jacksonian 7-15-15 for issuu

Engineered to succeEd Engineering Building Wing addition

Groundbreaking for the JSU College of Science, Engineering and Technology Classroom Complex June 18, 2015

The Engineering Building at Jackson State University, designed as a contemporary teaching tool for science and engineering programs, is a remarkable manifestation of applied engineering technologies. In fact, it is the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certified* building in the city of Jackson, Mississippi.

Now,toaccommodatetherapidlygrowingscience,technology,engineeringandmathematics(STEM)fieldsatJSU, a two-story,23,352-square-footwingisbeingadded.Thissignificantadditionisdueinlargeparttothestrongsupport fromGov.PhilBryantaswellasleadershipfromtheMississippiLegislature,includingtheHonorablePhillipGunn, speakeroftheMississippiHouseofRepresentativesanddistinguishedalumni,theHonorableAngelaCockerham andtheHonorableKennethWayneJones,chairoftheMississippiLegislativeBlackCaucus.

Offices, classrooms and student areas for the Department of Computer Science and the Department of Industrial Systems and Technology will be housed in the wing. It also will include 3-D visualization technology, robotics, and small computer laboratories.

The expansion of the Engineering Building aligns with JSU’s commitment as a Carnegie Foundation-designated “high-research activity” university, to provide students and faculty an environment in which to excel. We invite you to be part of this exciting endeavor.

*LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and is a rating system for “green” buildings. Supported by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), LEED Certification recognizes a subset of buildings that were designed, built, and/or maintained with sustainability in mind.

JSU ENGINEERING BUILDING PHASE II

The College of Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET) is a highly respected academic unit that supports the threefold mission of Jackson State University by:

• Providing high-quality education in science and technology;

• Advancing scientific knowledge through research;

• Providing technical expertise to businesses, industries and governmental bodies.

CSET offers 16 bachelor, 10 master, and four doctoral degree programs and has distinguished itself with outstanding faculty and staff dedicated to providing both the quality education and science leadership necessary to achieve the highest possible level of excellence.

Jackson State University is committed to expanding CSET with the support of corporate partners and private sustainers. Please contact Dr. Richard Alo, CSET dean, or Angela Getter, Fund Development officer, to learn how you can assist.

Dr. Richard Aló, dean (601) 979-2153

richard.a.alo@jsums.edu

SUMMER 2015 Volume 14, No. 1

19 Scholarship winners

46 Fall Football Schedule

56 Honor Roll of Donors

04

COVER STORY

Lawmakers and the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees give the green light to Jackson State University to establish the state’s first School of Public Health and approve $2 million in funding in the process.

18

JSUONLINE

The decision to bring Jackson State University’s outsourced online program in-house in Fall 2014 quickly pays off, with enrollment above 300 and growing and its initial seven programs increasing to 19.

22

JSU GLOBAL

Passport to the World, a new faculty-led study abroad program operating under the umbrella of JSU Global, opens up international study opportunities and, in doing so, is expected to be emulated nationwide.

12

CELEBRATE

Book festivals and events statewide mark the centennial birthday of author and JSU educator Margaret Walker.

Famed poet Nikki Giovanni speaks on campus during a Margaret Walker centennial celebration event.

UNVERSITY LEADERSHIP

08 | Four more years

Record enrollments and expansion are noted with the renewal of president’s contract.

CONNECTING

16 | Civil rights daughters

JSU brings the daughters of Medgar Evers and Malcolm X together publicly for the first time.

PARTNERSHIPS

20 | Support our tigers

Historic partnership with the Jackson Zoo includes adoption of Eko, a tiger cub.

CAMPUS TO COMMUNITY

9, 10 | Hot topics

Former Gov. Haley Barbour and Congressman Bennie Thompson talk politics, HBCUs.

47 | Revamped rec complex

Grand reopening, including the Payton Center, reflects emphasis on recreation, fitness and health.

STUDENT LIFE

35 | Adapting from Algeria

Marketing major and photographer Anissa Hidouk shares insights as an international student.

40 | In a class of their own

JSU graduates largest class ever, and NAACP president, alum delivers commencement address.

FACULTY

26 | Two weeks in Brazil

Professor Kenyatta Stewart creates a study abroad program that ignites the imagination.

36 | Russian resolve

Dr. Tatiana Glushko positions JSU as a worldwide advocate of writing centers.

ALUMNI IN ACTION

30 | Brave in a New World

Gabrielle Frazier spends three years teaching overseas and adventuring across Europe and Asia.

42 | Justice for all

Judge Carlton Reeves discusses voting rights, activism and his days at JSU.

The Jacksonian is published biannually by the Jackson State University Office of Communications. The U.S. Department of Education Title III program helps fund its production.

Interim Executive Director of

University Communications

Robert Jeuitt

Director of Public Relations

Olivia Goodheart

Editorial/design consultant

Tammy Ramsdell

Writers

Jim Ewing

L.A. Warren

Bette Pearce

Jeff Ayers

Tammy Ramsdell

Photographers

Charles A. Smith, chief photographer

Deontae Williams

Anissa Hidouk, JSU student

Guest photographer

Kenyatta Stewart, JSU art professor

Graphic Design

D’Artagnan Winford, art director

University Communications

1400 John R. Lynch Street

H.P. Jacobs Administration Tower

Second Floor

P.O. Box 17490, Jackson MS 39217

jsutoday@jsums.edu

601-979-2272

Facebook - Jackson State University

Twitter and Instagram - @JacksonStateU

A picture is worth a thousand words. See related photo galleries at

WWW.JSUMS.PHOTOSHELTER.COM

WWW.JSU.EDU

Keep up on the latest news and events Explore campus and course offerings.

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Dear Jacksonians:

Through education, our students are given the groundwork to pursue many paths in life, and the latest is one Jackson State University has long waited to offer.

Earlier this year, our state lawmakers, the governor, and the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees approved our proposal — and backed it with $2 million in funding — to create a School of Public Health, the first in the state of Mississippi.

The ramifications are far-reaching.

Healthcare, long at the forefront of national conversations, is directly tied not only to every one of our citizens but to the very economic health and wellbeing of our state.

As the only university in the state offering a doctoral public health degree program, we are well versed in healthcare’s many complexities, from prevention strategies to policymaking. We also are ideally located to further advance the capital city’s emerging healthcare corridor.

The Jacksonian details this endeavor in its cover story and further offers a look at other exciting developments, including a major expansion of our College of Science, Engineering and Technology building now underway, our revamped recreational center, our new Passport to the World program operating under the JSU Global umbrella, and our unique partnership with the Jackson Zoo designed to help preserve the endangered Sumatran tiger species.

Finally, no issue of The Jacksonian would be complete without coverage of our students, faculty, staff, alumni, corporate partners, donors and friends. Your incredible accomplishments and support, in fact, have necessitated making this our largest issue to date.

Thank you all and enjoy The Jacksonian.

Carolyn W. Meyers President Jackson State University

JSU SCHOOL of PUBLIC HEALTH

Changing the healthcare landscape of mississippi

“Public health is essential to everything we do in the state — our well-being, economic development. JSU’s future and the state’s future are interlocked.”

— Ron Davis, Mississippi Public Health Association president

By Jeff Ayers

Mississippi for decades has ranked last or near the bottom among all states in a slew of lifethreatening or life-altering health conditions — obesity, diabetes, infant mortality.

These conditions are exacerbated by factors that shut many of the state’s residents out of access to affordable healthcare and forces those who can afford it but live in small towns without practicing doctors to drive dozens, if not hundreds, of miles to Jackson and other large cities to seek treatment.

Jackson State University — through its School of Public Health — plans to both attack the ailments that claim the lives of so many Mississippians and uplift the communities where they live by encouraging healthier lifestyles and by addressing health disparities facing under-served and at-risk populations in particular.

A first for the state of Mississippi, the School of Public Health also will figure prominently into the growing role of healthcare as an economic driver in the state.

The school’s studies will focus not so much on simply diagnosing and then treating a particular condition in a clinical setting but on connecting the proliferation of conditions to communities and addressing them through policymaking and various services.

Improving the health and quality of life in such communities will help lower the risk of chronic health problems spreading from generation to generation, says Dr. Marinelle Payton, a professor of epidemiology at JSU.

“We’ll have public health practitioners that will have the knowledge that you can get only with a public health curriculum,” she said. The Mississippi Legislature this year approved $2 million

to help establish the School of Public Health, and fundraising will be done over time to help the program grow.

The School of Public Health will be part of JSU’s College of Public Service and will be based at the Jackson Medical Mall. A nine-person search committee will select the school’s dean. That panel includes not only JSU educators and administrators but one undergraduate and graduate student each as well as Dr. Mary Currier, director of the Mississippi Department of Health.

“I am honored to be a part of the selection committee. This new School of Public Health could have impact across the state, setting the public health research agenda that will further the knowledge about how best to improve the health of the population of Mississippi,” Currier said.

While JSU has offered master’s-level studies in public health since 1999 and a doctorate degree in the field since 2005, the School of Public Health will represent the university’s most structured yet multifaceted exploration of the discipline to date. Dr. Ricardo A. Brown, dean of JSU’s College of Public Service, has said broadening the university’s public health studies accomplishes “our longstanding goal to address the healthcare needs of the residents of Mississippi.”

The School of Public Health will feature three departments — Behavioral and Environmental Health, Health Policy and Management and Epidemiology and Biostatistics. It also will expand from three to five the number of curriculum concentrations JSU’s public health program offers.

But the effect of the School of Public Health is expected to reach far beyond the classroom. It could help Mississippi address many of the longterm health issues that plague the state and also provide a new talent pool of health professionals — practitioners, researchers or educators — for areas

GOVERNOR, STATE LEADERS

What it means

“Not only can our state benefit from more healthcare providers and professionals, our economy can benefit from growth in the healthcare sector.”

— Gov. Phil Bryant

“We need more public health professionals to study and practice here, particularly in the rural areas. The School of Public Health at JSU will help address our challenges in building a healthy Mississippi.”

— Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves

“Healthcare is one of the most important issues we deal with day to day and will drive the economy and jobs into the future. Creating a School of Public Health at Jackson State University will produce students who can work in the public health arena. Representative Angela Cockerham worked closely with me to achieve the required funding, and we are all proud that we got this done for our state.”

— Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn

“Mississippi’s health challenges are well documented. All of our universities share the task of addressing these issues, and Jackson State University’s new School of Public Health is an excellent example of this. Through education, research, and treatment, our universities are helping to improve the health and quality of life of all Mississippians.”

— Aubrey Patterson, president of the IHL Board of Trustees at the time of authorization

“This new School of Public Health could have impact across the state, setting the public health research agenda that will further the knowledge about how best to improve the health of the population of Mississippi.”

— Dr. Mary Currier, director of the state Department of Health

with a dearth of those professionals or other health advocates.

“Not only will it solidify the Capital City as a premier healthcare provider for the state and region, but it will provide a national model for meeting professional healthcare needs,” JSU President Carolyn W. Meyers said when the School of Public Health was announced earlier this year.

The need for improved healthcare in Mississippi is clear. The Minnesota health nonprofit United Health Foundation, in its 2014 “America’s Health Rankings” list, ranked Mississippi last overall in the country in terms of people’s health.

The study found about 35 percent of Mississippians are obese. Nearly 25 percent smoke. Roughly 38 percent say they don’t get regular exercise. The state, according to the rankings, has an infant mortality rate of 9.1 per 1,000 people. The state that fared best in those rankings, Hawaii, had an infant mortality rate of 5.1 per 1,000.

Payton says Mississippi is full of areas where there are “no sidewalks, no recreation centers that are affordable to all” and are marked by “a lack of exercise, a lack of nutrition.” Without focal points for physical activity or a network of professionals who can help people lead healthier lives and in turn create healthier communities, she continued, these communities will continue to watch many of their residents die from heart attacks, diabetes complications and other maladies that can be prevented with a proactive approach.

In public health, she said, “You ask, ‘Why? Why do we have this disease (in a certain area) in the first place?’ ”

Jobs and the economy

A healthy community not only helps its people live longer lives but makes those people better equipped physically to have long-term gainful employment, says Ron Davis, president of the Mississippi Public Health Association. A healthy workforce, he continued, in turn helps draw more jobs and investment to that area.

“Public health is essential to everything we do in the state — our well-being, economic development.

Ricardo A. Brown, dean of the College of Public Service, says the establishment of a School of Public Health meets JSU’s “longstanding goal to address the healthcare needs of the residents of Mississippi.”

JSU’s future and the state’s future are interlocked,” he said.

Indeed, the School of Public Health figures to be a significant asset for the city of Jackson and the state in growing healthcare as an industry. City and state officials are working to create a healthcare corridor that would stretch from I-55 to I-220 and constitute a network combining existing hospitals and clinics with new treatment facilities, laboratories and places where medical supplies are manufactured or distributed.

Statewide, Gov. Phil Bryant has backed the creation of “healthcare zones,” typically designated areas along major highways where medical companies are offered tax breaks and other incentives to locate.

Jackson Medical Mall’s location on Woodrow Wilson Avenue puts it and the School of Public Health at the heart of Jackson’s planned healthcare corridor and just minutes away from the largest, most technically and scientifically advanced hospitals in the state.

“Not only can our state benefit from more healthcare providers and professionals, our economy can benefit from growth in the healthcare sector,” Bryant, who backed the $2 million in state funding for the School of Public Health, said during a visit to JSU earlier this year. “This program will be a very important part of the healthcare landscape in Mississippi.”

It could also help provide more health practitioners, researchers and related professionals to cities and towns with little or no such services. The United Health Foundation study found Mississippi has 81.8 primary-care physicians per 100,000 people. That’s in stark contrast to Hawaii, where there are 140.2 such physicians per 100,000 people.

Davis acknowledges starting pay for new practitioners in Mississippi isn’t as great as in other parts of the country and that practitioners, especially in poor or rural areas, “can’t live on promises. They’re going to go where there are patients who can pay.” Still, he says the School of Public Health could help not only train a new generation of professionals but encourage them to stay in Mississippi to develop their careers.

Ayers settlement

The creation of the School of Public Health at JSU is one of the most notable manifestations yet of the long-term goals set forth in the settlement of a lawsuit filed in 1975 by Jake Ayers Sr. on behalf of his son, Jake Ayers Jr., then a JSU student.

The suit contended Mississippi’s three historically black colleges and universities — JSU, Alcorn State University and Mississippi Valley State University — were essentially segregated from the state’s other higher-education institutions in terms of resources and support and had been receiving a disproportionate level of state funding compared to those other schools.

The three universities, state officials and the U.S. Department of Justice hammered out a $503 million settlement agreement, finalized in 2002. It includes the three HBCUs splitting $246 million for academic programs. The payments were to be made over the course of 17 years and commenced in 2005. Establishing a School of Public Health had long been a goal for JSU in the wake of the settlement.

By the time the Ayers settlement had taken hold, schools in states like Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana and Alabama, each with long-term healthcare problems comparable to Mississippi’s, had established public health studies on undergraduate and post-graduate levels. It is anticipated that students wishing to pursue such careers in public health will now look to Mississippi as an option.

Improving the health and quality of life in communities will help lower the risk of chronic health problems spreading from generation to generation, says Dr. Marinelle Payton, a professor of epidemiology at JSU. Jacksonian photo

Photo by Charles A. Smith| Jacksonian

Related programs

The School of Public Health also aims to bolster interest and enrollment in JSU’s current public health programs. The university estimates enrollment in its masterand doctorate-level public health studies to grow by 10 percent each year during the next five years. It could open more eyes to a relatively unexplored part of the healthcare industry in the process, Davis says.

“People have thought of public health as some place where you go to get a birth certificate or a death certificate, or to receive a shot. We like to think of ourselves as a first line of defense for (safer, healthier) food, water,” he said.

Payton adds the unfolding Affordable Care Act and its aim of providing more cost-effective healthcare to more Americans, particularly those who until now

School of Public Health search committee

• Chair, Dr. Loretta Moore, vice president for Research and Federal Regulations, JSU

• Dr. Mary Currier, director, state Department of Health

• Dr. Manoj Sharma, professor, College of Public Service, JSU

• Dr. Issac Perkins, professor, College of Public Service

• Dr. Wilbur Walters, associate dean, College of Science, Engineering and Technology

• Dr. Glenda Windfield, Faculty Senate president

• Dr. Bettina M. Beech, University of Mississippi Medical Center

• Deshonda Fortune, undergraduate student

• Christopher Lane, graduate student

haven’t been able to afford it, could create an ideal framework for the School of Public Health to gain significant traction in Mississippi’s healthcare landscape.

Public health, she continued, is easily compatible with other, more established fields of health study. “Those students who are in medical school can get a public health degree. Those students who are in public health will have the chance to earn a medical degree.”

Mission

Since debuting 16 years ago, JSU’s public health program has grown to include an Institute of Epidemiology and Health Services Research and a Center of Excellence in Minority Health and Health Disparities.

The program has struck various partnerships with health-related agencies where students can gain real-world experience to complement in-class learning. It also provides an avenue for annual conferences on

health disparities and men’s health. And JSU has set high ideals for its public health studies.

In its mission statement spelling out the goals of those studies, the university says public health not only is a way of reducing the risk of serious disease and adding years to people’s lives but acts as a beacon for “the pursuit of social justice to enhance health and the quality of life, and helps to eliminate health disparities in the state of Mississippi and beyond, while providing a broad intellectual framework that fosters the development of public health values,” especially for “under-served and at-risk populations.”

“The challenge for the program,” the statement continues, “is never to forget its mission and to remain focused on the well-being of the community through identification of its health needs and by contributing to efforts to meet the needs.” ONEJSU

Gov. Phil Bryant discusses his support for a new School of Public Health with Jackson State University leaders during a recent visit to the university.

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

President Meyers’ contract renewed

How to best reach and serve students, as both an HBCU and the state of Mississippi’s only designated Urban University, has been at the core of both physical expansion and the introduction of nationally groundbreaking programs since Dr. Carolyn W. Meyers assumed the presidency in 2010.

This spring, the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees voted to extend Meyer’s contract by four years, essentially reaffirming the university’s vision and its method of implementation.

“Dr. Meyers has taken Jackson State’s mission as Mississippi’s only urban university very seriously, expanding opportunities for students throughout the metro area and beyond,” said Alan Perry, who recently stepped into the role of IHL Board president. “By expanding into Madison County and downtown Jackson, the university is reaching out to students, particulary nontraditional students who have responsibilities, who may

not otherwise have an opportunity to earn a degree and fulfill their dreams.”

The advances made at JSU under Meyers’ leadership have been both massive and fastpaced and include the recent approval and related funding from the state to create a School of Public Health, a first for Mississippi.

The “firsts” don’t stop there.

The university was the first in the nation to introduce a program to provide all incoming freshmen with iPads to complement an emphasis on cyberlearning. That effort, coupled with the development of INNOVATE and CREATE, one-stop, high-tech centers for faculty and students, earned the university a coveted Apple

Distinguished School designation.

Enrollment within her first year climbed to a new high and has continued, to today’s 9,508 students, with the university graduating its largest class this spring. JSUOnline, brought in-house and launched in the fall, is also seeing continued growth.

Gifts and pledges have soared from $274,000 in FY2010 to $1.018 million in FY2014, and active alumni membership has increased significantly.

The Academic Progresss Rate (APR) for athletes reflected one of the best overall performances within JSU history in her first year and remains strong.

The immediate future looks to be just as fastpaced as JSU prepares to open this fall University Pointe, an apartment-type living complex, to meet growing housing needs.

And, an expansion of its Engineering Building to accommodate the growing demand of those entering science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields is underway. ONEJSU

Roundtable focuses on rejuvation of Jackson’s business climate

About 30 representatives from business, government and nonprofits gathered at the first Jackson Business Developers Roundtable at Jackson State University earlier this year to discuss rejuvenating the capital’s business climate.

Topics ranged from increasing nonprofits’ involvement with business development to promoting local businesses. The Vision 2022 Business Development Plan for the city of Jackson also was discussed.

Jackson State University’s Department of Entrepreneurship and Professional Development, chaired by Dr. Mary M. White, interim vice president for Institutional Advancement, and the Mississippi Development Authority’s Entrepreneur Center hosted the event.

Michael Harris, associate manager of the MDA’s Entrepreneur Center, served as moderator.

Panelists included Teresa Cheeks-Wilson, Federal Reserve Bank of Memphis; John

Brandon, bureau manager of the Entrepreneur Center @ Mississippi Development Authority; Janita Stewart, Mississippi district director of the U.S. Small Business Administration; and Willie Jones, president and CEO of Dependable Source Corp. of Jackson.

