{"id":83036,"date":"2019-03-01T14:14:25","date_gmt":"2019-03-01T20:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/?p=83036"},"modified":"2019-03-01T17:35:59","modified_gmt":"2019-03-01T23:35:59","slug":"delta-state-university-receives-50000-endowed-scholarship-from-cleveland-state-bank-in-honor-of-calvin-dye-who-graduated-from-the-former-and-headed-the-latter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/2019\/03\/delta-state-university-receives-50000-endowed-scholarship-from-cleveland-state-bank-in-honor-of-calvin-dye-who-graduated-from-the-former-and-headed-the-latter\/","title":{"rendered":"Delta State University Receives $50,000 Endowed Scholarship from Cleveland State Bank in Honor of Calvin Dye, Who Graduated from the Former and Headed the Latter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Delta State University alumnus and local banking executive Calvin Dye defined family in three ways: through immediate relations, work colleagues, and alma mater. His wife, Charlotte Armstrong Dye, also graduated from Delta State, as did their three daughters. Dye worked for more than 25 years at Cleveland (Miss.) State Bank, including the final 18 years as president and CEO, until retirement in 2014, and he continued to serve on its board until his death in 2018 at age 69. To commemorate his love of kin, bank, and school, Cleveland State Bank has given $50,000 to establish the Calvin Dye Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund. It will award a scholarship annually to a Delta State College of Business student; the initial recipient will receive a $2,000 scholarship.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to honor the memory of our former leader,\u201d said Danny Whalen, CEO and president of Cleveland State Bank and a close collaborator of Dye\u2019s for 19 years. \u201cAnd we grow as Delta State grows.\u201d Dye was a first-generation college student. On the job, \u201che was about the path well-earned.\u201d Therefore, \u201cwhat better way to honor him than this partnership with Delta State?\u201d Whalen remarked at a reception announcing the occasion on Feb. 27, 2019, at bank headquarters.<\/p>\n

Dye\u2019s widow, an education major from the class of 1972 and a retired primary schoolteacher who lives in Tupelo, put it this way: \u201cThis scholarship means a lot because he will be remembered. I want his legacy to live on.\u201d Wearing a Delta State-green colored top, and accompanied by daughters Emily Dye Elliott \u201902, a graphic design major of Tupelo; Dr. Valerie Dye Norton \u201905, a biology major of Corinth; and Claire Dye Boyles \u201908, an art major of Cleveland, the matriarch mentioned the \u201cirony\u201d that in his many years with Cleveland State Bank, he never missed a board meeting until the last one\u2014because it took place on the day of his death, Jan. 10, 2018.<\/p>\n

Born on May 20, 1948, he graduated from Vardaman (Miss.) High School, earned his bachelor\u2019s degree in education from Delta State in 1970, and went on to graduate from the Mississippi School of Banking. He and Charlotte, who knew each other growing up in Vardaman, were married for 45 years and moved to Cleveland in 1983. Before joining Cleveland State Bank in 1989 as senior vice president, he was associated with the Federal Land Bank in Greenwood, Greenville, Charleston, and Cleveland. Dye was a member of the board of directors of the Mississippi Bankers Association from 2008 to 2011. He was a longtime member and deacon of the First Baptist Church in Cleveland and at the time of his death was a member of the First Baptist Church in Tupelo and served on the stewardship committee and counting team. Dye was a member of the Cleveland\/Bolivar County Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club of Cleveland. He also served as treasurer of the GRAMMY Museum\u00ae Mississippi board of directors. Dye served in the United States Army.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a wonderful gesture and a great tribute to the memory of Calvin,\u201d said Delta State President William N. LaForge. \u201cWe very much appreciate the generosity from Cleveland State Bank and the confidence in Delta State University.\u201d He called the scholarship a \u201cwin-win-win\u201d for the bank, the Dyes, and future Delta State business students.<\/p>\n

A recipient of the Calvin Dye Memorial Endowed Scholarship must maintain a GPA of at least 3.0, be enrolled as a full-time student, and reside in Bolivar or Grenada counties, where the bank operates, or in Calhoun county, Dye\u2019s native home.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Left to right: Claire Dye Boyles \u201908, an art major of Cleveland; Emily Dye Elliott \u201902, a graphic design major of Tupelo; and Dr. Valerie Dye Norton \u201905, a biology major of Corinth watch the well-wishes.<\/p><\/div>\n

This endowed scholarship is the second such $50,000 fund that Cleveland State Bank has created for Delta State. In 1999, it started the Cleveland State Bank N. L. Cassibry, Jr. Memorial Endowed Scholarship for junior and senior banking and finance majors to celebrate Cassibry, bank board chair and business and community leader. This year\u2019s recipient received a $1,000 scholarship.<\/p>\n

Opening in 1908, Cleveland State Bank is one of rhe earliest donors to the Delta State Foundation, Inc., making its first recorded gift in 1970.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe in long-term commitment,\u201d said Whalen.<\/p>\n

So does LaForge. \u201cThis is my bank since childhood,\u201d he pointed out. LaForge has kept his account open, even after moving away for decades and even during that stretch if with a balance of $10. \u201cWe are so grateful that our students can study banking and business with this scholarship and hopefully become an employee of the bank.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Delta State University alumnus and local banking executive Calvin Dye defined family in three ways: through immediate relations, work colleagues, and alma mater. His wife, Charlotte Armstrong Dye, also graduated…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":566,"featured_media":83037,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,12,93,108,1912],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-alumni","category-college-of-business","category-foundation","category-president","category-press-releases"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/566"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83036"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83040,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83036\/revisions\/83040"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}