FROM THE PRESIDENT “You have been an intellectual oasis in Mississippi for a long time and have provided an inspiration to many of us. We are indebted to you: the students, faculty, and alumni of Millsaps College.” – Former Mississippi Gov. William Winter at November 30, 2012 event “Celebrating Education Reform: Thirty Years Later”
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Rob and Phoebe Pearigen with a Midtown youngster at this year’s annual Midtown Millsaps Block Party.
overnor Winter is right. Millsaps has been, and continues to be, an intellectual oasis. We are pleased to be a place where the academic culture is defined by rigorous and open-minded inquiry and where ethical reflection informs intellectual and professional pursuits. Being an oasis does not mean, however, that we seek to separate ourselves from the world beyond our gates. Those of you close to the College know that Millsaps takes community engagement seriously. Our new strategic plan, Across the Street and Around the Globe: Partnerships and Influence at Millsaps College, builds on our location in the heart of Mississippi’s capital city and the College’s historical focus on freedom of thought, social justice, and reflection on life’s most important questions. As you will see in this issue of the Millsaps Magazine, our legacy challenges us not only to send our students into the community to learn, to engage, and to serve but also to develop opportunities here on campus—to be a modern-day public square— where students, local citizens, community leaders, and others can
reflect collectively. Governor Winter also rightly noted that Millsaps’ reputation is not the product of a single person or group, but is the result of countless students, faculty, alumni—and, I’d like to add, staff, trustees, and other friends of the college. In this issue, you will read about members of the Millsaps community who have pursued excellence in their personal and professional lives and who embody the sort of engaged citizenship that Millsaps celebrates and seeks to cultivate in her students. In addition to stories of community engagement and partnerships in Jackson, these are a few of the other items included in this edition of the Magazine: • A rising senior who will be studying sub-atomic physics in Amsterdam this summer because of a prestigious National Science Foundation fellowship; • A 2013 graduate who is moving to New York City to pursue a master’s degree in voice at Juilliard; • Recent graduates who have decided to become physicians in under-served rural areas of Mississippi; • Alumni attorneys who have recently received the Mississippi Bar’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest honor given by the Bar; • Faculty who have organized workshops sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities that commemorate the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Medgar Evers; • Spring sports successes, including our baseball team that was one of eight teams in the nation to play in the College World Series. Reading this magazine will, I hope, remind you not only what Millsaps has meant to you and our community but also reveal something of what Millsaps’ mission is moving forward.