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State Snapshot
STADIUM TOUR: Renowned stadium architect Janet Marie Smith, a 1981 MSU graduate who is executive Vice President for planning and development for the Los Angeles Dodgers, tours Mississippi State’s Polk-DeMent Stadium with fellow alumni Michael Boerner (left) and Jamie Wier (right). Boerner, who earned a bachelor’s in architecture in 2002, and Wier, who earned his in 2003, co-founded the Jacksonbased firm Wier Boerner Allin which led the design for the stadium’s most recent renovation. Photo by Megan Bean
WHEN BULLDOGS HEAL
MSU DELIVERS HEALTH CARE TO RURAL COMMUNITIES - PART 1
By Vanessa Beeson, Photos by Beth Wynn & Submitted
Rural America accounts for 97% of the U.S. land area but only 20% of the population. In Mississippi, however, that number jumps to more than half of the residents, making it the fourth most rural state in the country. While those wide-open spaces make for a bucolic setting, they make access to health care a challenge.
While the risks of chronic disease and injury-related death are higher in rural communities, physicians are fewer. Youth suicide is twice as likely and mental health access is lacking. Compounding the issue, per capita income is less and fewer people have health insurance.
MSU alumni, faculty, staff and students are committed to assisting rural Americans in overcoming these statistics in a quest for better health access and outcomes. Beginning with a look at alumni practicing rural medicine, this two-part series focuses on what MSU Bulldogs are doing to combat these issues and improve access to quality care in rural Mississippi and across the South.
Leland native Ronsheka Palmer knew at a young age that she’d dedicate her life to health care.
“As fifth grade student of the week, I said I wanted to be a doctor,” she recalled. “Later, when I realized the shortage of rural health care providers and saw people in my own community who received minimal care, I had to act.”
Her mother, a licensed social worker, encouraged her to follow her dreams.
“My mom helped countless people in her career, instilling in me the capacity to help others,” Palmer said.
The MSU food science, nutrition and health promotion alumna is now chief operating officer and deputy medical director for Delta Health Center at its flagship Mound Bayou campus.
Palmer oversees day-to-day operations for the organization’s 19 centers across six counties and directs patient services, quality and compliance, policies, procedures and more.
“I help patients behind the scenes by creating policies that enhance care,” she said. “Combining clinical and administrative perspectives is advantageous. I care for patients and ensure our providers have the tools to provide great care as well.”
In 1965, DHC became the nation’s first federally qualified rural health center. It serves as a model for a system that now includes nearly 1,400 urban and rural health centers with more than 13,500 delivery sites across the country, providing care to one in 11 people across the U.S.
Founded by former slaves in 1887, Mound Bayou flourished early in the 20th century as a cultural and economic center for Black Americans, functioning as a safe haven during the Jim Crow era. DHC, which sought to improve the social determinants—or socioeconomic factors—that impact health, such as poverty, access to food and clean water, racial and class disparity and more, found a place in the town.
“Mound Bayou has a rich background,” Palmer explained. “Our organization’s founders realized the need for primary care here. The rationale was to help combat the many socioeconomic health disparities that have long been a fact of life in the Delta.”
“We’ve helped generations of families build and maintain healthy lives,” she continued. “Our mission is to provide comprehensive, high quality primary health care in a successful, culturally sensitive manner regardless of patients’ ability to pay.”
Recent initiatives Delta Health Center implemented include opening a wellness center on the Mound Bayou campus and a residency program.
“We’re focused on preventative care. At our wellness center, patients receive an interventional plan based on their individual needs,” Palmer said.
“In the residency program, providers work in our clinic as part of their education and hopefully when they complete the program, they’ll remain in the Delta.”
Palmer said increased access to health care services and strengthening care coordination are imperative in rural communities.
“I develop trust with patients, helping them navigate access to care many of them cannot afford,” she said. “I’m always promoting access because it helps improve health outcomes and quality of life in rural communities.”
While Palmer seeks to increase health care literacy, she also works to reduce patient visits to the emergency room.
“Our providers educate patients on potential risks associated with chronic conditions, in addition to dietary and behavioral issues,” she said. “Many patients in the Delta frequent the emergency rooms. Often, that’s due to chronic uncontrolled conditions that may be a result of inability to afford medication. We offer programs to help these patients, which results in decreased ER visits, hospitalizations and decreased mortality.”