Organizations represented included: Mississippi Department of Education; LABA/Link LatinAmerica Business Association; BankPlus; Mississippi e-Center@ JSU; 1 Million Cups – Jackson; Innovate Mississippi; WeBase

Management Solutions, LLC; Jackson Chamber of Commerce; Venture Incubator; City of Jackson Business Development; Millsaps Else School of Management; Hinds County Economic Development Authority; Mayor’s Office, city of Jackson; JSU Community Engagement; Mississippi Development Authority Minority and Small Business Development; JSU Center for Business Development and Economic Research; and Women for Progress of Mississippi. ONEJSU

Photo by Deontae Williams | Jacksonian

Congressman champions HBCUs

Perceptions in Washington, loan programs must be addressed, Thompson says

Historically black colleges and universities are increasingly coming under fire in Washington as questions about their value and relevancy continue to surface. Consequently, HBCUs need to aggressively work to change the conversation, said U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., during a campus tour.

In the nation’s capital, he said, there is a plan to start ranking the 105 institutions and correlating them to betterfinanced universities.

“To compare an HBCU to Harvard or Princeton is patently unfair,” he said. “If the conversation is not modified, it’s a clear and present danger for a number of HBCUs or minority-serving institutions, in general. Sadly, this is becoming more of a part of the discussion.”

He said the Congressional Black Caucus takes “absolute offense to any conversation that demeans those institutions.”

The congressman also took aim at the high cost of educational loan programs for students, suggesting that the U.S. should make them interest-free, with the principal being the only obligation.

“We need to look at what a 1 percent or 2 percent interest drop would mean for someone trying to get a college education. The default rate on Parent Plus Loans is miniscule compared to other loan programs or other investments where we had to write off.”

Jackson State University President Carolyn W. Meyers echoed Thompson’s concerns, describing JSU’s ongoing hunt for Pell Grant and Parent Plus financial assistance. However, she said, “We kept every student who was eligible academically in school through our own resources. It was tough, but we succeeded because of our commitment to the students.”

Meyers, too, acknowledged that the entire conversation about HBCUs is flawed. “We’re different sizes, have different people and serve diverse communities. If you look at the educational needs of our country, it’s to the nation’s benefit for all of us to thrive. Without HBCUs, an entire segment of the population would not have had the opportunity to achieve the American dream. We gave validity to the principles on which these campuses were set up.”

—L.A. Warren

Student Government Association students talk with U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., right, during a campus visit.

Photo by Deontae Williams | Jacksonian

Former Miss. Gov. Haley Barbour — speaking on the value of a two-party system — encourages students to consider a broader political affiliation.

Barbour talks politics...

If you want to talk politics in Mississippi, bringing former Gov. Haley Barbour to the table makes sense, and that’s what Jackson State University did — twice this past semester — through its Mike Espy Scholars-in-Residence series.

Barbour cut his political teeth in the administration of Ronald Reagan. The prominent Washington lobbyist was chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1993 to 1997 and served two terms as Mississippi governor from 2004-2012.

During an April appearance, Barbour — speaking on the value of a two-party system — encouraged students to consider a broader political affiliation.

In his first term, he said he only received 10 percent of the Mississippi black vote but that increased to 25 percent in his re-election.

“It’s easier to govern” when there is overlap of the black vote, he said. Politicians, he said, should look out for the broad range of voters when governing.

Closing Republican primaries to all but registered Republicans would be bad for the party and the state, he said. Already, the trend in national political parties — and how congressional districts are configured — is to concentrate people of one party. The effect is that Congress is polarized: too many people right or left and “hollowed out” in the middle, he said.

And Katrina

Barbour’s swift and decisive response to Hurricane Katrina nearly 10 years ago thrust him into the national spotlight. During a February visit to JSU, Barbour recounted the days after Katrina devastated the state.

The damage, he said, “looked to me that this must be what Hiroshima looked like.”

“We didn’t think it could get any worse than Camille,” he said, referring to the 1969 storm. But Katrina, which struck the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005, was two disasters in one: It had winds powerful enough to collapse the roof of the Emergency Operations Center on the Coast that had withstood Camille; and a storm surge that created a 38-foot wave — twice as high as Camille.

“Mississippi got knocked flat,” Barbour said.

Hurricane winds stretched 200 miles inland. Nearly every county in the state was declared a disaster area. Some 64,000 homes on the coast were made uninhabitable. Damages topped $32 billion.

While New Orleans got the nation’s attention for its flooding, Mississippians tackled the job of rebuilding, said Barbour, who has written a book about Katrina that will be published in August. ONEJSU

— Jim Ewing

by

Photo

Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

Dr. Mary M. White, JSU’s interim vice president for Institutional Advancement, and Dr. William McHenry, executive director of the Mississippi e-Center@JSU, display a $160,000 gift from Toyota. The money will be used to fund the Haley Barbour scholarship for five select freshmen.

TOYOTA GIVES $160K TOWARD $800K COMMITMENT

Toyota Manufacturing Mississippi, in the second year of its $800,000, five-year scholarship commitment, awarded $160,000 for five select freshmen to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) studies.

“This will provide top students access to study

engineering and the sciences and energize them to pursue those careers,” said Dr. William McHenry, director of the Mississippi e-Center @JSU which administers the scholarships.

Each year, five freshmen are awarded $8,000 per year for four years totaling $32,000 each.

The 2015 recipients will be named later this

Melinda Heath, Nissan; JSU President Carolyn W. Meyers; JSU Devopment Officer Angela Getter; 2nd District U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson; Jeffrey Webster, director of Diversity and Inclusion at Nissan; state Rep. Kenny Wayne Jones; Tosha Garner, Nissan; and College of Science, Engineering and Technology Dean Dr. Richard Alo mark Nissan’s donation.

NISSAN DONATES $75K

Jackson State University received a $75,000 donation from Nissan to promote STEM training as part of $250,000 given to HBCUs overall in March. “There is no better gift that we can give as good corporate citizens than an education for our workforce,” said Jeffrey Webster, director of Diversity and Inclusion at Nissan.

year. The 2014 scholars are: Phylana Adams, civil engineering, Osyka, Miss.; Jeremiah Cazenave, biology, Dallas, Ga.; Gerald Daniels, computer engineering, New Orleans; Ralph Smith, computer science, Jackson, Miss.; and Taylor Turley, chemistry, Florissant, Mo.

JSU President Carolyn W. Meyers and executives for Yates Construction forge a new relationship. Joining the celebration are, from left, JSU Development Officer Constance Lawson; Dr. Richard Alo, College of Science, Engineering and Technology dean; W.G. “Bill” Yates, chairman of Yates Construction; Meyers; William Yates, president of Yates Construction; and Paul Musick, vice president of Yates Construction.

YATES CONTRIBUTES $100K

Yates Construction has contributed $100,000 to enhance the College of Science, Engineering and Technology as well as the College of Business. The combined effort of JSU and Yates Construction is geared toward helping improve the economic climate of the state.

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

By Tammy Ramsdell and Jim Ewing

‘This Is My

Phone calls, emails, interviews, lectures, tours, meetings, and more phone calls.

Dr. Robert Luckett has been a very busy man since joining Jackson State University in 2009 as the director of the Margaret Walker Center for the Study of the African-American Experience.

It’s a schedule that the native Mississippian has become accustomed to since planning started six years ago for this year’s centennial birthday celebration of writer and educator Margaret Walker. Fittingly, “This is My Century” is being used for the celebration theme, after the last poem Walker wrote.

As a driving force behind the centennial celebration, Luckett clearly embraces the busy schedule.

“Our goal is to return her to the national consciousness, to lift her up to the place she deserves. When we talk of other Mississippi writers — Eudora Welty, Richard Wright, Faulkner, Tennessee Williams — she’s never on the list. And that’s crazy. We need to give her her due.”

Statewide attention

In that spirit, Walker’s life and work figured prominently at the Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration in February and The Oxford Conference for the Book in March.

The city of Jackson, the Jackson/Hinds Library System, the Mississippi Humanities Council and the organizers of the new Mississippi Book Festival to be held in August in Jackson are among those rallying around the effort. Jackson Mayor Tony Yarber selected Walker’s Jubilee as the book for his citywide 2015 reading initiative, and several lectures and panel discussions are scheduled through November.

Memories

Mississippi native Dr. Robert Luckett is working on a collection of essays, “Remembering Margaret Walker,” and an electronic book on the connection between Medgar Evers and Margaret Walker.

Jackson State also put Walker in the spotlight during its 47th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Convocation.

Keynote speaker Paula Giddings, a professor of AfricanAmerican studies at Smith College, recalled several stories from her friendship with Walker.

Walker was only 21 when she published her signature poem, For , Giddings said. That poem

“wasn’t just her signature poem, but our signature poem as a people.”

Giddings, who edited the book, A Poetic Equation: Conversations between Nikki Giovanni and Margaret Walker, published in 1974, recounted Walker’s struggles in returning to graduate school, taking out loans, moving to Iowa, having to care for her children, and ultimately reinventing herself and returning to JSU where she carved an arc as a leading literary light.

A gala celebration on what would have been Walker’s 100th birthday — July 10 — is to be held at JSU.

[continued on page 14]

GIDDINGS

My Century’

THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF MARGARET WALKER

As a professor of English at Jackson State University in 1968, Margaret Walker Alexander founded the Institute for the Study of the History, Life, and Culture of Black People.

Already an accomplished author, she stood at the forefront of a nascent Black Studies movement, but the Institute also reflected her immersion in 20th century African-American history and culture.  During her lifetime, she had the unique opportunity both to be mentored by the likes of W.E.B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, and Richard Wright and to be a mentor to writers such as James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, and Maya Angelou.

Born in Birmingham, Ala., on July 7, 1915, Walker was reading and writing by the time she was 5. When her family settled in New Orleans in 1925, her writing flourished after meeting Hughes, who encouraged her to leave the South to complete her education.  Graduating from Northwestern University, her father’s alma mater, in 1935, Walker stayed in Chicago to work with the Federal Writers’ Project.  There, she developed a close friendship with Wright and joined his Southside Writers Group.

In 1937, Walker wrote her seminal poem, For My People, for which she became the first black woman to receive the Yale University Younger Poets Award.  By 1949, Walker and her husband, Firnist Alexander, had moved their three children to Mississippi so she could join the English Department at JSU.

While at JSU, she completed her doctoral dissertation, a neo-slave narrative inspired by the memories

“Our goal is to return her to the national consciousness, to lift her up to the place she deserves.”

—Dr.

Robert Luckett

of her maternal grandmother, Elvira Ware Dozier. Published in 1966, Jubilee represented 30 years of research and reflection and has never since been out of print.

Alexander’s lasting achievement at JSU was the Institute for the Study of the History, Life, and Culture of Black People.  As its director, she organized several conferences that were the first of their kind, including the 1971 National Evaluative Conference on Black Studies and the 1973 Phyllis Wheatley Poetry Festival.

After 30 years of teaching, Walker retired as Professor Emerita and donated her literary and administrative papers to the Institute that she had founded and that was subsequently named in her honor.

The Margaret Walker Papers at JSU constitute one of the single largest collections of a modern black, female writer anywhere in the world.  The Walker Center houses close to 40 significant manuscript collections such as the papers of former U.S. Secretary of Education Roderick Paige and a large oral history repository with more than 2,000 interviews. ONEJSU

Source: Margaret Walker Center at JSU

‘This

Is My Century’

[continued from page 12]

Walker had the knack of making people “better than they knew,” she said. “She loved to try new things, anything.”

Jackston State University President Emeritus Dr. John A. Peoples Jr., among honorees at a For My People Awards Luncheon that same day, also recalled his friendship with Walker.

She was “one of my favorite colleagues,” he said. “She was a great person.”

Going forward

Judging by the traffic to the Margaret Walker Center — about 7,000 visitors expected by the end of 2015, up from 2,500 in 2009 — Walker’s profile is being raised.

In fact, Luckett said the interest in the civil rights movement itself “is going through the roof.”

He expects the number of visitors to grow with the anticipated opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in downtown Jackson in 2017 and from interest sure to be generated from a national traveling exhibition about Walker opening at the DuSable Museum of AfricanAmerican History in Chicago in January.

Using Walker’s life as a lens, the exhibit “examines the African-American experience from slavery, emancipation and Reconstruction through the Great Migration, The Harlem Renaissance, the modern civil rights movement and beyond.”

“For My People”

Randy Klein (at piano) is the composer of For My People, a song cycle featuring the poetry of Margaret Walker. His documentary film scores include Emmy winners Free To Dance, Beyond Tara – The Extraordinary Life Of Hattie McDaniel and Richard Wright – Black Boy. Lead vocalist Aurelia Williams, (right), is a recording artist and Broadway songstress.

Photo courtesy of Randy Klein

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

Margaret Walker Centennial Events

Plans for “This is My Century: The Life and Legacy of Margaret Walker” were announced in December at Jackson State University’s Margaret Walker Center with a reading and book signing by Carolyn Brown, author of Song of My Life (University Press of Mississippi). Having authored a biography on Eudora Welty, the Jackson writer found it surprising that no such biography existed on Walker. Determined to change that, she wrote Song of My Life, discovering much about the friendship between the two along the way.

In February, high school students gathered on campus to participate in Poetry Out Loud, reciting Walker’s poetry. In April, the Toni Morrison Society’s Bench by the Road Project came to JSU in honor of Walker, with a keynote address by famed poet and social activist Nikky Finney, as part of the Margaret Walker annual Creative Arts Festival.

Also delivering a keynote address in April was Nikki Giovanni, world-renowned poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. Her friendship with Walker spanned decades. A Poetic Equation: Conversations Between Nikki Giovanni and Margaret Walker, authored by the two literary giants, was published in 1974.

Giovanni’s address came at the opening of Dr. Doris Derby’s documentary photography exhibit, The Black Arts Movement, Black Power and the Struggle for Civil Rights in America, currently on display in the Johnson Hall Art Gallery.

Derby was an instrumental part of the Mississippi civil rights movement. Her photography captured many aspects of the movement as it was unfolding along with key figures such as Walker, Myrlie Evers and Fannie Lou Hamer. Her work has been exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution and several other venues across the United States.

Upcoming

MARGARET WALKER CENTENNIAL JUBILEE PICNIC

Tuesday, July 7, 11:30 a.m. Ayer Hall, Jackson State University

“FOR MY PEOPLE: A NEW MUSICAL WORK” featuring the JSU Chorale

Friday, July 10, 5 p.m., JSU Student Center Ballroom

MORE INFORMATION

Several JSU professors will be lec turing or leading discussions about Margaret Walker and her works at libraries throughout the metro area this summer and fall. Storytelling workshops for children also will be offered. For a complete schedule of events, visit:

JSU Margaret Walker Center

www.jsums.edu/margaretwalkercenter/projects-and-programs/ Mississippi Humanities Council

www.mshumanities.org/index.php/events

Jackson/Hinds County Library

www.jhlibrary.com/calendar-category/Margaret-Walker-Alexander-Centennial-Events

1. Nikki Giovanni delivers a keynote address.

2. Doris Derby describes her work during the opening of her photo exhibition.

3. Poetry Out Loud features Margaret Walker works.

4. A commemorative poster designed by Walker Center staffer Brandon Thompson.

Photo by Deontae Williams | Jacksonian

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

Reena Evers-Everette & Ilyasah Shabazz

JSU brings daughters of civil rights icons together publicly for first time; visit includes trip to Evers’ childhood home, where her father, Medgar, was gunned down. The home now operates as a museum.

The daughters of slain civil rights icons Malcolm X and Medgar Evers say theirs is a club “no one would want to join.”

Reena Evers-Everette was 8 on June 12, 1963, when a sniper’s bullet felled her father, Mississippi NAACP Field Secretary Medgar Evers, in the driveway of their Jackson home.

Ilyasah Shabazz was 3 on Feb. 19, 1965, when her father was assassinated in the ballroom of a New York City hotel.

A speaking engagement at JSU in February brought the two together publicly for the first time. It marked the first visit to Jackson for Shabazz.

During the trip, the women visited Evers’ childhood home in Jackson. Built in 1957, the home was rededicated in 2013 as a small museum preserving the memory of the civil rights leader.

Tougaloo College operates the Medgar Evers museum. Tours by appointment: (601) 977-7706 or (601) 977-7839 or email mwatson@ tougaloo.edu. To take a virtual tour, visit Mississippi Public Broadcasting’s website: www.everstribute.org/house_tour.php

Top left: Ilyasah Shabazz, second left, and her daughter listen to Pam Junior, JSU Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center manager, during a tour and museum visit (top right) where Medgar Evers’ portrait is prominently displayed.

Top center: Reena Evers-Everette spends time with Ilyasha Shabazz’s daughter while at the home where Evers lived as a child.

Bottom row: Reena Evers-Everette and Ilyasah Shabazz share emotional moments at the Evers home.

Far right: Ilyasah Shabazz, left, and Reena Evers-Everette pose with civil rights activist Hollis Watkins.

Photos by Anissa Houduk | Jacksonian

A degree of

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

JSUOnline, launched in-house in Fall 2014, meets students where they are; enrollment growing

By L.A. Warren

While the JSUOnline degree program at Jackson State University is becoming more popular with traditional students, it’s especially helping nontraditional students pursue their educational goals.

“Since many people can’t take time away from work, online assists them. With the way things are in the world, you must have online to reach the busy population. Family members and parents have jobs, children, church and other activities. Yet, many still want an education,” said Tamika Moorehead, assistant director of JSUOnline. Furthermore, she said, the online program is great for people living in faraway ZIP codes.

JSUOnline, located in the INNOVATE Center in the H.T. Sampson Library on the main campus, began with seven programs in Fall 2014. Today, it has 19. Before the inception of JSUOnline, the university outsourced this service to a Florida company, which offered two degrees. Eventually, JSU restructured the program, bringing the operation in-house.

“JSUOnline already has accepted 68 new students — freshmen and transfer students,” Moorehead said. “The vision of the program is to continue to expand degree offerings, including criminal justice and social work.”

This spring, JSUOnline graduated its first class, conferring 18 undergraduate degrees in early childhood education and two MBA graduate degrees. It also enrolled 306 students and aims to at least double that number in the near future.

“Family members and parents have jobs, children, church and other activities. Yet, many still want an education.”

— Tamika Moorehead, assistant director of JSUOnline

Keith Riley, academic evaluator for JSUOnline, said the program focuses on providing quality support to faculty and students. Because there is no face-to-face interaction with the instructor, he says students must be disciplined by not falling behind in the accelerated classes that last just eight weeks. “We monitor carefully to see if students are active in their classes. We also monitor faculty.”

Additionally, Riley says the JSUOnline team pays strict attention to other needs of enrollees. “We deal with financial aid and registration, including advising online. We take care of them totally.”

Meanwhile, Moorehead agrees with other academic officers throughout the country who say that an online curriculum is critical for institutions’ long-term strategy. “I believe the way things are within the world, we thrive by providing a method to help people reach the next level of their careers.”

This fall, she said, the program will include an evaluation system that measures class setup, quality and content.

“Using this rubric, we will be able to improve standards. By improving quality, we also can increase the number of our online courses,” Moorehead said. ONEJSU

Oh! Oh! Oh!

Joyner Foundation Supports JSU, Scholars

As a February designee of the Tom Joyner Foundation’s “School of the Month” fundraising campaign, a yearlong national spotlight beams on Jackson State University.

It aims to reel in donations from listeners of The Tom Joyner Morning Show. The show airs in more than 100 markets nationwide, reaching nearly eight million listeners weekly.

Joyner also put JSU in the spotlight when he spent several days in late April and early May broadcasting his show live from the WJSU-FM’s offices at the Mississippi e-Center@JSU.

During that time, he sat down with WJSU General Manager Gina Carter-Simmers for an exclusive interview on a range of topics, including police shootings of unarmed African-American males and the accompanying unrest; social activism; scholarships; and the future of college graduates and HBCUs. ONEJSU

$405K in ROTC scholarships awarded

Two incoming freshmen have landed ROTC scholarships totaling more than $405,000. Melvin McCrory III (pictured above) of Jackson is making history by becoming JSU’s first recipient of the prestigious national Commander’s Leadership Scholarship. JSU’s Lt. Col. Timothy Henderson presented McCrory with the prestigious four-year Air Force ROTC scholarship, one of 8,200 given nationwide. Totaling $252,658, it includes tuition and a monthly stipend. McCrory plans to major in computer engineering.

Melvin Williams Jr., also of Jackson, is the recipient of the three-year advance Army ROTC scholarship, which totals $153,101. He plans to major in biology with a concentration in physical therapy. ONEJSU

Hercules Scholars

The Tom Joyner Foundation named four JSU students Hercules Scholars.

The program is named after Hercules Joyner, the late father of radio personality Tom Joyner, who was a strong supporter of higher education.

The scholars, recipients of $1,500 each, are Claude Davis Jr. of Harvey, Ill., a freshman majoring in accounting; Christian Williams of Memphis, Tenn., a freshman majoring in business; Jeremy Anderson of Baton Rouge, La., a sophomore majoring in mass communications, and Marcus Sidney of Gretna, La., a junior majoring in earth system science.

