fellows), will plan and support a college-wide conference on the topic in the spring of 2019. “I have been intrigued by this tension between global forces that shape our local lives and the responses to this perceived loss of identity and autonomy as it plays out in places and people around the world,” Davis said. “Now I have a chance to explore this topic with students from around the world and others who have traveled and studied abroad. One response by individuals and places has been to cultivate, explore, and promote a distinctive identity, or brand, in the global marketplace. What makes me or my home place unique and distinctive in an increasing hegemonic global culture?” Dr. Keith Dunn, provost and dean of the college at Millsaps, said Davis is well suited to lead the International Perspectives Program. “David has long been a leader in internationalizing the Millsaps educational experience,” he said. “All of his courses have focused on global issues, from his geographically focused courses on Africa and the Middle East, to his influence and participation on the Heritage
ate professor of political science at Millsaps, in bringing the Rwanda Presidential Scholarship program to Millsaps. David has also worked closely with the McNair program focusing on international Christian mission opportunities, and he has collaborated extensively on international programs in Ghana and Tanzania with Omo-Bare and Dr. Julian Murchison, a former associate professor of sociology and anthropology professor at Millsaps, respectively.” Davis’s seminar in the fall will explore the impact of globalization on local identities, both domestic and international. Students will study the global transformations that impact all of us, including the global economy of fragmented workers and mobile capital, migrants and transnationalism, terrorism and conflict, and tourism and entertainment. Students in the International Perspectives Program will develop case studies to explore the tension/dynamic between global connections and local affiliations. They will then move to a case study of identity and place-branding in Mississippi, looking at how local identities are constructed through music, cuisine, landscape, culture, history, and rituals. Students will explore the interaction between global connectivity and local identity formation making the case that this has been an evolving dynamic since, and perhaps before, the Columbian Exchange, a period of cultural and biological exchanges between the New and Old Worlds. Co-curricular field trips may include visits to the Eudora Welty House in Jackson, trips to Canton and the nearby Nissan manufacturing plant, Natchez, Vicksburg, and tours of the Mississippi History and Civil Rights museums in Jackson. In addition to field trips in Mississippi, students will travel to the Millsaps College facilities in Yucatan for comparative case study of the impact of globalization on local communities in Mexico. In the final component of the seminar, students will develop a place-branding campaign for a location important to them.
program. He was instrumental, along with Dr. Iren Omo-Bare, associ-
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Millsaps produces second Rhodes Scholar in last three years Noah Barbieri, B.S. 2018, is the second Millsaps College student in the last three years to be named a Rhodes Scholar, and the seventh in the history of the College. Before becoming a Rhodes Scholar, Barbieri was named one of 62 Truman Scholars nationwide in April 2017. Since 2013, only 19 schools across the United States have had at least two Rhodes Scholars and at least one Truman Scholar. Millsaps is one of only 12 colleges or universities in the nation with a Rhodes Scholar in two of the last three years, in good company with Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Navy, Notre Dame, Penn, Princeton, Stanford, Virginia, West Point, and Yale. A native of the northeast Mississippi town of Belden, Barbieri majored in economics and philosophy. He plans to use his Rhodes Scholarship to pursue a master’s in economics at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, where he will research how to best address inequality. He ultimately wants to work in Mississippi and address the problems the state faces. “I have big dreams of making a difference in the world”said Barbieri. The Millsaps campus and community celebrated Barbieri’s selection. “Noah embodies the best of a liberal arts education and, by extension, the virtues for which Rhodes Scholars are known,” said Dr. Robert W. Pearigen, president of Millsaps College. “Noah has made the most of his time here and leaves with great facility to better understand, and address, practical challenges facing his native state of Mississippi.” Rhodes Scholarships are awarded each year to approximately 95 students worldwide. The scholarship provides full funding for gradu-
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ate level studies at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. “Noah’s persistence in the pursuit of excellence is truly extraordinary, and part of the reason he has excelled in every facet of his life is that he simply works harder than just about any undergraduate I have ever encountered,” said Kenneth Townsend, B.A. 2004, executive director of the Institute for Civic and Professional Engagement at Millsaps. Townsend was named a Truman Scholar and Rhodes Scholar while a student at the College. In addition to his duties with the Institute, he currently chairs the Fellowships Committee at Millsaps. “This is such an honor, and I would like to thank my family, friends, and professors for the constant support,” said Barbieri. “I would like to especially thank Kenneth Townsend. I will never forget when Professor Townsend called me in high school and told me that he thought I would have a good shot at being a Truman and Rhodes Scholar if I came to Millsaps. Man, was he right. He took me under his wing and walked me through the process from day one.” Barbieri made the most of his time as Millsaps, serving as a Student Body senator, Student Body treasurer, and Student Body president, and he was elected by his fellow students as Student Body Leader of the Year. He completed two honors projects, one in economics and one in philosophy. He received the Richard B. Baltz Award for Excellence in Economics and was named as a Senior Else Scholar. In addition to being inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, he was involved in several academic honorary societies, including Omicron Delta Epsilon economics honorary, Phi Eta Sigma freshman honorary, Sigma Lambda service honorary, Omicron Delta Kappa leadership honorary, Eta Sigma Phi classics honorary, and Pi Mu Epsilon mathematics honorary. He was also selected to the Millsaps College Hall of Fame.
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Teaching in Taiwan as part of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program Kelsey Stone, B.A. 2018, received a Fulbright U.S. Student Program award to Taiwan from the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Stone will teach English through a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship. The Fulbright Program offers research, study, and teaching opportunities in more than 140 countries to recent graduates and graduate students. Stone follows in the footsteps of nine recent Millsaps graduates and one professor who have been recipients of awards. Kenneth Townsend, B.A. 2004, chair of the Millsaps Fellowships Committee, praised the selection of Stone. “Kelsey has had an impressive career at Millsaps, inside and outside the classroom, and I am delighted to see that good work acknowledged by the Fulbright Program,” he said. Stone, who is from Grand Bay, Ala., but attended middle and high school in Mississippi in Pascagoula, will teach and share American culture starting in August 2018 in Taitung City. Majoring in religious studies with minors in peace and justice studies as well as Vocation, Ethics and Society, Stone became interested in East Asian religious traditions and culture after taking a class with Dr. Lola Williamson, now associate professor emerita of religious studies. “I learned of the conflation between culture, religion, and identity, and that made me want to pursue studying and teaching in Taiwan specifically,” Stone said. “My experience with Dr. Kristen Golden in the Peace and Justice Studies Department, both as a student and a teaching fellow, helped me connect the role of intercultural under-
standing and education with my own desire to be a part of global peace building and initiatives.” Dr. Lynn Raley, an associate professor of music at Millsaps who grew up in Taiwan, said Taiwan seemed right given Stone’s interests. Raley received a Fulbright Scholar grant to teach music in Hsinchu, Taiwan, during the 2012-2013 academic year. “When Kelsey approached me about different countries to apply to, I talked about the diversity of religious practices in Taiwan, from Daoism to Buddhism, Confucianism, Taiwanese folk religions, and even combinations of the above,” he said. “I also talked about the island country’s open-minded, progressive society, and it all seemed a perfect fit. “Kelsey is very interested in helping under-served communities, and Fulbright ETAs are placed in many of those locations. There are 14 recognized aboriginal tribes in Taiwan, all with their own language. Taitung, where Kelsey will teach, is a small city on the beautiful east coast, directly across from Green Island. It is a short boat ride from Orchid Island, the home of yet another tribe, the Tao, who have been there for over 800 years.” Stone was involved in numerous activities on campus, including M-3 Millsaps Mindfulness Movement (founder), Millsaps Better Together (co-president), and PRIDE (vice president). Stone was a Student Body Association senator and treasurer of the Jewish Cultural Organization, and a research and technology assistant at the Millsaps-Wilson Library. A Davis Fellow in the inaugural cohort of the Millsaps College International Perspectives Program, Stone completed a teaching fellowship on campus with Dr. Kristen B. Golden, associate professor of philosophy, and her Our Human Heritage Turning Points class, and off-campus internships at Echo Park United Methodist church in Los Angeles and the Human Rights Campaign in Jackson. Stone hopes to continue teaching, explore interfaith chaplaincy, or pursue becoming a mindfulness-based stress reduction licensed clinical social worker.
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From Presidential Fellow to associate consultant in D.C. Benton Brown feels well prepared as he leaves Millsaps and begins his career. Brown, B.B.A. 2017 and M.B.A. 2018, will work as an associate consultant for Educational Advisory Board in Washington, D.C., where he will focus on implementing best practice student success strategies at colleges and universities nationwide. Brown worked during the 2017-2018 academic year as a Presidential Fellow at Millsaps, an opportunity that allowed him to learn more about how a college operates. “As I began my job search many individuals complimented me on my in-depth understanding of higher education and my ability to articulate myself in both presentations and interviews,” he said. “I attribute all of those talents to Millsaps, as I was trusted to represent the College in front of various constituents over the years. Because of that, I find myself more confident going into a company that is nationally renowned as a voice for best practices in the higher education field.” Brown spent eight weeks in 2016 as a summer intern at Royall & Company (now part of Educational Advisory Board) in Richmond, Va., a higher education marketing consulting company. As an undergraduate, he co-authored with one of his professors a paper that examined the value of maintaining the identity of liberal arts colleges in the current economic climate and submitted it for publication to three journals.
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Brown took his first step to a career in higher education when he served as director of presidential ambassadors for the Millsaps Office of Admissions. He also distinguished himself as a residence hall director, chair and founder of Millsaps Pathways to Success, a program to give African-American students mentorships with AfricanAmerican alumni, and a member of the Else School of Management Student Advisory Council. He completed an honors project about how CEOs manage and perceive diversity in their top management team. In addition, Brown was a three-year starter and a four-year letter winner for the Millsaps football team. As a starting defensive back, he earned All-SAA honors in 2014, and entered his senior season with a team-leading 15 pass breakups in his career. Brown credits Dr. Robert W. Pearigen, president of Millsaps; Dr. Robert J. Alexander, vice president for enrollment and communications at Millsaps; Dr. Sabrice Guerrier, assistant professor of biology; and Aaron Pelch, head football coach at Millsaps, for having an influence on his personal, professional, and spiritual development. “I met Dr. Alexander the second week of school my freshman year and I have been learning from him ever since,” he said. “Dr. Guerrier is someone I lean on for advice on just about anything, and his often times tough love was a focal point in my development professionally and personally. Coach Pelch pushed me to excel on and off the football field and was a big influence on me completing my honors project, especially when I underestimated my abilities to balance everything. “What I take from getting to know Dr. Pearigen is how important his faith is concerning his career choice, his everyday decisions, and his interaction with every individual at the College.” Brown chose to attend Millsaps because of the College’s strong tradition with The United Methodist Church. “It is important to me to know that the College is built on a foundation rooted in Christian values” he said. Brown aspires to become a vice president of advancement at a college or university and then president of a private college similar to Millsaps.
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Love for language and culture opens doors
G. Swearingen Faculty Papers in the archives. Swearingen’s daughters, Bethany Swearingen and Crawford Enochs, donated the items to the library in 1990. “Several of Dr. Swearingen’s notebooks don’t contain a single English word,” Cosby said. “Dr. Swearingen seems to have practiced translating Greek and Latin into French and German, forgoing his
Rowdy Cosby, B.A. 2018, from Lincoln, Ala., finds the complexity of the Latin language intriguing and the culture of ancient Greece and Rome fascinating. Majoring in classical studies, Cosby focused his inquisitiveness on the late Dr. George Swearingen, who in 1892 became the first professor of Latin and Greek at Millsaps, as well as its first librarian. As a student worker in the library, Cosby with guidance from Debra McIntosh, College archivist, curated an exhibit about Swearingen for the Archives Gallery in the Millsaps-Wilson Library. The exhibit, which will remain up through September, features artifacts, photos, and journals, which Swearingen acquired on his
native language. That isn’t something you can learn about a person by reading a Wikipedia article, or even by reading their memoirs; it’s something you can only learn by holding a person’s work in your hands and examining it for yourself.” The opportunity to conduct research for an exhibit and to work with ancient artifacts was appreciated, Cosby said. McIntosh said she expects Cosby’s curiosity and aptitude will serve him well. “He could wind up being a librarian, archivist, professor, museum curator, explorer, and writer —or all of them,” she said. Cosby translated part of the Bible’s book of John from Koine Greek and identified Gnosticism influence in the text as his senior seminar. A resident assistant and a resident hall director for the last three
trips abroad. Swearingen took a leave of absence in 1895 to study at
years, Cosby served as president of the Classics Club for three years
the fledgling American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Greece,
as well. He has also been a member of the Historical Fencing Club,
then returned to Millsaps, and continued teaching until 1906. He
worked as a Greek tutor for a year, and served as president of Eta
went on to enter the life insurance business, become supervisor of the
Sigma Phi classics honorary.
state Oil and Gas Board, and serve as chair of the Mississippi Rhodes Scholarship Committee for several years. With the exception of a few modern reproductions, the majority
“I originally applied to Millsaps because I heard that the Classical Studies Department was the best in the region, something which I wholeheartedly believe to be true now,” he said. “I decided to make
of the artifacts in the exhibit are more than 2,000 years old and were
Millsaps my alma mater after my first visit to campus. Getting to
used daily in the homes of antiquity, Cosby said.
interact with the students and faculty and walk the campus was very
“Two of my favorite items are the Lampos and the oenochoe,” Cosby said. “A Lampos is an ancient Greek oil lamp. A wick would have been threaded through the nozzle into the oil reservoir, and it would have produced a dim but steady light. An oenochoe is a small
enjoyable, and I felt right at home.” Cosby said his education has opened far more doors to future endeavors than he ever imagined it would. “So many doors in fact, that I need a bit more time to sort through
pitcher used to house fortified wine, which would then be diluted
all of the options and decide,” he said. “Whatever I do though, I know
before consumption.”
that the sky is the limit.”
Cosby said he enjoyed learning more about Swearingen from the
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ELSEWorks provides business experiences for students Graduate students in Millsaps College’s ELSEWorks Entrepreneurship Program put more than their heads in the game of new and emerging businesses in the neighboring Midtown community. At the Hatch at 126 Keener Ave., one of two incubators owned by Midtown Partners that ELSEWorks helps manage and grow, student analysts help culinary entrepreneurs crack into new markets, gain traction, and ride the wave of public interest in food, beverages, and local sourcing. That’s a stimulating supplement to classroom study, said Jonathan Panter of Madison, B.B.A. and B.S. 2015, and M.Acc. 2018. “Whereas in a classroom you’d be analyzing data, we’re having to gather it for the purposes of analysis. That’s much more challenging and much more involved than simply looking at any number in a textbook would have you think it is.” Their work as analysts, helping businesses with accounting, branding, market research, and more, provides vital experience tackling real-world issues and seeing actual outcomes, maximizing benefits for burgeoning businesses and the young minds helping spur their success. “There’s both challenge and opportunity in Midtown,” said Dr.
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David Culpepper, B.S. 1980 and M.B.A. 1984, ELSEWorks chair and accounting professor. “While we were recruited to Midtown to help spur economic development, we have both observed its raw culture and the powerful chemistry that exists between the residents, artists, businesses, and partners working together on various broader initiatives. It is contagious to the point our students pick up on it in short order, and also gain an appreciation for the linkage between economic development and community engagement at the grass roots level. Hopefully, they take this with them to wherever they later take up residence and make a similar impact.” The ELSEWorks Leadership Team also includes Phil Hardwick, M.B.A. 1984, director of business analysts; Dr. Blakely Fender, B.A. 1992, professor of economics and the J. Armistead Brown Chair of Business Administration; Dr. Ray Grubbs, B.S. 1973, professor of management; and Dr. Penny Prenshaw, professor of marketing. Student analysts receive a stipend from grant funding provided by the Robert M. Hearin Support Foundation, for 20 hours a week work on various projects. ELSEWorks does not charge the businesses they assist. “It’s part of the community engagement effort, and it’s a learning opportunity” with a wide overview of different aspects of different projects across different industries, Culpepper said. Analysts learn from each other, too, via progress presentations like those at a consulting firm. ELSEWorks’ focus in Midtown fits Millsaps’ strategic plan, “Across the Street and Around the Globe,” and its community engagement and development aim. Millsaps’ diverse, vibrant neighbor to the west has historically been a mix of industrial, commercial, and residential real estate. Recent years’ creative economy direction and gains, driven by Midtown Partners and ELSEWorks and including
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BAM (Business Association of Midtown), continue to build on an arts
and provided additional insights on costs of goods sold and ways to
district footprint that stretches back decades.
increase efficiency.”
