Millsaps Magazine, Fall 2021

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The college’s incoming class of first-year Majors is shaping up to be one of the largest in the past decade. New Majors and their parents joined faculty and staff on campus this July during Summerfest 2021.

See page 11 for more information.

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MILLSAPS MAGAZINE FALL 2021 EDITOR Annie Schott Mitchell ASSOCIATE EDITOR John Sewell DESIGNER Kelley Matthews MILLSAPS MAGAZINE ONLINE Emma Stockton CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Lee Anne Bryan Andy Kanengiser John Sewell Lauren Singleton

Millsaps Magazine is published by the Office of Marketing and Communications at Millsaps College, 1701 North State Street, Jackson, MS 39210, for distribution to alumni, parents and friends. Visit millsaps.edu/magazine to view the magazine online.

SEND ADDRESS CHANGES OR UPDATES TO Office of Alumni and Parent Relations Millsaps College 1701 North State Street Jackson, MS 39210 alumni@millsaps.edu 601-974-1000

FROM THE PRESIDENT One of the highest elevations in Jackson — the copper-clad ball at the top of Founders’ Tower — was made possible by gifts from donors to Millsaps College.

From this peak down to the bricks that surround the seal in the middle of the Bowl to the roots of the trees underneath Nicholson Garden — all have been made possible by the generous support of our donors.

Gifts to the college provide a lasting foundation that enables Millsaps to be a place for faculty to engage the art of teaching to inspire students to think critically and learn broadly. These gifts assist Millsaps in offering a beautiful refuge to our student scholars as they prepare to engage and transform the world. These gifts allow our college to serve as a welcome resource and leader for all the citizens of our state’s capital city and beyond who value the benefits of lifelong learning.

The transformative power of gifts and the legacy they create can be best demonstrated in those that directly impact our students, like the recently announced Jim and Mary Sharp Rayner Endowment.

Beginning this fall, Rayner Scholars will exemplify the ideas and principles of their donors — hard work, sacrifice, discipline, determination, initiative … and a healthy dose of grit. Rayner Scholars must be exceptional students from Mississippi with proven academic achievement, leadership and community service experience. Because of the Rayner’s gift, the lives and futures of these scholars — and those they impact — will be forever changed.

On behalf of the faculty and staff of Millsaps, thank you to all who support the college for your commitment, your spirit, your gifts … and our legacy.

Go Majors!

Millsaps College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status or any legally protected status.

CONNECT WITH US

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Rob Pearigen

CONTENTS 4

STUDENT BODY ASSOCIATION LOOKS TO FALL New leaders, new plans

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DEAN OF STUDENTS James returns to Millsaps

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SUMMER AT MILLSAPS MEANS SUMMERFEST First-year students and parents celebrate summer in a Major way

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ALUMNI AWARD WINNERS Highlighting Millsaps’ Outstanding Young Alumna and Distinguished Alumnus of 2021

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NEW FACES ON CAMPUS Faculty joining the college this fall

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CLASS NOTES We want to hear from you!

6 ELSEWORKS IMPACTS METRO The transformative power of entrepreneurship in action; Fiser named interim dean

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TEAGLE FOUNDATION GRANT

I WANT MY MTV

Strengthening the study of humanities

Hunter makes his mark on pop culture

MILLSAPS-HARDIN MERIDIAN INTERNSHIP

PROGRAM KICKS OFF SECOND SUMMER Nine students from Millsaps College moved into apartments at Meridian Community College in early June as they began a paid summer internship program in partnership with The Phil Hardin Foundation. The partnership focuses on a community outside of Jackson and recruits students to work with community partners including the Meridian Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs Division, East Mississippi Business Development Corporation, Meridian Freedom Project, Meridian Museum of Art, Citizens National Bank, The Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience (The MAX), Meridian Symphony and the Montgomery Institute.

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STUDENT BODY ASSOCIATION LOOKS TO A NEW YEAR

BY LAUREN SINGLETON ’21

The impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic have been felt broadly, and Millsaps College is no exception. Student Body Association (SBA) President and rising senior Nazm Rahat says that coronavirus has put a “dampening” on campus life and on the Millsaps “spirit,” a change felt by every member of the Millsaps community this past year. In past years

cinated students can expect special incentives and giveaways in an effort to increase immunity among students.

Rahat believes beloved Millsaps traditions, like Fourth Night and IgNite, will be back to normal this year, with the possibility of adding new campus traditions as well. She states that “senior year experience is also back in full force.”

As a rising senior, Rahat is looking forward to the return of the Millsaps spirit on campus. She anticipates the return of her personal favorite campus event, Diwali, an event put on by the South Asian Cultural Alliance (SACA). Hayes is most looking forward to the return of Homecoming events and Major Madness. He also hopes to improve turnout rates for events this year through better publicity. Wilsey anticipates the return of face-to-face SBA meetings. Dhruv Patel, SBA treasurer, hopes to see the return to normalcy through academic revitalization, looking forward to the simple things, like stopping by a professor’s office on a whim, that students took for granted before.

LEFT TO RIGHT: NAZM RAHAT (PRESIDENT), NIC HAYES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMMING), KAMAL BHALLA (SECRETARY), DHRUV PATEL (TREASURER), RAMEEN HASHMAT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF DIVERSITY COUNCIL) AND WORTH WILSEY (VICE PRESIDENT).

the Leggett Living Room bustled with students and laughter; it has not had the same energy since the pandemic began. As couches and tables were removed to follow social distancing guidelines, students were not able to congregate and relax in the social hub like in years past. Rahat, along with many others, awaits the return of the couches, alongside a reinvigorated campus life as CDC and college guidelines loosen.

