Contact: Maridith Geuder
Donald L. "Donnie" Prisock
Donald L. "Donnie" Prisock remembers his first days as a Mississippi State student in 1972. As the lone freshman in a wheelchair, he often had to be carried by helpful classmates into inaccessible university classrooms.
The inconvenience made an impression on Prisock but it obviously didn't slow him down. Today, the lifelong cerebral palsy victim and married father of an active 7-year-old son is the university's disability services coordinator.
"In 1972, the campus had no curb cuts and only two ramps, and one of those was at a 45-degree angle," Prisock recalled recently.
Despite the challenges, he persevered, eventually earning bachelor's and master's degrees at MSU and a doctorate from the University of Mississippi. He has worked at MSU since 1981 as an advocate for others with disabilities.
Prisock's accomplishments recently were recognized with a special award presented during the state's first Celebration of Achievement. Sponsored jointly by the Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services and Mississippi Society for Disabilities, the event honoring five Mississippians was headlined by Heather Mills McCartney, wife of former Beatle Paul McCartney.
Both as a student and longtime staff member of MSU's Student Support Services Office, Prisock, a Starkville native, has witnessed major changes on the campus.
"Due to the farsightedness of Dr. T.K. Martin and Mike White, MSU has been transformed into one of the most accessible campuses in the United States," Prisock said.
Martin was the university's longtime vice president and a leader in efforts to make the campus handicap-accessible. White headed the student support office for many years before moving to his current position as dean of students.
Through the Division of Student Affairs unit in which Prisock works, the university currently provides services for nearly 250 students with disabilities, including a Braille document repository, wheelchair repair service, scribes to assist visually impaired students in test taking, and volunteers to help with library work. Several sororities and other campus organizations provide reader services and hundreds of volunteer hours each semester.
Today, Prisock zips around the vast Starkville campus in the customized "Bulldog Buggy" that was built for him in 1977 by mechanical engineering students and faculty. Virtually everyone he meets calls him by name and stops to chat.
Debbie A. Baker, the current student support services director, said Prisock's "can-do" attitude has given him a unique place in the life of the university.
"Donnie's positive spirit is an example to follow for both staff and students at Mississippi State," Baker observed. "He's an excellent role model for students who face similar adversities."
With his typical humility, Prisock casts the statewide recognition he received as just another way to help focus attention on those with whom he's worked over the decades.
"I feel very honored and humbled to receive this honor because I know many people with disabilities," he said. "Many of them have been my former students who do outstanding jobs in their chosen fields."
As all who know him can attest, the same can be--and is--said of Donnie Prisock.