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Foundation News, pages
On May 26, the incoming Foundation Board members met for an orientation on the Wesson Campus, along with the Foundation Board officers and Foundation staff. Pictured from left are new members Lauren Adkins of Magee, Pat Lowery of Wesson, Luke Horton of Brookhaven, Bruce Irvin of Wesson, and Elise Munn of Wesson.
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Lauren Adkins
Lauren Adkins of Magee is a 2008 graduate of Co-Lin where she was president of Phi Beta Lambda, a member of the President’s Council, and was named Business Office Technology Student of the Year. She is also a 2017 graduate of the Mississippi School of Banking. Adkins has worked at PriorityOne Bank in Magee since 2012 where she has served as vice president and loan officer.
Adkins is a member of the American Banker Association where she participates in the Teach Children to Save and Banker in Every Classroom programs, and Leadership Simpson County through the Simpson County Development Foundation. She is also a member of the Magee Chamber of Commerce.
She is married to Eric Adkins.
Luke Horton
Luke Horton of Brookhaven is 2002 graduate of East Central Community College and a 2005 graduate of Mississippi State University where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Communications with an emphasis in Journalism. He previously worked as publisher and editor of The Newton County Appeal and as publisher and president of Brookhaven Newsmedia. Horton currently works at Georgia-Pacific as the public affairs manager in Monticello.
Horton is an active member of First Baptist Brookhaven where he is an RA leader, Sunday School teacher, and worship team member. He is a member and past president of the Brookhaven-Lincoln County Rotary Club.
He and his wife Lauren have five children, Ethan, Beverly, Levi, Adah, and Noel.
Pat Lowery
Pat Lowery of Wesson graduated from Co-Lin in 1987 and from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1989 where he received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting. He later earned a Master of Business Administration from Millsaps College in 2016. Since 1994, he was worked as a certified public accountant at Patrick E. Lowery and Associates, later named Lowery, Payn, and Leggett, CPA’s. Lowery has also previously served as CEO of Hurst Review Services in Brookhaven from 2011 – 2020.
Lowery is a member of the Brookhaven Lions Club, where he is past president and a S. E. Moreton Award winner. He is a former member of the Brookhaven School Board and is a member of the Co-Lin Foundation Hall of Fame.
Lowery and his wife Celeste have two children, Emily and Jack. They are members of First United Methodist Church in Brookhaven, where he has been treasurer or finance chair since 2000.
Bruce Irvin
Bruce Irvin of Wesson graduated from Co-Lin in 1970 with a welding vocational certificate. He also earned certification from Smith Welding Equipment School at Alcorn State University in 1978 and went on to receive his vocational certification from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1980.
Irvin began working as a welding instructor at Co-Lin in 1976 and spent over 30 years teaching until he retired in 2013. Irvin also worked as a welding instructor for International Paper Company, and as a certified welder and later as assistant welding supervisor at Ingalls Ship Building. He also owned Irvin’s Auto Paint and Body from 1977-1986.
Irvin has been a member of the American Welding Society since 1993 and completed the AWS Educational Program in 1998. He was a member of the Vocational Industrial Clubs of America where he also served as an advisor. He was a member of Copiah County Competitive Community Program and Copiah-Lincoln Education Association.
Irvin and his wife Belinda have four children, Erric, Terrell, Brandi, and Krystle, 12 grandchildren, and one great grandchild. He is a member of Homeseeker’s Bible Church in Wesson.
Elise Munn
Elise Munn of Wesson graduated from Co-Lin in 1988 and from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1990. She went on to graduate from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1993. Munn is a partner at Berry & Munn, PA in Hazlehurst. She is an attorney for the Board of Supervisors and has been elected County Prosecuting Attorney since 1996 in Copiah County.
Munn is a member of the Mississippi Bar, Copiah County Bar, and Mississippi Prosecutors’ Association. She is currently serving on the Board of Directors for the Mississippi Association of County Board Attorneys and on the Board of Directors for Southwest Mississippi Child Advocacy Center. Munn is a Bar Commissioner representing the 22nd Circuit Court District to the Mississippi Bar and is a trustee of Wesson Baptist Church.