As the president of the SBA, Rahat explained that, although the last virtual year has been challenging, it allowed SBA to reexamine its functionality and weed out any inefficiencies in processes and protocols. SBA’s Executive Director of Programming Nic Hayes feels that a revitalization of campus life is coming this year. With its newly reevaluated functions, SBA is ready for the year — and hopefully a more normal one. Hayes anticipates a consistent schedule of events for students. In order to get back to normal, SBA strongly encourages all Millsaps students, faculty and staff to get vaccinated. SBA Vice President Worth Wilsey says vac-

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In cohorts with both students and administration, SBA leadership helps facilitate meaningful experiences for students. These positions represent and advocate for the entire student body and are unique because officers are students themselves.

According to Wilsey, SBA aims to emphasize the servant-nature of its role by letting students know that “we are their voice.” Hayes encourages students to reach out with ideas and concerns, and Rahat wants to help train new leaders in this philosophy while also instilling a spirit of continuity. Often, she concedes, goals get lost over the years as leaders come and go. Rahat wants to minimize this loss by maintaining a consistent “paper trail” of ideas, offering operational training to new leaders, and showing intentionality in the “grunt work” of leadership. Patel plans to remedy this issue by centralizing communications to make a seamless and efficient way to “organize and request allocations.”

Student leaders are elected to be the voice of all students, and SBA leadership roles are serving positions meant to bridge the gap between students and administrators. SBA Secretary Kamal Bhalla wants all students to be able to reach out to their student leaders. She hopes to achieve this goal “through maintaining the student life Instagram page” and making it a key resource for all. Follow SBA on Instagram @millsapsstudentlife

DEAN OF STUDENTS MEGAN JAMES TALKS WITH STUDENT LEADERS.

MILLSAPS ALUM RETURNS AS NEW DEAN OF STUDENTS

BY LAUREN SINGLETON ’21

As a Millsaps alumna, Megan James recalls fond memories from her time at Millsaps as she walks the campus today. Though buildings have changed and technology has revolutionized learning, “the commitment shown by students, faculty, staff and alumni to live into the motto of the college still rings true.” Some of James’s most memorable experiences included “hearing Margaret Thatcher and Jane Goodall speak in the Christian Center, having weekly lunches in the Caf with faculty and staff discussing current trends and seeing students walk across the seal during graduation.” She thanks Millsaps for such wonderful opportunities and “for celebrating when we meet marks of excellence, and for our unwavering support of one another.”

James graduated from Millsaps in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology before earning her Master of Education in higher education administration from North Carolina State University. She is an active member of her community, volunteering for St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Jackson and serving as the international fraternity president of Delta Delta Delta fraternity. James previously worked as the assistant dean of students at Millsaps before transitioning to the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s Office of Development as an alumni engagement associate.

“I’m thrilled that Megan has come home to Millsaps,” says Millsaps President Robert Pearigen. “This is a critical time in the history of the institution, and Megan is the right leader to be our chief student advocate. Her proven commitment to student success and her unwavering dedication to the college makes her the perfect leader to fill this important post.”

Given the changing dynamics in higher education and the coronavirus pandemic, James says people “are questioning the value of a liberal arts education, the purpose of traditional colleges altogether and the inequities of access to and support within historic institutions.” She, however, believes Millsaps to be a special institution that, with appropriate adjustments, will thrive in coming years and adapt as necessary. “The landscape of higher education is rapidly changing, and colleges that will thrive in the future are those that understand how to engage the passion of students, support them in their quest for deep meaning and help them prepare for life after college.” James plans to help Millsaps adjust to modern-day challenges and keep the focus on students, their experience and their success in her role as dean of students.

James began her new role in June and is responsible for creating and maintaining a collaborative campus environment that supports student success both in and out of the classroom. She functions as the college’s primary advocate for students and their experience. Important to James is the need to familiarize herself with the current student body, to figure out what support “they need for their success and to have a full, meaningful collegiate experience.” She also aims to develop relationships with students and get to know the issues and trends that are important to the student body to establish trust and connect with the Millsaps community.

James says that, at the end of the day, “the focus of our college is on the students. Everything we can do to support them in their collegiate experience benefits the entire Millsaps community.”

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ELSEWORKS DRIVES ENTREPRENEURIAL SUCCESS STORIES IN JACKSON

For Paul Thomas, working with a startup business in the Midtown neighborhood enhanced his job skills and helped him apply classroom learning to practical situations.

BY ANDY KANENGISER

The 21-year-old Hattiesburg native is part of a dedicated team of Millsaps students committed to the college’s entrepreneurship program. It’s not just a learning exercise; ELSEWorks faculty share their insights with students and community leaders building new businesses in Midtown.

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The rising Millsaps College senior tackled diverse projects connected with the innovative ELSEWorks program operated out of the Else School of Management at Millsaps.

“ELSEWorks has been invaluable in furthering my education into the real world of business, as well as giving me lifelong connections and friends,’’ Thomas says.

BY JOHN SEWELL

It’s a case of business students “getting experience and making a community impact,’’ says accounting professor David Culpepper, director of ELSEWorks. Students playing a vital role in Midtown’s urban revitalization are “not doing it to get rich,’’ he says, but rather out of a desire to support resurgence of the community.

“ELSEWorks is the perfect combination of community engagement and practical experience for our students,’’ says Harvey Fiser, interim dean of the Else School. As a result of these efforts, “Millsaps is helping transform the Midtown neighborhood,’’ while students pitch in with the development of businesses in Mississippi’s capital city.

