Brett Jefferson McClendon was an effervescent 13-year-old who relished the opportunity to play sports year-round in the Mississippi Delta. When the sixth-grader at Bayou Academy of Beulah died in an accident at the family’s rice farm on June 18, 2000, his family vowed to celebrate his life by keeping his memory alive.
“That’s what a mother wants, for her son to be remembered and not forgotten,” said Diane Chenault, Brett’s mother, who established a $10,000 endowment at Delta State University in October 2002 for the Brett McClendon Memorial Baseball Scholarship Fund. “Knowing these young men, Jonathan Mitcham, Ryan Terry, Taylor Fleming, Steven Cruey and Steven Oswald, received scholarships to play ball while earning a college education would’ve pleased him.”
Chenault recently established a second endowed scholarship fund at Delta State in her son’s honor: the Brett McClendon Memorial Women’s Cross Country Scholarship.
“I knew golf and tennis scholarships were available, in addition to the traditional sports, of course, but you don’t really hear much about women’s cross country,” explained Chenault. “I knew Delta State had a very good cross country program with girls from all over. I wanted to help where it was needed the most. Brett would’ve liked that.”
Chenault chose to establish scholarships at Delta State because it provided Brett’s family with an opportunity to share Brett’s legacy with the recipients.
“At some colleges, students don’t even know who a scholarship is from; it’s just a credit on the account,” said Chenault. “At Delta State, they really want students to know who provided it and why.”
In honor of what would likely have been Brett’s college graduation in mid-2010, the 10th annual Brett McClendon Memorial Baseball Classic raised more than $12,000 for Delta State scholarships. Visit www.BrettsClassic.org for details. For more information on establishing a scholarship fund at Delta State, contact Keith Fulcher at foundation@deltastate.edu or (662) 846-4704.
