Delta State University received two six-figure gifts on Tuesday, Sept. 18 at the 93rd anniversary celebration of the university.
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Pictured (left to right): Desira Coleman Warrington, Paul Janoush and Becky Hawes Nowell.
Two new academic scholarships have been created to benefit rising sophomore students enrolled in the Delta Music Institute entertainment industry program at Delta State University.
Paul Janoush of Cleveland, recently gifted the DSU Foundation with funds to establish the Becky Hawes Nowell and Desira Coleman Warrington Scholarships to honor the love, service and friendship Nowell and Warrington provided to the late Lucy Richardson Janoush.
The Janoush family has given generously to the DMI over the years by funding student scholarships and enrichment opportunities.
“These scholarships are a wonderful way to remember Lucy and all that she did for DMI and the community,” said Warrington.
“She had a passion for music and the DMI,” added Nowell. “Music helped her fight her battle. One of the first things that she did was to make a playlist to listen to while she fought cancer. We are honored to have these scholarships given in our names to continue Lucy’s legacy, and give students an opportunity to pursue their dream in the music industry.”
DMI Director Tricia Walker added, “We are so grateful for the generosity of the Janoush family in supporting the DMI program since its inception. Our students’ lives continue to be enriched by the opportunities these types of awards provide.”
Gifts and donations to the Friends of DMI fund are encouraged. For online giving, please visit www.deltastategiving.org and search for Delta Music Institute.
The Delta Music Institute is an independent center of study under the College of Arts & Sciences at Delta State University, offering a B.S. degree in Entertainment Industry Studies degree. The focus of the DMI is to provide students with a broad and thorough education in the technological, creative, and business areas of the music and entertainment industry. For information, contact (662) 846-4579 or visit http://dmi.deltastate.edu.
Delta State University will host a special grant announcement ceremony in honor of The Gertrude C. Ford Foundation, a longtime Delta State supporter that recently provided one of the largest gifts in the university’s history.
University supporters are welcomed to the ceremony March 1 at 2:30 p.m. on the second floor of Ewing Hall.
Gertrude Castellow Ford
The Gertrude C. Ford Foundation, based in Jackson, Mississippi, recently pledged $3 million to the university to support the Center for Teaching and Learning at Delta State.
The foundation, founded in 1991 by Gertrude Castellow Ford, gives to educational and philanthropy projects primarily relating to higher education, children and youth services, and also health and human service organizations.
Thanks to the foundation’s commitment, the Center for Teaching and Learning at Delta State will be funded over the next several years. And in Ford’s honor, the center will be named the Gertrude C. Ford Center for Teaching and Learning. The facility provides Delta State with an opportunity to support the faculty in their efforts to improve student success.
John Lewis, a board member for the foundation, said the funding would go a long way in developing quality faculty at Delta State.
“Our investment here is really on the faculty level at Delta State,” said Lewis. “We can build buildings, and we can do a lot of things — but at a school, especially Delta State, the attraction is the faculty. The faculty is what makes the school go. I, along with my fellow board members Cheryle Sims and Gayle Papa, think the individual attention to the faculty makes this a worthwhile investment for us.”
Delta State University President William N. LaForge said the foundation’s support would make a significant long-term impact at the university.
“The gift from the Gertrude C. Ford Foundation in support of our Center for Teaching and Learning is a gift that will continue giving,” said LaForge. “It has transformational value because it’s going to help support a very important function at Delta State that will affect our students, potentially forever.”
“This donation is a major statement by a major foundation, of support for and confidence in Delta State,” he added. “We are very grateful for that. They are going to see their good work in action here. The $3 million gift will serve the purpose of making sure we can continue this great program on campus.”
Dr. Gray Kane, director of the Gertrude C. Ford Center for Teaching and Learning, said the center is an essential facility to improve overall learning at Delta State.
“The Gertrude C. Ford Center for Teaching and Learning is a hub for faculty development at Delta State,” said Kane. “It promotes a culture of self-development, collaboration and innovation in support of student success. The center provides faculty and chairs with resources, facilitated conversations, workshops, programs, networking opportunities, and individual consultations centered on topics such as online, hybrid, and face-to-face teaching, advising, mentoring, leadership, curriculum mapping, assessment and scholarship.”
“The faculty are experts in their disciplines, but outside the College of Education, very few have studied teaching, mentoring, course design, curriculum design or other facets of their profession,” added Kane. “This gift from the Gertrude C. Ford Foundation will fund opportunities to interconnect the faculty for knowledge transfers, collaborations, and innovations that can lead to student success both inside and beyond the classroom.”
For more information on the center, visit http://www.deltastate.edu/academic-affairs/center-teaching-learning.
To learn more about the Gertrude C. Ford Foundation, visit https://www.gertrudecford.com.