Discussions with ELSEWorks tean member Russell Morrison, an ELSEWorks analyst and 2013 MBA graduate who now works with Merrill Lynch, inspired the concept for the new Midtown Depot Art Park & Beer Garden. ELSEWorks leaders collaborated with Midtown nonprofits and residents to support a trip to gather ideas about similar developments in Memphis, Tennessee.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, ELSEWorks projects expanded and so did student participation. As America sees the coronavirus crisis fading, Millsaps students expect to step up their role in entrepreneurship projects at the outset of the fall 2021 semester. Millsaps undergraduates serve as interns, while graduate students work as the program’s business analysts.

As an ELSEWorks intern, Paul Thomas helped the Midtown Depot Art Park and Beer Garden raise $10,000 for music and sound equipment.

He also developed an effective business plan for Nearview Security, started by John Thomas, a Millsaps campus safety officer who grew up in Midtown. The small company opened in June.

Other ELSEWorks success stories include Coffee Prose, a coffee shop and used bookstore in Midtown. With its transformation of a dilapidated building on North West Street in 2019, Coffee Prose is now a charming, community-friendly business and gathering spot for Millsaps students, Midtown residents and people from around the city.

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Another venture birthed in Midtown with assistance from ELSEWorks includes Mississippi Cold Drip Coffee & Tea Company, which expanded its 2021 sales into Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida.

Culpepper leads an extraordinary team of professors that allow the entrepreneurship program to be a cornerstone of the Else School.

Economics professor Blakely Fender makes ELSEWorks an enriching enterprise for Millsaps Majors. “Students are getting such a cool experience that’s far up the learning curve,’’ says Fender.

The learning curve was evident when graduate student business analysts assisted Andy Young of the Pearl River Glass Studio. Their work helped the artist advance his vision of an educational foundation spotlighting glass, clay and the arts. Artists at the business located at 142 Millsaps Avenue produce beautiful stained glass windows adorning churches.

Looking to the future, marketing professor Penny Prenshaw says, “ELSEWorks analysts will design and implement marketing programs to build the Midtown brand.” Fiser is thrilled to see the expansion of entrepreneurship projects. It’s a key piece of the Else School landscape with long-standing programs like the MBA and Master of Accountancy.

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Focused on strengthening Jackson’s creative economy in neighborhoods enriched by artists and business owners, ELSEWorks programs received significant funding from the Robert M. Hearin Foundation. The private grantmaking foundation in Jackson supports economic development in Mississippi via its educational institutions and public charities. Efforts boosting Millsaps College entrepreneurial efforts also rely on local support from various partners, including nonprofits Midtown Partners, Inc., Business Association of Midtown (BAM) and Midtown Neighborhood Association.

As ELSEWorks grows, Millsaps graduate Jonathan Brandon believes the investment will continue to reap benefits for students, the college and Midtown.

“Alongside wonderful professors and staff, ELSEWorks gives students the opportunity to engage with real life business situations that just can’t compare to a classroom environment,’’ Brandon says.

The Starkville native and now Jackson resident earned his bachelor’s in business administration in May 2020 and his MBA one year later, both at Millsaps.

“I am incredibly grateful for the time I was an analyst in the ELSEWorks program,’’ he said.

Brandon noted his Millsaps education “led to an immeasurable amount of personal and professional development, and at the heart of this experience was ELSEWorks.’’

PROFESSOR HARVEY FISER TO LEAD THE ELSE SCHOOL With enlarged pictures of the Mississippi Delta, photos taken by his late brother, Professor Harvey Fiser is giving the dean’s office in the Else School of Management a new look. Fiser has been appointed as the interim dean of the Else School, agreeing to serve for the 2021-22 academic year.

A native of Clarksdale, Fiser’s office artwork includes images of the Mississippi River, of the Blues Trail and other local color, revealing his proud Mississippi roots. His office shelves are home to books by Mississippi writers as well as mementos from his international travel. His passion for both the region and abroad are just two of the things he loves about working at Millsaps.

“I left a partnership at a local law firm to join the Millsaps faculty, at the best college in the state, and I never looked back,” Fiser says.

He was eager to teach, and he was excited to join the distinguished Millsaps faculty.

Fiser holds an undergraduate degree in communications from Mississippi State and a J.D. from the Mississippi College School of Law. He came to Millsaps as an assistant professor in 2003, was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2009, was appointed as the Richard D. McRae Chair of Business Education in 2017 and was promoted to full professor in 2018. In addition to his classroom instruction, he has served as the pre-law advisor, started the successful Millsaps mock trial program and has provided leadership in the college’s international programs, particularly Millsaps’ program in Yucatán.

Despite his enthusiasm for these parts of his faculty position, Fiser accepted the opportunity to serve when the Else School needed leadership. As his predecessor Dr. Kim Burke accepted a position as dean of the Business School at Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina, Fiser stepped into the dean’s position at an important time.

“Harvey brings a high level of energy and true collegiality to the Else School, both of which are highly valued,” says David Culpepper, professor of accounting and director of the ELSEWorks initiatives, a program about which Fiser already boasts.

“ELSEWorks is a program for our undergraduate and graduate students; it allows students opportunities for entrepreneurial work that intersects with positive social change in the Jackson community,” Fiser explained.

Fiser is already a proud spokesperson for the Else School. Describing the success of the Else School’s Executive Education program, Fiser says, “Continental Tires has engaged us to offer presentation skills training to their engineers and coaching and leadership training to their lead technicians,” noting that the Clinton, Mississippi, plant will create up to 2,500 jobs. “Other high-profile companies — from Trustmark to C Spire — are reaching out to Millsaps and the Else School.”

“And, even during the pandemic, we’ve planned and implemented new programs,” Fiser continued. A data analytics program began during COVID-19 and continues this fall. “This helps with digital fluency as workers increasingly rely on technology,” Fiser said.