The Hatch, along with the Hangar at 140 Wesley Ave., make up
For Rhoades, who has participated in the Millsaps Business Ad-
the Hub Midtown — now over half capacity with nine tenants com-
vantage Program, “It’s just kind of kick-started me to take my business
bined. ELSEWorks is instrumental in offering professional support,
to the next level,” she said.
said Kristi Hendrix, executive director at Midtown Partners. ‘With our two incubators, we’re able to offer space, and of course,
When Feast Specialty Foods chef/owner Camille Peeples wanted to expand her customer base and boost profits for her gourmet meal
we’re looking for entrepreneurs interested in being part of the creative
delivery business, analysts studied delivery methods, interviewed
collective and part of the neighborhood,” Hendrix said. Many are
customers, and produced a marketing plan. “They’ve just done this
new, nurtured from a garage or kitchen concept and poised to take
incredible study for us that would have been cost-prohibitive” oth-
the next step but maybe unsure how. “That’s where ELSEWorks plays
erwise, Peeples said, gleaning invaluable information that validated
such an important role. They think through where the business is,
Feast’s momentum.
where it can go and what the road map looks like to get it there. It absolutely completes the package we put together in Midtown.” Panter, along with student Ben Donald of Pascagula, B.B.A. 2017 and M.Acc. 2018, works with Hatch Support Services, offering highlevel accounting and business development advice to Hatch tenants and others around Midtown. Raymond Horn of Mississippi Cold Drip Coffee & Tea Co., first
“A key part of a business is always going to be the customers,” Hester said. Tackling issues of gaining new markets while preserving current customer relationships will be useful, too, as she eyes a career marketing medical devices. Bradley Bailey’s Natural Saga bottled tea company is the Hatch’s latest tenant. From ELSEWorks analysts, he hopes to gain insights on his jump into manufacturing and the laws surrounding it.
in The Hatch three years ago, said “everything” about ELSEWorks’
“What’s offered is the breadth of experience and expertise not just
assistance was valuable. “The accounting, the market research, the
with ELSEWorks faculty,” Culpepper says, “but also with partners and
help with the branding — they take somebody that’s got an idea, and
Millsaps alumni from outside, and just the students themselves, many
I really was just going on a small scale, and they encouraged me to go
of whom bring rich backgrounds to the table.”
bigger,” with resources to formulate a plan to get the money to do so. Jon Peterson of Sulphur, La., B.B.A. 2015 and M.B.A. 2016,
Panter said, “It lets you know that learning in a classroom is not enough.”
continued his undergraduate intern work with Mississippi Cold Drip
Student analysts for the 2017-2018 year also included Mariah
through ELSEWorks as he pursued his M.B.A., helping the company
Gibson of Clinton, N.Y., B.A. 2017 and M.B.A. 2018; Seth Trulock of
expand into Kroger stores. Nuts-and-bolts business action prepared
Taylorville, Ill., B.B.A. 2017 and M.B.A. 2018; Kaitlyn Casias of Hous-
him in a way books cannot, said Peterson, now a partner in Missis-
ton, B.A. 2017 and M.B.A. 2018; Tanner Menist of Jackson, B.B.A.
sippi Cold Drip.
2017 and M.B.A. 2018; J.C. Clements of Greenville; Michael Jordan of
With Sweet & Sauer, a fermented food and beverages company, Panter and Donald worked on projections for owner Lauren Rhoades, delving deep into its accounting and manufacturing.
Yazoo City; Jordan Hester of Jackson; and Hannah Smith of Decatur, B.B.A. 2017 and M.B.A. 2018. BY SHERRY LUCAS
“It came down to, for example, me, over the Christmas break, actually following entire batches of products being made, timing each step of the process, looking at all the ingredients, measuring them out, and really getting my hands dirty,” Panter said. “It was fulfilling
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Christian Center seats find home in new museum Millsaps College’s role in two new Mississippi museums includes pieces from its own past as well as participation by its students. Several rows of seating from the Christian Center, now under renovation, have found new use in the Museum of Mississippi History’s Struggle for a New Mississippi 1928-Today theater, one of its four immersive settings. The seats complete a TV studio environment, where viewers settle in for a film highlighting how far the state has come, through the Great Depression, World War II, the Great Migration, the fight for civil rights, and Hurricane Camille. The museum’s quest for authentic period seating converged with the Christian Center’s renovation. The possibility of their use came up during breakfast between friends Rachel Myers, museum director, and Sophie Wolf, creative content manager for the Millsaps Office of Communications and Marketing. “They are perfect,” Myers said of the donated seats. “They’re exactly what we needed.” The history museum and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum opened Dec. 9, 2017, to culminate the state’s bicentennial celebration. In preparation, Millsaps student interns at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History had a hand behind-the-scenes. Emma McRaney, B.A. 2017 (former administrative assistant for the Institute of Civic & Professional Engagement at Millsaps and now assistant to Katie Blount, director of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History), created an index of the people mentioned
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in the civil rights museum and assisted with GPS coordinates and location descriptions for “Explore Mississippi” pages on the museums’ websites. She also helped with design for each museum’s news page, modeling the history museum’s after that of the Millsaps Majors’ news page. In spring 2017, then-Millsaps sophomore Nathan Gatlin of Meridian worked with five archivists to organize artifacts and collections in the Capers Building — about 500,000 artifacts total, of which he helped organize at least 100,000, his boss, Meg Cook, told him — before their move to the new museums. “It was an amazing experience to get to actually touch history,” he said. Millsaps senior Tyler Hargrave, B.A. 2018, of Lafayette, La., a history major and education minor, found a good fit facilitating a teacher’s day at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, touring the two museums and collecting teachers’ feedback on the best way to utilize them for field trips, get students to visit, and optimize distance learning. As opening day volunteers, Millsaps junior Angel Williams of Baton Rouge, La., controlled flow from one exhibit to the next for the sold-out crowd, and Millsaps sophomore Wayne Dowdy of Hammond, La., explained the history museum’s introduction video and kept count of visitor numbers. The museums’ layered displays, immersive settings, and strong audio-visuals tell Mississippi’s story — prehistory to the present through the cultures and events that shaped it, and the struggle to overcome violence, oppression, and injustice as ground zero in the civil rights movement. Dr. Stephanie Rolph, B.A. 1999, associate professor of history and director of Community Engaged Learning at Millsaps, anticipates plenty of future student involvement in the museums. “We have a longstanding partnership with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, and the two new museums offer even more opportunities for us to provide hands-on learning experiences for our majors.” BY SHERRY LUCAS
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Rare books lend joy through contents
Clearly, a text dating back to the 16th century warrants a special place in the library, but what qualifies something as rare? As Pickard points out, “You can make a distinction between rare and scarce. Scarcity is a matter of survival. The perceived rarity of a book depends upon complex interactions between human beings and the aesthetic, cultural, and historical understandings that they use to evaluate it.”
D. F. McKenzie once observed that “the book as a physical object … is in fact alive with the judgements of its makers.” This approach to bibliography and rare books reached the ears of Dr. Michael Pickard through his mentor, Michael F. Suarez, S.J., director of Rare Book School, a nonprofit organization based at the University of Virginia, where Pickard received his Ph.D. Pickard, B.A. 2004, assistant professor of English and creative
The concept of historical context is integral to bibliography, especially for Pickard, whose academic interests center on the 19th century, which saw the industrialization of the book trade. “Before 1800, every part of a book was made by hand: the paper was made by hand, the type was set by hand, the ink was made by hand, the book was bound by hand,” he explains. “Since 1800, comparatively few books have been made by hand. Industrialization changed the nature of the book business and indeed the object of the book itself.” For Pickard, the joy of rare books is as much in “the object of the
writing at Millsaps College, is bringing the volumes that make up the
book” as its contents. Because they are “humanistic” objects, they bear
College’s rare book room to light.
the physical marks of the time they were created as much as they reflect
The rare books collection accounts for close to 2,500 of the school’s
the cultural milieu. But that isn’t to say the books’ pages themselves
200,000 volumes, boasting titles dating back to the 1500s. Many are
aren’t rife with intrigue. A text discovered in the stacks exemplifies this
religious texts, Bibles, and hymnals, such as a 1583 Geneva Bible,
notion: William A. Smith’s anti-abolitionist “Lectures on the Philosophy
printed by Christopher Barker. But the genres of fiction, non-fiction,
and Practice of Slavery” (1856). Pickard explains, “What’s interesting
and poetry are represented as well; more contemporary works include
about this book is that it contains, not a lot of notes, but some substan-
autographed editions by William Faulkner, Robert Frost, Eudora Welty,
tial underlining. If you think of a book as an index of the values of its
and e. e. cummings. Unfortunately, documentation of the provenance
time—not just a receptacle of information, but a witness to how humans
of many of these titles either does not exist or is buried deep within the
make meaning—you can study which parts of Smith’s arguments
archives of the Millsaps-Wilson Library, said Elizabeth Beck, catalog
seemed to resonate with his readers.”
and systems librarian. Luckily, one donor took out much of the guesswork when it came to
Pickard uses the room for teaching demonstrations and in a recent course sent students on a hunt for 19th century texts that had been
evaluating the parts of the personal collection that he gifted. Dr. Hugh
annotated, like Smith’s Lectures. “I feel fortunate to be able to partner
Gaston Hall, B.A. 1952 and Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters 2009,
with my excellent colleagues in the library to share these books with
Rhodes Scholar, Fulbright scholar, and rare book collector, included in
our students. Students of the present will help decide the fate of printed
each book a slip noting what he knew of the book’s origins. For example,
books in the digital era. I think it’s all the more important, for that
in a 1562 copy of Euripides’ “Tragoediae,” he included this observation:
reason, that we teach them to understand the book as, for centuries, the
“This copy is bound in early (if not original calf), with the arms of an
gold standard in storage and communications technology.”
unidentified but doubtless identifiable Cardinal.”
BY HANNAH SAULTERS, B.A. 2016
Millsaps Magazine Spring-Summer 2018
19
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Art always part of sculptor’s story When Ben Watts walked across the stage in the Bowl of the Millsaps College campus in 1980 to receive his business degree, never in his wildest dreams would he have thought that 40 years later he would return to dedicate a sculpture of Eudora Welty. And, never in his wildest of wildest dreams would he have imag-
as a family, and we made contacts that to this day continue to pay off in commissions for large sculptures.” In 2008, the great recession meant less disposable income for art, and the demand for the bronze and clay sculptures he was creating declined. He viewed the change, however, as a challenge and an opportunity, channeling his energies and creativity to sculpting larger figures. His first endeavor was an action statue of NFL great Walter Payton for the high school athletic field named in his honor in his hometown of Columbia. During the next 10 years he assembled an impressive resume of commissioned monuments and portraits,
ined that he would be the artist asked to sculpt the image of one of
including U.S. Sen. Howell Heflin of Alabama, legendary musicians
Mississippi’s literary giants.
Bill Monroe and Little Jimmy Dickens for the Grand Ole Opry, and
For Watts, his career map was headed to be the fourth generation to operate the family-owned department store in Columbia—but an artistic talent that he began exploring as a child kept tugging at his heart and soul. “I lived in the art department at Millsaps and took all of my elec-
legendary archer Fred Bear for Bass Pro Shop’s flagship store and wildlife museum. In 2006 Millsaps commissioned Watts to sculpt a bronze statue of the founder of Methodism, John Wesley, to overlook the College’s bowl. In 2010 he was asked by Millsaps to design and sculpt the
tives in art,” said Watts, B.B.A. 1980. “I would have been a photogra-
presidential medallion that Dr. Robert W. Pearigen wore during his
pher after graduating from Millsaps if I had not gone home to work in
inauguration.
the family retail business.”
Impressed with his work, alumni and longtime supporters Tim
Life was business, but art was always with him and a part of his life.
and Jean Medley, Class of 1966 and B.A. 1967, commissioned Watts
“In third grade, I drew pictures, cut them out, took tape and made
to create a sculpture of Eudora Welty to honor Dr. Suzanne Marrs,
3-D images,” he said. “Later I designed and arranged displays in my
professor emerita of English at Millsaps and a noted Welty scholar.
family’s department store.”
Dedicated in 2017, the sculpture sits on a bench in the Nicholson Gar-
Watts said that when his family decided to close their century-old retail establishment in 2000, he knew it was time to reinvent himself
den on campus. Welty is holding a copy of “The Optimist’s Daughter.” Watts had studied Miss Welty’s works at Millsaps, but never got
and pursue the art he loved. “After the store closed, I prayed to God,
to meet her. He listened to an audio book of Welty reading her Pulit-
‘Make me an artist.’ I knew that was where my gifts were.”
zer Prize-winning novel while he worked. “Her voice was in the room
His wife, Lori Randolph, B.A. 1982, from Batesville, whom he met while they were students at Millsaps, spent her junior year studying at the Sorbonne in Paris and is an artist in her own right — a raku potter. On a whim, he started playing with his wife’s pottery clay. “On my first attempt, I made a horse head that looked like a dragon,” he said. “My next attempt looked like a dinosaur. I was flipping through a magazine and noticed a story about a horse sculpting work-
while I was sculpting,” he said. During Watts’ senior year Dr. Sue Whitt, professor of accounting at Millsaps, said, “I love your art.” “Dr. Whitt, who had retired, came to the dedication of the John Wesley sculpture. Afterwards, she hugged me and said, ‘I knew! I knew!’” Watts is currently working on another sculpture with a connec-
shop in Oregon. I went to the workshop and fell in love with sculpting.
tion to his alma mater. A Kappa Sigma at Millsaps, he has been com-
I was empowered because my eyes could see it and my hands could
missioned to create a statue of the fraternity’s founder, Stephen A.
make it. So I pursued sculpting by going to more workshops.”
Jackson, which will be unveiled in 2019 during the fraternity’s 150th
His experience in photography served him well. “Photography gave me an artistic eye for sculpting,” he said. For the next 10-12 years, Watts and his wife were fulltime artists
anniversary at its Charlottesville, Va., headquarters. Watts says Millsaps has been a central part of his life, past and present. “I brag on Millsaps every day,” he said. “My experiences
— creating, showing, and selling sculptures and pottery, primarily in
there helped shape my thought processes, helping me see both sides
the South and West.
of every problem I encounter. I met my wife there, and I made friends
“The first summer that we went to the mountains of Colorado for art shows, money was tight.” He said. “We had enough money to make it to the first show but nowhere to stay. So, I converted a box truck leftover from our retail business into an RV. We pulled a minivan filled with our art and traveled the country showing and selling our creations and getting feedback.”
20
It was an invaluable experience for his family. “My son visited places that he would have never seen otherwise, we grew even closer
www.millsaps.edu
that I still talk to every week.” Forty years ago Watts’ artistic talent was waiting to be discovered, but now it brings artistic beauty to his alma mater. “I am grateful and blessed that through my art, I have been able to make a contribution to Millsaps.” BY PEGGY HAMPTON
{ON CAMPUS}
RESURRECTION | FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH | RALEIGH
JOHN WESLEY | MILLSAPS COLLEGE | JACKSON
BEN WATTS WORKS ON A SCULPTURE OF ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF KAPPA SIGMA, DESIGNED FOR THE FRATERNITY’S INTERNATIONAL HEADQUARTERS IN CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA.