Munn and her husband Terry have two children, Quentin Tyler and Mary Elizabeth.
Dr. Donald Cotten of Hattiesburg has been elected as president of the board of directors of the Copiah-Lincoln Community College Foundation. He follows Sammye Burris of Brookhaven. Other officers are Bill Salters of Natchez, vice-president; Sarah Johnson of Ruth, secretary; and Charles Hart of Wesson, treasurer. Cotten graduated from Co-Lin in 1966. He received a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in science education with an emphasis in biology from The University of Southern Mississippi, and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from West Virginia University. He currently works as a consultant to universities and the private sector for funding initiatives and business development. Cotten has been a member of the Co-Lin Foundation Board since 2016. Salters graduated from Co-Lin in 1975. He graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1978 and from the University of Georgia’s Executive Management School of Banking in 1985. He later earned a master’s of business administration from Alcorn State University in 2002. He has worked in banking for more than 38 years, and currently works as the chief financial officer for Concordia Bank in Vidalia, Louisiana. Salters has been a member of the Co-Lin Foundation Board since 2001.
Johnson graduated from Co-Lin in 2010 and later graduated from Mississippi State University in 2012 with a degree in apparel, textiles, and merchandising and a minor in general business administration. Johnson currently works at Co-Lin as office manager of the Foundation | Alumni Relations office and has served on the Co-Lin Foundation Board as secretary since 2020.
Hart graduated from Co-Lin in 1970 and received a bachelor’s degree from Delta State University and a master’s degree in accounting from The University of Southern Mississippi. He is an accounting instructor at Co-Lin, manager of the college’s bookstore and is a licensed CPA. Hart has been a member of the Co-Lin Foundation Board since it was founded in 1981.
Thank You, outgoing Board Members!
The Foundation Board expresses its sincerest gratitude to the following members who rotated off the Board in July for their many years of dedication and service to Copiah-Lincoln Community College and the Foundation. Pictured from left are: Johnnie Ruth Carlisle (40 years), Bradley Smith (37 years), Ralph Anderson (18 years), and Larry Greer (17 years). Not pictured: Senator Chris Caughman (16 years), Dr. Chip Holbrook (15 years), and Woody Allen (13 years).
Foundation Hall of Fame
FOUNDATION
Induction ceremonies were held on Thursday, May 20th in the Thames Center on the Wesson Campus to recognize the Foundation Hall of Fame inductees from the classes of 2019 and 2020. Also honored at the event were donors who have reached levels of giving that exceeded $25,000 (Visionaries), $50,000 (Ambassadors), and $100,000 (Benefactors).
2019 Inductees
Dr. Jane Hulon Sims (left) and the 2019 inductees from left: Mary Jane James of McCall Creek, Deborah and Steven Ammann of Mendenhall, Don Underwood of Brookhaven, and the Gene Haas Foundation, represented by Hugh Sims. Not pictured was the Foundation for the Mid South.
2020 Inductees
Dr. Jane Hulon Sims (left) and the 2020 inductees from left: Wesson Presbyterian Church, represented by Camille Johnston, Bill and Martha Salters of Natchez, Phillip and Lacey Wheeler of Meadville, 2nd Chance Mississippi, represented by Catti Beals, and Peoples Bank, represented by Dennis Ammann. Not pictured were George T. Mercier of Wesson and the late G.T. Mercier III of Houston, Texas.