The public grant announcement ceremony on March 1 will celebrate one of the most significant pledges in the university’s history. Delta State supporters are welcome to the ceremony and to view The Gertrude C. Ford Center for Teaching and Learning.
Follow all Delta State news at www.deltastate.edu.
Dr. Gary Bouse (second from left), chief development officer for the Delta State University Foundation, and Sam Washington (center), instructor of commercial aviation at Delta State, attended a ceremony Jan. 19 in Fort Worth, Texas to receive a $25,000 grant as part of the American Airlines Pilot Recruiting and Development Program.
Delta State University’s Department of Commercial Aviation is the recent recipient of a competitive grant from the American Airlines Pilot Recruiting and Development Program.
The $25,000 grant from American Airlines will provide a major boost to the department’s facilities. Delta State was one of 10 organizations in the country to receive the grant.
“This grant will allow Delta State’s Department of Commercial Aviation to purchase equipment and software to set up two multi-station training labs that will let students practice instrument and commercial level procedures prior to entering the aircraft cockpit,” said Dr. Julie Speakes, chair of the department. “The lab will also be able to be transported to local and regional high schools to provide hands-on experience for students who may have an interest in aviation.”
The instructional lab will also help prepare students to enter actual aircraft cockpits and perform the required maneuvers and mission profiles, thus reducing the amount of time and costs to the students of obtaining initial and subsequent flight certificates.
Speakes said the funding would significantly improve learning opportunities for aviation students.
“We are proud to have been selected to receive this grant, and we are confident that these new labs will make our students’ experiences here in the Department of Commercial Aviation more meaningful and fruitful.”
An added bonus with the lab will be its mobility. The department will be able to pack up and deploy the lab at various sites such as local and regional high schools, air shows, fly-ins and other community events. This will give the department greater visibility as they advertise the unique and affordable programming at Delta State.
Dr. Gary Bouse, chief development officer for the Delta State University Foundation, helped the aviation department apply for the grant. According to Bouse, this is the first grant Delta State has received from American Airlines through the university’s Foundation.
Bouse and Sam Washington, an instructor of commercial aviation at Delta State, attended a ceremony for the grant recipients at the American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum in Fort Worth, Texas on Jan. 19.
“Of the nearly 600 organizations we invited to participate in our program, these 10 stood out with innovative ideas on growing and diversifying the pilot career path and creating opportunities for those who may not otherwise have the chance to learn,” said Captain David Tatum, American’s director of Pilot Recruiting and Development.
American Airlines, which is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It is the world’s largest airline when measured by fleet size, revenue, scheduled passenger-kilometers flown, and number of destinations served. American, together with its regional partners, operates an extensive international and domestic network with an average of nearly 6,700 flights per day.
Delta State’s aviation department is Mississippi’s only state university to provide undergraduate and graduate degrees in commercial aviation. Graduates of the program have the necessary skills to perform in flight crews, as well as executives with supervisory and managerial responsibilities at all levels in the aviation sector.
“DSU has one of the lowest overall costs for the student as it relates to tuition, room and board, meal plans and flight costs,” said Speakes. “The Mississippi Delta has great weather for training most months of the year, and the flat land area gives students and instructors many options for executing a safe landing should an in-flight emergency arise.”
Learn more about commercial aviation at Delta State by visiting http://www.deltastate.edu/college-of-business/commercial-aviation.
The latest issue of the Delta State Alumni and Foundation Magazine is currently on its way to the homes of alumni, friends and supporters of Delta State University.
The cover features alumnus Dr. Brad Vickers ’98, founder, owner and CEO of Southern Tradition Tailgating, along with his custom-made tailgating combat vehicle.
Also spotlighted in the magazine is the city of Cleveland, along with several alumni who are committed to promoting and creating an attractive environment for students and Cleveland residents alike.
The magazine contains highlights of a new outdoor recreation lab, the International Business Symposium, athletics and various alumni spotlights.
“The Delta State Alumni and Foundation Magazine is the primary publication distributed to alumni, donors and prospective students,” said Melissa Love, assistant director of Alumni Affairs. “We are excited and proud to celebrate the accomplishments of our alumni and share updates about their alma mater.”
The publication is mailed to over 25,000 homes across the nation.
To view the magazine online, visit https://issuu.com/deltastateuniversity/docs/sumfall_mag17_issu.
To update your alumni information, visit www.deltastategiving.org/alumniassociation/updateyourpersonalinformation.
To stay up to date on the Alumni Association’s activities, follow these social media sites: Facebook (Statesmen Graduates), Twitter (@DSU_Alumni), LinkedIn (DSU alumni), Instagram (dsualumni) and You Tube (dsualumni1). Make plans for this year’s Pig Pickin’ (Oct. 7) and Homecoming (Nov. 11).