BILL MONROE | RYMAN AUDITORIUM | NASHVILLE
Millsaps Magazine Spring-Summer 2018
21
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Beloved writer has a permanent presence on campus A life-size sculpture of beloved writer Eudora Welty, commissioned by two Millsaps College alumni and created by an alumnus, now graces the Millsaps College campus. Given in honor of Dr. Suzanne Marrs, professor emerita of English at Millsaps and a noted Welty scholar, the sculpture depicts Welty seated on a bench holding a copy of “The Optimist’s Daughter,” the 1973 novel for which she won a Pulitzer Prize. “A member of the Millsaps Board of Trustees, an adjunct faculty member, and honorary degree recipient, Miss Welty was a frequent presence on the Millsaps campus, just a few blocks from her residence,” said Dr. Robert W. Pearigen, president of Millsaps College, during the Nov. 12, 2017, dedication. “Countless visiting writers such as Ann Patchett, Elizabeth Spencer, Ralph Eubanks, Richard Ford, to name just a few recent visitors, all speak of Miss Welty’s profound influence on their work and her spirit that they feel when they’re here on campus. “Noted photographer and editor Tom Rankin said in a recent visit to Millsaps, ‘Here we are in Eudora Welty’s town at an institution that in large part is hers.’ Given her close relationship to the College, and the admiration generations of Millsaps students, faculty, and staff had and continue to have for Miss Welty, it is only fitting that we have a visible and permanent reminder of her warm and inspiring relationship with Millsaps College.”
22
www.millsaps.edu
Tim and Jean Medley, Class of 1966 and B.A. 1967, longtime supporters of the College, funded the sculpture that is located on campus in the Nicholson Garden on the north side of the Christian Center. The Medleys commissioned Ben Watts, a 1980 graduate of Millsaps who created the John Wesley sculpture that overlooks the Bowl, to produce the Welty sculpture. Speaking during the dedication, Mary Alice Welty White, a niece of Welty, said Marrs has played an important role in preserving the legacy of Welty. “The first person that comes to anyone’s mind if you have a question about Eudora or her story is Suzanne Marrs,” she said. “Eudora’s stories and her novels became Suzanne’s life’s work, but, more than that, Suzanne and Eudora became very good friends.” Marrs, a professor at Millsaps for 27 years, said it is fitting that Welty, one of the 20th century’s most accomplished writers, is honored in sculpture on campus. During the dedication, Marrs thanked the Medleys for commissioning Watts to create the sculpture and for dedicating it in her honor. She also thanked the Eudora Welty Foundation, White, and other members of the Welty family for endorsing the project. Marrs expressed gratitude to the College for giving her the opportunity to teach Welty’s fiction, which allowed her to encounter many students who taught her new ways to interpret Welty’s work. She also recalled Welty as her friend, as a writer who produced magnificent stories and novels, and the person she admires most. “I am deeply grateful if my scholarship and teaching have benevolently brought Welty’s fiction into the lives of those who might not otherwise have encountered it and if my work has enhanced the understanding and pleasure with which Welty is read,” Marrs said.
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Millsaps Magazine Spring-Summer 2018
23
PHOTO BY NANCY CRAMPTON
{FEATURE}
ELLEN GILCHRIST, B.A. 1967
JOHN HAILMAN, B.A. 1965
EUDORA WELTY
Millsaps’ impressive imprint on the literary landscape The College’s trademark traditions in the written word by John Webb
24
www.millsaps.edu
{FEATURE}
“The smells of the store rose up to meet her, fecund and rich, moist and cool, as if the store was an extension of the earth outside. Rhoda looked down at the board floors. She felt she could have dropped a sunflower seed on the floor and it would instantly sprout and take bloom, growing quick, moving down into the earth and upwards toward the rafters.” —Ellen Gilchrist, “Music” Reprinted by permission of Don Congdon Associates, Inc. © 1983 by Ellen Gilchrist
Those lush lines, written by Ellen Gilchrist, B.A. 1967, could serve as a metaphor for the fertile academic environment at Millsaps College, in whose rich intellectual soil gifted literary voices have germinated for generations, taking root, flourishing, and yielding an abundance of critically acclaimed, prize-winning, hugely popular bodies of work. And now, with the College adding majors in communication studies and creative writing to the traditional study of literature, as well as programs that attract more and more important writers to campus, Millsaps is continuing to cement its reputation in the world of literary education. But what about young Rhoda Manning—Gilchrist’s precocious protagonist who over three decades matured into a successful writer herself ? How would Rhoda have liked Millsaps? “I think she would have had a great time there!” said Gilchrist, who has published eight novels, 13 short story collections, and assorted poetry and nonfiction, winning a National Book Award for her 1984 collection “Victory Over Japan” (including the short story “Music,” excerpted above). “Millsaps is a wonderful place for anyone who wants to write!” (In fact, Gilchrist’s own niece, Whitney Gilchrist, B.A. 2012, studied here.) Indeed. The authors lining the College’s alumni bookshelf include the late David Herbert Donald, B.A. 1941, a Pulitzer Prize winner and noted Lincoln historian; the late Turner Cassidy, B.A. 1951, poet, short story writer, and playwright; the late physician John Stone, B.S. 1958, whose poetry explored the connective tissue between literature and medicine (and for whom the hall housing the College Writing Center is named); the late Lewis Nordan, B.A 1963, novelist and short story writer; the late Gaston Hall, B.A. 1952, a renowned Molière scholar and writer; author and attorney John Hailman, B.A. 1965, who began
Millsaps Magazine Spring-Summer 2018
25
{FEATURE}
his career as a Washington Post columnist;
stitutions can claim a writer of her stature as
William Jeanes, B.A. 1959, former editor of
a lifetime trustee. I think that Eudora is vital
Car and Driver; Kevin Sessums, Class of 1977,
to Millsaps’ identity as an institution and
a longtime celebrity journalist for Vanity Fair
as a brand. She was a major figure in 20th
with myriad editing and writing credits that
century American letters and will continue to
include his 2007 book “Mississippi Sissy,” and
be regarded as a major figure in the history of
the list goes on and on.
American literature.
More recently putting Millsaps on the inside flap are widely published poet James
And when we talk about Welty at
Kimbrell, B.A. 1989, a Florida State Uni-
Millsaps, we have to talk about Suzanne
versity English professor who won a 2016
Marrs, said Dr. Michael Pickard, B.A. 2004,
Guggenheim Fellowship; Lisa D’Amour, B.A.
assistant professor of English and creative
1991, who won the Best New Play award from
writing. “No one in the world knows more
the Austin Critics’ Table for “Ten Thousand
about Welty than does her friend, her biogra-
Things” and an Obie and other acclaim
pher, her foremost scholar, Suzanne Marrs,”
for her play “Nita & Zita;” Kiese Laymon,
Pickard said.
Class of 1996, whose novel “Long Division”
That friendship, which had blossomed
was listed among the best books of 2013; Jo
over so many years, led to definitive work.
Watson Hackl, B.A. 1985, who has sold a
Publishers Weekly called Marrs’ authoritative
manuscript to Random House, which this
and intimate “Eudora Welty: A Biography,”
summer will release her coming-of-age novel,
published in 2006, “a book that debunks the
“Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe;” and
myths and quotes enough of the writing to
Luke Darby, B.A. 2009, who writes for GQ.
make you hunger for the novels and stories.”
And those are just a few of the Millsaps-
“Although this biography would make
bred wordsmiths working across the world.
any scholar’s career all by itself,” observed
Meanwhile, alumni who have not pursued the
Pickard, “Marrs has given us monographs,
literary life maintain that the language skills
collections of letters, collections of essays,
they learned at Millsaps have opened doors to
journal articles, book chapters, and confer-
scholarships, major career opportunities, and
ence papers that, for years to come, will form
plum jobs at the top of their fields, from law
the core of Welty studies.”
to political consulting to architecture.
Furthermore, Marrs’ ongoing work on
Stellar alumni have been matched by stel-
behalf of the Eudora Welty Foundation and
lar faculty, passionate educators all, who have
her own rich literary relationships continue
published extensively. Not least among them,
to enhance such Millsaps programs as the
the renowned Welty scholar and biographer
Visiting Writers Series.
Dr. Suzanne Marrs, who retired in 2015 as the
“I am deeply grateful to Eudora Welty for
Eudora Welty Scholar-in-Residence. And the
her friendship and for her magnificent stories
faculty has been augmented by other noted
and novels,” Marrs said. “I am grateful
figures in American literature such as the late
to Millsaps College for having given me the
Josephine Haxton, pen name Ellen Douglas,
opportunity to teach Welty’s fiction. And I
who occupied the Eudora Welty Chair of
am so happy that the relationship between
Southern Studies for a semester in 1999.
Eudora and the College will continue.”
After all, where in the world but in Jackson,
Honoring Marrs on campus is a life-size
Miss., could a budding writer like Ellen Gil-
sculpture of Eudora Welty, commissioned by
christ have taken a writing class from Eudora
Tim and Jean Medley, Class of 1966 and B.A.
Welty herself, one of the most internationally
1967, respectively, and created by Ben Watts,
celebrated and beloved authors of our time?
B.B.A. 1980, who produced the John Wesley
“When we talk about writing at Millsaps
26
“That’s a story we can’t tell too often.”
sculpture that overlooks the Bowl. The sculp-
we have to talk about Eudora Welty,” said Dr.
ture depicts Welty on a bench and holding a
Eric Griffin, the Janice B. Trimble Endowed
copy of “The Optimist’s Daughter,” the 1973
Chair of the English Department. “Few in-
novel for which she won a Pulitzer Prize.
www.millsaps.edu
––––––––––––––––––––––––– Special guest stars “One of Welty’s great legacies is that her reputation and the Eudora Welty Foundation’s financial support over the years have made Millsaps a place that writers want to visit,” Griffin said. “They love reading here, and some amazing talents have taught and read at Millsaps.” Directed by Pickard, the Visiting Writers Series plunges not only the campus but also the larger Jackson community into the heart of the national literary conversation. It features outstanding contemporary writers from a broad spectrum of experience and style, and each writer’s visit features a reading or lecture that is open to the public. While much of the College’s literary clout comes from its close association with Welty, her life force is in turn kept alive by a campus abuzz with the intellectual energy of nationally noted writers. “The Visiting Writers Series takes its inspiration from Welty,” Pickard said. “She was a vital link between Jackson and the world of letters. By bringing writers of national reputation to campus, we seek to keep the flame of her imagination alive and at the same time create opportunities for our students to engage with the very best writers of our age.” In the last three years, the Visiting Writers Series has run or sponsored 19 events featuring two Pulitzer Prize winners, two National Book Award winners, two former U.S. Poets Laureate, two MacArthur Fellows, a recipient of the prestigious Man Booker Prize, two Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and three Chancellors of the Academy of American Poets. “The series stands with or exceeds in quality that of any other college or university in the state and all but the most literary of our peers in the Associated Colleges of the South,” Pickard said. Griffin has high praise for the direction in which Pickard has led the program. “In his short time here he has brought in mar-
{FEATURE}
DR. MICHAEL PICKARD, B.A. 2004
RALPH EUBANKS
WILLIAM JEANES, B.A. 1959
quee figures like George Saunders, Claudia
such major literary figures as the late Christo-
novelist Katy Simpson Smith, author of
Rankine, Natasha Trethewey, and Robert
pher Hitchens.
“The Story of Land and Sea” (“Smith’s spare,
Pinsky,” Griffin said. Also signing the College guestbook: Ed-
Adding yet another register to Millsaps’
rhythmic prose captivates,” opined Carmela
choir of visiting voices is the Eudora Welty
Ciuraru in The New York Times) and “Free
ward P. Jones, who came to Millsaps shortly
Scholar for Southern Studies post. It has
Men” (Ron Charles of The Washington
after his novel “The Known World” won the
been occupied by such scholars as W. Ralph
Post wrote that “Smith cuts to the bone of our
Pulitzer Prize, and Marrs’ good friend Ann
Eubanks, a 2007 Guggenheim Fellow, former
national character”).
Patchett, the widely read PEN/Faulkner Award
editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review at the
winner who has read here multiple times.
University of Virginia, and author of the 2009
Millsaps professors, Drs. Steve and Elise
But Griffin said the visits most deeply
Smith is the daughter of two prominent
book “The House at the End of the Road:
Smith (philosophy/religious studies and art
etched in his mind were those of Saunders
The Story of Three Generations of an Inter-
history, respectively).
and Pinsky.
racial Family in the American South.”
“It was an incredible literary event, and
“Since Katy is both an emerging novelist
As a Mount Olive native lauded for his
and a trained historian, the position she will
hanging out with Saunders was a joy,” Griffin
writing on race, civil justice, and Southern
hold combines aspects of both,” Griffin said.
said. “The same is true of Robert Pinsky’s
culture, Eubanks taught a photography-and-
“She will be teaching both creative writing
two visits. Pinsky is a tremendous public
literature class, and also developed the class
classes and courses in history and culture.”
advocate for the arts and poetry more spe-
“Must the Writer Crusade? Civil Rights and
cifically—the real deal. The visit by Pulitzer
Activism in Literature,” based on Welty’s es-
Prize–winner Natasha Trethewey, a two-time
say, “Must the Novelist Crusade?”
poet laureate and native of Gulfport, was
The most recent addition to this dis-
also the real deal.” Other recent visitors have
tinctive set of chairs is the Eudora Welty
included the humorist David Sedaris and the
Chair for Southern Literature, which was
National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward,
established and endowed with two gifts of
designated as a recipient of a Millsaps honor-
$500,000 each from Joe Sanderson, B.A.
ary degree in 2019.
1969, and his wife, Kathy, of Laurel and the
The Visiting Writers Series exists in addition to the Millsaps Forum and the Arts and Lecture series, which have also brought in
Phil Hardin Foundation as well as a dozen other individual donors. The first to hold the chair will be noted
––––––––––––––––––––––––– Coming of age in Mississippi— on the Millsaps campus Also attracting prominent writers to campus is the McMullan Young Writers Workshop, which is supported by the James and Madeleine McMullan Family Foundation (Mad-
Millsaps Magazine Spring-Summer 2018
27
{FEATURE}
KIESE LAYMON
GASTON HALL, B.A. 1952
eleine McMullan taught at Millsaps in the
envisioned “a place in Mississippi for high
1960s and was one of the architects of the
school students to get immersive, intensive,
Laymon graduated from Oberlin College,
Heritage of the West and World Perspective
residential creative writing experience with
which he said “may be considered more elite,
Program) and represents another collabora-
mentorship and instruction built in,” said Liz
but the work there was easy compared to that
tion with the Welty Foundation. The work-
Egan, director of the McMullan Workshop as
of Millsaps.”
shop aims to provide promising teenage writ-
well as the Millsaps Writing Center.
ers with an opportunity to develop their talent
“It’s important to Margaret that we reach
the college level.”
A former Purple & White opinion editor, Laymon said sometimes difficult learning
under the tutelage of college professors, as
underserved, diverse populations in places
experiences at Millsaps had helped lead to
well as accomplished writers and teachers of
like the Delta and Newton County,” Egan
his success in some ways. “Some direct. Some
poetry, drama, fiction, and creative nonfiction.
said. “The mission is to bring creative writing
indirect.”
This year’s guest speaker will be Joyce
opportunities to high school students from
Said Griffin, “The presence on campus
Carol Oates, a National Book Award winner
all backgrounds, including those who other-
of these talented writers, so knowledgeable
who has published more than 40 novels,
wise could not afford to participate in such
not only in the world of letters but also the
not to mention plays, novellas, short stories,
a program. With Mississippi’s rich literary
realities of a life spent writing, is invaluable
poetry, and nonfiction. Past keynote speakers
traditions, of course we should have a place
to students.”
have included acclaimed fiction writer Pam
like this for young people.”
Houston, poet laureate Natasha Trethewey,
As a two-time guest of the workshop,
As a former Millsaps English professor whose novel “Panorama” has just been pub-
and in the program’s inaugural year the
alumnus and author Kiese Laymon, a Uni-
lished by Little, Brown (and named a “must
poet Richard Blanco, who read at President
versity of Mississippi professor of English
read” by the New York Post and Entertain-
Barack Obama’s second inauguration.
and African-American studies, affirms the
ment Weekly), Dr. Steve Kistulentz agrees:
value of the program.