To donate to JSU through the School of the Month campaign, visit wwwtomjoynerfoundation. org/jackson-state-universitynamed-february-schoolmonth/

Chemistry major lands $210K fellowship

Harold Owens III, a senior chemistry major, has been accepted into the University of Michigan’s Chemical Engineering Ph.D. Program this fall on a fellowship totaling more than $42,000 per year for up to five years. Owens, 21, a native of Indianapolis, is a JSU MARC (Maximizing Access to Research Careers) Scholar.

A man of many talents, he is also considered one of the best yo-yo masters in the world. You can watch him in action in a number of videos on YouTube. ONEJSU

DAVIS

WILLIAMS

ANDERSON

SIDNEY

Historic zoo partnership supports global conservation

By Jim Ewing

Jackson State University has more than a tiger as a mascot. It has adopted the real deal.

Through a unique partnership sealed in November with the nearby Jackson Zoo, the university pledged $120,000 over three years to not only help raise a rare Sumatran tiger cub but adopt the entire tiger exhibit.

Named Eko, which is Indonesian for “first born,” the male cub is now a year old. The exhibit, renamed the Jackson State University Tiger Exhibit, helps finance care for the growing tiger and his habitat. It also provides refuge for two adult tigers — male Emerson and female Sari. Through the partnership, Jackson State furthermore provides educational kiosks and play areas for children, teaching exercises and special rates for zoo memberships for JSU faculty, staff, students and alumni.

“This partnership between the Jackson Zoo and Jackson State University is an important milestone in the history of both institutions,” said JSU President Carolyn W. Meyers.

“For Jackson State, this is proof positive of our embracing our community here as well as another investment in future leaders for the rest of the 21st century,” she added. “Adopting Eko and his habitat affords cross-disciplinary teams of JSU students the opportunity to design and implement experiences that will ignite the flame of learning.”

Meyers helped plan projects and

academic activities for students. One idea that promises to be quite popular is the soon-to-be-installed “Tiger Cam” being coordinated through JSU’s INNOVATE center at Sampson Library and the Mississippi eCenter@JSU.

The zoo’s executive director, Beth Poff, called the partnership an exciting opportunity. “First off, we are neighbors. Secondly, this will benefit the Sumatran tiger breeding program and conservation efforts. And lastly, it will contribute to the well-being of west Jackson.”

Josh Friedel, Jackson Zoo’s director of Major Gifts and Annual Fund, facilitated the partnership. The agreement “establishes an extensive relationship in which both parties will work together to achieve mutually desired long-term goals,” he said.

He added that he was “honored and proud to work with Dr. Meyers and her staff to see this historic agreement come to fruition.”

To promote the partnership, “How Do You Zoo JSU” was held during JSU’s annual Blue and White Tiger Fest on campus April 11.

The zoo brought small animals for petting and offered membership information. Then, on April 25, a communitywide JSU Zoo Day was held at the zoo to officially celebrate the tiger adoption.

The JSU mascot was available for photos; the JSU band performed; and children were treated to face-painting and carousel rides. ONEJSU

Sumatran tigers Why adoption matters

The adoption of the JSU Tiger Exhibit is monumental for the animals and the community. Sumatran tigers are critically endangered, with fewer than 400 remaining in the wild.

The Sumatran tigers are part of a Species Survival Plan at the Jackson Zoo and are also the main focus for global conservation efforts.

This tiger subspecies is found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Its scientific name is Panthera tigris sumatrae, and adults can reach upward of 300 pounds. Sumatran tigers are the smallest surviving tiger subspecies and are distinguished by heavy black stripes on their orange coats.

They are protected by law in Indonesia, with tough provisions for jail time and steep fines. But despite increased efforts in tiger conservation — including law enforcement and anti-poaching efforts — a substantial market remains in Sumatra and the rest of Asia for tiger parts and products. Sumatran tigers are losing their habitat and prey quickly to deforestation, and poaching shows no sign of decline. Global conservation efforts, therefore, are critical if the Sumatran tigers are to survive.

Welcome Eko and join today

JSU zoo membership

Individuals: $5 per year

Families: $25 per year

Hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily (except Christmas)

Location: 2918 West Capitol St. (easily accessible from JSU campus, I-20, I-220, and I-55) www.jacksonzoo.org/jackson-state-university-3

JSU zoo supporters are encouraged to use the social media hashtag #HowDoUZooJSU.

— Jackson Zoo and the World Wildlife Fund

Photo courtesy of the Jackson Zoo Eko (above) as a cub with mom Sari and a year later (left).

Photo by Deontae Williams | Jacksonian

Sugarloaf Mountain Peak in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Passport WORLD to the

It doesn’t matter where you grew up. The sprawling suburbs. A small town in the Delta. If you are a student at Jackson State University, the message is the same: You are going places.

By Bette Pearce and Tammy Ramsdell

This summer, 72 students are participating in Jackson State University’s new Passport to the World program, a nationally groundbreaking, condensed study abroad approach designed by JSU Global to prepare a workforce equipped to both succeed and lead in what is now a highly competitive, global economy.

Whether they choose to stay in Mississippi, move to one of the nation’s sprawling metropolises, or end up in another country, they are part of a global marketplace.

And JSU is bringing that message home with unprecedented clarity.

“We live in an global, complex, interdependent world without borders,” said Dr. Priscilla D. Slade, special assistant to the provost for JSU Global and Community Colleges. “As an institution of higher learning, we are creating a pipeline of graduates with global competencies that will empower them to compete and make viable contributions as global citizens.”

Today’s landscape

Statistics bear this need out.

According to the latest numbers available from the U.S. State Department, international trade supports more than 320,000 Mississippi jobs with customers in 194 countries buying Mississippigrown and manufactured goods and services, resulting in $12.2 billion goods exported in 2012.

From manufacturing, including global automakers Nissan and Toyota, agriculture, high-tech start-ups and the military to the growing healthcare

industry, global markets and applications are already a part of the landscape.

“To remain competitive we need a workforce with global competencies,” said Mississippi Congressman Bennie Thompson.

Carl Newman, as Jackson Municipal Airport Authority CEO, sees firsthand the role both Hawkins Field and the Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport play in global economic development. It’s crucial, he said, that JSU help students “develop global competencies and learn to live and work with individuals throughout the world.”

Newman, because of such expertise, is part of a 10-member JSU Global Board of Advisors being formed “to help determine future study abroad destinations and course topics,” said Slade.

Carly McKie, marketing and trade assistant at the Mississippi World Trade Center — one of more than 300 World Trade Centers in 100 countries — said Mississippi “is never going back to being a state economy.”

Regardless of location, in fact, she said international experience is a growing focus of many companies as they recruit.

“It’s absolutely imperative that students today have an international education, and personal communication with people in other cultures is something you really can’t teach,” McKie says. “You have to experience it.”

National model

Traditional study abroad programs last several months and cost thousands of dollars. Jackson State University wanted

Photo by Kenyatta Stewart | Jacksonian

a more affordable alternative, Slade said, with exposure to cultures beyond predominantly European destinations.

And it wanted to reach a greater number of students.

The Passport to the World program delivers just that. It offers intense, abbreviated study opportunities, created and led by JSU’s own faculty, first two weeks overseas, then two weeks on campus. A groundbreaking partnership with the Council on International Education Exchange, announced in January, brings that organization’s site expertise into the mix.

Offerings this summer include France (Paris); Spain (Madrid); China (Shanghai); Brazil (Rio de Janeiro and Salvador da Bahia); and Dominican Republic (Santo Domingo). The unique arrangement offers students six credit hours and allows the program to be incorporated as part of tuition, with many students eligible for financial aid to cover the $2,000 price tag.

Dr. John P. Pellow, president and CEO of CIEE, which operates international programs at 140 universities across the U.S., expects the

Help them take flight

Tax-deductible donations for student airline and related Passport to the World travel expenses can be made to: Crowdrise.com/jsupassporttotheworld

JSU Global, 1400 John R. Lynch St. PO Box 17103, Jackson MS Make checks, money orders payable to Jackson State University Foundation. For more information, visit www.jsums. edu/global or call (601) 979-1611.

approach launched at JSU to be “emulated all across the country.”

Ever mindful of the costs associated with international travel, JSU and CIEE went a step further, pledging, as part of its partnership, to provide 100 students each with passports. To showcase the partnership, CIEE kicked off its Passport campaign — aimed at getting 10,000 passports to students nationwide — at JSU in February.

According to the National Institute for International Education, less than 10 percent of the 300,000 students earning degrees in the U.S. in 2013-’14 studied abroad. By comparison, more than 800,000 international students attended U.S. colleges and universities.

Jackson State University’s Passport to the World program serves as its pledge toward NIEE’s goal of doubling the number of U.S. students with study abroad experience by the end of the decade.

Jasmine Harvey, a 22-year-old social work major from Macon, Ga., appreciates the effort underway at JSU. Because of it, she signed on to study in Paris.

“I hope to gain a further understanding of a foreign country, its people and its culture,” she says, “and gain a cultural competence to be able to travel anywhere and adjust.”

Slade has no doubt that such a goal will materialize for Harvey and others.

“All of the students traveling abroad this summer will have a definite edge and a higher level of marketability,” she says, “as well as experiences that will last a lifetime.”

ONEJSU

Dr. John P. Pellow, left, president and CEO of the Council on International Education Exchange, and Dr. Priscilla Slade, special assistant to the provost for JSU Global and Community Colleges, talk about the groundbreaking Passport to the World partnership.

Jackson State University students gather documents and have photos taken for passports as part of JSU Global’s new Passport to the World program.

Studying in Senegal

Welcome to the wonderful world of Wolof

By Bette Pearce

When Dequindre Robinson graduated from Jackson State University in May, she took away more than a major in psychology and a minor in French.

She also carried with her warm memories of a new “family” in Africa, as well as knowledge of Wolof.

What’s Wolof, you ask?

It’s the language of the Wolof people of Dakar, Senegal, where Robinson, through a scholarship, spent four months at the Council on International Education Exchange Language Institute.

“I wanted to diversify myself, learn about other cultures and meet new people,” Robinson said. She also wanted to improve her French. “I was minoring in French, and Senegal is predominantly French-speaking.”

However, she got more language education than she bargained for. Her host family spoke Wolof as well as French.

“I thought I spoke French fairly well until I got in a country where French is actually spoken all the time. It’s quite different; accents can make understanding challenging,” she said.

Challenging all the more, she laughs, was when her host family would switch from French to Wolof.

Robinson said living in Senegal gave her a greater appreciation for life in the U.S. “Education there is so inadequate. Some students didn’t have teachers in classrooms or even books, yet students still had a great eagerness to learn. We take our opportunities in this country for granted.”

Robinson said she also made friendships with fellow international students.

“There were about 40 students from all over the world when I was there — Japan, China, France. We all came together in Africa. Despite our differences in ethnicity, we found a way to unite through a similar goal, to learn and to expand our horizons outside our comfort zones and our own cultures.”

Robinson said she’s kept in close touch with her Senegal host family. “I miss them and keep in touch over Facebook and Instagram.” In May, she said, she sent them pictures of her wedding dress.

The 23-year-old Saginaw, Mich., native will begin a career as an English teacher in Detroit this fall.

“I would love to go back to Senegal someday,” she said, “to visit my teacher there, my host family and some very good connections I made there.” ONEJSU

ROBINSON

Photos by Charles Smith & Deontae Williams | Jacksonian

By Tammy F. Ramsdell

He was raised in West Point, Mississippi, but as the son of two educators, Kenyatta Stewart, a Jackson State University art professor, always has been keenly aware of a world much bigger than the small town he grew up in.

And it’s an awareness that he wanted to share with students. So he set his sights on creating his own hybrid study abroad program to Brazil two years ago.

“Some of our students have never been out of the state, let

alone the country. I wanted to open their eyes to what’s out there,” said Stewart, who spent 15 years in the commercial design and broadcast industry before joining JSU. “I wanted to give them a global perspective … they need to realize they are competing these days in a global market.”

While many study abroad programs — especially in the art world —revolve around Western Europe, Stewart took a decidedly different approach, choosing Rio de Janeiro and Salvador as focal points.

This summer, he is returning to Brazil — Salvador Da Bahia to be exact — with another group of students as part of JSU’s new faculty-led Passport to the World program.

“Salvador, the first capital of Brazil, was the destination of African slaves during the transatlantic slave trade,” he said, explaining his choice for the 2013 trip. “With its heavy African influence, it’s considered the cultural heart of Brazil.”

Choosing a destination, however, was only a starting point. Site visits, which Stewart in part funded out of pocket, and months of research preceded the actual 2013 trip, as did the finalization of studies — two weeks abroad and two weeks on campus with courses in computer graphics and Web design.

The nine students who went were equipped, through the university, with iPads for research and related course work.

Stewart is quick to emphasize the “study” aspect of the program.

Although many unfamiliar with the field still see art as an easy, even sometimes expendable, pursuit as compared to math and science, for example, it is anything but.

“Art is more than pretty pictures,” he said, characterizing its study and commercial implementation as a “visual science” requiring both analytical thinking and creative problem solving. In fact, the students’ fields of study included not

only graphic design, but biology and computer science as well.

It is against this backdrop that visits were made to dozens of historical sites, schools, churches, museums and open-air markets.

The beaches were dazzling and the scenery beautiful, said Stewart, but it was a visit to a favela (slum) in Salvador that made one of the biggest impressions.

“There was a dialogue between these kids in the favela and our students,” said Stewart, “and they were in awe of seeing not one but nine college students in front of them who looked just like them.”

Although college is free in Brazil, the public education system is so lacking (four hours a day for those who do attend), that the ability to pass a college entrance examination is nearly impossible.

“To them, being a college student is likened to winning a lottery,” said Stewart.

“That was just one instance of many that changed our students’ perspective, to see what opportunities they have and to take advantage of them.” ONEJSU

STEWART

Photos, opposite page: Women in Pelourinho, the historical district of Salvador, dress in traditional Afro-Brazalian clothing. Above, clockwise from top left: JSU students visit Mestre Bimba’s Capoeira school; Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics and music; the Selaron Stairs, created by Chilean artist Jorge Selaron; Christ the Redeemer, the world’s largest Art Deco statue of Jesus Christ, in Rio de Janeiro; artwork on the street of Pelourinho; and a TV station interview with JSU student Cammrynn Stith about the then-upcoming World Cup.

Photos by Kenyatta Stewart | Jacksonian

Celebrating campus diversity

Jackson State University celebrated the rich languages, cultures and contributions of its 315 international students and dozens of faculty — representing 60 countries — during its 25th annual International Week March 23-27, and the International Programs Office was officially renamed JSU Global.

The Global Opening Day Ceremony featured dignitaries and alumni celebrating the power of JSU’s growing diversity. Kayla Wilson, a JSU music education major, sang a benediction in Swahili before the food — including fresh sushi —was served on the plaza in front of the Student Center.

Highlights of International Week included a rousing Parade of

Flags with global music dancers from local schools; a model United Nations and an international movie night, bazaar and fashion show.

Dance and sports were also part of the festivities, and cultural mementoes were distributed from several countries, including Czechoslovakia, Cambodia, Nicaragua, South Korea, China, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, India, Tanzania, Kenya, Vietnam, Yemen and Turkey.

Scholarships and awards were presented at the International Scholarship and Awards Banquet to students and those who contributed to the many programs over the years. The featured speaker was Wilbur Colom, a prominent lawyer, businessman and philanthropist from Columbus, Miss. ONEJSU

Partnering with Mexico

ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY

Jackson State University awarded English language proficiency certificates to 73 students from 10 countries for successfully completing the month-long English as a Second Language Institute program.

Receiving certificates at the Dec. 11, 2014, ceremony were 42 students in the Proyecta program — the largest at any university in the U.S. — and 31 students in the ESLI program, from the Universidad Tecnologica de la Huasteca Hidalguense in Hidalgo, Mexico.

“This is a part of a larger initiative by the United States and Mexico to develop a 21stcentury workforce for the mutual economic prosperity of both countries,” said Dr. Priscilla Slade, special assistant to the provost for JSU Global and Community Colleges.

Many students are returning to JSU in the fall — 14 to graduate school and two to undergraduate programs. ONEJSU

— Bette Pearce

Photos by Charles A. Smith and Deontae Williams | Jacksonian

BRAVE IN A NEW WORLD

SHE DIDN’T KNOW THE LANGUAGE. OR ANYBODY. FOUR MONTHS OVERSEAS AS A JSU SENIOR HAD CHANGED HER. THERE WAS A WHOLE WORLD OUT THERE TO EXPLORE.

By Bette Pearce

Not yet 30 years old, Gabrielle Frazier is part of a young and burgeoning global citizenry. She’s studied in China, taught in Japan and visited some of the great cities of Europe and Asia — London, Paris, Rome and Istanbul.

She’s even taken her parents’ advice to “spread her wings” perhaps more literally than they would have liked, skydiving and bungee jumping during her solo overseas excursions.

“I’ve experienced things I thought I’d never be capable of doing,” says the 2010 Jackson State University graduate, who recently returned to Jackson.

Frazier, who spent four months of her senior year studying in China, credits her alma mater for making available otherwise unexplored opportunities.

“I’d never thought about studying abroad before, but I went for it,” says Frazier, the 28-yearold daughter of Mississippi state Sen. and Mrs. Hillman (Jean) Frazier. “When I got home from China, I wanted more experiences abroad. I caught the travel bug.”

That travel bug led to a three-year stint in Japan as an English teacher through the Japan Exchange and Teacher program.

Japan established the exchange program in the 1980s. About 5,000 individuals worldwide apply each year, with some 1,000 accepted.

Shortly after graduating with a degree in English, Frazier was contacted by JSU’s Career Services Office about the program. “They really do a great job keeping graduates and students abreast of different career opportunities, not just locally but around the world.”

When JET representatives visited campus, “I remember sitting in that meeting and thinking this was just perfect for me. It was a paid position, I would be living on my own, and it just seemed like an adventure that fit well in my life and where I was at the time,” Frazier says.

After a yearlong application process, Frazier was accepted into the JET program. She left for Takasaki only two months after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated large portions of Japan.

Since Takasaki is located in central Japan, about a two-hour train ride from Tokyo, Frazier did not see the devastation that others who would become close friends had lived through. “They are real heroes,” she says.

“These same friends and colleagues,” she says, “were really surprised to learn that I did not speak a word of Japanese.”

“But I got along fine. I took a beginner’s course in Japanese when I got there, and I worked with a Japanese teacher in teaching primary and secondary English. Many Japanese already speak English as a second language.”

“I never would have thought about traveling to other countries by myself. I learned to have the courage to try different things and experience life to its fullest.”

Wanting to experience as much as possible, Frazier used vacation time and holidays for a broad range of “adventures.” In addition to skydiving and bungee jumping over river rapids, she took a plunge off a waterfall; snow skied in the shadow of Mt. Fujiyama; and traveled to cities throughout Europe and Asia.

“I never would have thought about traveling to other countries by myself,” Frazier says. “I learned to have the courage to try different things and experience life to its fullest.”

Frazier made many close friends in Japan, so much so that “Takasaki came to feel like my community,” she says.

“I didn’t have a car, so I rode a bicycle or walked everywhere, as many people in Japan do. I came to feel so connected to the people and the community. When you’re not confined in a car, as we are

here, you find yourself striking up conversations with others and getting closer to the people in the community.”

Frazier had the option of extending her stay another two years, but at the end of her third year, she says, she was ready to return to Jackson and to her parents.

Sen. Frazier is both amazed and proud of his daughter.

“When I was her age, a big trip was going to the (Gulf) Coast,” he says. “She went far beyond her small geographical area.”

He’s also noticed a marked maturity. “She grew up fast and has so much to share now,” he says. “It was wonderful seeing her grow and develop an appreciation of other cultures.

“When her mother and I visited her in Japan, we were so impressed at how she navigated through the city. She went there alone, she made

many friends, learned the language and became very independent.”

Sen. Frazier adds that a world made smaller by technology — citing regular visits over Skype — eased concerns about their daughter being so far from home.

A longtime member of Mt. Galilee Missionary Baptist Church, Gabrielle Frazier now spends much of her time involved in activities at Word of Life Church in Flowood, which she joined upon her return from Japan.

“It was my family and Mt. Galilee that I thought of often while I was away,” she says. “My faith is very important to me, and I love being involved in my church’s activities.”

As for her future career path, she remains unsure. “It would be nice to find a job that involves traveling … but without God and His support, I have no journey.”

Photos courtesy of Gabrielle Frazier

Gabrielle Frazier’s solo trips through Europe and Asia include a dive over a waterfall (cover photo) and bungee jumping (below). While teaching in Japan, her parents, state Sen. Hillman and Jean Frazier, of Jackson, take the opportunity to visit and enjoy the customs.

International Visitors Center of Jackson: A vital link

By Bette Pearce

The International Visitors Center of Jackson at Jackson State University — one of 100 such sites across the U.S. and the only one at an HBCU — operates under the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, through its contacts with foreign embassies, to provide numerous services, from translators and transportation to escorted tours.