Palmer’s early interest in health care led her to Mississippi State. After MSU, she earned a
A FACT OF LIFE IN THE DELTA.” ~ RONSHEKA PALMER
Master of Science in Nursing, an MBA with a healthcare administration focus, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice.
“MSU prepared me for a productive future, equipping me with practical skills and knowledge needed in a health care setting. Those skills and that knowledge, combined with a strong work ethic and commitment to community, were imperative to my success,” she said.
Along the way, Palmer has been steadfast in her commitment to serve the community where she grew up.
“I love that I’m directly serving on the front lines seeing patients but also developing initiatives in the background to make sure they receive quality care,” she said.
Palmer said it has always been essential to her to practice at home.
“You need heart to serve in the Mississippi Delta, and you must be here for the right reasons,” she said. “I returned to the Delta because of the need here, which is why I went into health care in the first place.”
ANGELITA DUGAS
Angelita Dugas began a new job two weeks before the world changed.
On March 1, 2020, she became the infection preventionist for CHRISTUS Ochsner SWLA, which includes both CHRISTUS Ochsner St. Patrick and CHRISTUS Ochsner Lake Area Hospital in
Lake Charles, Louisiana. Immediately, she began navigating the facilities through the unchartered waters of a global pandemic.
“It was chilling for me starting out in infection control right before COVID hit,” she said. “I’d been a director and nursing administrator, so this was an exciting change for me, but I had no idea a pandemic was coming.”
After two weeks of orientation, it was evident the pandemic would reach Louisiana, and Dugas’ entire focus shifted to the virus.
“We were able to implement changes quickly with support from our larger system directing new policies and guidelines, but people would turn to me for guidance as far as how to customize those changes for our facility,” she recalled.
The 1999 MSU human sciences alumna solved space issues, planned for surges, obtained additional personal protective equipment and planned for diagnostic and treatment changes in an ever-changing landscape.
“I volunteered as part of the team who initiated administering monoclonal antibody infusions to COVID patients, which was rewarding," she said. "I heard patient stories and communicated with families.”
Dugas said she’d sometimes wonder what her job would have been like under normal circumstances.
“It was definitely a whirlwind jumping into that position at that time,” she said. “People asked me if I was going to stay, and I was like, ‘Of course.’ Despite the many challenges, we excelled with a great team, which helps tremendously.”
Six months later, as the team grappled with a difficult COVID surge, another force of nature bore down as Category 4 Hurricane Laura struck the town on Aug. 27.
The strongest storm to hit Louisiana in nearly 165 years caused more than $19 billion in damage and 81 deaths. The hospital, which sustained significant damage, was forced to
temporarily close. Less than two months later, Hurricane Delta made landfall following the same path. It flooded the storm-weary region and stymied efforts to rebuild.
“With Laura, the hospital experienced significant damage, and we all had damage to our homes,” she said. “It was a struggle, but we supported each other because many people completely lost their homes, which made COVID-19 even more difficult.”
The hospital reopened quickly after the first storm and evacuated for a day
“WHEN EVERYONE IS IMPACTED, PEOPLE HELP EACH OTHER, AND YOU HAVE A HUGE SENSE OF COMMUNITY AND PRIDE. . . WE PERSEVERE BECAUSE OUR COMMUNITY NEEDS HEALTH CARE SERVICES. JUST BECAUSE A HURRICANE OR FLOOD HITS DOESN’T
during Delta, as staff continued caring for the community.
“Our doctors, nurses and staff continued to work every day, most of the time heading home with no water or electricity or living in a temporary place,” she recalled.
Dugas emphasized that the disasters drew an already close-knit community closer.
“I cannot describe the challenges we’ve faced,” she said. “During the devastation, however, I witnessed community strength. Many organizations demonstrated an outpouring of generosity.”
While Lake Charles has about 75,000 residents, Dugas’ health care system serves five parishes, most of them rural with little access to localized health care. The hurricanes exacerbated a lack of housing in the area and led to the displacement of between 3,000 and 5,000 residents who have yet to return. Places like Cameron Parish, south of Lake Charles, experienced a nearly 20% population decline in the last decade alone.
Dugas noted that living in a storm-prone area fosters a sense of fervent self-sufficiency.
“We are a life line. We can’t cut off elective surgeries. We’ve tried to continue on as much as we can despite the challenges that may come our way,” she explained.
Dugas said the silver lining between the pandemic and natural disasters is the steadfast sense of community that has emerged.
