Mississippi State honors Nunnelee, receives papers from family

Contact: Allison Matthews

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State University honored a former congressman today [Sept. 14] with a ceremony renaming one of the campus’s premium residence halls after the university alumnus.

The family of late U.S. Congressman Alan Nunnelee also donated volumes of papers, along with digital records and memorabilia to the university’s Congressional and Political Research Center in Mitchell Memorial Library. MSU President Mark E. Keenum additionally announced the establishment of the Alan Nunnelee Presidential Endowed Scholarship, made possible by a gift from the family.

“This is our highest, most preeminent, most prestigious scholarship that we award here at Mississippi State University,” Keenum said in reference to the Presidential Scholarship program after welcoming the crowd to Alan Nunnelee Hall.

“As we think about what he’s meant to all of us individually, there’s not anyone in this room who didn’t appreciate Alan for who he was and what he did in representing our state both in Jackson and in Washington. We’re so deeply thankful for him, and he was a special and dear friend to me for more than 20 years,” Keenum added.

Nunnelee Hall opened in 2007 as North Hall in Zacharias Village and can house up to 254 students and staff.

The library collection includes written correspondence between Nunnelee and his constituents and colleagues, copies of bills he sponsored, newspaper clippings that feature the congressman, awards he earned and an array of other memorabilia. It also includes the hard drive from Nunnelee’s office computer, giving access to his email correspondence.

Third Congressional District Rep. Gregg Harper said, “This collection will serve as a precious reminder to those who knew him, and it will allow future generations to get a real sense of the man, his family and his vital service to America.”

Nunnelee, a 1980 MSU marketing graduate from Tupelo, died in February, at age 56, of complications from a brain tumor, just four months after being elected to his third term serving Mississippi’s 1st congressional district.

Among others speaking at the dedication ceremony were:

--U.S. Rep. Trent Kelly recommended that people choose their mentors wisely. “If you want to see why people act the way the act and do what they do, it’s because they chose their mentors wisely or poorly.” He emphasized that Nunnelee was a servant leader worth emulating. “He was a great man….he loved everyone else more than he loved himself, and it was apparent in everything he did.”

--Doug Davis, chief of staff for Mississippi’s Secretary of State, talked about the substantial difference Nunnelee made during his service. “On a political level, he passed legislation in Washington and in Jackson that was representative of his respective districts. On a personal level, he showed by example what a good son, a good husband, a good father, a good grandfather, and a good friend should be.”

--MSU Chief Communications Officer Sid Salter reflected on Nunnelee’s tenacity. “I learned early on with Alan when his vision was at risk, when he struggled to get across campus, there just was no quit in him.” Salter said Nunnelee was “the most tenacious Bulldog I ever knew.”

--Dean of MSU Libraries Frances Coleman said Nunnelee’s collection will be a great research asset. “These papers will be very important to students, to researchers, and to other individuals who really want to view what makes a congressman and state legislator tick.”

Nunnelee’s wife of 34 years, Tori Nunnelee, earlier had expressed her wishes that the collection would “honor the man who chose to serve his beloved Mississippi in public office.”

“Alan dedicated his life to serving. Anyone who knew him personally knew he was one of the most humble and sincere men to walk the halls of government. I hope this collection will reveal to generations to come what being a ‘servant leader’ looks like and just how powerful humility can be,” Tori Nunnelee added.

The Nunnelee children and grandchildren also were on hand to celebrate and respond to the dedication in their father’s memory.

“Growing up with my dad in the house was really a blessing,” said Emily Nunnelee Thompson. She went on to say that her father gave his whole heart to Mississippi State. “He experienced the best Mississippi State had to offer, and he was never too bashful to tell us or a perfect stranger all about it,” she said.

In Washington, the congressman was a member of the House Appropriations Committee and its subcommittees on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and related agencies; Energy and Water development; and Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and related agencies. Before joining the 112th Congress in 2011, he served Lee and Pontotoc counties in the Mississippi Senate.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.