Jackson State University alum Marcus A. Thompson recently established a $50,000 scholarship endowment to help pay for tuition, textbooks, supplies and other fees for eligible Mississippi natives who are studying special education. Photo courtesy Charles A. Smith/JSU

Jackson State University alum Marcus A. Thompson recently established a $50,000 scholarship endowment to help pay for tuition, textbooks, supplies and other fees for eligible Mississippi natives who are studying special education. The principal amount will be eligible for matching funds through Title III.

Thompson, a 1990 JSU graduate and senior director of sales for a life science company of pharmaceutical and diagnostic devices in Gulfport, Miss., established the Thelma Thompson Endowed Scholarship in memory of his grandmother, who had a daughter with Down syndrome. The endowment also pays homage to the late Dorothy McCoy, a teacher who worked with Thompson's special-needs aunt.

Special-education majors and Mississippi natives will get priority for the scholarship. Qualifying students must also be a sophomore, junior or senior with a minimum 2.5 GPA and must provide a letter of recommendation from a JSU faculty member.

JSU Receives Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund Grant

Jackson State University and Mississippi College will soon receive a $5 million Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund grant for a joint project to promote and protect population health, with a focus on academics, community and the workforce. The grant is part of the second round of GEER funding, which Gov. Tate Reeves administered as part of the federal Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act.

The collaboration allows for the creation of a bachelor’s in public health program at both institutions, allowing students with undergraduate degrees to transition to a master’s and then a doctoral program in public health at JSU if they choose. Both schools will also be able to share resources such as faculty, class spaces, mobile health labs, courses and research.

Individuals working in public health will be able to attain certification from JSU. The grant also offers training in public health.

MSU's Dudy Noble Field Named 2021 College/University Field of the Year

The Sports Turf Management Association recently named Dudy Noble Field at Mississippi State University as the 2021 College/University Field of the Year. The organization gives the annual recognition to natural grass fields that exhibit excellent playability and safety, and whose managers utilize innovative solutions, effectively use their budgets and have implemented a comprehensive agronomic program, a release from MSU says.

Sports turf is part of MSU’s campus services division, which is responsible for maintaining all campus landscaping, among other duties. Sports Turf Superintendent Brandon Hardin, a 2006 graduate of MSU’s sports turf management program, manages the division together with Campus Landscape Associate Director Bart Prather

The MSU sports turf team will receive the award for Dudy Noble Field at STMA’s annual conference in January 2022. STMA will also feature the MSU sports turf team in an upcoming addition of its SportsField Management Magazine. MSU also is a three-time STMA Field of the Year recipient for football’s Scott Field at Davis Wade Stadium.