“When I took the job at Millsaps, it was very
The idea for the workshop came from Margaret McMullan, the daughter of James
28
JO WATSON HACKL, B.A. 1985
“It was amazing, man,” Laymon said.
important to me that the College supported
and Madeleine McMullan and author of
“It’s something I wish had been around when
not just my creative work, but helped me
seven award-winning novels. She is a two-
I was growing up in Jackson. The students
bring other working writers to campus. I
time winner of the Mississippi Arts and
are a perfect mix of precocious and serious,
wanted the students to learn that a book
Letters Award for Best Fiction, and she was
and some have shared writing with me that is
isn’t some artifact, but rather a document
the 2007 Eudora Welty Visiting Writer. She
on a par with some of the best I have read at
of a place and a time and a way of thinking
www.millsaps.edu
{FEATURE}
produced by an actual person. “That was an idea that everyone from President Pearigen down to my colleagues in the English Department could support. And
between the way creative writing was taught in the past and the way students experience creative writing today.” Students experience it in ways that some-
––––––––––––––––––––––––– Tide of prints
I’m pleased that the College continues to use
times mimic the real world of publishing. Said
so many different venues, from the Welty Vis-
Kistulentz, who heads the graduate creative
iting Writers Series to the Arts and Lecture
writing program at Saint Leo University in
Also getting noticed is Millsaps’ innovative
programs, to bring writers to the community.”
Florida (and was instrumental in Whitney
collaboration between writers and visual art-
Gilchrist’s, B.A. 2012, journey to studying cre-
ists on campus. Pickard, who heads the cre-
ative writing at Florida State): “In the honors
ative writing program, works with Sue Carrie
program, students like Whitney get to write a
Drummond, B.A. 2012, assistant professor
small book of stories, and revise and discuss
of studio art, to operate a letterpress printing
the project in a one-on-one tutorial setting that
studio in the English House.
––––––––––––––––––––––––– ACROSS THE CURRICULUM AND AROUND THE GLOBE Millsaps distinguishes itself with its his-
is more like the relationship between editor
Just this spring, for example, students in
and author than anything else. That’s just a
Pickard’s poetry writing workshop printed
tremendous opportunity for a younger writer.”
broadsides of their own poems. To do so, he
As another opinion editor for the Purple
said, “they had to set their poems, letter by
tory of excellence in emphasizing the teach-
& White, Whitney Gilchrist said Millsaps’
letter, in movable type; lock this type into the
ing of writing across the curriculum, Griffin
intimate setting had allowed her to not only
bed of a vintage sign press; and print each
said, adding that it can point to the successes
solicit friends’ writing, but also to get their re-
broadside, one at a time, by hand.”
of students who have gone into careers in
sponses to her own. “I covered natural beauty
These students are creating the me-
fields that value writing as both a product and
products, reviewed a Radiohead album—fun
dium and the message. “So often as writers
a cornerstone of critical and creative thought.
experiments,” she said. “And I got feedback
we produce our typescripts and send them
walking around campus and from alumni
off to publishers,” Pickard said. “Students in
who read the newspaper. It was encouraging.”
this class worked in the tradition of writers
Apart from creative writing, the “real
like William Blake (1757–1827), who printed
As Ellen Gilchrist said, “writing isn’t just about publishing books, but knowing how to write will make you better at what you do.” The Millsaps English department offers
game-changer” for the department came in
his own poems. They create both the words
three majors, all of which emphasize writ-
2009 when it established a major in com-
themselves and the object that carries those
ing: literature in English, creative writing,
munication studies. Said Griffin, “Many
words into the world.”
and communication studies. “Students may
students find this a popular option because
choose the traditional route, the study of
it gives them the opportunity to focus their
redesigned in the late 1980s with its inter-
literature,” Griffin said. “The College rec-
critical energies on visual media such as
disciplinary, writing-across-the-curriculum
ognizes that much of the best writing of the
film, music videos, and advertising, as well
approach, including the writing portfolio
21st century literary world happens outside
as studying what it means to write for new
requirement, Griffin said, “faculty like Dr.
of the cozy confines of the Anglo-American
media platforms that command so much at-
Austin Wilson associate professor (emeritus
tradition. So we have reframed the major
tention in the cultural present.”
of English) and Drs. Catherine and Richard
as ‘literature in English.’ But our literature
A Millsaps foundation in writing has
When the Millsaps curriculum was
Freis (professors emeriti of classics) and
track would be absolutely recognizable to the
stood graduates in good stead, regardless of
others who were involved in developing that
English majors of yesteryear.”
their careers. “Over the years we have seen
program put in a lot of thought and took a lot
students who have been nurtured in our
of time reflecting upon how best to incorpo-
experienced as a concentration in creative
writing-across-the-curriculum environment
rate writing.”
writing is now the creative writing major,
go on to successful careers in such traditional
Griffin said. “Nationwide, the undergraduate
fields as law and academics, as well as as web
lieved that the teaching of writing “could and
major in creative writing has been gaining in
design and advertising and various entrepre-
ought to contribute to a philosophy of life
popularity, so we thought it wise to offer one
neurial endeavors,” Griffin said. For instance,
and learning that extended far beyond four
and began doing so in 2011.
“a former English major who went on to get
years of college.” They also invited some of
master’s degrees in Southern studies and
the most renowned and progressive authori-
directing the major Michael Pickard—who
business is now a field agent for the FDIC in
ties in writing instruction to campus to help
studied at Millsaps under Dr. Austin Wilson,
Dallas. He says his writing skills have been a
Millsaps design its curriculum.
Dr. Greg Miller, and the late poet Aleda
boon in that career.
What generations of Millsaps students
“Fortunately, because we now have
Shirley—we find many positive continuities
Griffin said these dedicated faculty be-
“We continue to stand on their shoulders.”
“Well-written reports get noticed.”
Millsaps Magazine Spring-Summer 2018
29
{FEATURE}
––––––––––––––––––––––––– Gilchrist on Welty, fame, and the IBM Selectric It was the early 1960s, restlessness was rus-
Gilchrist said her most important take-
Gilchrist’s advice to Millsaps students
away from the class was “that a famous pub-
and alumni who would follow in her foot-
lished writer could be a wonderful, normal
steps? She refers them to the handbook Er-
person—sweet, kind, and nice—my mother’s
nest Hemingway on Writing, which advises
age and no different from any of her friends.
that there must be a combination of the kind
A normal person with a strange gift.”
of talent Kipling had and “the discipline of
Sometimes notes from Welty would send
Flaubert.” Hemingway goes on to say, in the
tling the national consciousness, and Ellen
Gilchrist back to her typewriter to rethink her
passage taken from “Green Hills of Africa,”
Gilchrist had left Vanderbilt University at
work. “I would write short stories, and she’d
that the writer must have conscience, intel-
age 19 to get married. She was living with her
give them back to me with little pencil marks,
ligence, and the will to survive and finish
husband and three children in an antebellum
and I’d start over and do another,” she said.
his work—calling that “[t]he hardest thing,
home outside Jackson when destiny beck-
But Gilchrist also got feedback she would
because time is so short.”
oned with a newspaper item: Eudora Welty
later treasure. As she remembered, “Eudora
would be teaching at Millsaps.
Welty loved my stories—she thought they
You have to get to the point where the main
were the best in the class.”
thing you do when you get up in the morning
Gilchrist so loved Welty’s work that she promptly gathered her poetry and newspaper
Like so many other Millsaps-educated
“Write,” Gilchrist said. “Write every day.
is write.”
columns and took them to the then-head of
writers, Gilchrist called Robert Bergmark, a
the Millsaps English department, George
beloved professor of philosophy and ardent
get down what’s really important, you won’t
Boyd, a friend of Welty’s who taught poetry.
civil rights advocate, an enormous influence.
find her in the pallid glare of a computer
“He read for about 20 minutes, then said the
“I loved Millsaps, loved the campus, loved
screen.
class was full,” recalled Gilchrist, now 83.
the man who was teaching me poetry, and
“But,” he added, “you can be in it.”
I loved Dr. Bergmark,” Gilchrist said.
While teaching at Millsaps, Welty was
Gilchrist, who in addition to her three
And when Gilchrist, herself, is ready to
“I’ve been typing on a typewriter since I was 12 years old,” she said. “I write by hand on a yellow legal pad or type on an IBM
enduring personal trials. Her mother was in
children has 16 grandchildren, and four
Selectric.” (Gilchrist has in fact stocked up
a nursing home, and her father and brother
great-grandchildren, is teaching Shake-
Selectrics, whose other fans have included
had both passed away, Gilchrist said. “So her
speare, film writing, nonfiction, and “the big
David Sedaris and P.J. O’Rourke.)
friends at Millsaps talked her into teaching a
creative writing seminar” at the University of
class for a year, because they thought it would
Arkansas. She said she was also working on a
cheer her up. It was held in the old library,
detective tale set in Ocean Springs, where she
upstairs.”
has a home.
“I’m 83. I don’t have to join the computer age!”
DR. ROB PEARIGEN, LEFT, PRESIDENT OF MILLSAPS COLLEGE, INTERVIEWED JACKSON NATIVE AND PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR (AND 2018 HONORARY DEGREE RECIPIENT AT MILLSAPS) RICHARD FORD DURING THE 2017 MISSISSIPPI BOOK FESTIVAL. FORD WAS A CLOSE CONFIDANT OF EUDORA WELTY, SERVING AS LITERARY EXECUTOR OF HER ESTATE AND AS A PALLBEARER AT HER FUNERAL. FORD IS THE MOST RECENT IN A LONG LIST OF DISTINGUISHED AUTHORS RECOGNIZED BY THE COLLEGE WITH HONORARY DEGREES. OTHERS INCLUDE GREG ILES, WILLIAM FERRIS, BETH HENLEY, WILLIAM RASPBERRY, SHELBY FOOTE, GWIN J. KOLB, B.A. 1941, ELLEN DOUGLAS, AND CLEANTH BROOKS. THIS WAS THE SECOND INTERVIEW AT THE BOOK FESTIVAL FOR PEARIGEN, WHO INTERVIEWED PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR AND PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN JON MEACHAM IN 2016.
PHOTO BY MISSISSIPPI BOOK FESTIVAL
KNOWN AS MISSISSIPPI’S LITERARY LAWN PARTY, THE 2018 FESTIVAL IS SCHEDULED
30
www.millsaps.edu
AUG. 18 AT THE MISSISSIPPI STATE CAPITOL AND WILL FEATURE MORE THAN 150 AUTHORS, OVER 40 PANELS, AND LIVE INTERVIEWS. HOLLY LANGE, B.A. 1991, SERVES AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE FESTIVAL.
{FEATURE}
Millsaps Round Table A community of American writers has emerged over the years with one thing in common: Millsaps—and in at least a couple of cases, the Welty class. Besides Gilchrist, another veteran of the Welty class includes the syndicated wine columnist and author John Hailman, who said he had kept all of his short stories and papers bearing Welty’s comments. “She was big on rhythm,” Hailman said. “Your writing must have rhythm. She said, ‘I don’t know how to teach writing,’ but that there were two ways to learn to write: Read a lot of great writers and keep writing.” Welty also had prescient words for Hailman: “She said, ‘John, you have a gift for humor and lyrical writing. You would be better at nonfiction.’ ” Good advice, as it turned out. “I started my career as a columnist for The Washington Post,” Hailman deadpanned. (You don’t meet many journalists who can say that.) He traces his good fortune back to the two Millsaps years he spent in Paris at the Sorbonne learning French and, more importantly, developing a love of wine. As a graduate student at Georgetown University Law School, Hailman was working part time at a wine shop that encouraged him to taste the top wines in the world. “The manager and owner would not let us sell a wine we had not tasted,” he said. “We were constantly tasting wines all day in the back.” Then he read that The Post had fired its wine columnist. What was there to lose by applying? Said Hailman, “I called them up, and unbelievably there were no other applicants!” And Hailman, who said he had never taken a journalism class in his life, got the job. (It was a very good year.) After his Post stint from 1972–74, Hailman went on to work for 15 years as a nationally syndicated columnist for Gannett News Service covering wine, food, and travel for 100 daily papers. He also wrote the 657-page book “Thomas Jefferson on Wine” (2009), which was called in The Wall Street Journal “a fascinating look at our third president and the evolution of his lifelong love of wine.”
Millsaps Magazine Spring-Summer 2018
31
{FEATURE}
Moscow to Morocco, Paris to the Persian
tion, commented on my essay, and most
Millsaps classes with the late Robert Berg-
Gulf, & the Balkans to Bali,” a book of Hail-
importantly they modeled and expected
mark.
man’s Foreign Mission for the U.S. Depart-
excellence,” Hackl said. “So when I found
ment of Justice during the last 33 years.
myself at Yale Law School there was not one
Hailman is especially grateful for his
“He taught a Plato seminar, and every
Also balancing the literary with the
class a two- or three-page paper summariz-
legal (not to mention a husband and three
ing one of Plato’s dialogues,” Hailman said.
children) is Jo Watson Hackl, whose book
“That was my most challenging writing as-
“Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe” is
the Middle of Maybe” will appeal to both the
signment at Millsaps.”
scheduled for a July release from Random
youth and adult markets, dealing as it does
House Children’s Books. Among the advance
with outdoor survival and art. “It’s set in a
tershed moment for the College—when its
praise, the book was called “part treasure
fictionalized version of Electric Mills, Miss.,
writing-across-the-curriculum brainchild was
hunt, part wilderness adventure, and all
a real ghost town,” she said. “I spent most of
just an embryo. “My senior year, when I came
heart” by The New York Times best-selling
my childhood exploring that town, which has
back from Paris, we were assigned an honors
author Alan Gratz.
made me intimately familiar with the land
Hailman attended Millsaps at a wa-
paper to write,” he said. “I participated in a
Kirkus Reviews has given the book a
less transition.” Hackl said she hopes that “Smack Dab in
and the people and which hopefully will create an immersive experience on the page.”
colloquium on the future of Millsaps and the
starred review and said that “[t]old in the
idea of writing across the curriculum, and
easy, laconic tone of good, Southern storytell-
that if you were writing about chemistry you
ing, Hackl’s debut rolls off the tongue and
of many an alumnus, Luke Darby, B.A. 2009,
had to write well about it.”
into the heart easy as warm butter on a bis-
said it was a College internship with the Jack-
cuit. . . . . Lyrical and endearing, this debut
son Free Press that put him on the path to
well about anything, and Hailman advises
is a genuine adventure tale, poignant and as
covering food and politics for GQ’s online
would-be authors not to limit themselves and
fresh as a spring garden.”
edition. At the JFP, Darby said he did re-
You were supposed to be able to write
to keep an open mind. “Write about what you
Said Hackl, “It’s about finding family,
like,” he said. “I almost made the mistake of
learning that sometimes family is where
thinking only if writing fiction would you be
you find it, and learning to take chances on
a writer, but don’t forget nonfiction.”
yourself.”
Hailman’s jaw-dropping résumé includes
It was a class with Dr. Austin Wilson, a
In the Millsaps-to-Manhattan tradition
search and reporting on civil-rights-era cold cases that he turned into an honors thesis. “But I hit a tipping point at Millsaps when we started getting more frequent assignments with longer page counts and
a stint as legal counsel to the late U.S. Senator
fiction writer and poet who taught English
shorter deadlines,” Darby said. “I’m sure I’d
John Stennis during the Watergate era, and
at the College for 33 years, that helped Hackl
be embarrassed to read them now, but learn-
more than three decades as a career prosecu-
find her voice. “He encouraged me to think
ing that I could synthesize lots of informa-
tor for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Oxford.
of myself as a writer,” said Hackl, “so I began
tion into a readable essay in a short time was
keeping a notebook with ideas for a writing
a huge revelation.” Darby said his adviser,
ism at the University of Mississippi, Hailman
project, bits of dialogue, character quirks. He
Dr. Anne MacMaster, associate professor of
published books through the University Press
really helped me get my descriptions right
English, was a tremendous asset. “She was
of Mississippi— “From Midnight to Guntown:
and make my characters come alive.”
extremely encouraging and knew how to
And while an Overby Fellow in Journal-
A Prosecutor in the Land of Faulkner and
Wilson also extolled the merits of “taking
guilt me into doing more than I wanted to or thought that I could.” He said other major
Elvis” (named 2015’s Non-Fiction Book of the
chances and being persistent, and the value
Year by the Mississippi Library Association);
of realizing the power of editing to make your
influences were Dr. Greg Miller, professor
“Return to Guntown: Classic Trials of the
work stronger.” Hackl said. “He encouraged
emeritus of English and his creative writing
Outlaws and Rogues of Faulkner Country,”
me to put in the work to make my writing as
tutor; Dr. Eric Griffin’s “Shakespeare and
nominated for the 2016 Non-Fiction Book of
strong as it could be.”