“When everyone is impacted, people help each other, and you have a huge sense of community and pride,” she said. “The people who stayed feel like we’re working together and staying strong. We persevere because our community needs health care services. Just because a hurricane or flood hits doesn’t mean people don’t need health care.”
Within the whirlwind of the past year and a half, Dugas has learned to stay calm and strong like a hurricane’s eye. She thrived in her position, having been promoted to director of quality over two CHRISTUS hospitals, Ochsner Lake Area Hospital where she started and Ochsner St. Patrick Hospital, overseeing quality directives of approximately 1,200 health care professionals.
She said COVID has brought the health care team closer together.
“What the hurricanes demonstrated of our community, COVID demonstrated for our hospitals,” she explained. “It creates a stronger bond. We think, ‘Wow, we made it through that,’ and it sets your roots a little deeper. It’s rewarding to look back and see how well we’ve managed, and it makes me appreciate the people I work with.”
“You have to love what you do,” she continued. “We may get discouraged when our ICU is full and the community is still struggling to rebuild, but every day, we are here for each other and the community. It’s a blessing to be able to serve your community, and in health care, it truly is a service.”
LIVING THROUGH HISTORY.” ~ ANNA WRIGHT
ANNA WRIGHT
While Dr. Anna Wright recently accepted a position in Kernersville, North Carolina, on the outskirts of Winston-Salem, she spent the past several years in rural health. Most recently, she served as an emergency room physician at Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital in Elkin, North Carolina–a town of 4,000 people in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
She understands that life as an emergency room physician is a marathon, not a sprint, aptly true in the age of COVID-19.
“The rural impact of COVID-19 has been a challenge. In August 2021, we were hit even harder than previous surges. We have less resources and our populations are statistically less likely to be vaccinated, so that makes it difficult,” Wright said. “The entire experience has been unprecedented for everybody in health care. Our hospital responded well and teamed together to make it through, but it is like living through history.”
The 2002 MSU biochemistry alumna said triathlon training helps her in the ER.
“Being active and strong fuels the energy and endurance I need during my shifts,” Wright explained. “The commitment and focus I gained through marathon training helped me throughout medical school and as a physician.”
In 2019, Wright completed a Half Ironman, which included a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride and 13.1-mile run. That same year, she began working to improve an epidemic sweeping her community.
“We are a peak opioid addiction area, so we started a bridge program in the emergency department and simultaneously launched a peer support program,” Wright said.
If someone presents in the ER with symptoms of an opioid addiction, doctors are able to prescribe suboxone, a drug used to treat it, while also referring the patient to a peer support group specialist— someone who has recovered from an opioid addiction.
“That pairing allows a person to receive a prescription that helps with opioid withdrawals while also getting close, personal follow-up,” she explained. “The beauty of a peer support person is they have also struggled with addiction, and this process is a more honest, palatable option for some patients who benefit from connecting with someone who has been through a similar struggle.”
Wright said this partnership is so effective because much of medicine is tied up in the social determinants of health, which include the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age.
“Where someone lives, their educational and socioeconomic status, mental health and more affect their health, so it feels great to have this partnership and offer so much by working with another organization,” she said. “Peer support specialists offer a lot of expertise and are able to direct that person to the right location where they would be best served. It’s so much better than just giving someone a number to call.
“As simple as that sounds, often it’s not, and you can miss the opportunity to make a difference if the barriers are too great,” she added.
Efforts are paying off.
“The program is gaining momentum as we link patients to treatment services while giving them temporary treatment to keep them from overdosing before they have a chance to enter recovery,” she said.
Wright said she enjoys rural medicine but is realistic about its challenges.
“Access to care can be tricky for patients and providers,” she said. “Resources are often dependent on location. Outcomes can be different based on
geography. When someone comes in with a life-threatening condition, distance to a transfer hospital is still a variable even if everything goes well.
“Also, depending on the area, socioeconomic differences play a role,” she continued. “Being face to face with inequity and working to help that in a small way is rewarding but there are also larger issues that can’t be immediately addressed.”
Wright said she felt connected to the area despite its challenges.
“Elkin is close-knit. I was an outsider, but these were neighbors and often for our staff, their family,” she said. “The community has a family atmosphere with the chance you know the patient. Treating all patients like family is not only an ideal but a reality.”
That family atmosphere is something Wright remembers about MSU.