Visionary Ambassador
Benefactor
Donors who have given in excess of $25,000 Donors who have given in excess of $50,000
Donors who have given in excess of $100,000
Ralph Anderson Terence Assink Guy & Loura Barr The Beall Family Mr. & Mrs. T. Waring Bennett, Jr.* Elton Bolin & Rachel Ragus Bobby & Gloria Britt C. Coney Burgess Mr. & Mrs. Jim Causey Drs. Donald & Catherine Cotten Kathy Berry Dugas Dr. & Mrs. Howell Garner Harris Brand Henley* Elizabeth Hadskey High George T. Mercier G. T. Mercier III* Ken & Ruth Patterson* Modena Hodges Peterson* Tommy & Annette* Sasser Dr. Billy B. and Anne* Thames Dr. Steve Wells Hal "Wimpy" Wentworth 2nd Chance Mississippi Aladdin Foods Brookhaven Lion's Club Brookhaven Rotary Club Co-Lin Band & Colette Alumni Chapter Entergy Mississippi, Inc. Foundation for the Mid-South Gene Haas Foundation King's Daughters Medical Center Mississippi Humanities Council Nathan Steele Foundation PriorityOne Bank Wesson Presbyterian Church Bettye Boutwell Dr. Bennie Channell* Thomas & Doris Kelly* The Killingsworth Family Joe F. Middleton Gaye Platt Jimmy* & Tammy Torrey Marvin "Joe" Wallace* Dr. Kenneth Walley Ronald & Sandra Wojcik Copiah Bank Georgia-Pacific Foundation Herring Gas Company, Inc. Silver Cross Home Foundation
Arthur Leon & Edna Jerlene Boyte Jim & Martha Lightsey H. F. McCarty, Jr.* L. Frank Pitts* Mr. & Mrs. Fred Taylor* Boyne Foundation Copiah County Medical Center Georgia-Pacific Monticello Mill Trustmark National Bank
foundation news Horton Family Scholarship Endowed
The F.K. and Lucile Horton Scholarship was recently endowed with the Copiah-Lincoln Community College Foundation by their children Letha Presley (pictured front right), Francis K. Horton, III, (pictured front center), and Alison Fryant (pictured front left). This scholarship was established to benefit a student pursuing an education in Early Childhood Education, with preference given to a single mother.
F.K. Horton was a longtime director of maintenance at the college, a veteran of the Korean War and served in the Navy. Lucile Horton was director of the Early Childhood Development Technology program for many years, and was honored with the Ageless Hero Award from the town of Wesson. The Hortons were members of Sylvarena Baptist Church in Wesson where they both taught Sunday school and F.K. was a deacon for 40 years.
Contributions to the F.K. and Lucile Horton Scholarship, or any other scholarship, can be mailed to the Co-Lin Foundation at P.O. Box 649, Wesson, MS 39191, or made online at https://www.colin. edu/alumni-foundation/give-now/.
Many thanks to members of the Class of 1966 who donated a new bench on the Wesson campus located outside of the Taylor Chapel. Those present for the presentation of the bench were from left: Carolyn Smith, Sherra Smith, Lola Case, and Sue Lea.
The Robert Williams Aspiring Educator Scholarship was recently endowed with the Copiah-Lincoln Community College Foundation by Dr. Robert Williams of Hattiesburg. The scholarship was established to benefit students graduating from Crystal Springs High School who aspire to become educators, with preference given to a specialization in elementary or secondary education.
Williams graduated from Crystal Springs High School in 1995. He received an associate’s degree from Co-Lin in 1997. He continued his education at the University of Southern Mississippi where he received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a doctoral degree in education administration and supervision.
Williams has worked in education for more than 20 years and currently serves as superintendent of schools for the Hattiesburg Public School District, a position he has held since 2016. Prior to his appointment as superintendent, Williams served as principal of N.R. Burger Middle School. Under his leadership, the school transformed from a label of “At Risk of Failing” in 2008 to “High Performing-High Progress” in 2012. In 2012, N.R. Burger received the “Champion of Change” award from the Mississippi Department of Education. Williams has been involved with and participated in numerous steering and selection committees, and he was selected as Hattiesburg Public School District Administrator of the Year (2011-2012 & 2015-2016) by his peers. Additionally, he represented Mississippi Congressional District Four as a finalist for Mississippi Administrator of the Year.
During his tenure as superintendent, Hattiesburg Public Schools have increased access to early learning opportunities and dual enrollment. The district has also transitioned from a period of financial uncertainty to financial stability.
Williams is married to Angela Givens Williams, an assistant United States attorney with the office of the United States Attorney, Southern District of Mississippi. They are the parents of Anna-Grace Williams and Louis Alexander Williams.
Contributions to the Robert Williams Aspiring Educator Scholarship, or any other scholarship, can be mailed to the CoLin Foundation at P.O. Box 649, Wesson, MS 39191, or made online at https://www.colin.edu/alumni-foundation/give-now/.