Formally established in 1986, initial programming efforts actually

started in the 1960s through the Mississippi College and University Consortium under the direction of Dr. Cleopatra Thompson.

Visitor numbers vary, said Shirley Harrison, interim director of JSU Global, the umbrella under which the center operates, but have topped 500 in a month’s time.

“We arrange visits with people and at places specific to their professional or cultural interests — medicine, business or manufacturing — and oftentimes

civil rights and the Mississippi Blues Trail,” said Harrison.

“Many foreign visitors want an upclose and personal experience with U.S. culture so some local residents serve as civilian ambassadors,” she added. “They may meet for a chat over a cup of coffee, or they’ll invite visitors into their homes for dinner. Lifelong friendships have been developed.”

Harrison’s most memorable experience, she said, involved medical professionals from Russia.

During a tour of the University of Mississippi Medical Center, the group was taken to a neonatal unit where “we saw tiny infants struggling for their lives. It so touched all of us. You could just feel it; nobody had to say a word. We all felt how fragile life is and how grateful it makes us for all the other healthy children in the world.” There were no political differences, no cultural boundaries, she says. “It was an aha moment for all of us.” ONEJSU

A look back with Dr. Ally Mack: 1st International Studies dean

By Bette Pearce

Long before the digital age of iPads and smartphones and social media sites that allow instant access to all corners of the globe, Jackson State University was on the forefront of what is now a commonly termed global economy.

Dr. Ally Mack, chairman of JSU’s political science department in the 1980s, was named the first dean of the Division of International Studies in 1993, which became the Office of International Programs and recently rebranded JSU Global.

“Initially,” Mack says, “students were from countries like Nigeria and other parts of Africa. Through our efforts, we were able to enhance the enrollment of students in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Latin America.”

Now, as then, she holds the same view: “It’s crucial that we build relationships among people around the world. Getting students

“It’s crucial that we build relationships among people around the world.”

— Dr. Ally Mack

involved internationally is something that must take place, and I think there is a greater acknowledgement of that today.”

Mack, who retired in 2012, also headed a four-person committee whose effort led to the formal establishment of the International Visitors Center of Jackson at JSU in 1986.

Mack said she is proud of how the international programs at JSU have expanded, from English as a Second Language courses, translation services and learship forums to faculty exchanges and

ancillary services for international students.

But she is especially proud of the way the students use their experience to help change the world.

“When some of our students who come here go home, and then move up in the upper echelons of government, they are able to really influence the state of the world from the positions they’ve been able to move into.”

It’s through those personal experiences, she says, that the world will become a better place.

Her ultimate goal, she says, “was always having the world as we know it become a better world, a world where we no longer have an Iraq, or an Afghanistan, but where we can go beyond that and, in humane fashion, address the issues that confront us.” ONEJSU

Professional women from Colombia visit with Dr. Priscilla Slade, second from right, special assistant to the provost for JSU Global and Community Colleges.

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

Kenya native designs own future

By L.A. Warren

Native Kenyan and former Jackson State University student James Kithuka said coming to the U.S. involved adapting to its “abrasive, fast pace” and understanding the historical stigma of Mississippi.

“We learn in Kenya to be humble, but meekness in the U.S. is seen as weakness,” he said. “You have to be firm and assert yourself because it sets the tone for the day and business. Basically, you have to take your respect.”

He describes Mississippi as one of the best places for business but said people unfamiliar with the state believe challenges are greater here. He refutes that notion, although before

emigrating he had little knowledge of the state’s sordid past.

“In Kenya, we knew about civil rights struggles but not the full scope. We didn’t know that Mississippi was still considered to be behind,” meaning slow in development and stigmatized for severe prejudice.

He said a German tourist visiting Kenya expressed shock that he was considering relocating to Mississippi.

“I asked what was wrong with Jackson, Mississippi, but he didn’t comment much — just gave an unusual look and tone. Perhaps he felt it might be rude to demonize a choice

I had already made. “I was oblivious to the state’s history.”

Nevertheless, Kithuka, born in Nairobi, made the transition by enrolling at JSU after moving to Mombasa.

It was in Mombasa that he met visiting Jackson native Don Thigpen, who touted opportunities at JSU and in Mississippi. After Thigpen sent him enrollment papers, he was accepted into school and began studying computer engineering. Since international students don’t get financial aid, he eventually ran out of money. He then took time off to hone his arts skills, which led to the creation of his graphic design company, Impact Image, in 2010.

His office, located in the Mississippi e-Center@ JSU, 1230 Raymond Road, produces brochures, promotional cards, annual reports, retractable banners, and much more. Marketing mostly on referrals, JSU is one of his primary clients, along with other schools and organizations such as oil industries, law firms and entertainment companies.

Comparing “toned-downed” Jackson to larger cities, he said the lifestyle is different but far from that expected by many in Kenya.

He recounted how a visiting relative was stunned by the economic progress in the state, negating the impression of a rural place with just dirt roads and farm animals.

Kithuka said even though a person can be taken advantage of through aggressive U.S. business practices, “I don’t want to stop the gentle nature in me. Kenyans go on respect for each other, but you constantly have to work hard here.”

Still, he said, America’s global influence has led to exponential growth in Kenya, where English is the official language and Swahili is the national language.

“Countries in Africa copy the West,” he added, “and improvements in communications have changed everything. The economy is stronger in Kenya. Now, a lot of people are choosing to stay there rather than search for better education elsewhere.”

Also, Kithuka said the West has spurred greater acceptance of liberal conversations in Kenya on controversial social and political issues.

Kithuka describes himself as “a legal alien” but says he aims to take the oath of citizenship within a year since he now has a family with his American wife.

Crediting his parents for their influence, he says he’s also confident that the U.S. is the greatest country in the world.

“It’s the land of opportunity,” he said. “I can’t imagine liking any other country better than the U.S., which has been taking on immigrants since its inception.” ONEJSU

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

“Generally, I can do whatever I want here. Because I’m free only when I get married in Algeria, my parents wanted me to have an international experience to help me grow.”

totally responsible in Algeria, I’m glad my parents allowed me to face difficulties on my own here.”

She said she doesn’t understand why many struggling U.S. adult offspring never return home.

Adapting from Algeria

By L.A. Warren Jackson State University

student Anissa Hidouk says she experiences “reverse culture shock” when visiting her Algerian homeland, a nation that voted in March to criminalize violence against women who are often abused.

“Women have to watch their backs and choose where they hang out because we have a lot of sexual harassment in the streets.” However, she still has an affinity to Algiers, the capital and her birthplace, because her family resides there.

Hidouk said her mother was anxious about her move to the

U.S. because she had heard of many shootings, but Hidouk calls the U.S. a land of opportunity.

“Personally, I feel more threatened back home than in the U.S.,” said Hidouk, who speaks highly of its economic, political and social advantages.

Still, she said, “it’s scary to be in a country where you don’t know all the laws, and if I lose my passport I’m basically nobody.”

In a culture where families try to protect females, relatives were against her plans to study abroad.

However, Hidouk credits her father for spearheading her departure to JSU. Although Hidouk lacked solid Englishspeaking skills, her eldest sister,

who earned an MBA at JSU, urged her to enroll in 2011 with another older sister.

She spent two months of intensive study in the English as a Second Language program. Because of the language barrier, the first semester was tough, but “my professor and the faculty were really helpful.” She’s now a junior pursuing a degree in marketing.

As a Muslim, it took her time to adjust to cultural differences such as religion and food. Nevertheless, Hidouk said living in the U.S. remains the best decision.

“Generally, I can do whatever I want here. Because I’m free only when I get married in Algeria, my parents wanted me to have an international experience to help me grow.”

She said U.S. parents don’t mind children dating, but, in Algeria, “a woman has to stay pure until marriage.”

Furthermore, Hidouk said males or females don’t live by themselves even if they’re 30 or 40 and that, due to expenses, some married couples live with their parents.

“Because we don’t learn to be

It seems, she said, that some parents don’t necessarily feel obligated to care for older children.

“In Algeria, our parents make us rely on them.”

Even though Hidouk appreciates the friendships, freedom and prosperity in the U.S., she suspects her attachment to family and culture will lure her back to “conservative” Algeria.

The decision will be difficult, however, since in the U.S., “anyone can start out poor and become a millionaire.”

Compared to her friends in large northern U.S. cities, she said her adaptation to American culture is easier in a smaller place such as Jackson.

Also, she said she’s impressed with the size of the international community on JSU’s campus.

Describing Algeria as rude, she said Mississippians are refreshingly hospitable.

“They greet you, open doors for you and never make fun of your accent,” she said, adding, “JSU has changed my life forever.” ONEJSU

Anissa Hidouk, a marketing major from Algeria, always has a camera with her, often shooting for the Office of University Communications. See her photographs of the Reena Evers-Everett and Ilyashah Shabazz visit in the The Jacksonian, page 16.

Jacksonian photo

Russian resolve

WRITING CENTER COORDINATOR USES BACKGROUND

TO RAISE JSU’S INTERNATIONAL PROFILE

By Tammy Ramsdell

As a child growing up in the Soviet Union, Tatiana Glushko never would have dreamed that someday she would become Dr. Tatiana Glushko, coordinator of the Richard Wright Center for Writing, Rhetoric, and Research at Jackson State University.

She didn’t, after all, speak English.

But she distinctly recalls, as a 12-year-old, wanting to learn the language. “I didn’t have access to reading and writing (in English), but I was on a constant quest for knowledge.”

It was a quest that her mother

supported. She got her daughter books, and they started reading together.

“I was fascinated by the ability to speak another language,” Glushko says. Although traveling never entered her mind — she was, after all, living behind the Iron Curtain — she wanted to communicate with those who came to the Soviet Union, to “tell them about our country, the beautiful places and the historical landmarks.”

The opportunity for travel, albeit limited, would soon materialize, however. Her father, in the military, was transferred to Poland and then to what was East Germany.

“Moving at an early age, being exposed to different cultures,” she says,” sparked the possibility of ‘going places’ .”

Eventually her family returned to their home country. She ultimately became an English as a Foreign Language instructor at Amur State University in Blagoveshchensk. In 2004, she came to JSU as an exchange ESL instructor.

Two years later, Glushko, who holds a minor in Russian, entered JSU’s master’s program in English and started tutoring at the Richard Wright Center. She joined the staff in 2009. Last year, she earned a Ph.D. in urban higher education.

“I just came to Mississippi and never left,” she says. “This is home.”

Making it home, though, has been a process, by its very nature laden with insecurity and unfamiliarity.

Still, it provides a unique perspective when working with students.

“I know what it is like to feel different, to struggle to express thoughts,” she says. “It feels like walking with my head upside

on her bookshelf

So, what does a writing professional read? Dr. Tatiana Glushko recommends The Black Russian by Vladimir Alexandrov (2013, Grove Press). It is the acclaimed biography of Frederick Bruce Thomas, the son of Mississippi slaves who became a millionaire impresario in Tsarist Moscow and “The Sultan of Jazz” in Constantinople. A small world, indeed.

down … when you don’t own the language.”

Similar feelings, she says, apply not only to international students but to those from the U.S.

Learning to write in an academic setting, even with English as a native language, can seem every bit as foreign. “Both,” she says, “require an adjustment to a particular audience.”

Her background serves her well, too, in positioning JSU as an advocate of writing centers, a concept foreign to many countries, including Russia. In conjunction with a colleague from Russia, she recently offered a writing session, via Skype, at Amur State. Some 50 people, including diplomats, attended.

“In Russia,” she says, “it is difficult to express ideas without being attacked.”

It is her hope that in her native country, in fact in any country, people will embrace the value of writing and the freedom of expression that goes with it.

“We need to learn to negotiate our differences without destroying each other — to see differences as a good thing.”

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

UNIVERSITY HIGHLIGHTS

BancorpSouth visit paying dividends

James “Dan” Rollins III, CEO of BancorpSouth, and Michael Booker, BancorpSouth senior vice president of corporate banking, toured the INNOVATE and CREATE centers and the state-of-the-art stock market trading room in the College of Business in a February visit.

“We’re looking to build a relationship to help build staff for us,” Rollins said. “We need future leaders in our company. We want to make sure that we’ve opened the doors, to make sure that we come and meet and get to know the students as they are coming through the system so that they can ultimately join our company and be a part of our bank.”

Headquartered in Tupelo, BancorpSouth has 292 commercial banking, mortgage and insurance locations in Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas.

Emergency preparedness focus of conference

The first Institutions of Higher Learning Partners in Preparedness Conference brought to campus eight Mississippi universities’ chiefs of police, law enforcement and emergency personnel for what could be a regular series of conferences to share best practices for emergency preparedness.

At the April 15 conference, information and tips were shared related to training, communication and safety techniques, recovery issues from natural disasters and the National Incident Management System.

CEO of Flashnotes shares best digital practices with faculty

Mike Matousek, founder and CEO of Flashnotes, met with JSU faculty to discuss best practices for the digital teaching tool. Forbes magazine described Flashnotes as one of the 12 companies transforming education to watch this year. Matousek launched Flashnotes, an online student-to-student marketplace for class study material, in 2009 while a student at Kent State University.

Saturday

school bell rings

Jackson State University and Jackson Public Schools partnered to offer Saturday School tutoring sessions prior to standardized testing in March. Dr. Lennie M. Little, director of the Center for Teacher Quality, recruited education majors to help at Wilkens Elementary, Blackburn and Whitten middle schools and Wingfield High School. Subjects covered included math, English, reading, history and biology.

Sandy Hook mom speaks

A mother who lost her child during the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting rampage in Newton, Conn., in 2012, was the featured speaker during the Mississippi Child Welfare Institute Conference. Held in Jackson in February, it was hosted by the Jackson State University College of Public Service’s School of Social Work. Scarlett Lewis started the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Foundation in honor of her son.

School

of Journalism making headlines

Media training today, President Carolyn W. Meyers says, must shift to produce “digital storytellers equipped for emerging occupations.”

Subsequently, the JSU Department of Mass Communications is being transformed into a School of Journalism, and returning to JSU to lead the effort is former department head Dr. Elayne Hayes-Anthony. She comes from Belhaven University, where she had served as chair of the Department of Communications for the past 10 years.

Blackburn Middle School gets laboratory designation

Jackson State University has entered a key phase of its historic relationship with neighboring Blackburn Middle School by designating it a laboratory school.

A year in the works, Dr. Daniel Watkins, dean of the College of Education and Human Development, said the concept offers more ambitious ideas to revolutionize learning and instruction for Blackburn’s faculty and its nearly 450 students.

Dr. Robert Blaine, right, dean of JSU’s Undergraduate Studies and CyberLearning, discusses cutting-edge technology of the INNOVATE and CREATE centers during a campus tour with Michael Booker, left, BancorpSouth senior vice president of corporate banking, and James “Dan” Rollins III, CEO of BancorpSouth.

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

Decked out for prancing, dancing

The Sonic Boom of the South debuted new uniforms during JSU’s 2014 Homecoming game. Dowell Taylor, director of bands, said it had been at least 10 years since the band had new uniforms. Roderick Little, associate director of bands and director of marching bands, designed the uniforms, inspired by those worn in the ’70s. The uniforms were purchased with discretionary funds at the direction of JSU President Carolyn W. Meyers.

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

CAMPUS SCENE

Spring Break: Volunteering to help the elderly, families

Assisting the elderly and terminally ill, fixing meals, reading stories to children: It’s not the way most people imagine college students spending spring break. But that’s what a group of Jackson State University students did during their six days away from campus in March.

Twenty-eight students traveled to Atlanta as part of the Alternative Break program.

Eltease Moore, Jackson State University Community Service coordinator, said students spent time preparing meals at Project Open Hands, which assists the elderly and terminally ill receiving nursing care, and at Atlanta Mission, a transition home for women and children. They also assisted at Sheltering Arms, a day care center.

Asean Davis, 19, a freshman in civil engineering, plans to participate again. “It let me see how community service makes a difference. It enlightened me working with kids, because they pick up things so fast.”

James Griffin, 19, a sophomore in accounting, volunteered at a food bank.

“The variety of circumstances under which a person can need assistance was an eye-opener,” he said. “You don’t have to be living in a box to have a rough time.”

Previous Alternative breaks have included service work in Chicago, Washington, D.C., a Gullah Geechee community in South Carolina and in New Orleans’ ninth ward following Hurricane Katrina.

— Jim Ewing

Planting seeds: Jackson State University students competing in the Blueprint Mississippi Social Business Challenge at the state Capitol March 12 didn’t win an award, but they still plan to carry their idea to fruition.

Sierra Jackson, 20, and Javis Jones, 20, both junior business majors, want to start an on-campus organic farm run by students to provide food for the west Jackson community.

Dr. Ramin Maysami, dean of the JSU College of Business, commended the students for their perseverance. “It’s still a winning proposal,” Maysami said following the competition.

Broadcast awards: Firstplace winner WJSU-FM and mass communications’ TigerTV in the College of Liberal Arts Department earned 19 combined honors during the annual Mississippi Associated Press Broadcasters Awards April 18. NPR-affiliate WJSU received first place for its spot news coverage of the 2014 death of Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba.

Garnering 14 awards, the 24-hour news and jazz station was among top winners in professional and collegiate categories. Mass communications’ TigerTV received several second- and third-place honors.

Public comment: JSU students voiced issues at the March 25 Jackson City Council and April 20 Hinds County Board of Supervisors meetings on campus. Dr. Patricia Murrain, coordinator of Speech Studies, introduced students to the Council. LaTonya Curley, a fourth-year graduate student in Public Policy Administration, led the public comments session at the Hinds meeting. Jean Frazier, State Relations coordinator, organized both events.

CSET students judge science fair: A banner at the entrance of Blackburn Middle School reads: “Failure is not an option.” That didn’t appear to be a remote possibility, according to a dozen JSU students from the College of Science, Engineering and Technology who volunteered to judge the school’s science fair. Jamera Barnes, a second-grade science teacher and 2008 JSU alumna, hopes JSU students will turn their involvement, in its second year, into a tradition.

Jacksonian photo

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

In a class of their own

2015 commencement a historical high; first JSUOnline graduates walk the stage

Cornell William Brooks, president of the NAACP, returned to his alma mater May 2 to deliver a rousing commencement address about social involvement.

Describing the class of 2015 as the “Class of Now” during his address at the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium, he reflected on events that have made national headlines such as the deaths of Frederick Gray, Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin.

“This is an extraordinary moment. This is an extraordinary time. This class arrives at a powerful moment in history — uncomfortably situated between the past and present.”

Brooks also recounted his circuitous route to Jackson State. As a high school senior in Georgetown, S.C., he received a number of letters from colleges nationwide, including several Ivy League schools. He also received one from JSU offering him a scholarship. Brooks tossed it.

Then, another letter came from JSU, welcoming him for fall enrollment. He recounted his father’s explanation: “ ‘Boy, when I saw that letter in the trash can I forged your signature and sent it in.’ He added, ‘Son, never throw away money.’ ”

The moral of the story, he added, “is that I believe you should go to a historically black college. It will benefit you; it will shore you up.”

Following the address, JSU President Carolyn W. Meyers conferred degrees on more than 700 undergraduates, the largest graduating class in the university’s history. Another first was the graduation of 20 students from JSUOnline, the university’s digital degree program. The night prior, 352 students received graduate degrees in ceremonies at the Lee E. Williams Athletics and Assembly Center.

—L.A. Warren

Cornell William Brooks

“This

is an extraordinary moment. This is an extraordinary time. This class arrives at a powerful moment in history — uncomfortably situated between the past and present.”

— NAACP President Cornell William Brooks

Photos by Charles A. Smith & Anissa Hidouk | Jacksonian

By Jim Ewing

U.S. District Court

Judge Carlton Reeves is an imposing figure on the bench at the federal courthouse in Jackson, but he breaks into a grin speaking of his years as a student at Jackson State University.

The 1986 grad says he almost didn’t go to JSU. “Thank God for OJ,” he said. Orange juice, that is.

In 1982, the Yazoo City High School senior had an Air Force ROTC scholarship at another university and was awaiting results of the required physical.

Meantime, he kept getting calls from Dr. Maria Harvey of the JSU honors program who thought he would be a perfect match. After months of waiting

and time growing short before school would start, the physical results came back showing an anomaly. Apparently, although he had been told not to eat or drink anything prior to the physical, he had consumed some orange juice at a rest stop beforehand that threw off the results.

Since there was no time to retake the test, he called up Dr. Harvey and asked, “Is it too late to come to JSU?”

The rest, as they say, is history.

At JSU, Reeves, 51, met Lora McGee (class of ’86), the woman who would become his wife. Although they had both grown up in Yazoo City, he didn’t get to know her until he was in the last semester of his senior year. They

were seated near each other in a business law class. He was smitten from the start.

Their daughter, Chanda, 20, is now a junior at JSU studying psychology.

