Mississippi Christian University

The Mississippi College Department of Modern Languages announced the 2021-22 academic year award winners. Chele Westbrook received the Excellence in TESOL Award. This award is given to a senior who is minoring in TESOL and who has exhibited passion and experience for teaching English as a Second Language students.

The Mississippi College Department of Modern Languages announced the 2021-22 academic year award winners. Cayden Roberts received the Porter-Trott Award. The Porter-Trott Award is given to a senior majoring in a foreign language who has exhibited exceptional ability in the field of foreign languages.

The Mississippi College Department of Teacher Education and Leadership recently announced the 2021-22 academic year award winners. Kaylee Parks received the J.D. and Bertha McDonald Scholarship. A monetary award, funded by the Marion W. Effie McDonald Perry Foundation for Enriched Scholarships, given to the outstanding student who is planning a career in primary or secondary education. The student is to be selected during the junior year with the award to be used during the senior year.

The Mississippi College Department of Teacher Education and Leadership announced the 2021-22 academic year award winners. Leighton Sistrunk received the Kappa Delta Pi Ann Wilson Clark Memorial Scholarship. A monetary award given annually to an Education student who has completed their junior year. This student must demonstrate high moral character and a professional commitment to teaching as recognized by the faculty of the School of Education.

As Mississippi College prepares to host six orientation sessions this summer, our student leadership is preparing all of the event details to welcome new students to campus. This year, the Office of Student Engagement has selected 34 students to serve as Orientation Leaders. This year's team includes Courtney Engel, Dylan Robertson, Jonathan Hestres-Rivera, Aaliyah Newsome, Abbie Gillespie, Abby McCoy, Alya Shanklin, Blake Felton, Blocker Harvison, Cameron Melton, Camryn Johnson, Claire Price, Colby Chadwick, Conner Cantrell, Conner Dyess, Corley Sullivan, Dalton Philips, Eliza Mims, Elizabeth Farnham, Gabby Cobbins, Gracelyn Noss, Jameson Cook, Josh Wilkes, Kaitlyn Hamilton, Kendall Lauderdale, Lindsey Buie, Madeline Brown, Malia Kossina, Mallory Burnside, Mason Kennedy, Nia Harvin, Sakari Faulkner, Sarah Beth Stambaugh, and Shauna Gandenberger.

The Mississippi College Department of Teacher Education and Leadership recently announced the 2021-22 academic year award winners. Allie Townsend was named the Glenda Locke White Elementary Education Honor Student of the Year. A monetary award given annually in memory of Glenda Locke White, a first grade elementary teacher and 1966 Mississippi College graduate. This award is given to the elementary education student who rated the highest standard of achievements in student teaching, scholarship, personal qualities, educational ideals and contributions.

The Mississippi College Department of English and Philosophy announced the 2021-22 academic year award winners. Joshua McKeown received the Dr. John Meadors Scholarship. The Dr. John Meadors Scholarship is given annually to recognize a student who has excelled in Philosophy at Mississippi College.

The Mississippi College Department of English announced the 2021-22 academic year award winners. Michaela Cooper received the Susan H. Lassiter English Award. The Susan H. Lassiter English Award is funded by the English full-time faculty to recognize senior transfer students majoring in English who embody the values and ideals of the English Department at Mississippi College.

The Mississippi College Department of Modern Languages announced the 2021-22 academic year award winners. Erin Davis received the Dr. Charles E. Martin Award. The Dr. Charles E. Martin Award recognizes a senior majoring in Spanish who has exhibited exceptional ability in the language and who shows future promise in the field.

The Mississippi College Department of English announced the 2021-22 academic year award winners. Addison Seal received the Excellence in English Education Award. The Excellence in English Education Award is given annually to the outstanding senior English Education major.

The Mississippi College Department of Sociology and Social Work recently announced the 2021-22 academic year award winners. Libba Grace Dudley received the Senior Social Work Award. Libba also recently received the Perry Academic Award at the Student Experience Awards Gala.

The Mississippi College Department of English announced the 2021-22 academic year award winners. Rachel Faulk received the Kerri S. Jordan Writing Award. The Kerri S. Jordan award is given to the outstanding senior English Writing major. The award is given in honor of teachers who value the power of writing to give voice to students.