Cinema” class; and the anthropology class on
the Year by the Mississippi Institute of Arts
Hackl, who majored in political science
Disney taught by Dr. George Bey, professor of
and Letters; and “The Search for Good Wine,”
and economics, said that the language skills
a compilation of 100 of his favorite Washing-
she learned under legendary political science
ton Post and Gannett News Service columns.
professors John Quincy Adams and the late
ents a paradox. “You don’t have to worry about
Hailman is self-publishing a legal textbook
Howard Bavender had helped further her in
how much space you’re taking up, but you still
entitled “A Survey of Law and Literature from
every arena. And in the Millsaps tradition of
have to keep things tight because people have
Confucius to John Grisham,” and the Uni-
proactive mentoring, these influential figures
little patience on the Internet,” he said.
versity Press has accepted for publication in
also encouraged her to consider applying to
2019 the final manuscript of “Faraway Places:
Ivy League graduate schools.
Adventures of an American Prosecutor from
32
second when I felt unprepared. It was a seam-
week we had to write and read aloud to the
www.millsaps.edu
“They wrote my letters of recommenda-
sociology and anthropology. Darby said that writing for the web pres-
Some Millsaps writers have also become innovative educators. Take Jamie Dickson, B.A. 2001, chair of the English Department
{FEATURE}
at Germantown High School in Madison,
correct grammar, structure, etc., and give the
adviser to the school’s literary magazine The
student a ‘final product,’ I learned to incor-
Agathist, and a poet. Dickson said the way
porate the writer in the process and empower
semester Writing Center curriculum for aca-
independent, critical thinking was encour-
him or her to make choices with my aid,” said
demic credit. They are invited to join the staff
aged at Millsaps had been a blueprint for his
Mohamed Hegazy, a sophomore. “I felt it was
after completing one semester of pedagogical
own educational methods.
beneficial that instead of helping students
training, and they are supported in their first
achieve a better grade I could give them the
year on the job through two additional semes-
tools to be more proficient writers.”
ters of study in writing theory and research
“I try to do the same thing in my classroom,” Dickson said. “When discussing, say, a poem by Langston Hughes, I give my
The Writing Center is less a place for
sometimes difficult conversations.” Consultants-in-training follow a three-
methods. Consultants also perform complex
students information on Hughes that might
corralling rogue commas and reeling in
analyses of their work, and they travel to
be helpful, or I point out things that a guy
dangling modifiers than about conversations
conferences to present their findings, which
with an English degree and an interest in
on the writing process: the importance of a
may be considered for publication.
poetry would note—things like meter and
thesis statement, of higher- and lower-order
Students can seek consultants’ help at
diction and so forth. But I also throw out a lot
concerns, determining whether sources are
John Stone Hall, but they are also embedded
of questions: Why did he use this metaphor?
scholarly, and where a student might be in
in the classroom as Writing Fellows, Egan
Why take on the voice of someone else and
the process—at the first-draft or final proof-
said. And they hail from all disciplines. “My
not his own?
ing stage, Egan said, and “whether they’re
staff are majoring in applied math, biochem-
needing to brainstorm or just another set of
istry, communications, creative writing,
eyes.”
business, Spanish, education, sociology, and
“When students come to answers on their own, there’s more ownership of the knowledge.”
––––––––––––––––––––––––– Rewritten in Stone
Egan, whose effervescence energizes
anthropology,” Egan said.
John Stone Hall, emphasizes that the Writ-
Writing consultants have diverse extra-
ing Center is by no means to be considered
curricular interests, too, and many are also
“remedial.”
athletes, resident assistants, and involved in
“We’re always trying to combat that idea,” said Egan, who is also a creative writ-
Greek life. There has been an effort to build a
ing professor who writes short fiction and
professional-development component into
has started a novel. “We’re working to reach
the consultant program. “We talk about their
more of those with misperceptions that this
own goals and try to bring together things
The College’s pioneering emphasis on writ-
is a place to be grown out of. Students are
they’re doing as students with what they’re
ing led to the creation in 1987 of a space
deterred from coming if they think it’s seen
doing at the center,” Egan said. “One needed
where students could find help with their
as remedial. The strong emphasis on writing
to know Excel, and since I was working on an
critical analysis and research papers.
here makes students feel that they shouldn’t
Excel project I got her to work with me. One
need to ask for help, but we try to push back
was trying to apply for event-planning jobs,
named for the physician-poet and Millsaps
against those perceptions. Having a writing
so she hosted an open-mic poetry night in
alumnus Dr. John Stone, the Writing Center
conversation with a peer is something good
order to gain experience she could talk about
is housed in a cozy old wood-frame house, a
writers do.”
in a job interview.
Appropriately located in John Stone Hall,
former campus residence of the president.
For some consultants, working in the
“I want students employed here to get
And the writing is literally on the wall, which
center—a paying job, by the way—can be a
topnotch professional training. They’re learn-
is painted with a chalkboard-like material and
course in psychology.
ing how to function in a workplace. I hope we
can be scribbled on to the heart of a young
“Students come to the Writing Center
can create a network of former consultants,
writer’s delight. One hallway is papered with
to talk about their writing, obviously, but a
so we can track what they’re doing in their
the pages of a collaborative writing project by
consultation is much more complex than just
careers. I hope to see that more successful
the center’s peer consultants (formerly called
dealing with concrete grammatical and struc-
alumni turn out to be former consultants.”
tutors).
tural errors,” said Hannah Fitzpatrick, B.S.
“It’s not about ‘Where do I drop off my pa-
Egan added that she would also like to
2018. “Consultants in the Writing Center of-
create that network in preparation for a Writ-
per?’ ” said Liz Egan, assistant professor and
ten have to navigate private aspects of a per-
ing Center 50th anniversary gala.
director of the Writing Center, which recently
son’s identity to help them discover their true
celebrated its 30th anniversary. “We want to
writing potential. All writing is personal and
teach students how to think about writing to
autobiographical in some way, and working in
empower them to become better writers.
the Writing Center has helped me understand
Student consultants agree. “Rather than
this and allowed me to facilitate fruitful and
Millsaps Magazine Spring-Summer 2018
33
{MAJOR SPORTS}
Track and Field team has a purple and white facility to call home The Millsaps College track and field team made the most of the new six-lane, purple-and-white track completed this spring on campus. The team produced 22 personal records, eight school records, eight all-conference records, and two national qualifiers in Division III. Millsaps junior Payton Passantino of Plaquemine, La., ranked eighth nationwide in javelin, and Millsaps junior Aliyah Gillespie of Egypt, Miss., ranked tenth nationwide in the 200-meter event. Andy Till, head coach for track and field as well as cross-country, said the 2018 the track & field season was like no other in his eight years at Millsaps because the team could practice on campus, make the most of its time together without having to factor in commute time, and bond after practice while watching the sun set. “The new facility with its purple and white is stunning,” he said. “Millsaps did it right. With the track situated between the baseball and softball field, we’re now part of the campus community when we’re at practice.” The track & field facility includes competition and practice areas for all the running events, including the steeplechase and field events
34
www.millsaps.edu
that include the long jump, triple jump, high jump, pole vault, javelin, discus, hammer, and shot put. Till said with the new facility he is working to recruit new students and grow the team roster to 60-65, split evenly between men and women. He expects to have 44 on the roster for the next season with three graduating seniors. Track and field covers 20 events, and the NCAA does not limit the size of the roster or the number of team members that can travel to away events. Four entries are allowed per event, and the top eight finishers at a meet receive points. “If you have a large roster, you can win meets,” Till said. While track and field events are individual sports, teamwork still plays an important role, said Till, who is joined by Roger Bynum, assistant track and field coach for throws, and Mike Huseth, assistant track and field coach for sprints and jumps. “At Millsaps, you’ll see a distance runner cheering on a thrower and vice versa,” he said. “Your team members are behind you all the way to cheer you on and pick you up. It’s a strength for our team.” Several track and field team members play other sports such as football, volleyball, and soccer. “We’ll go watch them play and cheer them on,” he said. Built on a high point on campus, the track many evenings offers a beautiful view of the sun setting behind the recently restored James Observatory, Till said. “On those nights, the team will hang out, talk, relax, and take photos,” he said. “It’s nice to slow it down, and it helps build the team atmosphere.”
{MAJOR SPORTS}
ANDY PAGE AND CHASE CALLAWAY
Two Millsaps Majors begin and end their careers on same team Baseball threw Andy Page and Chase Callaway together years ago and reunited them when each decided to attend Millsaps College. Both Andy Page of Warrenton, Va., a great nephew to Millsaps Head Baseball Coach Jim Page, and Callaway, of Brandon, Miss., played baseball in Mississippi when they were youngsters ages 5-9, but then Andy Page and his family moved to Mobile, Ala., and later to Virginia. Callaway played baseball at Northwest Rankin High School in Flowood, and Andy Page played at John Paul VI Catholic High School in Fairfax, Va. “When I heard that Coach Page was recruiting Andy, it certainly was one of the factors that helped me make the decision to attend and play baseball at Millsaps,” Callaway said. “We played Little League and All-Stars together when we were 6, 7 and 8 years old, and hung out even before that. Andy Page said he and Callaway have been friends practically all of their lives. “It was tough leaving Mississippi when my family moved, but I was excited to learned that Chase was considering Millsaps. When I came for my freshman year, he and I drove around to all the Little League fields that we had played on as kids. Later we were eating at Mugshots with some of the other guys, and even though 10 years had passed, it felt like I had never left. It’s been a great four years.” Andy Page and Callaway helped lead the 2018 Millsaps baseball team to the championship game for their bracket in the conference playoffs, said Jim Page, B.S. 1986. During their freshman year, the team advanced to the West Regional in Tyler, Texas. During their sophomore through senior seasons, the team won the Cowboy Maloney series against Belhaven University for three consecutive years, the only Millsaps group to accomplish that. Callaway, who majored in accounting, hit .325 and led the Majors in doubles, as a 2018 All-Conference selection at first base. Page, who earned a degree in business administration, led the Majors with a .383 batting average and the nation with 42 base on balls; he had a .524 on base percentage as the leadoff hitter and finished his career with All-Conference honors as the centerfielder. “What’s awesome is, we started playing the game with the same jersey and finished our careers in the same jersey,” Callaway said. “Millsaps is the best decision I’ve made so far.” Millsaps Magazine Spring-Summer 2018
35
PHOTO BY RIVER VALLEY & OZARK EDITION/ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
{ALUMNI}
36
www.millsaps.edu
{ALUMNI}
Experience makes way for opportunities When Courtney Pledger was a Millsaps undergraduate, she decided to change her major just a year before graduation, opening the door to creative opportunities that would shape her career for years to come. The Little Rock native has come full circle, bringing back to Arkansas vast experience in acting, film development, and production
In her mid-20s, she headed to Los Angeles. “I did more commercials, and I did a television series that I try to keep hidden,” Pledger joked. “It was “Walking Tall,” the story of a Tennessee sheriff.” At the same time, Pledger said, “some other doors started to open for me on the production side. I liked the feeling of having just a little bit more control over what I did and when, and producing was my strength far more than acting.” She worked with Jerry Abrams, father of J.J. Abrams, producer of blockbuster films including “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” The younger Abrams “would hang around and pester us all the time,” Pledger joked. Pledger met her then-husband, British actor Stuart Wilson, and
gleaned from career stops in New York, Los Angeles, and London.
moved to London for about five years. “A long and winding road
In March, Pledger completed her first year as executive director of
brought me back to Los Angeles,” Pledger said.
the Arkansas Educational Television Network, the state’s only Public Broadcasting System member station. “There is creativity in everything, no matter how many administrative duties I have,” said Pledger, B.A. 1975. “If you have the ability
Several years later, another door opened. “What brought me back to Arkansas was the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival,” she said. “It was the most challenging thing I’ve ever done. I was there for
to learn and you are adaptable, you quickly figure out where your
five years, and we got the Oscar qualification in documentary shorts.
skills match up.”
Today, it’s thriving and doing well.”
Pledger’s family moved from Little Rock to Memphis when she
In March 2017, she accepted the position of Arkansas Educational
was a preschooler. “I ended up in Jackson when I was about 6,” she
Television Network executive director. “Courtney’s extensive experi-
said.
ence in television and her executive leadership skills make her the
She settled on Millsaps as her college choice after attending a summer theater production on campus. “I couldn’t imagine going anywhere else, and luckily, I got accepted.” As a voice major, she took part in theater and singing in the Trou-
ideal candidate for AETN,” Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said then in a prepared statement. She was the right choice and brings to the network a unique perspective, said Ward Emling, a Millsaps classmate who retired in 2017
badours. “But I had an odd juncture in the summer after my sopho-
after 30 years as director of Mississippi’s film office. “She knows what
more year,” Pledger remembered. “Jolyne Wise (Shirley) and I were
she’s doing from a production level, and a lot of the time, that’s miss-
doing “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to The Forum” at New
ing in educational television,” said Emling, B.A. 1976.
Stage Theatre. We saw an ad in a magazine about a theater school in New York City. “We looked at each other, and we decided that we absolutely had
Pledger is mom to Miranda Wilson, 28, and twins Liam Wilson and India Wilson, 23. She’s at home in the world of public television and its commonalities with her life’s work. “The programs that we
to do that. I spent my junior year there, learning and working, thanks
make here are home-grown and largely non-fiction. Some local stories
to some open-mindedness at Millsaps and to Lance Goss.
will have broader relevance and go national,” she said.
“Lance Goss is a legend,” Pledger said of her late speech and theater professor. “He was somebody we all looked up to.” “We were at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. We
Her Millsaps experience helps her carry out Arkansas Educational Television Networks’ mission. “I learned the joy of learning,” she said. “In public media, we
were staying on West 13th Street in the Village at the Evangeline Resi-
support lifelong learning. I feel like I left Millsaps with even more
dence for Women,” Shirley, a director and professional actor who now
curiosity about the world than I had going in. To this day, I can safely
is a drama instructor at Germantown Middle School in Madison, said
say that I’ve never experienced boredom.”
of their New York foray. “There was a nightclub across the street, and we’d hang out the windows at night and watch.” Pledger ended up receiving college credit for her time in New
Pledger is building her senior leadership team at the Arkansas Educational Television Network. No doubt, she will bring Arkansas residents the best of public television, her friends say. “It doesn’t surprise me,” Shirley said of Pledger’s journey. “She
York, and she changed her major to theater. Wise stayed in New
could always do anything she wanted to do. She would see something
York, but Pledger graduated with her Millsaps class, completing an
and not be afraid of it, and then tackle it and do it. Everywhere she
internship at Mississippi Public Broadcasting before returning to the
goes, she is a great success.”
Big Apple. “I made my living doing commercials and off-Broadway
BY RUTH INGRAM CUMMINS
shows,” Pledger said.
Millsaps Magazine
Spring-Summer 2018
37
PHOTO BY LISA BUSER
{ALUMNI}
38
www.millsaps.edu
{ALUMNI}
Millsaps provides transformational path Albert Mosley came to Millsaps College from tiny Shuqualak in rural Noxubee County, intent on becoming a physician. It didn’t take long before he began to realize his calling wasn’t in medicine. It was in servant leadership through ministry.