“My MSU experience made me who I am today. My freshman speech class with Dr. Zacharias influences me each time I give a presentation,” she noted. “That personal investment made all the difference in me becoming a confident, competent and caring professional.”
Wright said serving rural patients is a deeply fulfilling aspect of her career.
“For me, it was about trying to deliver the same quality of care patients would get in a larger area, pushing for quality, access and equity,” she said. “I didn’t want to accept a lack of excellence because we are a rural site. I did everything I could to give my patients the same access to high quality care.”
IMPROVING HEALTH OUTCOMES FOR RURAL CITIZENS
Beyond producing alumni who go on to practice rural health care, Mississippi State is home to faculty, staff and students who are addressing the gap in rural and urban medicine head on. Through a variety of programs and services dedicated to assisting rural Americans in a quest for better health access and outcomes, Bulldogs are working to change the health paradigm for rural residents in Mississippi and beyond.
Look for the spring 2022 issue of Alumnus magazine for more on how Mississippi State University is helping people overcome rural health disparities. n
BE YOUR OWN ADVOCATE
Tips for managing personal health care
One of the most important tools for health care providers is having a complete and accurate picture of a patient’s health history. However, medical professionals can only work with the information they are given and, often, it is up to the patient to provide these details.
This is especially true in rural settings where connectivity issues can limit access to digital records and where primary care doctors and specialists might not be working within the same system or even the same state.
“We’ve made a lot of progress with electronic health records, but we still have a long way to go,” said David Buys, an associate professor and state health specialist with the MSU Extension Service. “Patients seeing health care providers in different health systems may get better outcomes if they keep their own records and take them to their appointments.”
Buys recommends keeping a file or notebook with the following information and updating it with each appointment or health change. A separate file should be kept for each person whose health care you help manage including yourself, any children and any older adults.
• Complete health history including:
• family medical history, which is a list of the health conditions of parents, siblings and grandparents; • personal medical history, a complete picture of the patient’s past and current conditions, as well as information on how they are being treated, how well each is controlled, current prescriptions and overthe-counter medications, and a listing of any surgeries, accidents and hospitalizations.
• Summaries and notes from all doctor visits and hospitalizations, as well as all test results.
• Ask for these notes at each visit and file them by date in your records so the most recent information is easily accessible.
• Copies of insurance cards, a living will and medical power of attorney. • Contact information for health care providers, insurance companies, pharmacies and hospitals.
• It can be helpful to also make note of who to speak with at each location, as well as their direct contact information, and to keep a record of who was spoken to and when in case you need to reference past conversations.
Buys says it is also important to ask specialists to share visit notes and records with the patient’s primary health provider and to stay in touch with them. This requires signing a form to allow medical information to be shared but is essential for keeping everyone on the same page and ensuring all physicians can see the whole picture of a patient’s health.
Arop, McBride, Pen Freitas, Peters, Thompson and Bougard are all former Mississippi State track and field athletes. Together, they made up the largest contingent of former Bulldogs to ever compete in a single Olympic Games.
Sure, the six were ambassadors for their home countries. However, it can’t be ignored that they all proudly carried the banner of MSU athletics, as well as three of State’s academic colleges: six Bulldogs toting the torch for themselves, their countries and their school half a world away from their Mississippi home.
“I think it shows that Mississippi State is a place where you can come, and if you work hard, you can achieve your dreams,” said Chris Woods, MSU’s head track and field coach. “Every track and field athlete’s dream is to one day reach the Olympics, and we’ve proven over the last few Olympics that this is a place to help you reach those goals.”
For Woods, it was certainly a point of pride to see so many Bulldogs giving it their all on the world’s stage. Outside of being MSU’s head coach, he is a Mississippi State alumnus himself. He starred on the track for the Bulldogs as a middle-distance athlete from 2005-08, garnering two All-America honors and four AllSoutheastern Conference accolades. Woods was once the school’s indoor 800m record holder before he was passed by a trio of Bulldogs, including Arop and McBride.
What Woods didn’t do though was reach the Olympics, so it was special for him to be in Tokyo to see and follow along with so many Bulldogs.
“There’s a whole new meaning to the word elite in my eyes,” Woods said of his trip to the games. “To see the best of the best in the entire world, it really opens your eyes as to what things you must do both on and off the track in order to be successful at that level. It was a great personal experience for me, but it was an even better experience to watch Erica, Anderson, Marta, Marco, Brandon and Curtis compete. That was extremely special to me because all of
those athletes wore the same jersey that I once wore. I kind of get goosebumps talking about it now.”