The Mississippi College Department of Teacher Education and Leadership recently announced the 2021-22 academic year award winners. Emily Stringham was named the Alan D. Lowe Secondary Education Honor Student of the Year. An award given annually in honor of Alan D. Lowe, Mississippi College cooperating teacher from 1967-1985. This award is given to the secondary education student rated highest in student teaching, scholarship, personal qualities, educational ideals, and contributions.

Mississippi College recently celebrates student leadership at the 2022 Student Experience Awards Gala. The announcement of the club of the year is given annually to the service organization that has earned the top spot through campus involvement, philanthropy, and service hours. The 2022 winner is Kokoa Men's Service Club.

The Mississippi College Department of English recently announced the 2021-22 academic year award winners. Adelaide Zink received the Sigma Tau Delta Freshman Composition Award. This award is given annually by the Psi Zeta local chapter to the freshman who has excelled in English composition.

The Mississippi College Department of English recently announced the 2021-22 academic year award winners. Elijah Cardenas received the Psi Zeta Chapter Award. This award is given annually to the outstanding senior English major who has been active in the local chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the international English honorary society.

The Mississippi College Department of English recently announced the 2021-22 academic year award winners. Caroline McGuffee received the Sarah A. Rouse English Award. This award is given annually to the outstanding senior English major.

Mississippi College recently celebrated the 2022 Student Experience Awards Gala and 13 students received the Spirit of MC award. The Spirit of MC Award recognizes freshmen students who have ignited their college career at MC, stepping into their role at MC as young leaders by cultivating a positive atmosphere and experience for their class and the campus community. This year's recipients include Bethany Bradshaw, Conner Cantrell, Bella Dart, Evie Dart, Janie Gray, Kaitlyn Hamilton, Blocker Harvison, Caroline McCaleb, Cameron Melton, Will Peeler, Haleigh Roberts, John Tabor Stokes, and Lauren Wallace.

Mississippi College recently celebrates student leadership at the 2022 Student Experience Awards Gala. The announcement of the tribe of the year is given annually to the tribe/service organization that has earned the top spot through campus involvement, philanthropy, and service hours. The 2022 winner is Kissimee Social Tribe.

Mississippi College recently hosted the 2022 Student Experience Awards Gala, honoring students for leadership, service, and campus involvement. The Freshman Female of the Year and the Freshman Male of the Year are each recognized for their ability to emulate the vision and mission of the university throughout the course of their first year at Mississippi College. For 2022, the Freshman Female of the Year is Nadiya Foster and the Male of the Year is Conner Dyess.

Mississippi College recently hosted the Student Experience Gala and announced the seventeen students that were awarded the Servant Leadership Award. The Student Experience Servant Leadership Award recognizes sophomore and junior students who have served the campus as a whole and are actively leading on campus through engagement, service to the institution and living out our Christian mission. The 2022 recipients are Cole Benoit, Camryn Bruce, Jameson Cook, Anna Davis, Carly Fisher, Cooper Gadman, Mary Margaret Freeman, Mason Kennedy, Kendall Lauderdale, Timothy Martin, Abby McCoy, Hannah Mullins, Noemi Perez, Dylan Robertson, David Torrent, Evan Warnick, and Abbey Williams.

Mississippi College recently hosted the Student Experience Gala and announced the seventeen students that were awarded the Senior Award of Excellence. The Senior Awards of Excellence in Leadership recognize senior students who are distinguished by visionary leadership on campus and their vision of greatness. Students receiving this award may have shown leadership in a particular organization or department, or have served in various roles across campus.

Conferred upon the senior student who has been chosen for having made a significant contribution to student life of the college exemplifying the ideals of the founders of the College, and their successors, in quality of living, leadership, and service. It is named in memory of Dr. Charles W. Scott and Dr. Chester E. Swor. The 2022 recipient is Riley Paige Lara of Hernando, MS.

The Perry Academic Awards were established by Mr. and Mrs. M. W. Perry (Marion Walter Perry, '32 and Effie Elaine McDonald Perry, '33) for the purpose of recognizing scholastic achievement at Mississippi College. Academic Awards, in the form of gold medals, will be awarded to not more than seven seniors per year from the following majors: biological sciences, business administration and business education, including accounting, computer science, and marketing; chemistry; history; English; languages; mathematics; physics; arts and music; medical technology and nursing; education and psychology; kinesiology (formerly family and consumer sciences) and interior design; communication; sociology and social work. Consideration for the awards are with emphasis on academic performance with all nominees having not less than a 3.5 grade point average. Academic excellence will receive 75% consideration and 25% for qualities of leadership, citizenship, creative ability, activities, and moral character. For the 2021-22 academic year, the following students received the award: Olivia Grace Brookins, Matthew Drew, Libba Dudley, Ann Elisabeth Marks, Caitlin McCormick, Kathryn Deanne Miller, Marina Nadar Rizk, and John McCormick Harvey.