Fiser looks forward to building the Else School faculty with some visioning and planning in the coming year. As a scholar, Fiser has published articles in the areas of employment law, family law, and neuroscience and the law. He has collaborated with faculty in the Else School and across the college on this scholarship and on other campuswide projects.

Although Fiser has almost finished moving into the dean’s office, he will keep his faculty office, just down the hall. “I’ll never give up teaching,” Fiser exclaimed. “I love the classroom, and I love Millsaps.”

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The grant will facilitate a curricular framework supporting the college’s new Pathways program. Incoming students in the fall of 2021 will join one of six pathways: arts, culture and communication; business; exploratory; health; law, politics and social leadership; and STEM and data science.

PLAN TO STRENGTHEN STUDY OF HUMANITIES AT MILLSAPS

TEAGLE FOUNDATION GRANT/STRENGTHENING THE STUDY OF HUMANITIES “The humanities are essential for the health of American civic life,” affirms the Teagle Foundation in its description of a new program, Cornerstone: Learning for Living, intended to foster student development and career success through transformative texts and curricular connections in general education.

Millsaps College has been awarded a $25,000 planning grant to bring this program, which is co-sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), to Millsaps. The Millsaps grant proposal focused on how to leverage the college’s historic strengths and heritage within the humanities.

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The work of the Cornerstone program at Millsaps will be led by Dr. Laura Franey, associate professor of English and acting director of the Writing Program, and Dr. Holly Sypniewski, professor of Greek and Roman Studies and associate dean of arts and humanities.

“This grant will drive our efforts to identify and infuse transformative texts, with a particular emphasis on amplifying Black voices and experiences, in Millsaps’s required first-year ‘Connections’ seminar,” Franey said. “World-significant texts play a critical role in giving students the analytical tools and historical awareness necessary to question not only themselves, but the culture and society by which we are all partially formed.”

Sypniewski added that the planning grant will enable Millsaps to create valuable interdisciplinary humanities minors that align with the new Pathways. “We have two new minors, one in medical humanities and another in philosophy, law and society,” she said. “The grant will support the development of two new interdisciplinary minors aimed at business and STEM majors.”

The successful proposal submitted by the college to the Teagle Foundation and the NEH clearly outlined the role of the humanities in today’s approach to career preparedness, stating that “technical skills have a significant place in the current landscape of that preparation.

Building competencies in our students that enhance their understanding of human intellectual and cultural history, however, is timeless. It remains the vital contribution that a rich humanities experience provides within a liberal arts education.”

MILLSAPS COLLEGE

Incoming first-year majors and their parents came to campus this July to meet one another, get inside info from fellow students and faculty and staff, and get a feel for Major life this coming fall.

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MILLSAPS YOUNG ALUMNA OF THE YEAR IS AN ADVOCATE FOR PUBLIC HEALTH

BY ANDY KANENGISER

Lamees Samir El-sadek is a proven public health servant advancing her career as a Harvard doctoral candidate. At the same time, she’s a tireless voice seeking to break down barriers across faith communities.

role with a National Institutes of Health research project. She expects to receive her doctorate at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2022.

A 2011 Millsaps College graduate and Lilly Fellow, the Mississippi native stays committed to making the universe a better place. The Millsaps Outstanding Young Alumna Award recipient in 2021, El-sadek is reaching her goals despite challenges.

A Gates Millennium Scholar, and recent recipient of the Rabbi Nussbaum Civil Justice Award, El-sadek earned her master’s in public health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland, in May 2013. Her certification is in health disparities and health inequality.

The Millsaps Alumni Association annually recognizes grads showing promise in their professions, prioritizing community service achievements and strongly supporting their alma mater.

Her experience with the global health crisis became all too personal. Her parents, both immigrants from North Africa, were hospitalized several days after becoming infected with the coronavirus. Her mother, Rawia Rashad El-sadek, serves as a Crystal Springs Middle School teacher. Her father, Samir, is a chemical engineer. Her sister and brother also became ill with COVID-19. The Millsaps alumna helped her family recover, but eluded the virus as she had already received the vaccine.

An alumna of the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science in Columbus, El-sadek almost became a first-year student at Duke University.

But Millsaps College won her heart after she visited the Jackson campus for the first time as a Presidential Scholarship candidate. Receiving this generous scholarship and living nearby Mississippi family members led to her decision to become a Millsaps Major. Excellent professors, including James Bowley, Patrick Hopkins, Deborah Mann and Harvey Fiser, inspired her from day one.

As a Muslim, El-sadek shared her religion with Millsaps classmates and students at metro Jackson high schools. The Mississippian built bridges with Jews, Christians and anybody willing to listen.

A Millsaps education, she said, changed her global outlook. As a study abroad student, El-sadek traveled to Albania, South Africa, Turkey, Spain and Switzerland. “What a blessing — to have such distinct reference points to observe the world as a young student.”

The 31-year-old credits Millsaps College for development of her critical thinking and communication skills along with the institution’s remarkable sense of community. As an undergraduate, she thrived as a double major — biology combined with international health and economics.

“Millsaps enabled and academically empowered me with the intellectual resources to explore how different disciplines intersect,” El-sadek said.

Beginning in March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the education of students at thousands of institutions worldwide. The health emergency brought the 2011 Millsaps grad back home to central Mississippi.

Spending time in metro Jackson this summer, El-sadek plays a leading

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Growing up in Crystal Springs, El-sadek discovered her hometown didn’t offer many activities. So, the Mississippi woman broadened her understanding of religion by attending Wednesday night Bible studies at a local church. She soaked up more knowledge at an area mosque. “I went through a lot of questioning, but faith and religion never stopped being important to me.”