Not only did the Mississippi State contingent compete in Tokyo but many also found success to varying degrees.
Bougard had perhaps the strongest showing of any Bulldog. In the first day of the heptathlon, she held the silver medal position before falling off that pace later in the day. On the second day of competition, Bougard struggled in what is traditionally a pair of her stronger events–the long jump and 800m.
Still, Bougard finished among the top 10 in the world. She settled for ninth place, 211 points shy of the podium and 412 points short of Olympic champion Nafissatou Thiam of Belgium.
Two other former MSU athletes advanced to semifinals in their events.
“I think it shows that Mississippi State is a place where you can come, and if you work hard, you can achieve your dreams. Every track and field athlete’s dream is to one day reach the Olympics, and we’ve proven over the last few Olympics that this is a place to help you reach those goals.” ~ CHRIS WOODS
Competing in her second Olympic Games, Pen Freitas emerged from the qualifying round of the 1500m, even if it did take an interesting twist.
She was in ninth place in her heat as she attempted to qualify, however Morocco’s Rababe Arafi pulled up and stopped on the track in front of Pen Freitas, disrupting her stride. She ended up missing a qualifying time by only 1.11 seconds. However, Pen Freitas was reinstated for the semifinals following an appeal by the Portuguese Olympic Committee.
“I feel I was in incredible shape,” Pen Freitas told The Record, a Portuguese-language news outlet in
her home country. “I have done a lot of work to come back here five years later, working with the right people. This generates, and often demands of me, some sacrifices, which are worth it to be able to come here. And (at the Olympics) nothing is deserved; it is conquered! Unfortunately, ... I was not able to conquer what I was capable of. Sport is like that. It costs a little bit, but I’m super proud. I’m lucky to do what I love.”
The appeal gave Pen Freitas renewed hope, but she couldn’t quite advance past the semifinals. She did, however, post a season-best time for herself, crossing the finish line in 4:04.15.
In the 800m, Arop also advanced to the semifinal. It looked as though he might go even farther as he led from the gun until the final 100m in the semifinal round, but he ultimately faded off the final turn and finished seventh in his heat to end his stint in Tokyo.
Still, it was quite an experience for Arop. He got to compete in his first Olympics, and he got to do it with his fellow former Bulldog, fellow Canadian, good friend and role model, McBride.
Arop was still in high school when he got the chance to watch an older McBride run for the first time at an event in Canada. Arop said he had never witnessed anything like it. McBride was already a student-athlete at Mississippi State at the time, and he left quite an impression on the young, up-and-coming Arop.
“Seeing his stride, it was almost like, ‘I can’t believe this is real,’” Arop recalled. “This is what a world-class runner looks like.”
McBride immediately became a huge influence on Arop’s life.
“I’d sort of use him as motivation,” Arop said. “For the longest time, I’d be training at home. If I had a really hard practice session, my teammates would be like, ‘Oh, what do you think Brandon McBride would do?’ Just little things like that to get in my head. It would just motivate me.”
It’s funny how life works out. Arop would eventually follow the trail blazed by McBride. Coach Woods wanted Arop to become a Bulldog, and Arop wanted the same.
“Whatever Brandon did to be successful, it definitely worked, so I didn’t see any reason why I shouldn’t take the same path,” Arop said.
“I’d sort of use him as motivation. For the longest time, I’d be training at home. If I had a really hard practice session, my teammates would be like, ‘Oh, what do you think Brandon McBride would do?’ Just little things like that to get in my head. It would just motivate me.” ~ MARCO AROP
TOP: Team Portugal's Pen Freitas runs in the middle of the pack in round one of the Women's 1500m heats on day 10 of the Toyko 2020 Olympic Games. Photo by Rob Carr–Getty Images.
BOTTOM LEFT: Team Canada's Marco Arop leads the field as he competes in the second heat of the first round of the men's 800m during the 2020 summer Olympics. Photo by James Lang–USA TODAY Sports.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Brandon McBride competes for Canada in the third heat of the first round of the men's 800m on day eight of the Tokyo Olympics. Photo by Christian Petersen–Getty Images.
McBride’s Mississippi State career had already ended by the time Arop arrived in Starkville. The two did eventually begin competing against each other in world events though, building a bond along the way.