LEGAL CAREER

Reeves’ legal career is quite distinguished. After graduating from the University of Virginia Law School in 1989, he worked as an extern with then-Hinds County Supervisor Bennie Thompson, now 2nd District U.S. congressman. He was a law clerk for former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Reuben Anderson before joining the staff of the Phelps Dunbar law firm. That led him to be tapped by

U.S. Attorney Brad Pigott as chief of the civil division, from 1995 to 2001. After Pigott left the post, Reeves joined him as a partner in the firm of Pigott, Reeves, Johnson and Minor. In 2010, President Barack Obama appointed him to the federal court bench.

The prestigious list of jobs and people, Reeves said, all go back to the people, places and relationships he formed at JSU.

“I loved politics,” he recalls. He used to watch political conventions on television and was glued to the set during Watergate. He worked in Robert G. Clark’s failed 1982 congressional campaign. Naturally, he majored in political science at JSU.

“We had the most caring people at Jackson State in the Political Science Department” — Ally Mack, Les McLemore, Mary Coleman, Roy DeBerry, George Mitchell, Charles Holmes — “all of those folks had a genuine interest in our success.”

at a glance

• A Lifetime JSU Alumni member, Judge Carlton Reeves is the first of his family to graduate from a four-year college, first to be a lawyer and first to be a judge. He’s the second AfricanAmerican federal judge from Mississippi.

• The most important advice for students: “Read. I tell students that all the time. Reading improves writing skills.”

Holmes was the pre-law advisor “and he used to always encourage us to think about applying for law school and to think about going away because ‘you can always come back home,’ ” he said. “You can get into Ole Miss or Mississippi College but let’s just see if you can get to other places.’ ”

The outlook, said Reeves, encouraged him to apply to UVA. Holmes’ advice paid off for several of his cohorts, who went from JSU to law schools at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, and other big-name schools.

“And Jackson State prepared all of us to do that,” Reeves points out.

Rob Long, Lee Frison — “we all hung out together at Jackson State” — and another older JSU grad, Ottowa Carter, all went to UVA law school, he said.

STUDENT ACTIVISM

Jackson State was a hotbed of activism when he was in school, Reeves said.

Protests were held against the Institutions of Higher Learning

over funding. “We were always protesting, mostly led by a young man named Thomas Fox,” he said. “We marched on the state Capitol.” And they enlisted students from other Mississippi historically black colleges and universities to march.

The Jake Ayers college desegregation case was still only in its beginning stages.

“But for the vote, I would not be where I am now.”

While the federal lawsuit would eventually award $503 million to HBCUs in Mississippi for past underfunding, conditions were far different then. “At that time, the campus was small, the facilities were not up to par.”

At one protest, at Ole Miss, “I remember going up to one of the dorms and seeing just how nice their dorms were vis a vis what was at Jackson State. It opened my eyes.”

The Rev. Jesse Jackson came to campus in 1984 and led a march to the Hinds County Courthouse for JSU students to register to vote. It was at that march that Reeves got to know Lora better. They both marched and when it was over, the

JSU cafeteria had already closed. Lora was living with her sister who suggested he have dinner with them. “And we started dating,” he said. They married in 1990.

THE POWER OF A BOOK

Another experience at JSU, he said, that “opened my eyes” was a book. He thought he had a good education in Yazoo City, and he did, he said. But Professor Charles Holmes told him in his sophomore year that he should read the book Yazoo: Integration in a Deep Southern Town by Willie Morris. Being from Yazoo City, he had met Morris and knew all the people mentioned in the book, but he had never read it. Morris’ wife, Jo Anne Pritchard Morris, had taught him in school.

His was the first class in Yazoo City that was integrated from first grade through high school graduation. They had the first integrated prom. But reading Morris’ book gave him a perspective that was at once encompassing, intimate and lasting. Jackson State allowed him to grow as a person, he said.

As a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, Reeves assumed some leadership positions. He also ran for Student Government Association president, but “I lost by just a handful of votes.”

Even that turned out well for him, proving a valuable lesson: A failure doesn’t mean you are going to fail.

The defeat, he said, changed his life, as he began to focus less on politics and more on becoming a lawyer. He took an internship at the Dockins and Wise law firm and that “gave me the opportunity to work in a law office and see what was going on and see how things are done, and it gave me a chance to meet black lawyers.”

Reeves struggled to find a way to get back to Mississippi, to find a job after he graduated from law school.

“I graduated in May and I had no money coming in.”

Working for Thompson helped him get the clerking job with Anderson that led to other opportunities.

“Again, relationships, people who care, who care about you, are fundamental.”

He said he has no ambitions beyond serving out his lifetime appointment of federal district court judge.

“I love this job,” he says. “I think this is the greatest job anybody can have.”

“You face all kinds of issues, and you are the judge. Unlike on the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court, those judges have to get a second vote and, I guess on the Supreme Court side of things, it’s a miserable feeling I would imagine

if you’re always on the 4 side of a 5-4 decision.”

VOTING MATTERS

Civil rights, police power and education are all issues that he faces, and they are all important, he said. They demand his attention, keep him up to date, and require great study. But to single out one issue that he finds important above all others, he said when asked, is to vote.

“But for the vote, I would not be where I am now.”

Also important, he said, is having African-Americans in the legal profession. Lawyers have always had privilege, always had power, he said, but in Mississippi most black lawyers are only first or second generation. Only a handful of blacks were practicing law in the 1960s in Mississippi. White lawyers can have generations of lawyers in their families, he said, and this has influenced law and public policy.

“In Mississippi, those who have been in power have been white people. You cannot disconnect the educational level, the economic status, and all that, the way the laws have been set up in the past, to prop them up on the backs of black folk. You cannot disconnect the condition of HBCUs and everything else, without tying it to that legal, historical context because

Mississippi did everything legally to deprive people like myself of attaining that position.”

OPPORTUNITIES

Today, Reeves is a firm believer in JSU and HBCUs in general.

“I believe that those opportunities to allow me to grow came because of Jackson State — the things that we were involved in on campus and the people who cared enough about us to want us to succeed. I just don’t think those opportunities would come to individuals at the majority institutions. I’m a firm believer in the HBCUs and their nurturing.”

Jackson State University and HBCUs “give you the opportunity to learn about yourself,” he said.

“I learned so much about Carlton Reeves, so much about Yazoo City, so much about Mississippi at JSU.”

In addition, he said, “you are encouraged, you are trained to do well, to be competent.”

If students aren’t tops in their class, a school like JSU “understands,” he said, with the approach that “you can give me something, and I can mold it. I can produce. Just give it to me. I can make it work. You don’t have to be the 4.0 students … we can make you productive citizens. All you have to do is want to learn. We can do that for you. I think HBCUs do that.” ONEJSU

High-profile cases

U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves’ address to three young white men prior to sentencing in the 2011 slaying of James Craig Anderson, a black man, is now celebrated as one of the most powerful statements about racial violence in the South. You can read it at: http:// ow.ly/KyymT

In November 2014, Reeves granted a preliminary injunction blocking Mississippi’s ban against same-sex unions.

In his 72-page order, Reeves said, “Mississippi continues to change in ways its people could not anticipate even 10 years ago. Allowing same-sex couples to marry, however, presents no harm to anyone. At the very least, it has the potential to support families and provide stability for children.”

Photos by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

SEPT. 5

3

17

12

SEPT. 19

24

SEPT. 26

21

Recreational complex revamp

Grand reopening, including Payton Center, broadens focus, programs

By Jim Ewing and Robert Jeuitt

Jackson State University held a grand reopening of its Recreational Complex at the Walter Payton Center earlier this year. The revamped facility includes an expansion to reflect a new primary focus on recreation and increased emphasis on fitness and health.

“JSU is investing in expanding its recreational offerings to students because studies have shown that behind sports, recreational facilities are the No. 2 student recruitment tool,” said Jennifer Probert, the complex’s senior assistant director of marketing and membership.

The JSU Recreation Complex encompasses more than 100,000 square feet with stateof-the-art equipment and workout space. It includes the Walter Payton Center, the TB Ellis facility and swimming pool, tennis courts and a track and field area.

Built in 2005, the Payton Center was named for legendary football star Walter Payton, an All American at JSU. He was one of the most prolific running backs in the National Football League.

The Payton Center, significantly upgraded, also sports a different look. The rotunda’s makeover features inspiring artwork along the ceiling, and a replica Walter Payton jersey hangs in the main hallway, which also is draped with flags emphasizing available health programs. Four Cybek machines have been added to the workout area.

“I think it’s a lot better,” said JSU freshman and complex volunteer Mahogany HopkinsBuckley. “We have new equipment … that will help people in their workout.”

The New Zealand native is one of 75 student employees at the complex.

The physical changes at the complex come with an expanded offering of group fitness classes — from six to 40, Probert said.

The classes include premium fitness instruction for those who want advanced, intense workouts. All staff members are certified and CPR-trained instructors.

Student, staff, alumni and community memberships are offered at special onemonth, six-month and one-year rates.

AMENITIES

• 18,000 square feet of cardio, weight training

• 3-court basketball gymnasium

• 3-lane pool

• 4 fitness studios

• 3 racquetball courts

• 1 squash court

• 1 wellness suite

• 2 intramural fields

• 12 tennis courts

• Outside track, field

• 40 fitness classes

• Massage therapy

• Consultations

• Child care

JSU President Carolyn W. Meyers said students expect top-notch facilities, and the upgrade was done with their needs in mind.

“This generation is more health-conscious,” Meyers said. ONEJSU

Photos by Deontae Williams | Jacksonian

SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS

Washington Nationals draft JSU infielder Melvin Rodriguez

Jackson State University infielder Melvin Rodriguez is headed to the major leagues. The Washington Nationals selected the Manati, Puerto Rico, native on the third day of the Major League draft in June. He was taken in the 18th round and was the 554th pick. He is the first Tiger to be drafted since Pernell Halliman was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 40th round in 2008.

Rodriguez was named to the National Baseball Writers All America third team and the American Baseball Coaches Association All-Region second team. Other honors include: Louisville Slugger All-American; C Spire Ferriss Trophy finalist; SWAC Player of the Year; SWAC Co-Hitter of the Year; an AllSWAC first team selection; and SWAC All-Tournament team member. He also was on the Dick Howser Trophy Watch List. Rodriguez recorded a .422 batting average and had 97 hits, 22 doubles, seven home runs, 61 runs and 65 RBIs. He also posted a .477 on base percentage and a .635 slugging percentage to go along with a .961 fielding percentage.

Hall of Fame: The Black College Football Hall of Fame inducted legendary Jackson State University football coach W. C. Gorden at a February ceremony. Gorden, JSU’s winningest football coach, was named head coach in 1977 and served until 1991. He was selected from a list of 25 finalists.

Celebrity hoops: More than a dozen public officials joined in “Celebrity Game Hoops” during Jackson State University’s Local and Statewide Public Officials Night in February at the JSU/Texas Southern University women’s and men’s basketball games.

A mixed roster of alumni team players from the Jackson City Council joined forces with Mississippi House and Senate members to take on an aggressive team of JSU students from the Student Government Association and other student activity groups.

Bowling: JSU’s women’s bowling team had an outstanding 2014-2015 season. The Lady Tigers won first place at the SWAC West Roundup with a record of 10-2, and they were named SWAC Regular Season Champions after the SWAC East Roundup with a record of 19-5.

Tiger fest, football: Jackson State University welcomed the community to food, fun, music and sports at its annual Tiger Fest on April 11 at the JSU campus on Walter Payton Drive. Presented by the JSU Tiger Fund and the JSU Division of Athletics, Tiger Fest featured the Blue & White Spring Football Game along with a Greek Step Show and concert.

Social media’s full court press: Jackson State University’s social media department hosted its first #GreeksAtPlay initiative to boost attendance at the men’s and women’s basketball games. Ashton Hall, JSU social media associate, said the initiative encouraged Greek fraternity and sorority organizations to adopt specified games throughout the season.

Follow JSU athletics at www.jsumsnews.com.

Scholar-athletes: The third annual “Breakfast of Champions” recognized 137 scholar Tigers and Lady Tigers who earned at least a 3.0 grade point average through the summer of 2014. All 18 sports were represented at the February event organized by the JSU Division of Athletics. The team breakdown was as follows: football, 34; women’s soccer, 16; baseball, 14; men’s track, 11; softball, 10; volleyball, 8; men’s tennis, 6; men’s basketball, 5; women’s basketball, 5; women’s tennis, 4; bowling, 3; men’s golf, 2; women’s golf, 1; and women’s track, 1. Of the 137 student-athletes, four recorded a perfect 4.0 GPA; 58 finished between the 3.5-3.99 range; and 75 recorded between a 3.0-3.49.

Myers gets ‘Big Break’ on Golf Channel

Standout golfer and Jackson State alumnus Clay Myers parlayed his skills on the course into an appearance this spring on the Golf Channel’s hit series, Big Break the Palm Beaches, and became a fan favorite in the process.

The series was shot in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, at Jack Nicklaus’ PGA National Resort & Spa. The stakes were high for the cast of 12 — $50,000 and an opportunity to play in the PGA Tour’s Barbasol Challenge in June.

“I learned I have what it takes — how to dig deep and how to bring out that fierce, competitive side of me,” said the 24-yearold, who made it to the final four before being eliminated.

While at JSU, Myers, coached by Eddie Payton, led the university to four SWAC titles and was named 2012 SWAC Golfer of the Year. Shortly after graduating with a degree in accounting, Myers qualified for the 2012 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills in Colorado.

Being the only African-American among 300 qualifiers further solidified his desire to play golf professionally.

“I couldn’t believe I was the only AfricanAmerican in the field,” said Myers. “It seemed like a sign, that this was what I was supposed to do, play tournament golf to inspire more diversity in the game at its highest level.”

Myers, a Memphis native, lives in Orlando, Fla. He continues to work a variety of jobs to fund his budding golfing career, including commercial work for television. He’s also caddied for Cheyenne Woods, niece of legendary golfer Tiger Woods, on the Symetra Tour.

Photo by JSU Athletics/ Jacksonian

Armed with experience

Public safety officer, now studying social work, a voice of encouragement

By L.A. Warren

Although a career in law enforcement means putting your life on the line, fear never has gripped Jackson State University Public Safety Captain Angela Butler.

Rather, the fulfillment that comes from helping others motivated her to pursue her lifelong passion and was furthered by watching television shows such as Law & Order, Magnum, P.I. and Miami Vice. Butler, a native of Jackson, is now in her 20th year at JSU, describing it as one of the best places to work and attend school. She also is a junior studying social work.

“I love the atmosphere. I love interacting with people from all over the world, particularly learning about their cultures. I get to help students whose parents bring them here.

“Once they’re dropped off, I’ve had the privilege of ‘adopting’ some of them to let

them know that JSU is not about partying but about learning.”

In her role as administrative captain, Butler is a supervisor and office manager, handling payroll and dispatch — emergency and nonemergency calls. In addition, she assigns parking decals and reserved spaces and files Uniform Crime Reports to the FBI. While some of these tasks may seem mundane, her job at times has been an emotional roller coaster.

She recounts a case that took a toll on her and reverberated throughout the city and state. In 2007, the slaying of JSU student Latasha Norman was a wrenching moment. Butler said she had numerous friendly encounters with Norman before the tragedy.

“It touched me even more because her body was found in the neighborhood where I grew up,” she said. “When I get home I have to take off this uniform. I’m still human. Emotionally, there is some wear and tear.”

For seven years, Butler worked with Crime Prevention and Safety to try to avert harm and assist victims of rape and assault. “Now, I’ve been able to refer people to the Latasha Norman Center at JSU,” which was named after the slain student.

The facility assists people in coping with

domestic violence and other issues that speak profoundly to Butler, a single mother of three daughters — 13-year-old twins and a 3-yearold. Also, Butler grew up as the youngest of four girls in her family.

Throughout her decades at JSU, she said she’s seen many positive changes, citing the university’s expansion with the Mississippi e-Center@JSU, the Madison campus and the new downtown location. As the main campus grows, she said she’d love to see a parking garage built.

Away from work, the law enforcement officer says she’s incognito. “No one seems to recognize me. I’m not a flashy person, but I do have average people clothes,” she joked.

As well, Butler said she loves to bowl, averaging 190. Her competitive spirit and athleticism (she played basketball and ran track in junior high and high school) have spread to her older daughters, who power lift. Also, on some weekends, she assists with a friend’s catering and wedding-planning business.

In the future, Butler aspires to become a deputy chief or assistant chief. However, she says her biggest joy for now is encouraging youth to excel. ONEJSU

Photo by Charles A. Smith | Jacksonian

Faculty/Staff Notes

E dwards-Evans promoted, joins president’s cabinet

Dr. Nicole EdwardsEvans, promoted to vice president for Enrollment Management and Institutional Research, joins the president’s cabinet. She oversees enrollment management, institutional research and assessment, accreditation and JSUOnline.

Previously, Edwards-Evans served as associate provost for Institutional Research, Planning and Enrollment Management in which she was instrumental in pushing JSU to a record enrollment of more than 9,500 students.

White, named interim VP, joins president’s cabinet

Dr. Mary M. White has been appointed interim vice president for Institutional Advancement and is a member of the president’s cabinet.

White oversees and leads Alumni and Constituency Relations, the Center for University-Based Development, Community Engagement, Department of Events, the JSU Development Foundation, Metro Jackson Community Prevention Coalition, University Communications and the Welcome Center.

She is the inaugural chairperson and associate professor of the Department of Entrepreneurship and Professional Development in the College of Business.

Skelton appointed director of DSEI

Dr. Gordon Skelton has been named director of Data Sciences, Engineering and Intelligence in the College of Science, Engineering and Technology.

The new post brings together CSET areas of interest throughout the campus.

Skelton, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,

has directed CSET’s Center for Defense Integrated Data at the Mississippi e-Center@ JSU since 2005.

Hayes-Anthony

heads Mass Communications

Dr. Elayne HayesAnthony, who served as director of the Department of Mass Communications in the 1990s, has returned to the position. She comes from Belhaven University in Jackson where she had served as professor of communications and chair of the Department of Communications since 1998.

A native of Jackson, Hayes-Anthony was the first African-American female to serve as a news anchor on WJTV-Channel 12 in Jackson.

Blaine Undergraduate Studies and CyberLearning dean

Dr. Robert Blaine is the new dean of Undergraduate Studies and CyberLearning.

Blaine, special assistant to the provost for CyberLearning and associate professor of music, has served as interim associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts, among other duties.

He has blazed a trail in the university’s incorporation of online learning and is an Apple Distinguished Educator.

Blaine and a team of other JSU faculty and staff launched the 2012 iPad Technology Advantage that equips freshmen with iPads. The program also tracks student progress.

Azevedo named dean of Liberal Arts

College

Dr. Mario Azevedo has been named dean of the College of Liberal Arts.

Azevedo served as interim dean, College of Public Service, which includes the School of Health Sciences, School of Social Work and School of Policy and Planning, from 2009-2013; as acting dean, College of Public Service, in 2008, and as interim associate dean, School

of Health Sciences, 2007-2009.

He came to JSU in 2006 from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he had served as chair and Frank Porter Graham Professor in the Africana Studies Department, College of Arts and Sciences.

Azevedo also had worked in the JSU Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. He earned a Ph.D. in history at Duke University in 1975.

Leggette named to HBCU Advisory Conference Board

Dr. Evelyn J. Leggette, associate vice president for Academic and Student Affairs, has been named to the College Board’s HBCU Advisory Conference. The century-old College Board is a nonprofit organization designed to expand access to higher education.

Leggette will work with other members of the board on the academic affairs side of the HBCU conference in setting topics that will be of interest to department chairs, vice presidents and presidents on how to improve and work together on the issue of student success. Members of the advisory panel are selected from the academic, financial aid and enrollment communities from member institutions of the College Board

Humanities Council recognizes band director

Dowell Taylor was recently honored with a Mississippi Humanities Council Teacher Award.

Taylor is assistant professor of music and director of the nationally renowned Sonic Boom of the South marching band. He has served as director since 2012. He also served in that capacity from 1984-1992.

In accepting the award, Taylor spoke on “The Arts: A Struggle for Survival.”

Azevedo

Taylor

Skelton

Edwards-Evans

Hayes-Anthony

White

Blaine

Leggette

Accomplishments

Faculty/Staff Notes

Calhoun honored for ‘dedication to teaching’

Dr. Thomas Calhoun, interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts, has won The Mid-South Sociological Association’s Distinguished Career Award.

The award was presented at the 2014 MSSA Conference in Mobile, Ala.

A sociology professor, Calhoun was selected because of his “tireless dedication to teaching,” said MSSA President Dr. Timothy B. Gongaware.

Huntington lectures at Princeton

Dr. Yumi Park

Huntington, assistant professor of art, lectured recently at Princeton University on Andean pre-Columbian ceramics.

An art history teacher, Huntington is writing a book titled Pre-Columbian Ceramics: A Thematic Approach.

She says her study is the only one of its type in the U.S. that looks at utilitarian objects from the archeology of the Andean region and catalogs them from the standpoint of social stratification, religious practices and the makers’ ethnicity.