Lamees Samir El-sadek is proud to be among the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims. “It’s a beautiful religion and gives guidance for a very equitable and peaceful way of living.”

Her skill set as a public health professional is a perfect match. “Being a public health servant allows me the opportunity to be a lifelong student.”

EDWARD SCHRADER HONORED AS DISTINGUISHED MILLSAPS GRADUATE

BY ANDY KANENGISER

Dr. Ed Schrader earned multiple accolades during his splendid career as the president of two Georgia universities. As a geologist, Millsaps College professor and administrator, he earned acclaim as well.

national education. Schrader convinced then President George Harmon and Millsaps trustees to visit the site and pressed for donations of what’s become a 4,500-acre property for research.

A 1973 Millsaps cum laude geology graduate, Schrader is being saluted as his alma mater’s 2021 distinguished alumni award recipient. The annual award recognizes alumni for their contributions to society, professional achievements and strong support of Millsaps.

“Without the vision and support of Ed Schrader, it is safe to say our now internationally recognized program of research, learning and amazing facilities would never have happened,’’ Dr. Bey said. As Brenau University president, Schrader brought students from the Georgia school to attend Millsaps classes in Mexico. The Millsaps graduate also supplied gifts to benefit the Kaxil Kiuic reserve.

President Emeritus at Brenau University in Georgia, Schrader reflected on a lengthy list of shining Millsaps moments dating back more than a half-century. The Long Beach High graduate departed his Mississippi Gulf Coast home in fall 1969 to join the Millsaps College family. Connections to the college blossomed as a geology professor starting in 1988.

He later served as associate dean of sciences at Millsaps through 2000.

At Millsaps, Schrader served as a founding member of the Mississippi Alpha chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. He and his wife, Myra, passed on their commitment to lifelong learning to their children.

“Coming home to teach at Millsaps was both a tremendously rewarding and sometimes awkward experience. I was working shoulder to shoulder with professors whom I revered and sat under their tutelage only 15 years before. What a wonderful experience,’’ he added. “I transitioned from a career in geoscience to academia.’’

A former chief geologist with the J.M. Huber Corporation, Schrader discovered his niche in Mississippi’s capital city. “Millsaps filled the empty spot in my conscience. I had the opportunity to serve far more people and support the coming generation. I can never forget those exciting and rewarding times in class and in the field.’’

Developing his leadership skills at Millsaps opened doors for Schrader to serve as president for five years at Shorter University in Rome, Georgia.

Then came 16 years of dedicated service as Brenau University’s president. Schrader transformed the Gainesville, Georgia, campus into a premier health sciences institution, helped raise over $100 million and made Brenau a model of diversity.

But the heart of the Gainesville, Georgia, resident is rooted at Millsaps.

“Although I attended six universities, including Duke for my Ph.D., Millsaps is always my alma mater and academic home.’’

Schrader mentored Millsaps Associate Dean of Sciences Stan Galicki.

Whether leading faculty and students on research assignments at Yellowstone National Park to study mining contamination or unearthing Mayan history, Dr. Schrader “left his mark wherever he has worked,’’ Galicki said. “He is a visionary and lifelong learner.’’

Anthropology professor George Bey III poured on the praise. “Ed was crucial in the development of our Yucatán Program and the development of the Kaxil Kiuic Biocultural Reserve,’’ said the associate dean of inter-

Their daughter, Melanie Schrader Schwartz, received her bachelor’s in biology and the Founders Medal from Millsaps in 2000. Melanie graduated from Wake Forest University Medical School and is a practicing OB/GYN in Princeton, New Jersey. Their son, Edward, received his Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Wake Forest University and his D.D.S. from the University of Alabama Birmingham. He is a practicing dentist in Mobile, Alabama.

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DOING THE JOB NO ONE HAD EVER DONE BEFORE

BY JOHN SEWELL

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Image: MTV's first broadcast

THE ORIGINAL FIVE MTV VJS (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP): MARK GOODMAN, J.J. JACKSON, MARTHA QUINN, ALAN HUNTER AND NINA BLACKWOOD.

The shift from bartender in New York to a cultural icon wasn’t all that glamorous.

“One night, I’m mixing a daquiri at a cabaret show and a guy sitting there starts wagging his finger at me,” Alan Hunter recalls. The customer recognized Hunter from a new cable channel that played music videos, and it was at that moment that Hunter realized that he could step away from bartending and focus full time on his new job with MTV.

Hunter, a 1979 graduate of Millsaps College, had only recently started working as one of the five original “VJs” on MTV. He had no idea he would be on the cutting edge of a global shift in music and entertainment. The journey to this point, however, didn’t start in the middle of Manhattan but rather on the Millsaps campus in Jackson, Mississippi, several years earlier.

Hunter came to Millsaps after one visit on a weekend trip with his high school girlfriend and her sister. It was one of seven colleges to which he had been accepted, and the only one he visited. As a student, Hunter was active in theater and as a member of the Millsaps Singers and the Troubadours, a song and dance ensemble. As a senior, he made his professional acting debut with three lines as a wounded soldier in a Civil War film titled “Love’s Savage Fury,” which aired as an ABC Movie of the Week.

Good friends and good memories were also made around campus. Hunter fondly recalled afternoons when he and his friends would hang out by the observatory, with big speakers in their car trunks blasting the latest hits.

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Over the years, Hunter has remained close to Ward Emling ’76, who Hunter remembers as “his big brother.”

“In those first August days of my senior year, pretty much everyone I ran into said they had seen my brother on campus,” said Emling. “Now, I knew most of them didn’t know my brother, and I also knew my brother wasn’t on campus. Then, at the first rush party, someone said, ‘There is this guy here and I swear he’s…’ and then he pointed out Alan Hunter. From that moment on, we were brothers.”