Each year, the student body of Mississippi College selects a man and woman who best typify the ideal MC student. The recipients for 2022 are Ishmon Foster and Emma Chapman.

The Hall of Fame of Mississippi College was established in 1960 to honor four senior students for outstanding leadership ability, scholastic achievement, extra-curricular activities participation, contribution to student life and dedication to the serving of God and fellowmen. The four honorees are announced each spring at the Student Experience Gala and presented with a plaque.

A smattering of superlative individual performances in shooting competitions from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to Las Vegas, Nevada, and improved overall team scores highlight the Mississippi College archery team's spring season. The squad gained valuable experience in tournaments on the road and in Mississippi, competed against top collegiate and amateur performers in open divisions, and shared team-bonding experiences while traveling. Several of his archers took home individual awards. The spring season kicked off Jan. 15 with the 2022 Mississippi Indoor Classic at the Mississippi Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Archery Center in Jackson. Despite competing in an open division against archers with a wide range of abilities, MC's Emilia Miceli took first place and Anna Carraway captured second place in the Women's Bowhunter Division.

The Student Government Association (SGA) of Mississippi College has announced the newly elected senators for the 2022-23 academic year. The SGA represents all undergraduate students of Mississippi College. They serve as a liaison between the students and the administrators, faculty, and staff of Mississippi College by advocating the proposals for advancement made by the Student Leadership Council. The SGA also promotes student welfare by providing opportunities for extracurricular student interaction and by exercising the authority to make judgments regarding student violations of campus rules.

Bradley Lewis has been accepted into the Physical Therapy Program at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