Huntington recently won a $10,000 annual grant from a private philanthropist to further her research. She has taught at JSU since 2011.

Legislature honors professor, student

Dr. Zikri Arslan, professor of chemistry, and student Harold Owens III were honored by the Mississippi Legislature as part of Higher Education Appreciation Day/Working for Academic Excellence. The event is held annually to recognize academically talented students and faculty members from the state’s institutions of higher learning.

Owens is the winner of the JSU Student of the Year HEAD/WAE Award and is

a JSU Presidential Scholar. He has been awarded a full scholarship to the graduate program in chemical engineering at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Arslan previously worked as a National Research Council post-doctoral research associate at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s James Howard Marine Sciences Laboratory in Sandy Hook, N.J., and as an assistant research scientist at University of Maryland Chesapeake Biological Laboratory.

Anderson

named

to board of directors

Dr. Brian Anderson, associate professor of social work, has been elected to the Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Board of Directors. He also was named Social Work Educator of the Year at the 43rd Alabama/ Mississippi Social Work Education Conference held at Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Ala., an honor previously won in 2009.

Anderson was recently accepted to the third cohort of the Academy for Research and Scholarly Engagement at Jackson State. He is an accreditation site visitor for the Council on Social Work Education and serves on CSWE’s Council on Leadership Development.

Former police chief oversees JSU’s safety

Lindsey Horton, former chief of police for the city of Jackson, joined Jackson State University’s leadership team as associate vice president for safety and security. He oversees safety and security at all JSU sites and venues and coordinates emergency and risk management across the university by continuously upgrading procedures, protocols and policies needed to keep the university safe.

the ar t of teaching

Master filmmaking class: Multiple award-winning acclaimed actor, director and producer Tim Reid, along with other members of the Legacy Media Institute of Petersburg, Va., presented a two-week master class on filmmaking to 11 aspiring multimedia students.

Reid, best known for his roles in the television series Frank’s Place, Sister Sister, and Tremé, chose two students to join LMI in London for a two-week film workshop in June. They also presented their work in a public screening at the end of May.

Art from afar: Art scholars traveled across continents to introduce Korean and Chinese art to Americans and give their work to JSU’s permanent art collection. Ceramics scholar Dr. Dong Hun Chung of WonKwang University in South Korea led the delegation, which included Fang Man, a ceramic artist and art professor at China’s Jingdezhen College and Wang Xing Quing, an associate professor of design at Hengshui University in Hebei Province in China. Hyun Chong Kim, JSU professor of art and ceramics, curated the show that featured dozens of works, including ceramics, textiles and oil paintings, some never before seen in America.

Liberal Arts fest: The JSU College of Liberal Arts touted its academic offerings at LA Fest March 30, with a courtyard luncheon and jazz entertainment. Each of the college’s disciplines — Arts, Humanities, and Behavioral and Social Sciences — explained success in cultivating skills in research and analysis; written and oral communication; visual literacy; and creative expression in the arts.

Reid

Kim

Anderson

Horton

Arslan

Huntington

Calhoun

Golden Tigers: The Class of 1965

Classmates set $100,000 fundraising goal during yearlong anniversary celebration

Fifty years after graduating, members of the class of 1965 donned doctoral caps and gowns to receive diplomas during the Golden Diploma Ceremony during May’s commencement exercises. The anniversary celebration and accompanying fundraising drive will culminate with homecoming activities in October. Class members hope to raise $100,000 and surpass the class of 1964’s challenge to meet its $68,000. Money raised by Golden Tigers helps ensure baby Tigers will have opportunities to create their own memories at Jackson State University.

A defining moment: 1964 demonstration

In 1964, then 20-year-old Mamie Ballard became the unintentional catalyst of a student demonstration and protest on John Roy Lynch Street. A white motorist hit Crockett as she was crossing Lynch Street going from the cafeteria to her dormitory room. In those days before the pedestrian plaza, Lynch Street was a busy thoroughfare connecting downtown to west Jackson.

Students resided on the north side of the street but ate meals, attended classes and used the library on the south side. During rush-hour traffic in mornings and afternoons, students literally took their lives into their own hands to get to and from their dorms.

Ballard survived with a broken leg, bruises and

In his own words

lacerations, but students — who long had been pushing for a traffic light — began demonstrating when police let the driver go.

Five years later, following another demonstration and the shooting of 14 students and the death of two young men, James Earl Green and Phillip Gibbs, the plaza was constructed and traffic was rerouted around the campus onto Terry Road (now University Boulevard).

These days Crockett is a retired Jackson Public Schools administrator but came back to her “dear old college home” for the Golden Anniversary 50th Reunion of the Class of 1965. ONEJSU

Editor’s note: Father Charles A. Wonch, SCJ, a veteran, graduated from Jackson State University in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in industrial management. Like so many, he holds a special place in his heart for his alma mater. We are sharing his unsolicited letter, with his permission, as a testament to the value of getting an education and pursuing one’s dream.

I have always been thankful and proud of the education that I received while studying at Jackson State University. I had finished my tour of duty in the U.S. Air Force and had moved back to Mississippi to live, work and start a family. While working at Kuhlman Electric Company in Crystal Springs, (Miss.), I heard about the opportunities of completing a degree at JSU. I was encouraged from the first meeting with admissions about gathering all the college credits I had accumulated since graduating in 1965 from Colville High School in Colville, Wash.

After talking to the VA and Kuhlman management, I started the task of working

full time, going to school full time, and working for the Catholic Church while starting a family and building a home.

My wife is long gone, and my children are grown and have families of their own. But since I had received such a good education at JSU, I attended Springhill College in Mobile, Ala., and received a Master of Theological Studies degree.

I worked with many parish priests and churches around central Mississippi while working for 15 years as a purchasing supervisor at Grand Gulf Nuclear Station.

God seemed to be calling me to come and follow Him and be of service to His people where ever He wanted to send me. This prompted me to start looking at the priesthood in the Catholic Church. I was accepted to join and study with the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and moved to Milwaukee in 1995 — leaving all behind.

I continued my studies at Catholic Theological University in Chicago and received a Master of Divinity degree. I was ordained to the priesthood in Jackson, Mississippi, by Bishop William Houck and served in the Indian Missions in South Dakota for nine years.

All of this was possible only by the good education and encouragement that I received while studying at JSU.

Thank you so much for the great foundation. I continue to pray for great success of the school and all of its students. It is wonderful to get The Jacksonian and see how far so many have gone with their lives.

Sincerely yours,

Through the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Father Charles A. Wonch, SCJ

Ballard-Crockett

Wonch

classnotes

’60s

Samuel Jefferson Jr., (’68) who served as director of Sports Information at JSU from 1973 until his retirement in 2002, was inducted into the College Sports Information Directors of America Hall of Fame during a ceremony in June in Orlando, Fla. He graduated from JSU in 1968 with a major in speech communication and English literature.

’70s

Dr. Rose Harper Austin, (’72) a member of the Jackson State University Alumni Hall of Fame, received the 2015 IMPACT award from the Women’s Guild in Houston for outstanding community contributions. After retiring from the Lone Star College System in 2009 as the dean for Institutional Effectiveness, Austin became an education and nonprofit consultant and an adjunct professor at Springfield College. In 2010, Austin made history as the first African-American woman to serve as a Rotary district governor in Texas. She graduated from JSU in 1972, receiving both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English literature, and earned a Doctorate of Education degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of Houston.

Dr. Mary D. Coleman (’73) has been named Chief Operating Officer for the Crittenton Women’s Union, a Boston-based nonprofit innovator in helping low-income women and their families become economically self-sufficient. For the past five years, Coleman had served as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Lesley University where she co-developed a Master of Science in Management degree. Prior to Lesley University, Coleman was associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and director of the Center for University Scholars at Jackson State University. Coleman was a postdoctoral fellow in public policy at

University of Maryland and in liberal arts at Harvard School of Law, and holds a doctoral degree and a master’s degree in political science from University of Wisconsin-Madison, as well as a bachelor’s degree in political science from Jackson State University.

Camille Stutts-Simms (’78) was appointed to the school board of Jackson Public Schools — Mississippi’s second-largest school district — last fall. Stutts-Simms, an independent insurance broker, co-owns the Royal Bleu Boutique, located at One University Place on the JSU campus, with daughter Marissa Simms. Stutts-Simms received a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Missouri, which led to a career with IBM. She graduated from JSU in 1978 with a degree in biology.

’80s

Michael Chatman (’81) is the face of a new United Airlines international ad campaign, “Making the world feel like home in any language.” The ad has been prominently displayed in New York Times Square, on some of the city’s buses and in other venues and publications worldwide. Chatman was named a 2011 JSUNAA STAR (Special Thanks And Recognition) by the metro New York chapter. He graduated from JSU in 1981 with a degree in mass communications.

Vernon Ross (’82) is the new director of STEM & Generations Engagement for Lockheed Martin Corp. Culture, Diversity and Equal Opportunity Programs and, as such, develops and leads STEM higher education and generational initiatives. Ross designed and launched the Lockheed Martin Cyber Security Talent Management Initiative that included the Lockheed Martin Cyber University. He graduated from JSU in 1982 with a degree in computer science and mathematics. He received his master’s degree in computer education from Philadelphia University and a Doctor of Educational Leadership and Innovation degree from Wilmington University.

Jefferson

Harper Austin

Stutts-Simms

Coleman

Ross

Chatman

Dr. Earlexia Norwood, M.D. (’84),

director of Practice Development and Community Health Education at the West Bloomfield Hospital in Detroit, was named the 2014 Legacy of Leaders Distinguished Alumni of the Year by the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame Foundation Inc. Norwood is a member of the hospital’s board of governors and the inaugural president of the Organization of Physicians, Academicians, and Executive Leaders.

Dr. Gerald L. Roberts Weatherspoon (’84)

has been named a 2015 Teaching Excellence Award winner at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., where he is the associate chairman for the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. In 2002, Weatherspoon became the first African-American to be granted tenure in science and engineering at George Mason and remains the only African-American faculty member tenured in its College of Science. He graduated with honors from JSU with a bachelor’s in chemistry in 1984 and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, Davis, in 1995.

’90sChad A. Smith of Atlanta has received the YMCA of Metro Atlanta’s 2014 Volunteer of the Year award for his service at the Arthur M. Blank Family Youth YMCA. Smith, a commercial pilot and FAA-certified flight instructor, assists in his son’s classroom and leads cheerleading practices for his daughters’ classes. Smith also volunteers at Sheltering Arms Early Childhood Education & Family Center and the Kindezi School. Smith graduated from JSU in 1997 with a degree in finance.

’10s

Tramell Tillman (’08) made his Off Broadway debut in Tis a Pity She’s a Whore in April. He spent this past summer in upstate New York as a member of the Chautauqua Theatre Conservatory. He also recently finished shooting a brief role in a new web series, Difficult People, from executive producer Amy Poehler. The mass communications major graduated from JSU in 2008 and received an MFA in theatre from the University of Tennessee Knoxville.

Stuart P. Lott (’08) has joined Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP as an attorney in the firm’s Banking and Financial Services Practice Group and its Financial Services Litigation and Compliance Team. He was also recently appointed vice chairman of the Minorities

In the Profession Commitee of the Young Lawyers Division of the American Bar Association. Lott earned his J.D., with a concentration in business law and regulation, from Cornell Law School and his B.B.A. in finance, summa cum laude, from JSU in 2008.

Christopher Herro, (’10) band director at Edna Karr High School in New Orleans,accepted an invitation — made in person by The Lord Mayor of Winchester — to perform in London’s New Year’s parade. Herro graduated from JSU in 2010 with a music education degree.

ALUMNI APPLAUSE

Jackson State University shares the success stories of its alumni through Alumni Applause, a website of the Office of Alumni and Constituency Relations.

To submit information and a photo for the website and future editions of The Jacksonian, please visit: www.jsums.edu/alumni/category/alumni-applause/information

For more information, contact Mea Ashley, alumni program specialist, at mea.e.ashley@jsums.edu or (601) 979-2942.

Lott

Herro

Smith

Tillman

Norwood

Weatherspoon

FY2013-2014

Alumni, friends, corporations, foundations and organizations continue to provide invaluable support for scholarships, academic programs, facility upgrades and other needs.

Indeed, it is our donors, including some who choose to remain anonymous, who help maintain the foundation on which great futures for Jackson State University students are built. We thank you for your loyalty and generosity. The Department of Advancement Services makes every effort to verify the accuracy of its Honor Roll of Donors. If your name does not appear, is listed in the incorrect category or is misspelled, please call 601-979-0418 or email johnyelle.lee@jsums.edu.

$100,000 and Above

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi Foundation

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. National Headquarters

Robert M Hearin Foundation

Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund

WeatherVision, Inc.

$50,000 - $99,999

Hursie Davis-Sullivan

Heeers, P.A.

Alma Pittman

Winston Pittman

Regions Bank

Richard Sullivan

The Estate of Bennie J. Wren

$25,000 - $49,999

Joe Tatum

Union Pacific Corporation

$10,000 - $24,999

Beatrice Anderson

James Anderson

Anonymous

BankPlus

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi, Inc.

Danella Catchings

Howard Catchings

James Covington

C Spire Foundation for Education & Economic Development, Inc.

Golda Franklin

Jimmie Franklin

Willie Houston

iVision IT Consultants

John McGowan

Charles McTeer

Carolyn W. Meyers

Julie Miller

NAVSEA

Lou Sanders

Southern Heritage Foundation, Inc.

Leland Speed

Spring ‘81 Heroes

Luther Williams

Ruth Williams

$5,000 - $9,999

Abbott Laboratories Foundation

jackson state university fy 2013-2014

AJA Management & Technical Services

Geraldine Barnes

Thomas Calhoun

Willie Farmer

Lee Frison

Lawrence Gordon

H. D. Catching Insurance Agency

Andrell Harris

Paul Hemphill

Horne CPA’s and Business Advisors

Charles Johnson

Roy Jones

JSU Alumni Players Association

JSU Greater Washington D.C. Area Alumni Chapter, Inc.

My Joy, Inc.

William Overton

Payton Family Foundation, Inc.

Porter’s Insurance Agency

Saatchi and Saatchi North America, Inc.

Steven James Insurance Agency

Eugene Stewart

Worth Thomas

Byron Turner

Sonda White

James Wiley

Margaret Wodetzki

$2,000 - $4,999

100 Black Men of Jackson

Richard Alo

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Gamma Rho Chapter

American Honda Motor Co., Inc.

Anthony Anderson

AT&T Corporation

George Barnes

Jessie Bishop

Blakstarr

Miki Bolton Wilson

Robert Braddy

Artrie Caston

Fulton Caston

Marcus Chanay

Clarice Clayton-Johnson

Calvin Cunning

Regina Davis-Myers

Dixon Hughes Goodman, LLP

Elinor Draine

Tellis Ellis

Enterprise Holdings Foundation

Alvin Flowers

E Foster

Velvelyn Foster

Frito-Lay, Inc. (Texas)

Eva N. Gaines

Richard Gaines

Rosalind Hal

Larry Heard

Mary Heard

Solomon Henderson

Hesselbein Tire Co., Inc.

Lindsey Horton

Tyree Irving

Jimmie L. Sandifer

Real Estate Co.

Maxine Johnson

Michaelle Jones

Laawandaa Jones-Horton

JSU Class of 1963

JSU Memphis

Alumni Chapter

JSU Meridian

Alumni Chapter

JSU Metro New York

Alumni Chapter

JSU Scott County

Alumni Chapter

JSU St. Louis

Alumni Chapter

Defronia Kelly

Robert Kelly

L.A.D. Engineering Technologies

Herbert Loving

Cynthia Melvin

Mississippi Manufacturers Association

MJT Integrated

Systems Solutions, Inc.

Loretta Moore

Sedric Myers

Darryl Pilate

Will Pugh

Michael Robinson

Shell Oil Company Foundation

Pasqual Slaughter

Doris Smith

Herman Smith

Southern AgCredit

St. Paul M.B. Church

State Farm Insurance Companies

Kenyatta Stewart

The P & G Fund of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation

Beverly Toomey

TPG Global, LLC

Walgreens

Michael Walker

Wanda Walker

Vernon Weakley

Frazier Wilson

Bobbie Wilson

Stephanie Wilson-Coleman

Terry Woodard

Demetrice Wraggs

$1,000 - $1,999

Advanced Therapeutic Concepts, Inc.

Ivye Allen

Farshad Amini

Bertrand Antoine

Gregory Antoine

ASEE

AT&T Foundation

Bank of America Foundation

Bank Management Systems, LLC

BankPlus (Ridgeland)

Fred Banks

Stanley Blackmon

Bolden Body Shop & Wrecker Service

Geraldine Brookins

Phillip Brookins

C. Jerome Brown

Jacqueline Brown

Timothy Brown

James Brownridge

C & B Enterprises

Bernice Cain

Percy Cain

Capitol Drywall Supply, Inc.

Capitol Physical Therapy, P.A.

Billy Carcamo

Alveno Castilla

Geraldine Chaney

Coca-Cola Foundation

Coleman, Alexander, Prosser Foundation, Inc.

Robert Cook

William Cooley

Meredith Creekmore

Cummins, Inc.

Steven Cunningham

Johnnie Daniels

Virgie Davis

Mark Dawson

Dorothy S. Thompson

Realty

Hosea Dorris

Education Connections

Consultants

Empowerment Corporation

Environmental Management Plus, Inc.

Mehri Fadavi

Mary Fielder Jones

First Commercial Bank

Velvelyn Foster

Vivian Fuller

Funches and Associates

Jeff Good

Willie Hall

Ashton Hamme

Jimmie Harmon

BoNita Harris

Eunice Harris

Alferdteen Harrison

Paula Haynes-Hicks

Lionel Henderson

Aaron Honeysucker

Honeysucker & Honeysucker, Inc.

IBM Matching Grants

Program

J.M.C. Healthcare Services, PC

Jack and Jill of America

Malcolm Jackson

Mildred Jenkins

William Jones

Aaron Jones

Julia Jones

JP Morgan Chase Foundation

JSU Hattiesburg

Alumni Chapter

JSU Jackson-Hinds

Alumni Chapter

JSU Nashville

Alumni Chapter

Josephine Kelly

DeJonnette King

Vanessa King

Kathy Knighton-Rondon

Angela Kupenda

L3 Communications

Barbara Large

John Large

Jeanne Luckett

Madison Heart Clinic, P.A.

D.E. Magee

Elizabeth Mahaffey

Robert Mahaffey

David Malone

Tricia Mayes

Annie McCants

Timothy McCarty

Debra McGee

Metro Home Inspection, LLC

James Minor

Mississippi Power Foundation

Moore Healthy Family

Medical Clinic, LLC

Eddie Munson

Vounzell Murphy

Anantha Muscu

National Black College

Alumni Hall of Fame

John Neal

Louise Nichols

Wilfred Noel

Novartis US Foundation

Narah Oatis

Barbara Ousby

Calvin Ousby

Yolanda Owens

Marcia Owens

Dana Pace

John Peoples

Perrylee Home Health Care Services, Inc.

Quinn Healthcare, PLLC

Walter Rayford

Marcus Reed

Rissah Temple NO 130

A.E.A.O.N. MS

Sanderson Farms, Inc.

Roderick Scott

Ingrad Smith

Alean Smith

Ernest Smith

Socrates Garrett Enterprise, Inc.

Eric Stringfellow

Gloria Tatum

Tatum & Wade

Herman Taylor

Vivian Taylor

Wilson Taylor

Henry Temple

George Terry

The Clorox Company Foundation

Andre Towner

Annie Ulmer

United Way of Metropolitan Nashville

Vercell Vance

Voice Of Calvary Ministries

Clemontine Whitaker

Jackie Williams

Elise Winter

William Winter

Nellie Winters Tolliver

$500 - $999

Rose Austin

Cecilia Bacchus

James Bacchus

Dury Baggett

Pamela Banks

Johnnie Barnes

Willie Bell

Louis Beverly

Sarah Binion

Charles Bishop

Blackmon & Blackmon

Leon Bland

Juanita Bluntson

Marilyn Bolden

Robert Bonds

BP Management

Tamika Bradley

Charlie Bridges

May Bridges

Mary Brookins

Dian Brown

Veronica Brown

Donna Bruce

Brenda Bunley

Lillie Campbell

Paul Campbell

Clyde Canady

Gwendolyn Caples

Driscoll Carr

Eddie Carr

Gina Carter-Simmers

Cesco, Inc.

Natalie Chadwell

James Clark

Pearl Clark

College Hill Baptist Church

Patrick Collins

Community Foundation of Greater Jackson, Inc.

William Cooley

Catherine Cooper

Lawrence Cotton

Patsy Daniels

Melvin Davis

Ronald Davis

Ella Davis

Davis Temple Church of God In Christ

Deborah Dent

Louisa Dixon

Matthew Dockins

Charles Doty

DSH Entertainment, Inc.