It was a bond that was quickly cemented, Emling remembers.

“I suppose we did look and sound more like each other than we did our own actual brothers. We had the same interests: sports (though he had far better football hands), music (though he was far more interested in jazz…Spyro Gyra comes to mind), films. We liked the same people (though he was far more outgoing). And he instantly engaged life at Millsaps: Troubadours, The Players, intramurals. We found ourselves in the same place at the same time with the same people a lot, always hearing, ‘Are you guys brothers?’”

After marrying his college girlfriend, Jan Dickson ’77, during his senior year, Hunter returned to Birmingham where they both briefly acted in the Birmingham Children’s Theatre. The bright lights of Broadway were calling, however, and the next move was to New York City, where Hunter worked a number of jobs when he wasn’t attending auditions. A visit to the Mississippi Picnic in Central Park in the summer of 1981, however, was where his life started to take a different direction.

Mingling with the crowd in the Sheep’s Meadow on the Upper East Side of the park, Hunter was introduced to Bob Pittman, whose father was a Methodist minister in Mississippi and a friend of Jan Dickson Hunter’s father, Rev. N.A. Dickson ’43, who was also a Methodist minister. Coincidentally, Pittman had attended Millsaps for one year prior to Hunter’s time there, received an honorary degree in 1997 and went on to serve as an honorary member of the board of trustees. He also established a substantial endowment in his parents’ name, the Warren and Lanita Pittman Servant Leadership Scholarship, that is awarded on an annual basis to a student committed to community service. Today, Pittman is chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia, Inc., which is the leading commercial publisher of podcasts and producer of the iHeart Radio Music Festival.

ALAN HUNTER PLAYS THE LUTE, 1978

“I told him I was a struggling bartender/actor, and he said he was putting together some cable channel that was going to show videos,” Hunter said. Hunter had just acted in a music video for the David Bowie song “Fashion” (for which he was paid $50 a day and got to meet Bowie), so he knew a little about music videos. A day or two later, Pittman’s executive producer called to invite Hunter to audition for the new channel.

That new channel, created by Pittman, was MTV. Hunter auditioned early in the summer of 1981, reading

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ALAN HUNTER AS WILL IN A 1978 PRODUCTION OF “A CRY OF PLAYERS”

TROUBADOURS, 1978

ALAN HUNTER AS HANK GUDGER IN A 1977 PRODUCTION OF “DARK OF THE MOON”

ALAN HUNTER AS BOB MCCAFFREY IN A 1978 PRODUCTION OF “SOUTH PACIFIC”

teleprompters and talking off the cuff about music. After three auditions, he got the call that he had the job – three weeks before the channel began broadcasting on August 1. In his first meeting with the executive producer, Hunter remembers being handed $500 cash and told to go buy new clothes.

“As it turned out, Bob Pittman went to bat for me,” he said. “I owe my career to Bob Pittman. Bob and his team had been trying to cast the last VJ for months and months, looking at radio personalities, actors and musicians. Bob showed my first audition video to another producer, and said ‘this is your final VJ right here.’”

The first broadcast of MTV aired late at night in select markets on Sat-

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urday, August 1. While unplanned, Hunter was the first VJ to appear on the screen, soon joined by the other original four VJs – Martha Quinn, J.J. Jackson, Nina Blackwood and Mark Goodman.

As MTV rapidly grew into the leading place for music videos, the channel’s content also developed to include celebrity interviews. Hunter conducted the first MTV interviews with rising acts like Madonna, Duran Duran and U2. He also enjoyed the recognition from known celebrities as a result of his work on MTV. “Robert Plant (lead singer from Led Zeppelin) was being interviewed at MTV,” Hunter remembered, “and when I met him, I knelt before him and said, ‘Sir Robert.’ He laughed and said, ‘arise, Sir Alan.’”

Over the next few years, Hunter had the opportunity to sit down with the greatest musicians and actors of the decade. He cites Billy Joel as his most satisfying interview, and Hunter traveled with Joel to Russia for a concert in the late 1980s.

His time today is spent hosting an 80s-themed show on Sirius XM and managing a production company he owns with his brother. Hunter lives north of San Francisco, where his wife, Elizabeth, is an assistant professor of play development and dramaturgy at San Francisco State University.

“Billy Joel was a great cap for me to that time,” Hunter said. “I had a long interview with him in Moscow toward the end of his trip there, and it was really satisfying. I knew his whole catalog, and they were the backdrop for my college career at Millsaps, to be honest.”

Hunter stays close to his Southern roots, however, says his “brother.”

Hunter also noted an interview with the late Robin Williams as especially memorable. “To interview him during one of the more manic periods in his life was amazing. And for him to know who I was, that was the other satisfying part.”

“Over the years, at Millsaps, in New York, Los Angeles, Birmingham; at dinner or a concert, on a stage or a ball field, and now mostly over the phone or email, it’s always familiar and easy,” Emling said, “and I’m glad my brother Alan Hunter and I ended up in the same place at the same time.”

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF MTV AT THE GRAMMY® MUSEUM MISSISSIPPI ARE ROB PEARIGEN, FORMER MTV VJ MARTHA QUINN, MTV FOUNDER BOB PITTMAN AND FORMER MTV VJ ALAN HUNTER.

40 YEARS OF MAKING MUSIC HISTORY When Alan Hunter first went on the air as an MTV VJ in 1981, chances are he wouldn’t have imagined that a GRAMMY Museum® located in the Mississippi Delta would be celebrating that moment 40 years later — or that his alma mater would be a sponsor for it.