Entrepreneurs are the engine that drives economic growth in the U.S. By envisioning and creating new products and services, entrepreneurs stimulate employment, which accelerates economic development. Successful entrepreneurship requires a combination of skills that have been carefully cultivated by faculty in the School of Business at Mississippi College. Many of the school's brightest students participate in an independent entrepreneurial club - called "Think Tank" - that inspires the next generation of business innovators in the state. Many of the Think Tank participants' most promising ideas will be unveiled during the seventh annual Entrepreneurship Forum April 6-7 at Vicksburg's Thad Cochran Mississippi Center for Information and Technology and the Vicksburg Convention Center. Hosted by the University of Mississippi's McLean Institute for Public Service and Community Engagement and Innovate Mississippi, a nonprofit organization that has developed more than 1,500 new companies throughout the state, the event brings together leading entrepreneurs, economic developers, innovators, and future business owners to learn more about the entrepreneurial climate and the future of entrepreneurship in Mississippi. It is part of the Catalyzing Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Initiative funded by the Robert M. Hearin Support Foundation. The forum will include educational sessions and panels on technology and innovation, student entrepreneurship, and the state's entrepreneurial ecosystem. But the most highly anticipated event is the NextUp Business Plan Competition, an avenue for students to pitch projects with viable business plans to academic and business experts. Seven aspiring entrepreneurs at MC are scheduled to compete against students from the state's other four-year colleges and universities in a fast-paced, "Shark Tank"-style business environment. The students will deliver their pitches, display their prototypes, and attempt to convince a panel of business professionals and investors that their ideas could gain traction in the uber-competitive business market. The Mississippi Development Authority will award monetary prizes to the most promising presentations to help students develop their ideas to the creation stage. John Brandon, instructor and director of entrepreneurial development at MC, said Think Tank students have traditionally performed very well in the competition, even securing second and third prizes during the last forum. "Our students are very involved in that competition," said Brandon, who specializes in small business creation and business growth strategies. "We take students from one of our senior-level entrepreneurial courses and have them put together a new business venture idea, write a new business plan, and give a complete presentation. "As we train these students to go out and attempt to run a new business venture successfully, we help them take the concepts of the businesses they have and run it through their paces so they're comfortable talking to investors or venture capital firms. This lets our students really shine when they leave MC." One of Brandon's students that will participate in the NextUp competition and will also serve as a panelist at the forum. Everest Benson, a junior business entrepreneurship major from Ann Arbor, Michigan, will be pitching his plan for Nicotine Relief Therapy Coffee. "It is coffee that contains nicotine for the purpose of helping people quit smoking, vaping, or whatever other use of nicotine they have," said Benson, who serves as Think Tank events coordinator and incoming president. "Once the concept is finalized, it should be very simple to produce, but the trial, testing, and proof-of-concept stage is the most complicated due to laws and regulations. "The benefit would be to current nicotine users, creating a nicotine relief therapy that is simple to use and does not deviate them from their everyday lifestyles, since 93 percent of smokers also drink coffee." The concept is so promising that Benson is scheduled to present "NRT Coffee" to forum attendees as part of the official program the day after the NextUp competition. "The presentation will focus mostly on the background of current nicotine relief therapies, how NRT Coffee is different, and how it has the possibility to capture a significantly large market share," he said. "I want the audience to understand that there is not always one right way to do something. The largest 'stop smoking' advocates in society push for the 'cold turkey' approach to nicotine, even though relief therapies are proven to work significantly better. "I want everyone to understand that using what people are already familiar with is a more effective approach than using a foreign object." Carter Zatechka, a senior business administration major and entrepreneurship minor from Memphis, is a first-time participant in the NextUp competition, but his business proposal also has promise. Zatechka, Think Tank's director of marketing, will be pitching a mobile app called "Summit" that would help attendees of professional conferences and seminars capture the vast array of information presented to them. "When people attend these meetings, they are usually given a pamphlet or piece of paper that doesn't have a whole lot of information, and they're not able to retain everything that was said at the conference," Zatechka said. "With this app, the conference presenter can distribute information to attendees automatically, which can be stored efficiently on their phones or tablets. "It takes away the need to keep up with any kind of physical piece of paper or pamphlet, and it becomes easier to access information from the conference." Other MC Business students scheduled to participate in the NextUp competition include Hannah Grace Plunkett, Kimberly Hardy, Schuyler Hickman, Thomas Wilson, and Alondra Reyes. Zatechka said the forum provides a valuable opportunity for these students to interact with their colleagues from other universities and discover potential business trends for the future. "It will be interesting to see what is out there, to see what people are thinking and creating with their business ventures," Zatechka said. "Taking an idea applicable to what we do in class and making it a successful venture takes a lot of hard work. The students who participate have a lot to offer in today's entrepreneurial world." Brandon said MC Business harnesses that talent and expands students' business acumen while sharpening their entrepreneurial skills. "The Entrepreneurship Program in the School of Business offers a major in entrepreneurship, a minor in entrepreneurship for business majors, and a minor in entrepreneurship for non-business majors," said Brandon, who teaches Introduction to Entrepreneurship, New Venture Creation, and Business Skills for Life. "But it's not just for students in the business school - it's for students who are interested in almost any career. "If you're studying electrical engineering and thinking of opening a business one day, you would be welcome in the program. If you're a musician who might be interested in starting a business, you're welcome here. If you're in some other career, but think you could benefit from a side business, you're welcome. "Whether you're interested in technology or in some of the more common things people buy and use every day, you're welcome." Think Tank, governed and run exclusively by students, has a similar aim. "The whole purpose of the club is to expand across the business school, but also to focus on attracting people who have an entrepreneurial mindset," Zatechka said. "We'd like for them to participate in club activities and get exposed to business people in their field." Along with its participation in the Entrepreneurship Forum, Think Tank offers a variety of opportunities for members to develop their entrepreneurial chops. Think Tank leaders are planning their own entrepreneurial event this spring. Members of the Clinton Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Clinton, and local residents will visit MC to offer their advice to students interested in learning more about the local business climate. They will focus on the close ties the Christian University has to the town of Clinton. Think Tank members are also heavily involved in social clubs and tribes, MC board events, Scouts, the Yearbook Committee, and Residence Life. "Members of Think Tank are much more likely to do activities that build their competitiveness in the economy," Benson said. "That comes in all forms, whether in jobs, internships, or service commitments to the community. "I believe everyone can benefit from Think Tank. People not in the School of Business might get their first experience with the idea of turning their skill, hobby, or major into a profitable enterprise. We in the club cannot think of a single major at Mississippi College - or universities in general - that would not benefit from learning about starting or operating a business. Anyone who wants to be involved is invited and encouraged."