Asian, Caucasian alike,” he said. When he was offered the opportunity to return to Duke as assistant university chaplain and director of religious life, Mosley embarked in 2000 on almost two decades of ministry in higher education. “I realized there are people who are ordained and called by God, but live that calling in multiple ways,” Mosley explained. “I was drawn to the energy and creativity that you often find in higher education.” In 2002, he accepted the post of chaplain and Interfaith Center director at Methodist-related Albright College in Reading, Pa., then in 2003 became senior pastor with The UMC’S Eastern Pennsylvania
“It was a perfect storm of all kinds of influences, coming together,
Conference. There, he served as the chief spiritual and administrative
that led me to think more critically about what I wanted to do with my
officer of a 1,200-member urban Philadelphia congregation, also lead-
life after Millsaps,” said Mosley, B.S. 1995. “A lot of that I assign to Dr.
ing a nonprofit attached to the church.
Don Fortenberry, our chaplain at the time. Don had a way of getting us to think about our lives a little deeper, and to look at a vocation in itself.” Mosley, an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, has
In 2009, Mosley returned to higher education, becoming university chaplain and director of the Interfaith and Community Service Center at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. In 2011 he was
achieved national recognition as a religious leader in the church and
named dean and president of Gammon Theological Seminary in
in higher education. He now serves as senior vice president for faith
Atlanta, where he was responsible for exercising financial steward-
and health at Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare in Memphis.
ship, deepening the school’s resource base, and enhancing the quality
“In the past few years, a lot of the conversations we’ve been having in higher education are remarkably similar to those in health
of student life. From January 2017 through March 2018, Mosley served as execu-
care,” said Mosley, who began work at Methodist Le Bonheur in April
tive vice president of Bethune-Cookman. He was the liaison to all
2018 after serving as executive vice president at United Methodist-
United Methodist-related bodies and was responsible for the overall
related Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Fla.
direction and coordination of nine university divisions and their
“My mission is reminding the leadership of the health care system of its historic commitment and ties to The United Methodist Church,
senior-level administrators. Mosley received a doctor of divinity from Liberia Baptist Theo-
and to keep before the leadership the social principles of the church
logical Seminary in 2009, and earned a doctor of education from the
that speak to our desire to serve those who are on the fringes of society.”
University of Georgia in 2017.
To get there, he took his degree in biology and minor in religious
“I’m a first-generation college student from a rural community.
studies to Duke University, receiving his master of divinity with a
Not many people would have projected I would have gone to Millsaps
concentration in pastoral studies in 1998. A year later, he received his
and earned other degrees,” Mosley said. “Based on external and cul-
master of sacred theology with a concentration in African-American
tural factors, you would have probably put me in a factory.”
religious studies from Yale University. “Millsaps has a way of asking you to think more critically about life,” Mosley said. “I found myself in my senior year taking the MCAT to apply to medical school at the same time I was applying to seminary.” Dr. T.W. Lewis, B.A. 1953, professor emeritus of religious studies,
But with generous scholarship aid from Millsaps, his path was cleared. “In my later years in upper-level administration, I began to think of equity issues and ways that I could have an impact,” Mosley said. That was on his mind when Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare approached him. “Memphis is a community with an enormous
recalls teaching Mosley as a freshman in his Biblical Studies class.
amount of need,” he said. “The chasm between the rich and the poor
“Ordinarily, there are no freshmen in that course, but Albert was very
here is probably the widest of any major metropolitan city in the
competent. He is a quick study and a quick learner.”
United States. Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, with its strong rela-
Mosley began his first assignment after divinity school with The
tionship with The United Methodist Church, is one of the entities in
United Methodist Conference. Not only was he named an associate at
the Memphis community that has an explicit commitment to serving
Galloway United Methodist Church in Jackson, but he was entrusted
those in need, and to addressing disparities and inequities.”
with helping Galloway’s leadership launch a new church in south
Mosley and his wife Syreeta, a dentist by profession, have four
Jackson. “It was an international, multicultural congregation,” Mosley
children: Avery, a student at Georgia State University; Todd, a student
said of the fledgling church.
at Bethune-Cookman; Addison, a high school sophomore; and Ava-
Mosley’s Millsaps experience fully prepared him for the job, said Fortenberry, B.A. 1962, who retired in 2005. Mosley “affirmed his black heritage, and never shied away from demonstrating that reality. But he was above all fair and inclusive in his approach to all members of the community—African-American,
Rose, a 4-year-old. He is grateful for the Millsaps family that, as he puts it, “gave me a path forward. From the very highest level of the institution all the way down, it was a transformational experience.” – RUTH CUMMINS
Millsaps Magazine
Spring-Summer 2018
39
{CLASS NOTES}
Class Notes
Check out Class Notes to find out who has celebrated a major milestone. We would like to encourage all alumni to send in their news items, large or small, personal or professional, to Nell Luter Floyd, Office of Communications, Millsaps College, 1701 North State Street, Jackson, MS 39210-0001. Phone: 601-974-1033 or 1-86-MILLSAPS (1-866 - 455-7277). Email: communications@ millsaps.edu. Please include your name, address, phone numbers, email address, graduation year and degree, and any news you want to share. Appropriate items include births, weddings, advanced degrees, awards, job promotions, etc. Photographs are also welcome. Photographs should be no less than 300 dpi. We reserve the right to not include a photo that doesn’t meet our standards. If you are aware of alumni who are not receiving the magazine, please send us their names and addresses.
1958
exhibit in the Depression era section of the new
annual pheasant hunt in Chamberlain, South
Mississippi History Museum. Plunk’s maternal
Dakota. Chris Cheek’s father, Howard , B.S. 1955,
Ruth Ann Hall Short , B.A. 1958, of Ironton,
grandfather, C.L. Dees, ran the country store and
and brother John, B.S. 1989, also participate in
Mo., was honored for her lifetime of public service
was involved in other business ventures such as
the yearly outing.
by the Arcadia Valley Missouri Chamber of Com-
lumber; he was also the first postmaster in Van-
merce at the organization’s awards banquet in
cleave. Included in the exhibit is the actual wooden
January. A former teacher, missionary, and dental
U.S. Post Office kiosk from the store. The store
hygienist, Short volunteers at The Baptist Home-
burned in the mid-1970s, but Plunk’s mother had
Arcadia Valley campus.
already moved the post office to her home before
1988 Monica Harrigill, B.A. 1988 and a trustee of the
the fire occurred.
1960 V.A. Patterson, B.A. 1960, of Jackson, was among
College, of Madison, cofounder and managing
1984
member of The Sunray Companies, spoke at the
the 2018 recipients of the Governor’s Arts Awards.
Bill Hetrick , B.A. 1984, of
Beta Gamma Sigma induc-
The Mississippi Arts Commission, in partnership
Clinton, is the president of
tion at the Millsaps College
with the Governor’s Office, presents the awards that
the Hinds County (Missis-
Else School of Manage-
signify the important relationship between govern-
sippi) Economic Develop-
ment and the arts. Patterson was recognized as a
ment Authority. Hetrick has
welcomed her daughter, Tori Harrigill, B.B.A.
Community Arts Leader. She was the first curator
been a member of the board
2017 and M.Acc. 2018, as a member. Beta Gamma
for the Manship House museum, former executive
for four years. The Hinds
Sigma is the international business honor society
director of the Craftsmen’s Guild of Mississippi,
County Economic Develop-
for AACSB accredited schools.
and former executive director of Very Special Arts
ment Authority worked with
Mississippi. She spent her entire career promoting
the Mississippi Development
the arts in Mississippi. She continues to volunteer
Authority to land a Continental Tire manufactur-
with many community and arts organizations.
ing plant in Clinton. Currently under construction and scheduled to open in 2019, the $1.45
1976 Charles Araujo, B.A.1976, of Jackson, received the 2018 National Association of Social Workers Mississippi Chapter Social Worker of the Year Award in March at the Mississippi chapter’s an-
billion plant will be the largest of its kind in North America, and will eventually employ 2500. Hetrick, a realtor celebrating his 20th year in real estate, is an associate broker with RE/MAX Alliance and runs a team of agents working in the Central Mississippi area.
nual conference in Biloxi. The award states: “For his courageous work as lead plaintiff to challenge the constitutionality of the use of state tax dollars
ment on April 12. She
1990 David Keary, B.A. 1990, of Jackson, was among the 2018 recipients of the Governor’s Arts Awards. The Mississippi Arts Commission, in partnership with the Governor’s Office, presents the awards that signify the important relationship between government and the arts. Keary was the first male dancer hired for Jackson Ballet by Thalia Mara, founder of the USA International Ballet Competition. In 1978, he
1985
was invited to join the New York City Ballet where he danced professionally for many years and
and ad valorem taxes to fund charter schools and
learned from the masters of American ballet. After
his commitment to policy practice, program im-
returning to Jackson to pursue a law degree, Keary
provement, community action, and maintaining
served on the board of Jackson Ballet, and in 1994,
professional social work practice in Mississippi.”
he became artistic director of the organization, now Ballet Mississippi. Since then, Keary has led
1977
NATHAN RUSSELL, COLLIN CHEEK, AND CHRIS CHEEK
Daryl Plunk , B.A. 1977, worked with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History to have a replica of Dees Country Store in Vancleave in Jackson County, near Pascagoula, placed on
40
www.millsaps.edu
the growth of Ballet Mississippi from 25 to more than 300 students, staged seasonal productions such as “The Nutcracker,” taught classes for USA
Chris Cheek , B.B.A. 1985 and M.B.A. 1988, was joined by his son, Collin, B.A. 2014, and fellow alumnus Nathan Russell, B.S. 2000, at their
International Ballet Competition competitors, and watched former students go on to dance in prestigious programs around the nation.
{CLASS NOTES}
1992
2004
Tony Risher, M.B.A. 2011, of Madison, welcomed his
Dr. C. Shannon Carroll, B.S. 1992, a physician
Megan Shaw James, B.A. 2004, of Jackson, is
son, Noel Risher, M.B.A.
slated to serve on the Delta Delta Delta Executive
2017, as a member of Beta
at Jackson Healthcare
Board. The proposed officers are scheduled to be
Gamma Sigma during
for Women, will serve as
voted on during the 2018 convention in Dallas and
induction at the Millsaps
the newest member of
installed on July 5. With one fraternity president
College Else School of
the American Institute of
and four directors, Tri Delta’s Executive Board
Management on April 12.
Invasive Surgery. He cur-
serves as the fraternity’s governing body, responsi-
Beta Gamma Sigma is the
rently serves as director of
ble for the strategic vision and overall health of the
international business
minimally invasive surgery
organization. James’ responsibilities will include
honor society for AACSB
at Merit Health Woman’s Hospital and is presiding
serving as a fraternity ambassador at events such
accredited schools.
chair and a nine-year officer for the Mississippi
as new chapter extension/installations, National
Section for the American College of Obstetrics and
Panhellenic events, and St. Jude events. In 2014,
Gynecology. He attended medical school at the
Tri Delta committed to raising $60 million in 10
Kansas City University of Medicine and Biomedi-
years, the largest single commitment by a St. Jude
cal Sciences and completed his residency at the
partner. The fraternity has raised $30 million of
University of Mississippi Medical Center.
that amount in just over three years.
Jennifer A. Sandlin, B.A. 1992, of Tempe, Ariz., was
Kenneth Townsend, B.A.
recognized at Arizona State
2004, of Jackson,
University, where she teaches,
and Ann Phelps, of
with the 2018 College of
Jackson, announce
Liberal Arts and Sciences Ze-
the birth of their
bulon Pearce Distinguished
daughter, Abigail
Teaching Award in the Social
Grace Phelps Townsend, on Jan. 31, 2018. Abigail
Sciences. Sandlin is an as-
was welcomed by her brother, William Winter
sociate professor in the Justice and Social Inquiry
Phelps Townsend. Kenneth serves as executive
department in the School of Social Transformation at
director of the Institute for Civic & Professional
Arizona State University, where she teaches courses
engagement, special assistant to Millsaps College
on consumption and education, popular culture
President Rob Pearigen, and assistant professor of
and justice, and social and cultural pedagogy. Her
political science.
and practice of public pedagogy.
2000
2005, and Barr Biglane
Rachel C. Freeman, B.A. 2000, of Nashville, is the
the birth of their son,
new president of the Sexual Assault Center in Nash-
William Edward “Ward”
ville. Beginning at the center as a clinical therapist
Biglane, on March 7 in
of Nashville announce
New Orleans. Paige re-
director in 2007, and then vice president of pro-
ports that Ward loves lounging in his parents’ arms
grams in 2011. Freeman has a master’s of science in
and is clearly a future Bowl-sitter.
social work from the University of Tennessee and and a contributing author to academic and clinical publications in the field of sexual abuse. Awarded the 2015 Visionary Voice Award in Tennessee from the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, Freeman is also a nominee for the Nashville Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” award for outstanding community leaders under the age of 40.
tion, primarily in Aix but also in Paris, Nantes, and Réunion island. She is in the Ph.D. program at Harvard, where she studies the 1848 abolition of slavery in the French Empire, specifically how labor relations changed as the French colonies transitioned from slave to free labor. She is particularly interested in how the introduction of indentured laborers taken from Africa, India, China, and Indochina impacted the social landscape of French colonies and how these populations interacted with former slaves. She earned her M.A. in history in 2014 at Vanderbilt University.
attend the University of Massachusetts Boston
Paige Biglane, B.S.
is a frequent speaker at professional conferences
France. She will conduct research for her disserta-
Katelyn Murray, B.S. 2016, of Madison, will
2005
in 2002, Freeman assumed the position of clinical
Kelly Brignac, B.A. 2012, received a Fulbright Study/Research Award that she plans to use in
2016
research focuses on the intersections of education, learning, and consumption, as well as on the theory
2012
this fall where she will pursue a master’s degree in mental health counseling. She hopes to eventually work on a college campus as a psychological counselor. For the last two years, she has worked as an admission counselor at Millsaps.
2017 Emma Shaw McRaney, B.A. 2017, of Jackson, works as the assistant to Mississippi Department
2011 Liz Lancaster McIntyre, B.A. 2011, of Oxford, joined Renasant Bank’s Corporate Marketing Department as social media manager. She will be
of Archives and History Director Katie Blount. McRaney will assist with programming, strategic planning, board of trustees meetings, and work closely with the Programs & Communication Division and on special projects as assigned.
responsible for managing, improving, monitoring, and maintaining the marketing, messaging, and branding experience for all of Renasant Bank’s social media channels. Millsaps Magazine
Spring-Summer 2018
41
{IN MEMORIAM}
{IN MEMORIAM}
In Memoriam Millsaps College remembers those in our alumni family and College community who have died. These In Memoriam listings reflect those received from September 1, 2017 to April 15, 2018.
Virginia Umstead , Class of 1940, of Grenada,
the office products industry in Gulfport and Bir-
creating beautiful clothing for her grandchildren.
died Aug. 6, 2017. She was a retired educator and
mingham. In 1976, she received an Award of Merit
She was an avid reader and a longtime member of
an accomplished musician.
from the National Office Products Association for
Central Presbyterian Church.
her years of dedication and meritorious service.
Doris Murphree Crumbley, B.A. 1943, of
She was a Sunday school teacher, a life member of
Joseph Allen LaCour Jr., Class of 1948, of Can-
Madison, died Nov. 8, 2017. She taught school in
Junior Auxiliary, a Cub Scout leader, and a mem-
ton, died Feb. 23, 2018. He graduated from Canton
Madison/Ridgeland, Drew, Carthage, and Laurel.
ber of the Garden Club and Sewing Club.
High School on June 2, 1942 and was sworn into the V5 Flight Training Program the next day. After
She was a member of the Laurel Junior Auxiliary, the Northwood Garden Club, the Daughters of the
John Patrick “Jack” Keilty, Class of 1947,
negotiating three basic flight training schools, he
American Revolution, the Colonial Dames of the
of Vienna, Va., died Dec. 23, 2017. He attended
was selected for advanced flight training at Pensac-
17th Century, the Colonial Order of the Crown, the
Millsaps as part of the Navy V-12 program. In
ola NAS and subsequently selected for Squadron 4
Society of the Descendants of the Mayflower, and
1943, he was commissioned at Officer Candidate
- Fighter flight training. He served as an instructor
Chi Omega Alumnae. She gave freely of her time to
School in Plattsburg, N.Y. His first assignment was
pilot before serving in both the Atlantic and Pacific
her church, First United Methodist in Laurel.
as a communications officer on a Coastal Yard
theaters. He and his father started J. A. LaCour &
Minesweeper YMS458, doing mine patrol along
Company, which imports and exports hardwoods.