“MTV Turns Forty: I Still Want My MTV” is a special exhibit currently open at GRAMMY Museum® Mississippi, marking the start of a cultural revolution in music that is still going strong today. The exhibit is the first to be curated by the staff at GRAMMY Museum® Mississippi and will be on display through the summer of 2022. It features artifacts and interviews from the four living MTV VJs — Hunter, Martha Quinn, Mark Goodman and Nina Blackwood.

For more information about the exhibit, visit grammymuseumms.org.

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WELCOMING NEW FACULTY

BY LAUREN SINGLETON ’21

With a new academic year afoot, you can expect new faces on campus this fall. New faculty for fall 2020 and 2021 have provided introductions so the community can get to know each of them. Please welcome each new member to the Millsaps community!

PROF. GERAD HARDY Visiting Instructor of Management

DR. MEGAN HINES Postdoctoral Fellow in Art History

ELYSSA KLIPSCH Director of Pathways and First-Year Experience

Professor Hardy earned his bachelor of business management and economics from the State University of New York and his EMBA from Millsaps College. He is currently on track to graduate (2023) from the University of Dallas with his doctorate. Before coming to Millsaps, Hardy worked in hotel management for 27 years, retiring in June of 2021. He came to Millsaps in 2019 as an adjunct professor before coming on full time as a visiting professor in 2020. During his time at Millsaps, Hardy has most enjoyed the connections he has made with students. He recalls the joy he felt upon a student asking for advice about a business plan, citing personal relationships as his passion in life.

He feels that it is “an honor and a privilege to be an instructor at Millsaps.”

Dr. Hines earned her bachelor’s in English and art history from Vanderbilt University, her master’s in art history from Hunter College, and her doctorate in art history from Stony Brook University. She has taught undergraduate art history courses in modern and contemporary art and has conducted curatorial research for several exhibitions. At Millsaps, Hines will teach art history courses and work with curators at the Mississippi Museum of Art (MMA) to develop scholarly and public programming. In her first year, Hines aims to incorporate art from the MMA in her courses and encourage students to appreciate the museum as a resource for the city of Jackson and beyond. Hines is currently developing an exhibition proposal based on her dissertation research that looks to contemporary artists reflecting on and critiquing biotechnologies and will begin at Millsaps in fall 2021.

Elyssa is currently pursuing her master’s in higher education student affairs at the University of Southern Mississippi, where she also earned her bachelor’s in music education.

Klipsch began at Millsaps in June of 2017 working in the SAIL center as the campus life specialist where she was able to work with new student orientation, the foundations program, fraternity and sorority life, and student organizations. Throughout 2018, she transitioned into the Center for Career Education as the internship coordinator.

Through her work with Career Education, Klipsch has had the opportunity to grow with students in exploring and achieving their career goals. This year, Klipsch is most looking forward to working with faculty and staff on the implementation of the Pathways Program for our community.

PROF. AMALIA GALDONA-BROCHE | Associate Professor of Art (not pictured) Professor Galdona-Broche earned her bachelor’s in art history and bachelor’s in art from Jacksonville University before earning her master’s in art studio from University of Kentucky. She has multiple forthcoming exhibitions across the country and has professional experience at Jacksonville University and University of Kentucky. Professor Galdona-Broche begins at Millsaps fall 2021.

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DR. MAXIMILLIAN LITTLEJOHN | Visiting Assistant Professor of Economics Dr. Littlejohn earned his bachelor’s in economics from the University of California, Santa Cruz and his master's and Ph.D. in economics from the University of California Irvine. He has experience teaching classes like energy economics, corporate finance, accounting, and money and banking and will begin at Millsaps in fall 2021. One of Littlejohn’s goals is to integrate research into his teaching style. He sees every course as an opportunity to not only introduce students to new economic theories but to “also encourage them to develop their own ideas and opinions.”

DR. SABINO LUEVANO-ORTEGA | Visiting Assistant Professor of Spanish Dr. Luevano-Ortega earned his bachelor’s in Hispanic studies from the University of Sonora and his master’s and Ph.D. from the University of Houston. He has taught courses such as Mexican horror cinema, Latin American horror cinema and all levels of Spanish. Since starting at Millsaps in fall 2020, Luevano-Ortega most appreciates the small community that is Millsaps. He says it allows closer intellectual and professional relationships with fellow faculty and students. In the upcoming year, Luevano-Ortega expects to publish one or two peer-reviewed articles on his research topic of Mexican horror cinema.

DR. TABAN SALEM | Assistant Professor of Psychology Dr. Salem earned her bachelor’s in magazine journalism from the University of Missouri, Columbia, and her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Mississippi State University. She did her predoctoral internship at Stony Brook University and her postdoctoral research fellowship at The Ohio State University. Since suffering a stroke in November of 2020 during her first semester with Millsaps, Dr. Salem has had a challenging first year. She is very appreciative of her Millsaps family as they have offered tremendous support to her throughout her recovery. For Salem, being in academia means building relationships with students both inside and outside of the classroom — what she calls the “bread and butter” of her career. Salem is currently developing a multiphase project with Millsaps students to look at fear and avoidance of positivity and what role that might play in depression.

WYATT WINNIE | Associate College Librarian Wyatt earned his bachelor’s in English from Weber State University, and his master of library and information science from Louisiana State University. He worked as the instructional services librarian and head of reference at Southern Virginia University, primarily instructing students in research skills and good information habits. Wyatt has a passion for literacy skills and believes them to be foundational to lifelong learning. Starting at Millsaps in summer 2021, he hopes to engage faculty and students in fun ways to facilitate study, learning, and research.