Fast-forward to Tokyo where Arop and McBride ran together for Team Canada. McBride didn’t make it out of the qualifying round, but he did get to experience the Olympics
with Arop, the guy he once set an example for.
While Arop and McBride brought MSU flair to the 800m, Peters and Thompson did so in the javelin, a sport in which Mississippi State has developed quite a reputation—so much so that MSU has become known as JavU. Ever since Thompson won an individual national title in 2016, javelin success has kept coming for the Bulldogs. In Tokyo, JavU was on display for the whole world to see.
MSU was the only school in the U.S. that could boast multiple javelin throwers at this year’s Olympic Games. Unfortunately, neither Peters–the reigning world champion–nor Thompson qualified for the final. Still, it was a groundbreaking moment for JavU, as well as Mississippi State’s track and field program as a whole.
Now it bears asking: As good as Tokyo was for MSU, could the future be even better?
“We took six current or former student-athletes to Tokyo, and I really believe those six individuals have another opportunity to make it in 2024,” Woods said. “I think we have kids on our team right now who could represent their countries in the 2024 Olympics. I am certainly expecting
additions to that group. We’ve got to keep people healthy and keep people focused. We certainly have talent on our team so that in 2024, we could have a few more Olympians in Paris.”
But that’s the future. In the moment, MSU can at least briefly celebrate making history in Tokyo. Like a crowd clanging cowbells, this year’s Olympics proved Bulldog track and field athletes are being heard loud and clear around the globe.
“That kind of shows what can come out of the great program we came through,” Thompson said. “You have two jav throwers. You have two 800 runners. You have Marta in distance, then you’ve got Erica in the multi. So it kind of covers all the bases and all the events in track and kind of says, ‘Hey, if you go to Mississippi State, you can get to that level as well.’” n
“We took six current or former student-athletes to Tokyo, and I really believe those six individuals have another opportunity to make it in 2024. I think we have kids on our team right now who could represent their countries in the 2024 Olympics. . . We certainly have talent on our team so that in 2024, we could have a few more Olympians in Paris.” ~ CHRIS WOOD
TOP: Anderson Peters competes for Grenada in the men's javelin throw qualification at Tokyo's Olympic Stadium in August 2021. Photo by David Ramos–Getty Images. BOTTOM: Team USA's Curtis Thompson competes in the men's javelin throw qualification at the Toyko 2020 Olympic games. Photo by David Ramos–Getty Images.
Recognized as the second-oldest on-campus football stadium in NCAA Division I, Davis Wade Stadium, home of Scott Field, takes its name from the late Floyd Davis Wade Sr. of Meridian. Financial gifts from the longtime Bulldog supporter spearheaded the stadium’s 2000 expansion, its first major renovation since the 1980s. Photo by Beth Wynn.
SCOTT’S LEGACY LIVES ON
Bulldog football team plays on field named after school’s first Olympian
Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field.
In the fall, no other place is so loud. No other place is so electric. No other place is so special.
Put simply, there’s just nothing like it. And that’s only fitting, given the ground’s namesake–a man who will forever stand among the greatest athletes in Mississippi State history.
In 1920, students at then-Mississippi A&M thought so much of Don Magruder Scott, they named their new athletic facility after him.
Why would a track and field standout with limited football experience get bestowed such an honor? A quick glimpse at the Scott resume has all the answers.
He was MSU’s first-ever national champion, winning in the half-mile back in 1916. Soon, Scott would take his success to the world’s biggest stage.
He qualified for the 1916 Olympics. Yet, because World War I canceled the games, it’d be four years before Scott would finally compete as an Olympian.
In 1920, Scott officially became Mississippi State’s first-ever Olympian. He’d return to the Olympics once again four years later.
Scott competed in both the 800-meter sprint and the modern pentathlon over the course of his Olympic career. And while he made a name for himself globally, back in Starkville at MSU, it was cemented that Scott’s legacy would live on.
A 1920 column in the school newspaper, The Reflector, asked, “Why not name our new athletic field ‘Scott Field’ in appreciation of Don’s untiring efforts to bring athletic fame to his alma mater?”
That’s precisely what happened. Now at one of the country’s most exciting athletic venues, the name Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field carries with it the legacy of a trailblazer, a champion and Mississippi State’s first-ever Olympian.
There can be only one first. So as six MSU athletes made their mark in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, they did so in a path that was paved by Don Scott. n