Vera Mae Coffman Richardson, Class of 1944,
the eastern seaboard. In 1945, he was transferred
He commanded the Air Wing 82 intelligence group
of Jackson, died Jan.15, 2018. She was active in
to Okinawa, Japan as a cargo handling officer
comprised of 35 intelligence officers in 1968-71 and
many civic and social organizations, including the
with the Port Authority. Keilty was assigned as the
retired at the mandatory age of 60 years old in 1984
Jaycettes, Daughters of the American Revolution,
“Officer in Charge of Operation Magic Carpet,”
with the permanent rank of commander.
First Families of both Mississippi and Tennessee,
where he was responsible for the expeditious
and Junior Auxiliary. She was an avid bridge player
movement of American service members back to
Walter Butler, B.S. 1949, of Ponchatoula, La.,
and loved to read. She became a genealogist for the
the United States. He went on to earn a bachelor’s
died Nov. 13, 2017. After graduating from high
Mississippi Department of Archives and History
in economics from Boston College. He worked for
school, he served in the U.S. Navy during World
and delighted in research and helping families find
the National Security Agency in Maryland, from
War II. He earned a master’s degree in school
information about their families. One of her favor-
1953 until 1960, which included a 2-year program
administration from the University of Mississippi
ite projects was extended genealogical research on
in Oberammergau, Germany to learn Russian.
and a doctorate in educational administration and
Elvis Presley for an author.
From 1960 to 1985, he worked for the Central
counseling. Butler’s career spanned from work as
Intelligence Agency in Virginia, which included an
an elementary school teacher to a university ad-
James E. Calloway Jr., Class of 1945, of Lou-
18-month assignment with the American embassy
ministrator. His last administrative position was as
isville, died March 28, 2018. He attended the Uni-
in Moscow.
dean of the School of Education at William Carey University. He filled a 15-month top-secret position
versity of Tennessee Medical School as part of the V-12 Navy program. He interned at John Gaston
William Giles Shackelford Sr., B.A. 1947,
as a chemist at Oak Ridge, Tenn., where he taught
Hospital in Memphis, before opening his practice
died Dec. 20, 2017. He served in the U.S. Navy as
chemistry to chemical operators who were working
of medicine in Louisville in 1948. Calloway served
a lieutenant before attending Millsaps. He was
on the atomic and hydrogen bomb projects.
in the Navy in World War II and in active duty dur-
a member of the College’s V-12 organization. He re-
ing the Korean War in 1951 and 1952. He was the
tired from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi as
Joyce Jean Caradine Aycock, Class of 1951,
Mississippi Academy of Family Physicians Family
executive vice president. He attended Northmin-
of Clay County, died March 29, 2018. She taught
Physician of the Year in 2014, past president of the
ster Baptist Church in Jackson, served on various
school in Mississippi in Houston and Aberdeen.
Louisville Rotary Club, Louisville Man of the Year
volunteer boards, and was a former chair of the
She was a fifth-grade teacher at Oak Hill Academy
in 1998, and a member of First Methodist Church.
Mississippi Heart Association.
in West Point in 1983 when she decided to run for
Nell White Ferguson, B.A. 1947, of Hattiesburg,
Ann Porter Davis, B.A. 1948, of Mobile, Ala.,
died Nov. 17, 2017. She taught school in Mississippi
died Feb. 28, 2018. She was the consummate
in Pickens, Pelahatchie, Artesia, Flora, Jackson,
homemaker and mother and a great cook. She was
and Laurel, and later became active in sales with
a master level bridge player and loved sewing and
circuit clerk of Clay County. She won the election
42
www.millsaps.edu
and went on to serve two more terms before retiring.
{IN MEMORIAM}
Rev. Duncan A. Clark , B.S. 1952, of Tupelo,
at Leavell Woods United Methodist Church in
Jack F. Dunbar, B.A. 1954, of Oxford, died Dec.
died Sept. 30, 2017. He received a master’s of
Jackson. She also worked for BankAmericard, and
20, 2017. He endowed the Millsaps College Philoso-
divinity at Candler School of Theology at Emory
for 30 years was an employee in the insurance
phy Department’s annual Dunbar Lecture Series.
University. In 1969, he completed a fellowship
industry. She was a member of Galloway United
He was valedictorian of the law school class of
in religion and psychiatry from the Menninger
Methodist Church, where she served as co-chair of
1957 at the University of Mississippi, served as the
Foundation in Topeka, Kansas. He was the found-
the kitchen committee and was a member of the
president of the law school student body, and was
ing minister of St. Luke United Methodist Church
Ben Fatherree/Heritage Sunday School Class, and
associate editor of the Mississippi Law Journal. He
in Tupelo, where he was pastor for five years. He
a member of both the Mary Martha Guild and the
later served as an adjunct professor of law at the
was a minister for 13 years before going to work in
Church Library Committee. She was married to
law school. In 2011, he was inducted into the Uni-
the field of mental health. He was director of the
Bishop Clay F. Lee for 66 years.
versity of Mississippi School of Law Hall of Fame,
Behavioral Health Center at the North Mississippi
after being named Alumnus of the Year in 2010.
Medical Center from 1969-1981 and director of
John Wilson Moore, B.A.1953, of Haines City,
Mental Health Services for St. Dominic’s Medical
Fla., died Aug. 4, 2017. His education also included
was active in the Mississippi Bar. He served as
Center from 1981-1994.
the University of Mississippi in Oxford and Tulane
president in 1983-84, and later was elected to the
University in New Orleans. He did his internship
Board of Governors of the American Bar Associa-
Carolyn Collins Erickson, Class of 1952, of
and surgical residency at Touro Infirmary in New
tion. He was awarded a Lifetime Achievement
Brandon died Dec. 31, 2017. She was a trained psy-
Orleans and was a member of the American Col-
Award by the Mississippi Bar in 2010.
chologist, a rancher, and a Peace Corps volunteer.
lege of Surgeons. He set up his practice in Green
During his almost 60 years of law practice, he
Dunbar began his law practice in Clarksdale
Clinic in Haines City in 1968. He was also on
and joined the firm Sullivan Dunbar and Smith.
George M. Neville Jr., B.S. 1952, of Gulf Breeze,
staff at Heart of Florida Regional Medical Center,
In 1978, he moved to Oxford and joined what is
Fla., died Jan. 19, 2017. He completed his first two
where they named a surgical suite after him after
now Holcomb, Dunbar, Watts, Best, Masters and
years of medical school at the University of Missis-
he retired in 1999.
Golmon, P.A., where he was the senior partner. In 1990, he was named Oxford Citizen of the Year for
sippi and graduated from Louisiana State University School of Medicine in 1954. He served as an
Wesley Ann “Wanie” Travis Norton, Class
his work in the strategic plan for the community
intern with the U.S. Navy in Portsmouth, Va., and
of 1953, of Poway, Calif., died Jan. 2, 2018. She
hospital, and in 2012, the Oxford School District
as a flight surgeon at Saufley Field in Pensacola,
studied at Louisiana State University and spent
named him Citizen of the Year in 2012 for efforts to
Fla. After his military service, he began decades of
a year at the Sorbonne University. She earned a
help children in need of eye care.
his private medical practice in Algiers, La., Butler,
master’s degree in French literature at Yale Univer-
Ala., and Meridian.
sity and worked toward a doctorate and a master’s
Sammie Joe Glorioso, B.A. 1954, of Brandon,
in library science from UCLA. She, her husband,
died age 85, April 1, 2018. He taught history,
Ann Hand Dunbar, B.A. 1953, of Ridgeland,
and children spent summers for almost 50 years in
coached football and girls basketball, and served as
died Nov. 23, 2017. She worked for the FBI in
Aspen, Colo.
principal at Bentonia High School before retiring
Washington, D.C., and later taught art at four
in 1986. After a short retirement, he began a career
schools in Clarksdale and raised her three young
Dorothy Dye Gober Primos, Class of 1953, of
in the private school system, retiring from Jackson
sons. She opened Ann Dunbar Interiors in Jack-
Jackson, died Aug. 30, 2017. She was a volunteer
Academy in 2016.
son, performed with the Little Theatre of Jackson,
at Methodist Rehabilitation Center and a board
and painted portraits. She was a member of Christ
member of the Millsaps Arts & Lecture Series. She
Mary Gene Gainey Kimball, B.A. 1954, of The
United Methodist Church.
played the piano at the Bethlehem Center, taught
Woodlands, Texas, died Dec. 30, 2017. She was
Sunday school at Galloway United Methodist
a loving wife and mother and a devoted grand-
Byron Thomas Hetrick , Class of 1953, of Jack-
Church, and was president of the Susannahs, an
mother.
son, died March 25, 2018. He funded his education
organization for spouses of clergy in the Missis-
at Millsaps with a paper route he threw from his
sippi Methodist Church.
bicycle. He joined the Army in 1953 and served in
Tom Louis III, B.S. 1954, of Jackson, died Jan. 13, 2018. He graduated from medical school at Tulane
Japan. He graduated from Jackson School of Law
Ruth Lowery Tohill, Class of 1953, of Jackson,
University and began a residency in New Orleans
and worked as a real estate closing attorney, retir-
died Oct. 30, 2017. She taught Sunday school
at Charity Hospital, serving as chief resident. He
ing in 2000.
and served on the board at Lovers Lane United
finished his residency in 1961 and moved to Biloxi
Methodist Church. She was a past president of
to Keesler Air Force base, where he was a physician
Shirley Shipp Holston, Class of 1953, of Ennis,
Assistance League of Dallas and a former presi-
and earned the rank of captain. He served as the
Texas, died Oct. 2, 2017. She and her husband, the
dent of Chapter DX, PEO. She was a volunteer at
president of the Mississippi/Louisiana Ophthal-
Rev. Wilton S. Holston, served Methodist churches
Children’s Medical Center, a docent at Old City
mology and Otolaryngology Association, and was
in Mississippi and Georgia. She was active in
Park, Kappa Delta advisor at Southern Method-
a member of the Mississippi Medical Associa-
Sunday school, United Methodist Women, senior
ist University, PTA board member and president,
tion, the American Academy of Ophthalmology
citizens groups, and Explorer’s Bible Studies.
past president of the Financial Executive Institute
and Otolaryngology, the American Academy of
Wives Club, and a member of the Antiquers’ Club.
Otolaryngic Allergy, and the American Council of
Dorothy “Dot” Lee, Class of 1953, of Jack-
Otolaryngology. In 1975, he was inducted as a fel-
son, died Aug. 29, 2017. She taught kindergarten
low of the American College of Surgeons.
Millsaps Magazine
Spring-Summer 2018
43
{IN MEMORIAM}
Gene A. Wilkinson, Class of 1954, of Madison,
Stewart Gammill III, B.S. 1957, of Hattiesburg
Linda Sue Anderson Basil, Class of 1960, of
died Feb. 13, 2018. He was chief executive officer
died Oct. 5, 2017. He received a master’s degree in
New Albany, died April 2, 2018. She retired as an
of the law firm of Stennett, Wilkinson & Peden,
mathematics from the University of Mississippi.
administrative secretary from R. J. Reynolds To-
where he managed the firm’s business activities
He served in the Mississippi Air National Guard.
bacco Co. in Beaumont, Texas, in 1993, and from B
in addition to practicing law. His law practice was
He was a former member and past president of
& B Concrete Co. in New Albany in 2005. She was
concentrated in the fields of corporate, administra-
Hattiesburg Rotary Club, senior warden of Trinity
an avid reader and duplicate bridge player, where
tive, and insurance regulatory law, and he often
Episcopal Church, past president of Pine Burr
she earned the rank of Silver Life Master.
provided counsel to business executives and state
Area Council Boy Scouts of America, and a found-
and local government officials.
ing member of the L.Q.C. Lamar Society.
W. Gardner Brock , B.S. 1960, of Knoxville,
School of Law (now the Mississippi College School
James Don “Jim” Gordon, B.S. 1957, of Madi-
lasted more than 50 years until his retirement in
of Law) and was admitted to the Mississippi Bar
son, died Oct. 3, 2017. He attended Tulane Medical
in 1958. He served as public relations director of
School in New Orleans, returning to Jackson to
the Mississippi Bar, editor of Mississippi Lawyer,
serve an internship at University Hospital. He
and executive legal assistant to the governor of
completed a residency in otolaryngology, special-
Mississippi. He served five terms as president of
izing in head and neck surgery, at New Orleans’
the Jackson Council on Alcoholism and 12 years as
Charity Hospital. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy,
chair of the Governor’s Prayer Breakfast. He also
serving as a lieutenant commander in the U.S.
was a director of the Mississippi Children’s Home
Medical Corp., and was stationed at Beaufort
Society, United Way, CONTACT, and several other
Naval Hospital in Beaufort, S.C. Gordon began his
civic organizations. He was state manager for
private practice in otolaryngology/head and neck
the 1966 reelection campaign of U.S. Senator Jim
surgery in 1968 in Jackson, where he practiced
Eastland. From 1962 until 1987, he served as chair
until his retirement in 2015. He coached his son in
of the Jackson Civil Service Commission. Wilkin-
baseball, served as president of the Jackson Prep
son served as chairman of the Mississippi Employ-
Booster Club, and was a member of Christ United
ment Security Commission from 1974 until 1978
Methodist Church.
He earned a law degree from the Jackson
and 1986 until1990.
Frances Marie Bryan Conerly, Class of 1958, Anne Chatham Purvis, B.A. 1955, of Hernando,
of Terry, died Sept. 5, 2017. She met her husband,
died Feb. 11, 2018. She was a member of Hernando
Dr. A. Wallace Conerly, B.S. 1957 and Honorary
United Methodist Church, where she taught
Degree 2004, who became vice chancellor emeritus
Sunday school for 60 years. She enjoyed going on
for health affairs at the University of Mississippi
mission trips.
Medical Center and dean emeritus of the School of Medicine, at Millsaps.
Mary Price Segota , B.A. 1955, of Acton, Mass., died Oct. 7, 2017. She was employed by the Con-
Alice Ferguson Lohman, Class of 1958, of Cov-
silium Company in their Littleton, Mass., office for
ington, La., died March 8, 2016. She was an accom-
many years. She volunteered at the Acton Public
plished artist and loved to play the piano. She was
Library and enjoyed sewing and arts and crafts.
active at Christ Episcopal Church in Covington and was a hospice volunteer.
Dorothy Louise Wiseman Gee, of Cabot, Ark., Class of 1955, died Feb. 24, 2018. She was a former
Edwin Payne McKaskel, Class of 1959, of
member of Arkansas Appaloosa Horse Club and
Wildwood, Mo., died March 1, 2018. He graduated
the recipient of a lifetime achievement award. She
from the University of Mississippi Law School. He
was a teacher and a Methodist.
became a special agent for the FBI, then general manager of asset protection for AT&T, retiring
Dr. John Michael Awad , B.S. 1956, of Tallahas-
after 35 years. He was a member of the Society of
see, Fla., died Aug. 31, 2017. He earned a master’s
Former FBI Agents, the Missouri Peace Officers
degree in social work from Tulane University and a
Association, and the Metropolitan Chiefs and
doctorate from Florida State University. He worked
Sheriffs Association.
as the District 2 administrator for the Florida Department of Children and Families for more
Bailey Moncrief, B.A. 1959, of Clinton, died
than 24 years. He was an advocate for children and
Dec. 30, 2017, He worked in the field of education
families, an avid fisherman, hunter, football fan,
for about 20 years, at which time he became a
and family man.
manager at Time Warner Cable (now Comcast) for another 20 years before retiring.