ECHO

Debra Estes

Dianne Everett

Eltorry Ficklin

Connie Fitzhugh

Follett Higher Education Group

Jean Frazier

Dorothy Funches

James Garner

Yancy Gideon

Ina Graves

Synarus Green

Adell Hall

Legert Hamilton

Edgar Hardy

Kevin Harris

Harvey’s Fish Hut

Bennye Henderson

Derek Henson

Perjetta Hightower

Thelma Hill

Clarence Hogan

D’An Howard-Carter

Charles Hull

IMS Engineers

IMS Logistics, LLC

Sherman E. Jackson

Jackson Music Awards, Inc.

William Jenkins

Annette Johnson

Leslie Johnson

Reuben Jones

Louise Jones

Arthur Jones

Velina Jones-Dixon

JSU Former Cheerleaders & Tumblers Club

JSU Milwaukee

Alumni Chapter

JSU Rankin County

Alumni Chapter

JSU SE VA

Alumni Chapter

JSU Tupelo/North MS

Alumni Chapter

Ramzi Kafoury

Mildred Kelley

Carlos King

Lampton High School Reunion

Lekisha Laster

Clara Lee

M3A Architecture, PLLC

Mahaffey’s Quality Printing, Inc.

Audrey Martin

Alfred Martin

Mayo Mallette, PLLC

Iva McCants

Charlette McInnis

Griffin McLaurin

Members Give

Marty Miller

Mississippi Economic Council

Mississippi Minority

Business Alliance

Patricia Mitchell

Mount Carmel Ministries

Mark Newsome

LaVerne Nichols

Once for All, Inc.

Jim Perry

Pfizer Foundation

Matching Gifts Program

Pfizer, Inc.

James Pickens

Laverne Pilate

Annette Pridgen

Boddu Rao

James Renick

Velma Richmond Spann

Alesha Russey

Mary Scott

Larry Sehie

Bernice Shelwood

Lecluster Sherrod

John Shoemake

Almetia Simmons

Stanley Sims

Gordon Skelton

Robert Smith

Magnoria Smothers

Charles Spann

John Steel

Mary Sutton

Jana Talley

James Tate

Ada Taylor

Paul Tchounwou

Mary Terry

Henry Thomas

Brenda Thomas

Lee Thompson

James Torrey

Aminata Traore

TRUIST

Francis Tuluri

James Turner

Rosetta Walker

Wilbur Walters

Jeremy Ward

Vera Watson

Bertha West

Glen Whittaker

Anthony Wilcher

Dorothy Williams

Willis Clinic, PPLC

Maudie Wilson

Dura Wilson

James Wilson

Victor Wyatt

Alberta Yeboah

Jeffrey Zubkowski

$100 - $499

A & L Heating and Air

Demetrius Abram

Jamie Abrams

William Abshaw

Alean Adams

Jamea Adams-Ginyard

Tim Adler

Jennette Alexander

Chester Allen

Vonda Allen

Amerimac Chemical Corp.

Christopher Amos

John Anderson

Rosia Anderson

Lisa Anderson

Ulos Anderson

Wilfret Anderson

Annie Anderson

Ruby Anderson

Shawanda Anderson

Victor Andrews

Another Chance

Enterprise Adult Services

Donna Antoine-Lavigne

Annie Archie

Arender Plumbing & Heating Supply & Parts, Inc.

Rosie Arnette

Ronica Arnold

Christopher Artis

Mea Ashley

AT&T Federal Political

Action Committee

Ernestine Azevedo

Peter Azogini

B.B. King Museum & Delta

Interpretive Center

Amin Baaree

Helen Bailey

Josephine Bailey

Kathryn Baines

Ezra Baker

Clemon Baker

Debbie Ballard

Mamie Ballard-Crockett

Barron Banks

Helen Barnes

Vincent Barnett

Evelyn Bass-Haley

Joe Beard

Joseph Beard

Beck Funeral Home

Sandra Beckard

Vinnie Beckley

Marie Belay

Vanessa Bell-Calloway

James Belton

Alisa Benjamin

Willie Bernard

Pamela Berry

Charlie Bibbs

Mary Bibbs

Marrice Biggers

John Billups

Millard Bingham

Charles Bingham

Lillie Bingham

Phyllis Bishop

Mollie Blackmon

Willie Blackmon

William Blakney

Aubrey Bland

Theresa Bland Green

Tasha Blevins

Erica Bolden Mack

Jordan Bonner

Quinton Booker

Frances Booth

Janice Bracey

Charles Bradley

Douglas M. Breland

Annie Brew

Paulette Bridges

Hunnando Brim

Arthur Britton

John Brooks

Donald Brooks

Dorothy Brooks Reddix

Bessie Mae Brown

Bonnie Brown

Carolyn Brown

Debra Brown

Edgar Brown

Jacqueline Brown

Lillian Brown

Yolanda Brown

Eva Bruce

George Bruce

Brittney Brumfield

Carver Brunner Woodard

Anthony Brunson

Kenneth Burks

Daarel Burnette

Annie Burney

Pamela Burney-Wilson

Ralph Burns

Tim Burns

Catherine Burpo

Beneta Burt

Billy Bush

Gloria Butler Thomas

Christine Byrd

CA Technologies

Matching Gifts Program

Katherine Cage

George Cain

Peggy Calhoun

John Calvin

Louis Cambridge

Dwayne Campbell

Leon Campbell

Derrick Cannon

Phyllis Caples

Rosemary Cargin

Martin Carodine

Sherri Carr

Janice Carr

Deandre Carr

Charles Carraway

Conrad Carriere

James Carson

Earlcine Carter

Alphonse Carter

Cissye Carthan

Michael Casey

Hilda Casin

Craig Cassidy

Donald Causey

Central State

Troopers Coalition, Miss. Chapter

Jean Chamberlain

Milton Chambliss

Brenda Chapman

Luddie Chapman

Albert Chapman

Chevron Humankind

Matching Gift Program

Farah Christmas

Darryl Christmon

Laura Claiborne

Jennetta Clark

Alfred Clark

Stant Clark

Kimberly Claxton

Ethyle Dean Clay

Henry Clay

Jennie Clay

Lapearl Clayton

Melissa Clayton

Leon Clincy

James Coffey

Carolyn Coleman

Mary Coleman

Jimmie Collier

Clara Collier

Earsell Collier

Walter Collier

Thaddeus Collins

Kenneth Collins

Trence Collins

Combined Human Support Services

Ricardo Comegy

Sara Conard

Elaine Coney

Louvenia Conner

William Cook

Corning Incorporated Foundation

William Cotton

Henry Cotton

Robert Cowherd

Ronnie Cox

Mary Cox

Linda Cox

Ernestine Crate

Jert-Rutha Crawford

Cynthia Cross-Green

Billy Crowther

Bryant Cunningham

Andre Curry

June Dampier

Frances Dancer

Doris Dancy

Dessie Daniel-Mayfield

Linda Daniels

Samuel Davis

Garry Davis

Kevin Davis

Roosevelt Davis

Dawinna Davis

Edna Davis

Milliard Davis

Benjamin Davis

Diane Davis

Sharon Davis

Gwendolyn Davis

Charity Dean-Cannon

Roy DeBerry

Delta Air Lines Foundation

Willie Don Denard

Kermit Dilworth

Cynthia Dismuke

Debra Divinity

Sheretta Dobbins

Charles Dockery

Marydale Donald

Cecelia Dorsey

Lamatha Doss

Perry H. Doss

Juanita Doty

Lorraine Dozier

Frank Drayton

Dadra Driscoll

Joe Eckford

Laverne Edmonson

Veronica Edwards

Dorothy Edwards

Lillie Edwards

Patrease Edwards

Thomas Eiland

Tellis Ellis

Bobbie Ellis

Alta Ellis-Babino

ENROH

Entergy

Entergy Services, Inc.

Antionette Epps

Epps Investate, Inc.

Devon Estes

Marilyn Evans

V. Lynn Evans

Sheila Evers-Blackmon

Lela Fairley

Jean Ficklin

Fidelity Charitable

Gift Fund

Florece Fields

Jennifer Fields

Finley Services

Firefighters Limited

Jannie Fishback

Grace Fisher

Walter Fisher

Ronnie Flowers

Cecil Forbes

Vera Ford

Billy Foster

Lannie Foster

Alvin Franklin

Shanna Franklin

William Franklin

Carroll Frazier

Rowland Frazier

Carroll Frazier

Sunny Fridge

Rhonda Fulgham

Ada Funches-Nelson

Bobby Gaines

James Galloway

Keisia Galmon

Pamela Gary

Miguel Gates

Leslie Gates-Durr

Martha Gathings-Williams

Lorraine Gayden

Ruben Gentry

William Gettis

Joe Gibbs

Robert Gibbs

Ella Gibbs

Joel Gibson

Gerrick Gibson

Giles and Associates, Inc.

Maxine Odom Gilmore

David Gilson

Paul Gipson

Ida Givens

Roger Givens

James Glass

Vanella Glass

Joseph Godine

Debra Goodman

Larry Goodwin

Vivian Gorden

W. C. Gorden

Loria Gordon

Cynthia Gordon

Ellis Goss

Adrienne Graham

Monroe Grant

Bettye Graves

Summer Graves

James Graves Jr.

Tiffiney Gray

Albert Gray

Elizabeth Gray

Roderick Gray

Duncan Gray

Johnnie Gray

Jenna Green

Naomi Green

Lucille Green

Anthony Green

Cynthia Green Heard

Claudia Greene

Myannaice Griffin

Pollia Griffin

Samuel Griffin

Shallie Griffin

J.A. Griffith

Marcus Griffith

Maxie Grishby

Johnnie Gross

Stanley Gunn

Obra Hackett

Philip Hairston

Evelyn Haley

Alphonso Hall

Gwendolyn Handy

Sam Hannibal

Joyce Hansford

Lovely Hardy

William Harkless

Rose Harless

Alex Harper

Tracy Harris

Margaret Harris

Rodney Harris

Julius Harris

Jeffery Harris

Marc Harris

Johnny Harris

Terrance Harrison

Jacqueline Harvey

Toney Hayes

Wanda Hayes

Elaine Haynes

Gregory Hays

Cheryl Hearn

Beverly Hearns

Martha Hearns

Avis Heath

Lenora Heath Williams

Joseph Henderson

Annie Henderson

Causie Henderson-Clay

Latoya Hentz-Moore

Larry Herring

Michael Herrington

Myrtis Herrod

Clara Herron

Pamela Hervey

Donald Hewitt

Barbara Hill

Dennis Hill

Cecil Hill

Betty Hill

Kimberly Hilliard

Sam Hines

Danielle Hinton

David Hoard

Henry Holbrook

Pauline Hollins

Dennis Holloway

Jerry Holmes

Albert Holmes

Charles Hooker

Ivory Horne

Joseph Horton

Willie Horton

Olivia Host

Jonathan Houston

Rosella Houston

Percy Howard

Benard Hubbard

Thomas Hudson

William Hudson

Ava Hudson

Mattie Hudson

Gladys Humphreys

Huttos Home & Garden Center, Inc.

Loubirtha Irvin

Isabella Ivshin

J & M Funeral Home

Judy Jackson

Tommiea Jackson

Angelica Jackson

Anna Jackson

Ben Jackson

Lynnae Jackson

Anita Jackson

Karsteon Jackson

Michelle Jackson

Tamara Jackson

Jackson Cardiology Associates, P.A.

Maurice James

Mavis James

Curtis Jamison

Kimberly Jefferson

Robert Jefferson

Melvin Jenkins

Robert Johnson

Peder Johnson

Steven Johnson

Omar Johnson

Marlene Johnson

Donald Johnson

Jerome Johnson

Guyna Johnson

Harvey Johnson

Luberta Johnson

Kevan Johnson

Hazel Johnson

Lee Johnson

Linda Johnson

Louise Johnson

Nathaniel Johnson

Pat Johnson

Glenda Johnson-Marshall

Bergie Jones

Mattie Jones

Emma Jones

Brenda Jones

Shirley Jones

Joann Jones

Faye Jones

Glinda Jones

Janene Jones

Margaret Jones

Cheryl Jones-Shaw

Vera Jones-Wilkins

Gladys Jones-Wilson

Tommy Jordan

Bobbie Jordan

George Jordan

James Jordan

JSU Los Angeles

Alumni Chapter

JSU Pike County

Alumni Chapter

Eun Ju

Patricia Juday

Sunitha Kareddy

Jie Ke

Shelia Keahey

Flora Kelly

Daryl Kendrick

Jessica Kennedy

Yolonda Kennedy

Rosie Kersh

M. Keyes

Hyunju Kim

Robert Kincaid

Candra King

Charles King

Rosa King

Tita King-Williams

Mario Kirksey

Larry Kirkwood

Tanisha Kirkwood

Ollie Knight

Leslie Knott

Yu-Chun Kuo

Ladies of Distinction

Social & Civic Club

Shirley Laird

Terrance Lampkin

Lucy Lane

Charles Langston

Ketra Lashley

Patricia Lawson

Belinda Lawson

Arthur Lawson

Rosalyn Layton

Wardell Leach

Marjorie Lee

Jayda Lee

Keith Lee

Sophia Leggett

Gene Leland

Andrew Lenoir

Jacqueline Lett

Kevin Lewis

Edward Lewis

Jannie Lewis

Tifanie Lewis

Jason Lewis

Xuejun Liang

Celestine Lindsey

Harriett Littlepage

Roosevelt Littleton

Ying Liu

Michael Livingston

Feleica Lockhart-Wilson

Latonyia London

Garry Long

Ralphael Longmire

Barbara Longmire

Rizaldy Lopez

Deborah Love

B. Anne Lovelady

Clarence Lovelady

Shujuana Lovett

Shirley Lowery-Luallen

Gregory Loyd

Dorothy Lucas

Hersie Lucas

Gregory Luckett

Robert Luckett

Luretha Lucky

Naomi Lyles

Helenstine Mabry

Carolyn Macon

Gwendolyn Magby

Rebecca Magee

Martha Magee

Sophiea Major-Boyd

Betty Mallett

Connie Mallory

Michael Malouf

Felecia Mangum-Herrington

Marilyn Manning

Mahmoud Manzoul

MARTA Employees

Charity Club

Etta Martin

Pamela Martin

Laura Mason

Rodney Mayfield

Arthur McCants

Alvin McCathen

Lois McClellan

Diana McCree-Evans

Cheree McCurdy

Danny McElroy

Mary McElroy

Barnie McGee

Lillian McGee

Delicia McGee

Elbert McGowan

Shirley McGowan

Ladonna McGrew

McKee Law Firm, LLC

Channing McLaurin

Leslie McLemore

Bonnie McNeal

John McPherson

Andrew McQueen

Dwain McSwain

Donald McWilliams

Angel Meeks

Dewillican Middleton

Mabel Middleton

Alonzo Miller

Hope Miller

Mississippi Society of Georgia, Inc.

Mississippi Tennis Association

Frankie Mitchell

James Mitchell

Nicole Mitchell

Vincent Mitchell

Steven Momon

Andrew Moncure

Cora Montgomery

Joseph Montgomery

Marva Moore

Emma Moore

Eltease Moore

Herman Moore

Loisteen Moore

Starlett Moore Matthew

Viola Morgan

Mark Morgan

Tepricka Morgan

Morgan Stanley c/o CYBERGRANTS, INC.

Bobby Morris

Ellice Morris

Mariam Mosavizahed

R. S. Mosley

Dana Moton-Cox

Emmanuel Muhammad

Percy Murdock

Terri Murry Whalen

Monique Myrick

Robert Naylor

Mildred Neal

Mercedes Neal

Christopher Neely

Yulanda Nelson

New Hope Baptist Church

Cherise Newell

Alnida Ngare

Gladis Nichols

Richard Nichols

Catherine Nichols

Northrop Grumman Corp.

Phyllis Norwood

Jannifer Norwood

Novo Nordisk, Inc.

James Oatis

Kenny O’Banner

Marie O’Banner-Jackson

Margie Odom

Vesherler Odom-Watts

One Voice Singers

Tabitha Otieno

Annie Owens

Chester Owens

Joe Owens

Joycie Page

Queene Paige

Terri Palmer

Bobby Pamplin

Renault Pannell

Pannell & Associates, Inc.

Stanley Parker

Dwayne Parker

Douglas Parker

Mary Parks

Anita Patlolla

Isadore Patrick

Rubbie Patrick-Herring

Jonnie Patterson-Young

Regina Peaches

Pauline Pearson-Stamps

Beverly Peavie

Leone Peeples

Cassie Pennington

PepsiCo Foundation

Doris Perkins

Dennis Perkins

Henrietta Peyton

Rodney Phillips

Joseph Phillips

Phillips Medical Services

Rose Pickett Williams

Joanne Pinkston

W. Randall Pinkston

Ria Pinkston-Mckee

Elon Pittman

Rachel Pittman

Dale Pittman

David Polk

Nicey Polk

Allen Poole

Artimese Porter

Dion Porter

Sheila Porterfield

Della Posey

Belfondia Pou

Preston Powell, III

Kenneth P’Pool

Charles Prater

Gwendolyn Prater

Rosie Pridgen

Provine Football

Booster Club

Mitchell Purdy

Quest Fitness Club, LLC

Geraldine Rainey

Gwendolyn Rakes

Demethria Ramseur

Dharam Rana

Barbara Randle-Owens

Ora Rawls

Patric Ray

Lela Rayborn

Remata Reddy

Thaddeus Reed

Lenora Reed

Dallas Reed

Demetria Reed

Carla Reed

Lilly Reed

Bennie Richard

Crandall Richard

Tony Richard

Donald Richardson

Karmon Richardson

Eddie Rigsby

Kaneitra Riley

Rising Sun First

Baptist Church, Inc.

Dean Roberts

Priscilla Robinson

Lyneal Robinson

Michael Robinson

Reginald Robinson

Salena Robinson

Yvonne Robinson-Horton

Ralph Ross

Porter Ross

Carolyn Ross

Ernestine Ross

Frank Ross

Mildred Rucker

Sybla Rule

Morlyn Russell

John Sampson

Angela Samuel

Delmar Sanders

Eddie Sanders

Felicia Sanders

Robert Sanders

Theron Sanders

Jeremy Sanford

Bettye Sargent

Bettye Saunders

Philip Saunders

Savina Schoenhofer

Regina Schofield

Schwab Charitable Fund

James Scott

Troy Scott

Cedric Shannon

Bessie Shourts

Cretonis Showers

Lilly Silas

Derrick Simmons

Patricia Ann Simmons

Derek Simms

Maxine Simpson

Dora Simpson

Patricia Sims

Phyllis Sims

Catherine Singleton-Walker

Karen Slade

Roy Slater

Demetria Sloan

Jeffrey Sloan

Caprice Smalley

William Smiley

Anna Smira

Lena Smith

Arnetta Smith

Rhonda Smith

Tony Smith

Willis Smith

Langston Smith

Barry Smith

Betty Smith

Delores Smith

Eunice T. Smith

George Smith

Gloria Smith

Janet Smith

Leroy Smith

Mary Smith

Naomi Smith

Rodney Smith

Roosevelt Smith

Smith and Smith Associates

Gregory Smothers

SOL Engineering Services, LLC

Kenneth South

Carleaner Spann

Clyde Speaks

B Ssensalo

St. Peter Missionary

Baptist Church

State Farm Companies

Foundation

Michael Stept

Christine Stevens

David Stevenson

Tommie Stewart

Evette Stewart

Joyce Stokes

Henry Stovall

Rufus Straughter

Betty Strawbridge

George Stribling

Corean Strong

Suburban Sugar Land

Women

Ellina Sullivan-Sims

Regenia Sulton

Robert Sulton

Esther Sutton

Ricky Sutton

Edward Swaggard

Ella Swaggard

John Swan

Djenaba Swan

Lori Swanier

Shelton Swanier

Lot Swarns

Christopher Talbert

Alma Tanksley

Leila Tanksley

Gladys Taylor

Jesse Taylor

Richard Taylor

Sylvester Taylor

Festers Taylor

Michael Taylor

Janice Taylor-Ellis

Clauditte Tchakoua

Alyce C. Teemer

Wilson Terrell

George Terrell

Murlene Terry Taylor

Stephanie Thanes-Harris

The Bennae Group, LLC

The Gaines Law Firm, LLC

The Koerber Co., P.A.

The Wound & Podiatry

Center, PLLC

Matthew Thomas

Edwin Thomas

Angela Thomas

Kenneth Thomas

Belva Thomas

Leon Thomas

Peggye Thomas

Rosalind Thomas

Ruthie Thomas

Willie Thomas Sr.

