LOVE AND LIBRARY LEAD TO NEW SCHOLARSHIP By Gina Logue James E. Walker Library
From the deep recesses of a lasting romance is emerging a lasting legacy that will help MTSU Honors students for a long time. Dale Clifford, pictured left, a Psychology major with minors in Social Welfare and Musical Theatre Performance, is the inaugural recipient of the Hanna Romans Witherspoon Endowed Scholarship. The award was created for undergraduate Honors students, and students working in James E. Walker Library will receive first preference. Nearly 60 years ago, a chance meeting at the MTSU library blossomed into a love that has lasted, and MTSU supporter Don Witherspoon endowed the scholarship with a $25,000 gift in honor of his wife. “Hanna worked here while we were in school, and her birthday was coming up,” Don said. “She has everything she needs, and I thought maybe we could help someone who didn’t. We had talked several times with the Honors College about doing
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something like this, and I thought this would be a nice way to honor her on her birthday.”
I was really involved in the library . . . I thought this scholarship was a great way to give back. “He surprised me!” Hanna interjected. “I was really happy because I had a really close relationship with the people here at the library. I was really involved in the library and worked here all four years, and I thought this scholarship was a great way to give back to the University.” Hanna, a Czech national born in the Philippines, came to the United States at age 6 after her mother married an American soldier from Pikeville, Tennessee. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English in 1964, married Don in August of that year, and had careers first in secondary school education and then with American Airlines.
