Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss--A new scholarship program for entering Mississippi State University freshmen will assist students in two Northeast Mississippi public high schools and an independent school in Greenwood.
Beginning with the 2007 fall semester, the Edward Allen and Mary Evelyn Maxwell Endowed Scholarship will provide funds for qualifying graduates of Tupelo and New Albany high schools and Pillow Academy.
Recently established with a gift from Mary Evelyn Maxwell and sons Allen and Doug, the awards are a memorial to Edward Maxwell, late husband and father to the family.
Edward Maxwell, a longtime Greenwood municipal administrator who died in 1994, was a 1938 civil engineering graduate of then-Mississippi State College. He was the first president of the campus chapter of Alpha Tau Omega social fraternity.
A graduate from each school will be selected annually by the University Scholarship Committee to receive the one-year, $1,500 awards. Those selected also are eligible to re-apply in successive years until graduation.
Scholarship candidates must have an ACT composite score between 22 and 26. They also must maintain a 3.0 grade-point average, based on a 4.0 scale, while enrolled at MSU. Admission to the university and completion of the general scholarship application and a resume will serve as the formal application for the Maxwell Scholarship.
While the New Albany and Tupelo schools serve their respective municipalities, Pillow enrolls students from Carroll, Grenada, Holmes, Leflore, Sunflower, and Tallahatchie counties.
Mary Evelyn Maxwell, a long-time supporter of Mississippi State, moved to Tupelo to be nearer to her children, but said she still feels close connections to her former Leflore residence.
"I lived in Greenwood all my life and both of my boys are graduates of Pillow Academy," she said. "I still feel like I know those students. And, through my children and grandchildren, I feel a connection to the New Albany and Tupelo schools."
Her children or grandchildren have attended or are attending each of the schools that the scholarships will benefit, she added.
Both Maxwell sons are graduates of MSU's College of Business and Industry. Allen, a 1978 graduate now residing in New Albany, is agency manager for Renasant Insurance in Tupelo. Doug, who completed his degree in 1983, is director of loss control with Lane Furniture Industries in Tupelo.
Allen Maxwell said the family believes the scholarship endowment is a fitting memorial to his late father. "Education was very important to my dad," he explained.
"He always stressed education to me and my brother and when my children came along, from the day they were born, he told me to start putting money aside for their college," Allen Maxwell added. "He was a strong believer that you could never get enough education."
Mary Evelyn Maxwell agreed that her husband "always encouraged young people to pursue an education. He would be proud of this scholarship."
Brett Aldridge, development director for MSU's Division of Student Affairs, said the Maxwell Scholarship "will enable students from these areas to pursue their education at Mississippi State.
"The Maxwells' generosity will make a difference in the lives of these students for many years to come," Aldridge said.
For more information about the Maxwell Scholarship, contact MSU's Office of Admissions and Scholarships at 662-325-2224 or visit www.admissions.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.