Michael Thompson

Wilfred Thompson

Geraldine Thompson

Dave Thompson

Hugh Thompson

Thompson Wealth Advisors, LLC

Ana Thorne

Sharon Thorne

Joyce Thornton

Toi Thurman

Tramell Tillman

Joyce Tillman

A. C. Tipton

Leonia Townsend

Transworld Group, LTD

Travelers

Susie Travis

Willie Travis

April Trice

Rachna Trivedi

Veronica Trotter

Brandel Tulsky

Timothy Turner

Earnestine Turner

Mary Turner

Robert Turner

Tyrone Turner

Eddie Turner

Allen Turner

Bonnie Turner

Marvel Turner

Winifred Turner

Olger Twyner

Union Pacific Fund for Effective Government

United Technologies

Lee Vance

Louise Vaughn

Hal Veal

Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau

W. D. Dickson

Enterprises, Inc.

F. Darrin Wade

Lynn Wade

Paul Wade

Angela Walker

Maggie Walker

Annie Walker

Mary Wallace

Walmart Stores, Inc.

Feng Wang

Johnnie Waples

Neari Warner

Sarah Warren-Wells

Christina Wash

Ollie Watis

Daniel Watkins

Watkins Shell Store

Annika Watts

Weakley & Associates

Accounting & Tax Services

Isom Weems

James West

Maurice Whalen

Jean Wheeler

Donald Wheelock

Earl White

Clarence White

Valarie White

Pamela Whitlock

Veronica Whittley

John Wicks

Ruby Wiggins

E. Marcus Wiggs

Willie Wilcher

Mary Wiley

Glenn Wilkerson

Larry Wilkinson

Sharlyn Wilkinson

Avery Williams

Angela Williams

Jimmie Williams

Joeann Williams

Veniti Williams

Barbara Williams

Carrie Williams

Manda Williams

Michael Williams

Michelle Williams

Vincent Williams

Dana Williams

Juanita Williams

Velesha Williams

George Williams

Floyd Williams

J. Williams

James Williams

Sophia Williams

Rosalyn Williams

Thelma Williams

Florence Williams Bryant

Gladys Willis

Elbert Willis

Jessie Willis

Sam Willis

Orvin Wills

Monica Wilson

Benjamin Wilson

Chauncey Wilson

Lillian Wilson

Mary Wilson

Vinnie Wilson

Earlexia Wilson-Norwood

Jesse Wingard

James Wingard

Marline Wingard

Patricia Wise

Aaron Witherspoon

Elaine Witty

WLEZ FM

Cecil Wolfe

Brenda Womble

Damon Woodfork

Mary Woodrick

Ernestine Woodruff

Melvin Woods

Barbara Woods Smith

Ruthie Woodson

Linda Wormley

Delores Worthy Hopkins

Wendell Wright

Xiaojun Wu

Jervon Young

Sidney Young

Moses Young

Earnestine Young

Jonnie Young

Chandra Youngblood

Calvin Younger

Hongtao Yu

$1 - $99

Felix Abram

Linda Adams

Thomas Adams

Clifton Addison

Shirley Aga

Georgina Agahro

Anna Allen

Peggie Allen

Shelton Allison

Allie Almore-Randle

Davis Amedu

Linda Anazia

Winston Anderson

Cora Anderson

Michael Anderson

Leon Anderson

Carla Anderson

Kristie Anderson

Brittany Andrews

Andria Lewis Events, LLC

Armetha Anthony

Johnny Anthony

Florence Anthony

Cornelius Antwine

APAC Artists

Advocates & Accolades

Jeremy Armstrong

Zikri Arslan

Mattie Atterberry

Curtis Augustine

Mable Austin

Mose Austin

Barbara Austin

Freddie Avant

Jane Bailey

Sharolyn Bailey

Clinton Baker

Robert Baker

Janice Banks

Amara Barcus

Darnell Barksdale

Elsie Barnes

Lorene Barnes

Lloyd Barnes

Harold Barnwell

Webster Bartee

Beulah Barton

Chancey Bass

Wilbert Battle

Ashley Battle

Doris Battle

Camarian Bays

Tramaine Beane

Jacqueline Beasley

Andre Beasley

Jerry Beavers

David Bell

John Bell

Cheryl Bell

Denavia Bell

Larry Bender

Tarita Benson-Davis

Tynisha Bentley

Denise Berkhalter

Cynthia Berry

Argie Bingham

Ebony Bingham

Pamela Bingham-Wilson

Evelyn Bishop

Gloria Bland

Joan Blanton

Ileaser Blue

Lorean Blue-Hubbard

Darrell Boarden

Ivy Boggs

Artis Bolden

Jonas Bonds

Melvin Bonds

Marshand Boone

Sheba Borden

Barbara Boss

Janice Bowdre

Darryl Bowen

Reginald Bowens

Latonya Boyd

Flossie Boyd-Mcintye

Beatrice Boykin

J Boykin

Cora Bracey-Edwards

Dois Bradley

Della Bradley

Keirsten Bradley

Roderick Branson

Lenard Brent

Kimberly Brewer

Stephen Bright

Tabatha Brim

Jacqueline Brinson Seaton

Tiffiney Britton

Barney Broach

Edgar Brookins

Jason Brookins

Candace Brookins

Courtney Brookins

Dorothy Brooks

Christopher Brooks

Latasha Brown

Angela Brown

Alberta Brown

Billy Brown

Virginia Brown

Keenan Brown

Cedric Brown

Nedra Brown

Mudine Brown-Harris

Tatum Brownlee

Erika Bryant

Joann Buchanan

Robert Buford

Barbara Buie

Larry Buie

Jessmye Burciaga

Bettye Burgess

Kathy Burk

Michael Burk

Shaquita Burke

Amy Burks-Berry

Ebony Burson

Eunice Burt

Jeremiah Burton

Elvin Burton

Evelyn Bush

Latonya Butler

Carolyn Butler

Christina Butler

Damarr Butler

Margarette Butler

Greg Byndrian

C & P Cotten, LLC

Jason Cable

Eva Caldwell

Michael Caldwell

Barbara Caldwell

Keith Caldwell

Larry Cameron

Brigitte Cameron

Brenda Campbell

Lottie Campbell

Rachel Campbell

Dorothy Cannon

Diana Carey

Janice Carr

Robert Carter

Tracy Carter

Margie Carter-James

Willie Carthan

Theodore Caruthers

Cedric Casher

Willenham Castilla

Eddie Caston

Lashonda Catchings

Antoine Cater

Daphne Chamberlain

Lessie Chambers

Anthony Chambliss

Danny Chandler

Reta Chandler

Betty Chaney

Junetta Chatman

Tracey Cheatham

Lula Cheatham

Thomas Cheatham

Walter Cheatham

Candice Cherry

Georgvell Christian

Linda Clark

Edward Clark

Annie Clay

Vashhti Clayton

Angela Clemons

Shunya Cleveland

Coast Conciere

Service,

Inc.

Marion Cockrell

Toni Colbert

Lillie Coleman

Darlene Coleman

James Coley

Keith Collins

Alice Collins

Community Coffee Company, LLC

Walter Conley

Phillisa Conner

Marcus Conway

Jean Cook

Leonard Cooper

William Cooper

Kari Copeland

Rececca Corley

Catherine Cornelius

Kimberly Cornelius

Clifton Cotton

Paul Covington

Brian Cowan

Hope Creshon

Annie Crockett

Carlos Cruz

Edward Curtis

Verna Curtis

Sharon Cushingberry

Minnie Dallas

Colena Daniels

Jerry Danner

Johnnie Davenport

Della Davidson

Syanthe Davis

Anthony Davis

Kathleen Davis

Brenda Davis

Cornelius Davis

Brittny Davis

Pearl Dawson Porter

Larry Day

Evelyn Days

Mitchell De Jong

Andrew Dent

Nedra DeSavieu

Bassiru Diatta

Calvin Diggs

Levi Dillon

Carolyn Divinity

Kalvin Dixon

Alicia Dixon

Lynn Dixon

Connie Dixon

Tiffany Dockins

Tayia Donald

Billy Donelson

Jessica Donelson

Carolyn Donerson

Charlean Douglas

Norman Douglas

Peter Doyle

Tonisha Drummer

Juanita Duncan

Soniael Duncan

Dometrick Dunn

Kevin Dunnell

Carol Durham

Bennie Ealy

Virginia Edwards

Bria Eichelberger

Candice Elliott

Eric Elliott

Donna Elliott Mills

Clifton Ellis

Johnathan Esters

Rafaela Estevez

Catherine Evans

Dorian Evans

Alisha Evans

Doris Evans

Jerelyn Evans

Jeremy Evans

Velma Ewing

Expressions Wedding & Event Planning

Emma Faulk

Brenda Faulkner

Peggy Felty

Cynthia Fields

Donna Finley

Jerry Fisher

Renalta Fleming

Erik Fleming

Carolyn Fletcher

Calvin Ford

Benjamin Ford

Jacquelyn Fortson

Shawanna Fowler

Hannah Francis

Ardener Franshaw

Ronald Frelix

Malcolm Frierson

Michelle Frisby

Jean Frye

Vickie Fuller

Delano Funches

Theodore Fykes

Robin Gallagher

Lee Garner

John Garner

Wilma Geeston

Kamaca Genous

Roosevelt Gentry

Shelia George-Smith

Angela Getter

Russell Ghoston

Michael Gibson

Miriam Gibson

Jonathan Gibson

Tywonia Giles

Evelyn Gilliam

Barbara Gills

Doris Ginn

Wykeshia Glass

Terrell Goldsmith

Terri Good

Herve Gordon

Eddie Gore

Ralph Goss

Monica Granderson

Angela Graves

Teameaka Graves

Letha Gray

Lula Gray

Bobbie Gray

Crystal Gray

Roy Green

Dexter Green

Moderick Greenfield

Starlette Greenwood

Jeffrey Griffin

Jelani Griffin

Johnnie Griffin

Kathi Griffin

Satya Gubbala

Jerlene Hales

Mara Hall

Lasonya Hall

Virgil Hall

Terrance Hall

Valda Hall Barksdale

Lillie Hamilton

Levaughn Hamilton

Walter Harbin

Alvin Hardin

Derek Hardmon

Wilford Hardy

Brenda Harrell

Margera Harris

Vanessa Harris

Minnie Harris

Marion Harris

Corine Harris

Kimberly Harrison

Leroy Harrison

Leslie Harrison-Moorehead

Denise Harris-West

Brendolyn Hart

Zack Hart

Leo Hartfield

Michelle Hassan

Theodore Hassan

Kristy Hathorn

Annie Hawkins-Turner

Shakelia Hayes

Joe Haynes

Jacqueline Haynes

Fredrick Hearn

Vanessa Hearn

Ronald Heater

Conclive Henry

Steven Hensley

Shimeka Henson

Joyce Hentz-Brown

Michael Herrington

Sheralyn Hibbler

Sherida Hicks

Latarius Hicks

Jennifer Hicks-McGowan

Samuel Hill

Andre’ Hite

Charles Holbrook

Lowell Hollinger

Kermit Holly

Versie Holman

Charles Holmes

Courtney Holmes

Monica Holt

Femeka Hoover

Toyketa Horne

Judge Horton

Orlando Horton

Cherylynn Hoskin

Vincent Houseworth

Barry Howard

David Howard

Marissa Howard

Angel Howard

Tracy Howell

Earnestine Hubbard

Maxine Hudson

Josephine

Hudson-McQueen

Adrian Hughes

Elaine Hulitt

Nekole Hulitt

Denise Hurley

Debbie Hyatt

ING

Clarence Irby

Melissa Irons

Akilah Irvin

Charles Irvin

Wayne Jackson

Robert Jackson

Classie Jackson

Latricia Jackson

Christianna Jackson

Dedrick Jackson

Patrice Jackson

Helen Jackson

Aaron Jagers

Walter James

Carolyn Jefferson

Jeanita Jefferson

Alicia Jefferson

Leamon Jenkins

Velma Jenkins

Timothy Jenkins

Carolyn Jennings

Mildred Jennings

Patricia Jernigan

Roosevelt Johnson

Kyra Johnson

Ruth Johnson

Tantani Johnson

William Johnson

Andre Johnson

Brandon Johnson

Darryl Johnson

Elizabeth Johnson

Richard Johnson

Rita Johnson

Barbara Johnson

Mary Johnson

Brenda Johnson

Calvin Johnson

Lem Johnson

Lenora Johnson

Charlene Johnson

Theresia Johnson-Ratliff

Curtis Jones

Elizabeth Jones

Evelia Jones

John Jones

A. D. Jones

Brekeitrea Jones

Henry Jones

Otha Jones

Ronald Jones

Sharifa Jones

Razani Jones

Nora Jones

Myrtle Jordan

Quantina Jordan

Stacey Jules

Joanne Jules

Lue Ann Kangar

Rose Kearney

Georgette Keeler

Tangelia Kelly

Charlotte Kelly

Shannon Kelly-Woods

Alyce Kendrick

Inez Keys-Johnson

Rose Kimble

Carolyn Kimble-Singleton

Wanetta King

Laretha Knight

Lynne Kuykendall

Hilliard Lackey

Connie Lamb

Joyce Lang

Toshineda Lankston

Janice Lassiter-Mangana

Genese Lavalais

Lynell Lawless

Twayna Lawson

Constance Lawson

Johnyelle Lee

Marcus Lee

Darrell Lee

Lyvonne Leflore

Evelyn Leggette

Sheila Lewis

Marvin Lewis

Monica Lewis

Dorothy Lewis Dawson

Bessie Lewis-Myles

Lin Li

Robert List

Lennie Little

Sylvanus Lloyd

Avis Lloyd

Darlene Lomax

Myrtle Love

Lavell Love

Harold Loving

Traquesha Lowe

Fletcher Ludgood

Carolyn Lumpkin

Christine Lunt

Ike Lusk

Johnnie Maberry

George Mabry

Rita Magee

Edward Magnum

Mohamad Malouhi

John Malvern

Houston Markham

Carl Marks

Cornelius Marshall

Travis Marshall

Kimberly Marshall

Robin Marshall

Krystal Martin

Vertie Martin

Emma Martin

Cheryl Martin

Darryl Mason

Paul May

Catherine McAbee

Joyce McAdory

Sharon McAllister

Sharon McAroy

Ruth McBride

Lannie McBride

Chester McCall

Derrick McCall

LaRhonda McCann

Spencer McClenty

Eugene McClinton

Shemeka McClung

Pamela McCoy

Ruthie McCullum

Vivian McDaniel

Laura McDavitt

Daryl McDay

Vanessa McDonald

Alphonso McDowell

Gerthania McGee

Magnolia McGlothen

Christine McInnis

T.C. McLaurin

Sidney McLaurin

Bruce McLemore

Anne McLeod

Stephen McLeod

Charlotte McNair

Natarajan Meghanathan

Michael Melvin

Jenise Menshew

Erin Mercer

Hal Merritt

Richard Middleton

Catherine Miles

Michael Miller

Sharon Miller

Glendora Mills

Chrystal Mincey

Mississippi Blood Services

Iely Mohamed

Betty Moncure

Debra Monroe-Lax

Theodore Montgomery

Juanita Montgomery-Powell

Daphne Moore

Harvey Moore

Jerlene Moore

Kamelia Moore

Justin Moore

Howard Moore

Tonya Morgan

Felicia Morgan

Phyllis Morris

Andrea Morris

Versie Morris

Faye Moseley

Cynthia Mozee-Harris

Keith Muldrow

Lynn Murray Evans

Katherine Murrell

Verna Myers

Rickey Myles

Aisha Nash

Margie Nash

Mahesh Nayak

Neal’s Roundball Club

Stacy Nelson

Amirah Nelson

Gladys Nelson-Warner

Chinwe Nichols

Christine Nielsen

Pearlie Noah-Montgomery

Tammie Norton

Isaac Norwood

Latrina Norwood

Chaka Norwood

Note-By-Note Music Studio

Emmanuel Nwagboso

Millard O’Baner

Clinton O’Banner

Michael Opata

Alondria Owens

Linda Owens

Billy Paige

Ottis Paige

Carolyn Palmer

Maxine Palmer

Yvonnanita Parker

Irish Patrick-Williams

Bobbie Patterson

Sandra Patterson

Linda F. Patterson

Kevin Patterson

Dorothy Paymon-Dennis

Billy Peavie

Howard Peavie

Sylvester Peck

Minnie Peggs

Patricia Perryman

Wesley Peterson

Ashley Pierce

Doris Pittman

Kimberlin Pittman

Auranuth Plooksawad

Earnestine Pollard

Tajuania Pollard

Marilyn Ponder-Davis

Cleopatric Porter

Marvin Porter

Kimberly Portis Carter

Don Potts

Joyce Powdrill

Renato Powell

Barbara Powell-Bankston

Tamara Preston

Presyce Media Group, LLC

E. Charlene Priester

Roshonna Prince

Vicki Prosser

Dwight Prowell

Rosemarie Pryce

Washington

Pure Elegance Stationery

Valerie Purry

Byron Quick

June Ragas

Sandy Ragas

Jitender Raheja

Wade Rakes

Vernon Randles

Tonya Rankin

Robinette Rasberry

Mary Ratcliff

Angelica Rawls

Deborah Rawls

Marvin Read

Catherine Redmond

Shameka Reed

Angie Reeves

Marie Rhodes

Kidada Rice

Demetria Richard

Lasonia Richardson

Kineshia Roark

Edward Roberson

Vikki Robertson

Shanista Robertson

Sherrill Robertson

Jacqueline Robinson

Paul Robinson

Tonia Robinson

Mary Robinson

Sonja Robinson

Julia Rodgers

Donna Rodgers-Bradford

Larry Rogers

George Rosati

Arletha Ross

Ozzie Ross

Mark Roth

Andrea Rucker

Jaquesha Rule

Rosa Rush

Mary Rushing

Robert Sanders

Jan Scott

Barbara Scott

Jacqueline Scott

Eugenia Scott

Avrial Seamster

Roberlyn Searcy

Regina Sebree

LaTricia Sells

Billye Sharp

Yvonne Sharpe

Mary Sharpe

Cheryl Shaw

Mack Shaw

Dardanella Shenefelt

Ray Shenefelt

Lorna Shird

Louella Sidney-Copeland

Emma Sims

Patrice Sims

Beverly Sligh

Sadie Smith

Bertha Smith

Harold Smith

Jeremy Smith

Alton Smith

Antonio Smith

Bettye Smith

Dirkland Smith

Eros Smith

Mary Smith

Dorothy Smith

Shalah Smith

Etta Smith

Raven Smith

Sharion Smith

Carol Smith

Kisha Smith

Zenobia Smith

Rose Smith

Morris Smith

Denise Smith-Wilson

Viola Smooth

Annie Solomon

Southside Auto Sales

Gloria Southward

Timothy Spann

Robin Spann-Pack

Dorothy Spears Harris

Lillie Stanford

Howard Stapleton

Tracy Stapleton

Brenda Stapleton-Brown

Mary Steele

Albert Stephen

Kimberly Stephens

Dwayne Stevens

Deborah Steverson

Janita Stewart

DeMarcus Stewart

Earl Stewart

Keith Stokes

Demetrick Stratton

Kenneth Straughter

Tierra Strong

James Suber

Monica Sutton

Adrianne Swinney

Ronald Swinney

Bertha Swinney

Eddie Swinney

Matthew Sykes

Carol Syvertsen

Yolanda Talley

April Tanner

Jessie Tanner

Helen Tardy

Robert Tavlin

Mary Taylor

Burbette Taylor

Cathy Taylor

Doris Taylor

Mary Taylor

Carolyn Taylor

Gabriel Terrell

Loretta Terry

Requel Thames

The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee

The Williams Companies

Carolyn Thigpen

Dora Thigpen

Third

Lashondra

Lajuana

Wilbert

Tommisene Veal

Cynthia

Kathy

Daniel

C.L.

Jackson State University

Development Foundation Inc.

C/O Ms. Angela Tripp - Class of 1965 Fund

Join a Community of SCHOLARS

THE GRADUATE SCHOOL

Opportunity

Opportunity

Opportunity

Welcome to JSUOnline

JSUOnline degree programs were designed with your busy life in mind. These programs allow you to take advantage of college studies and obtain a degree while you balance your family life and employment. You can earn a quality education and work toward achieving your long-term career goals at your convenience. No campus visits necessary. Take all classes online.

Programs offered:

Undergraduate

•Childcare and Family Education, B.S.

•Healthcare Administration, B.S.

•Professional Interdisciplinary Studies, B.S.

•Technology, B.S.

(Concentration in Emergency Management Technology)

Graduate

•Business Administration, M.B.A.

•Early Childhood Education, M.S.Ed.

•Education, Ed.S. (Concentration in School Counseling)

•Education, Ed.S. (Concentration in Psychometry)

•History, M.A.

•Health, Physical Education and Recreation, M.S.Ed.

•Reading, M.S.

•Science and Math Teaching, M.S.T. (Concentration in Biology)

•Special Education, M.S.Ed., Ed.S.

•Sport Science, M.S.

•Education Administration Supervisions, M.S.

•Education Administration, Ed.S. (Concentration in Higher Education)

•Master of Arts in Teaching, M.A.T.

(Concentration in Elementary and Secondary Education)

JACKSON STATE UNIVERSITY