Contact: Sammy McDavid
To expand discussions of major public issues and recognize the achievements of the first director of its government institute, Mississippi State is launching the Morris W.H. "Bill" Collins Jr. Speaker Series.
The first of the monthly public programs takes place 3-5 p.m. Sept. 14 in the John Grisham Room of the university's Mitchell Memorial Library. Collins, now retired in Athens, Ga., will be among the speakers.
Others include former 3rd District congressman David Bowen of Jackson; Rex Buffington, director of the Starkville-based Stennis Center for Public Policy; Starkville businesswoman Pat Permenter; retired Starkville dentist Lloyd Rose; and Scott County Times publisher and syndicated columnist Sid Salter. Frances Coleman, MSU dean of libraries, and Marty Wiseman, current Stennis Institute director, will join them on the program.
In addition to the government institute and the library's Congressional and Political Research Center, the Collins Speaker Series is sponsored by the John Stennis-G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery Association. A student organization named for two prominent university graduates who went on to decades of public service, SMA was formed two years ago to promote a deeper interest in the political process among those enrolled at the state's largest university.
"When Dr. Collins led the Stennis Institute and was John Stennis Professor of Political Science, he often brought notable public and political figures to campus," Wiseman said. "These gatherings employed an informal format to better encourage candid interaction between speakers and their audiences. This program is an effort to reprise those sessions."
While the 2000-01 schedule is still being finalized, Wiseman said four prominent public figures already have agreed to lead upcoming sessions. They include Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Lenore Prather, Oct. 12; Sid Salter, Nov. 9; Vicksburg Mayor Robert Walker, Feb. 1, and Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck, April 19.
As with the inaugural program, succeeding sessions will take place 3-5 p.m. in the Grisham Room. Following each speaker's presentation, members of the audience will be encouraged to ask questions and share opinions on the topic at hand. A reception will conclude the gatherings.
Unique in Mississippi, the Stennis Institute of Government was established in 1976 as a service, research and training organization to serve specific needs of state and local governments while promoting civic education and citizen involvement in the political process.
Collins, who earlier led similar organizations at the University of Georgia in Athens and American University in Washington, D.C., headed the MSU institute for a decade following its founding.
For additional information on the Morris Collins Speaker Series, telephone (662) 325-3328.