44
www.millsaps.edu
Tenn., died Oct. 3, 2017. His career in insurance 2010. He was a certified CPCU agent for J.E. Lutz & Co. in downtown Knoxville, where he eventually became the owner and president in 1994. He was a member of Central Baptist Church in Bearden for more than 50 years where he was a Deacon for Life. He was an avid runner.
Annie Leon Modolo, B.A.1960, of Iron Mountain, Mich., died Sept. 20, 2017. She taught in numerous school districts as she and her husband moved with his career in the U.S. Air Force. They owned and operated the Heavenly Ham Store in Ocean Springs for several years.
Sue Helen Ott , B.A.1960, of Lexington, Ky., died Jan. 17, 2018. She taught English on the Gulf Coast for several years after graduation from Millsaps.
Rita Ann Mitchell Williamson, B.A.1960, of Rome, Ga., died Sept. 11, 2017. She taught Spanish classes while living in Mississippi, Virginia, and Florida. Upon her family’s move to the Atlanta area in the mid-1970s, she became a full-time homemaker.
Gene Travis Turnipseed, B.S.1961, of Pensacola, Fla., died Feb. 28, 2018. He worked at the Naval Aerospace Medical Research Lab at Pensacola NAS until his retirement in 1995. He belonged to Cokesbury United Methodist Church for nearly 50 years, where he served his church faithfully in many capacities. He volunteered with many ministries including United Ministries, Manna Food Bank, Meals on Wheels, the YMCA, Prison Ministry, Sacred Heart Hospital, and the Bream Fisherman Association. He had a passion for running and logged many miles on daily runs, local races, and numerous marathons and triathlons. As a member and past president of Pensacola Runners Association and Pensacola Sports Association, he played an integral part in organizing and directing countless races, including the inaugural Blue Angel Marathon and the Pensacola Double Bridge Run. In recognition of his service to the Pensacola running community, he was awarded the prestigious Lou Gregory award.
{IN MEMORIAM}
Hal Templeton “Tem” Fowlkes Jr., B.A.
He enjoyed mathematics, reading, and cryptic
a great wave struck him while he was surfing in
1963, of Biloxi, died Jan. 26, 2018. He acquired his
crosswords.
Honolulu, Hawaii. He earned a master’s degree in university administration from Columbia Uni-
law degree from Duke University in 1966. From there, he moved to New York City to practice labor
Jean Carolyn Latham Kirby, Class of 1968, of
versity. He was director of development for the
and maritime law at Friedman and Borosky. He
Pearl, died March 3, 2018. She was happily married
Harrow Development Trust for the Harrow School.
returned to the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the early
for 52 years and the mother of three children. She
He had worked as director of advancement for
1970s where he continued to practice law and de-
enjoyed cooking, gardening, and spending time
the American School in London, vice president
veloped a passion for spotting property worthy of
with her grandchildren.
for institutional advancement at the Episcopal Divinity School in Boston, a leadership gifts officer
investment. He reinvented and built a number of residential neighborhoods, apartment complexes,
Albert Myer “Buddy” Lovett , B.A. 1969, of
for the Museum of Arts in Boston, vice president
and business strips in south Mississippi.
Morton, died Feb. 19, 2018. He owned and oper-
for international development at the New World
ated Morton Furniture Mart for 41 years and
Symphony, director of development and public
Dr. Nath Thompson “Tom” Camp, B.A. 1964,
served as music director at his home church, Mor-
relations at the American School of Paris, develop-
of Quinton, Ala., died Jan. 21, 2018. He received
ton United Methodist Church for 35 years. He was
ment associate for the New York Philharmonic,
his master’s in biology from the University of
a member of the Morton Chamber of Commerce
and account executive at John O’Donnell Co.
South Carolina in 1966 and his M.D. from the
and served as its president several times and also
South Carolina College of Medicine in Charleston,
belonged to the Morton Lions Club, the Morton
Kinard Dale Hensarling Jr., Class of 1976, of
S.C., in 1970. He studied psychiatry at Vanderbilt
Booster Club, and the Scott Regional Hospital
Terry, died Jan. 26, 2018. He received his master of
University. He directed emergency medical care at
Board.
theology degree from Perkins School of Theology and worked on his doctor of ministry at St. Paul
Baptist Hospital in Jackson. He served the people of Walker County for more than 30 years, provid-
David James Walker, B.S. 1970, of Raymond,
School of Theology. He was an ordained elder in
ing family practice medicine, delivering babies,
died Oct. 4, 2017. He also earned degrees from
full connection in The United Methodist Church
and managing addiction treatment and care. He
Delta State University and Mississippi State
and served churches in Texas, Mississippi, and
began going to Honduras leading medical teams
University. He was a longtime educator and
Louisiana. He was a member of the Louisiana
more than 20 years ago, providing free medical
administrator in the Jackson public schools, and
Conference of The United Methodist Church.
care to thousands of people living on the Carib-
then an instructor and chair of the Mathematics
During the course of his ministry, he held various
bean coast of Honduras. He was the founder and
Department at Hinds Community College. He was
leadership roles in the Texas, Mississippi, and
leader of the Alabama Honduras Medical and
selected multiple times as Star Teacher and Coach
Louisiana United Methodist Conferences. He
Educational Network. He was a founding leader of
of the Year. He was a member of the Jackson Pub-
was a crusader for social justice and a passionate
River of Living Water United Methodist Church.
lic School Board and Alta Woods United Method-
advocate for the marginalized, working for racial
ist Church.
reconciliation in the Mississippi Delta, campaign-
Mary Margaret “Peggy” Jones, B.S. 1964, of
ing against the legalization of gambling and casi-
The Woodlands, Texas, died Nov. 17, 2017. She
Elisabeth Wells-Parker, B.A. 1971, of West
nos in Louisiana, and much more. He was a Paul
had a career as a math teacher and as a computer
Point, died Dec. 18, 2017. She earned her doctorate
Harris Fellow, a past president of the Chamber of
project manager with several aerospace compa-
in psychology at Duke University. For more than
Commerce in Opelousas, La., and a past member
nies, eventually retiring from IBM where she spent
20 years, she was a professor and distinguished
of the Board of Directors of the Washington State
most of her career. She loved art, reading, flower
research scientist at Mississippi State University,
Bank in Washington, La.
arranging, and golf.
where she was associate director of the Social Science Research Center at the time of her retire-
Mickey Paul Wallace, B.A.1976, of Madison,
Mary Holt Kepner, Class of 1964, of Canton,
ment. She gained international recognition for her
died Jan. 28, 2018. He graduated from the Uni-
died Sept. 7, 2017. She graduated from North Cen-
groundbreaking research related to alcohol, drugs,
versity of Mississippi Medical School in Jackson,
tral College with a degree in English and received
and highway safety. She served on the Alcohol,
where he received the award for otolaryngology.
her teaching certification at Millsaps. She later
Drugs, and Transportation Committee of the
He completed a residency in otolaryngology and
earned a master’s degree in elementary education
National Transportation Research Board and the
head and neck surgery at the Medical University
from Roosevelt University along with numerous
Executive Council of the International Council on
of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina.
teaching certifications. She taught school, was
Alcohol, Drugs, and Traffic Safety. She served on
In 1983, Dr. Wallace became board certified with
a charter member of the Allison’s Wells Quilters
review panels for the National Institute on Alcohol
the American Academy of Otolaryngology, Head
Guild, and belonged to numerous clubs. She
Abuse and Alcoholism, the National Institutes of
and Neck Surgery. He went into private practice in
played piano for the First Presbyterian Church
Health, the Department of Defense, the Medical
Jackson at Hinds General Hospital. In following
Kindergarten for 15 years until just short of her
Research Board of Canada, and the PEW Founda-
years, he joined the Ear, Nose, and Throat Surgical
90th birthday.
tion, as well as a consultant for Yale University’s
Group where he spent most of his years of practice.
School of Medicine.
Wallace recently opened Wallace Medical Arts
Stephen L. Waldron, B.S. 1967, of Blooming-
ENT and Facial Plastics in Madison.
ton, Ill., died Oct. 9, 2017. He was a member of
William J. Vaughan, B.A. 1973, of London,
St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Bloomington.
died Aug. 8, 2017. He died from an aneurism after
Millsaps Magazine
Spring-Summer 2018
45
{IN MEMORIAM}
Russ Cunningham, B.S. 1980, of Pearl, died
David W. Mercer, B.S. 1992, of Bettendorf,
Westminster was also the venue, in 1946, for
Jan.14, 2018. He enjoyed camping, hiking, pho-
Iowa, died Dec. 6, 2017. He graduated from the
Winston Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech, which
tography, and kayaking. He loved his family and
University of Mississippi School of Medicine. He
warned the United States about Soviet attempts to
friends and cared deeply for his colleagues and
was a leading medical oncologist in Davenport
create a communist sphere in Eastern Europe.
clients at the VA.
and a nationally sought after speaker. He served
The college built a museum and memorial to
as president of Iowa Cancer Specialists, director of
Churchill on campus in 1969. When Cold War
Carol Lynette Little, B.A. 1982, of Harrisville,
oncology at Genesis Medical Center, president of
tensions increased in the 1980s, Saunders drew
died Dec. 12, 2017. She earned a master of divin-
the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Bank Board,
on the connection with Churchill and prominent
ity degree from Garrett-Evangelical Theological
and was a past president of the Scott County Medi-
world leaders such as Presidents Ford, Reagan and
Seminary in 1986. She spent more than 30 years at
cal Society. He loved good food and wine, music,
George H.W. Bush, British Prime Minister Edward
many United Methodist churches, including those
Euchre, soccer, theater, boats, bicycles, books,
Heath, Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger,
in Meridian, Union, Philadelphia, Corinth, Lula,
movies, skiing, snowboarding, fast cars, and mo-
and CIA Director William Casey, spoke there. For-
Friars Point, Coahoma, Bovina, Edwards, Benton,
torcycles.
mer Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev proclaimed the end of the Cold War, drawing thousands of
Midway, Petal, Florence, Pelahatchie, Ocean Springs, and Rexford. At all but three of those
Lon Frederick “Rick” Alexander II, Class of
visitors to the campus and national attention to
churches, she was the first clergywoman appointed
2010, of Jackson, died Oct. 11, 2017. He enjoyed
the college.
to serve as pastor. She met resistance by standing
reading and playing videogames.
firmly in her size seven shoes and standing at her full height of 4’ 11.5” with a fierce determination to
Sarah Beck , Class of 2011, of Jackson, died
show God’s love to her neighbors, no matter what.
Feb.15, 2018. She loved singing and performing and was the featured vocalist at St. Philip’s Episco-
Patricia Ann Lamkin, Class of 1985, of Hat-
pal Church in Jackson.
tiesburg, died March 23, 2018. She was an actress who wrote and acted in many plays. She earned a
Brent Jerrell, B.S. 2012, of Pace, Fla., died Nov.
master of fine arts degree from the University of
9, 2017. He earned an MBA from Florida Gulf
Southern Mississippi.
Coast University. He was an avid Florida State fan.
history and computer science at Trinity Episcopal Day School in Natchez. He attended First United Methodist Church in Alexandria and was a member of St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church. He was involved in many local drama productions in which his children participated, volunteering his time to paint sets and work backstage.
Sidney Lamar “Pepper” Smith III, B.A. 1987, of Ellicott City, Md., died Dec. 28, 2017. He earned a degree in journalism from the University of Mississippi. He traveled the southeast covering gospel music as co-editor of The Center for the Study of Southern Culture’s Rejoice! magazine and traveled farther doing missionary work in Honduras and China, soaking up culture and working odd jobs in Paris and Brussels, and serving in the Peace Corps in Szechuan, China. He worked as an artist communities specialist at the National Endowment for the Arts.
David Charles Ates, B.A. 1988, of Atlanta, died Oct. 10, 2017. He graduated from Emory University with a degree in law and practiced in Atlanta for 27 years, concentrating on civil rights and employment law. He stayed in touch with his classmates and friends from the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
46
www.millsaps.edu
Jan Garner Allison, a 17-year library staff member, of Ridgeland, died Nov. 30, 2017. She worked at Millsaps from 1994-2011. She worked in Interlibrary Loan, Reserves, and Government Documents.
Billy Joe Stack , part-time softball coach at
Jon Garraway Nance, B.A. 1985, of Alexandria, La., died Sept. 30, 2017. He taught high school
Staff
Faculty
Millsaps from September 1999 to May 2000, of Clinton, died March 11, 2018. After graduating from Mississippi State University with a bachelor
Herman L. McKenzie, B.A. 1950, of Madison,
in education with a minor in mathematics, master
died Nov. 21, 2017. He taught math in several Mis-
in education in counseling, and a specialist in edu-
sissippi towns and in 1963, joined the mathematics
cation in school administration, he became a dedi-
department at Millsaps, a position he held until
cated and loyal educator throughout Mississippi.
retirement in 1992. He served as announcer for the
A large portion of his school administration was
Millsaps football team and later for the Madison
spent as the director of the Clinton High School
Central High School football team. He was a
Vocational Center. During his administration
U.S. Air Force veteran, having spent three years
years, he also coached softball for Clinton Parks
at St. John’s, Newfoundland, during the Korean
and Recreation, Hillcrest Christian Academy, and
War, where he was in charge of flight readiness of
Millsaps College.
American planes on their way to Greenland.
David Thomas, a four-year staff member at John Harvey Saunders, dean at Millsaps from
Millsaps, of Jackson, died Nov. 26, 2017. He was
1971-1977, of LaGrange, Ga., died May 25, 2017. He
part of our team that keeps the grounds of the
earned a B.A. in history from Marshall University,
campus.
an M.A. in history from Stetson College and a doctorate in history from the University of Georgia. He
Jack Little Woodward, B.A. 1951, of Jackson,
graduated from Harvard University’s Institute for
former dean of student aid financial planning,
Educational Management.
died Feb. 23, 2018.
He served as president of Westminster College
He completed his divinity studies at South-
in Fulton, Mo., for 15 years, during which time
ern Methodist University in Dallas in 1954 and
he instituted co-education and is credited with
returned to Mississippi to receive his first assign-
strengthening the college’s liberal arts curriculum
ment as associate pastor of First United Methodist
as well as substantially increasing its endowment.
Church in Corinth. In 1961, he received his second
{IN MEMORIAM}
Recipient Mundell Lowe, recipient of an honorary degree in 1999, of San Diego, Calif., died Dec. 2, 2017. Born in the Mississippi farming town of Shady Grove, he was a guitar master whose many musical partners included Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Charlie Parker, Benny Goodman, and the Everly Brothers. Lowe’s film and TV music credits included “Hawaii Five-O,” “Starsky and Hutch,” “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask)” and “Billy Jack.” His recording credits ranged from such jazz greats as Charles Mingus, Buddy Rich, and Carmen McRae, with whom he made seven albums, to R&B vocal dynamo Ruth Brown, Barry Manilow, and Johnny Ray, whose 1951 hit, “Cry,” featured Lowe.
These submissions for In Memoriam reflect those received between September 1, 2017 and April 15, JACK LITTLE WOODWARD, B.A. 1951
2018. For more information, contact Nell Luter Floyd at 601-974-1089 or floydnl@millsaps.edu.
and only other assignment as director of religious life at Millsaps. He also became director of financial aid for the College. This position grew into a full-time ministry and Woodward became dean of student aid financial planning. During his time in financial aid at Millsaps, he encountered many families who wanted a Millsaps education for their child and may not have had the means to send them there. He always said: “We will find a way.” And he did. Because of this, Jack envisioned an organization that would help families navigate the paths of college financial aid and provide assistance in charting a post-secondary course for their children. From this vision, he joined with the late Herman Hines in 1979 to create this entity, which in 2017 was renamed for its two founders as the Woodward Hines Education Foundation. He retired from Millsaps in 1999 but remained active at the College and in the foundation. He also continued in service by teaching the Ben Fatheree Sunday School Class at Galloway United Methodist Church.
Honorary Degree Millsaps Magazine
Spring-Summer 2018
47
{IN MEMORIAM}
48
www.millsaps.edu
{IN MEMORIAM}
MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR OUR STUDENTS.
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Spring-Summer 2018
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