Wyatt is “terribly excited to be here” and has found the Millsaps atmosphere to be both classy and inviting.

DR. GLEN WOOD | Assistant Professor of Communication Studies, Director of Film Studies Dr. Wood earned his bachelor’s degree in film studies from the University of Pittsburgh, his master’s in cinema studies from New York University, and his Ph.D. in cinema and media studies from York University. He worked for Bleacher Report, a Time-Warner Media entity, before beginning his teaching career at Millsaps in 2020. In his first year, Wood was able to introduce a course in media production and arrange student internships with the Mississippi Braves. During his time at the college, he aims to develop the film studies program, for which he was named director, and continue offering meaningful internships to students. Wood says that he is “truly excited and grateful to be part of both the Millsaps and Jackson communities.” He looks forward to many more years at Millsaps.

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ONE OF THE BEST When Grace Gaskins’s tennis career at Millsaps came to a close, she definitely went down swinging. After completing a senior season with a 9-1 singles record and a 10-1 record in doubles competition, Gaskins was ultimately defeated in the Singles Round of 32 of the NCAA Division III Women’s Tennis Individual Championships in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Gaskins entered the tournament ranked No. 5 out of the Atlantic South Region.

“Grace will go down as one of the best players to ever put on a Millsaps tennis uniform,” said Davis Elkins, former head coach of the Millsaps men’s and women’s tennis teams. “The combination of her work ethic, tenacity and love for the game is what makes her irreplaceable as a competitor and teammate.”

The three-time All-SAA Academic Honor Roll member and business administration graduate is continuing her tennis journey at Dallas Baptist University, an NCAA Division II tennis program, where she will also pursue an M.B.A.

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JUMPING INTO MILLSAPS HISTORY Millsaps track and field sophomore long jumper Christopher Butler made history this season as the first Major from the men’s program to compete at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Butler’s best jump of 6.68 meters (21 feet-11 inches) was good for 15th place on the Irwin Belk Track on the campus of North Carolina A&T State University.

Butler entered the event ranked 13th overall with a season-best jump of 7.30 meters (23 feet-11.5 inches), which he covered at the Carey Last Chance Meet on May 14.

“I’m really proud of his efforts this season,” said Millsaps track and field head coach Andy Till. “Chris has a bright future ahead of him.”

The leap of 6.68 meters was Butler’s fourth-best jump in his first full collegiate season. Butler’s freshman season was cut short in 2020 by the global pandemic.

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WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Please help keep the broader Millsaps College family informed about what’s happening in your own family. Let us know about a new child, a wedding, a new degree or award, job promotions and more. Share a high-resolution photograph as well, so it will look good in the magazine.

And there are also times when you will want to let us know about the loss of a classmate or friend of the Millsaps family.

Please submit those listings as well for our memorial section. A full listing of those we’ve lost will be published in the final magazine of the year scheduled in December 2021.

All submissions can be made through www.mbench.org/MyNews. If you haven’t already registered on MBench, please sign up so we can stay in touch!

1951

2000 From Ann Simpson Chenault: with four children, 11 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren my family continues to grow. I’m so proud of every one of them!!

Mark Eckenrode (M.B.A.) has been elected to the board of directors of Cansortium, Inc.

2013 Stevie Cantrell married Chatham Hurst Phillips III on February 1, 2020, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Stevie is a 2013 graduate of Millsaps with a B.A. in economics and public administration and received her M.B.A. from Millsaps in 2019.

1971 Linda (McGahey) Berry, founder of LBA International, is still teaching and consulting on effective communication with major results at stake.

After the September 11 Pentagon attack, she attended seminary and is an ordained Anglican priest for the Church of England, Province of Kenya, Thika Diocese. For many years, she trained for the U.S. military in Washington and is now doing so as a state employee. (After all, why stop when you’re having fun?)

1985 Russell W. Mills was recently named to D Magazine’s list of “Best Lawyers in Dallas 2021.”

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2014 Caroline Thompson DeLoach, head softball coach at Millsaps College, was selected as the 2021 Southern Athletic Association Softball Coach of the Year. In her third season as head coach, DeLoach guided her team to a 12-12 overall record and 9-6 mark in the SAA, earning the No. 3 seed in this week’s SAA Tournament.

The Majors won three conference series including sweeps of Hendrix and Rhodes.

THE ONLY NEED TO ZOOM AT THIS YEAR’S

HOMECOMING IS TO SEE HOW FAST * YOU CAN GET HERE. COME HOME TO MILLSAPS IN PERSON AND LET’S CELEBRATE IN A MAJOR WAY! There’s plenty to see and do during Millsaps’ Homecoming weekend October 8 through 10. Register today and get the details on the events you love, like the alumni tailgate; the 50th reunion for the classes of 1970 and 1971; Friday night at CS’s; cocktails and meet and greet for the geology and geoscience majors at Rob and Phoebe’s; the alumni awards; and of course, the matchup on the gridiron for our Majors v. the Berry College Vikings!

REGISTER NOW!

QUESTIONS?

www.mbench.org/HC2021

Email alumni@millsaps.edu or call (601) 974-1007 *All Homecoming 2021 events will comply with the college’s current COVID-19 regulations and protocols at that time.

All events subject to change.

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MILLSAPS: THE MAGAZINE OF MILLSAPS COLLEGE 1701 North State Street • Jackson, Mississippi 39210-0001 CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

ON THE COVER:

Millsaps College’s international education returns! The college’s Living in the Yucatán course, taught

by Drs. George Bey, Tomas Gallareta and Eric Griffin, resumed this summer to the delight of students and faculty members. Many of the participating students were supported by Robinson Fellowships made possible through a gift from Bud and Judy Robinson.