A rose to all those who made last week’s “II+C (Imagine, Inspire, Challenge) symposium at Mississippi University for Women a rousing success. Both Thursday evening and Friday morning sessions played to overflow audiences – filling the 400-seat Nissan Auditorium as well as a 60-seat classroom which was set up as a last-minute overflow venue.
Credit must go to the MUW administration, staff and faculty as well as speakers Dr. Robert C. Robbins, Dr. Jane Reckenlhoff, Dr. Janet Rich-Edwards, Dr. Nannette Wenger, all recognized as experts in their fields of medicine and research, along with MUW biology professor Dr. Ross Whitwam and Ole Miss biology major Alex Wallace.
Each provided special insight into this week’s topic, heart disease and research.
Above all, much credit goes to Columbus-native and pioneering researcher Dr. Doris Taylor, a proud MUW alumna, whose efforts in assembling this world-class lineup of speakers and developing the program cannot be underestimated.
Within hours of the symposium’s end, there was talk that this may have been the best two-day event in The W’s history.
A rose to the Mississippi State women’s basketball team, which concludes its regular season today at 4 p.m. at Humphrey Coliseum with a game against Tennessee. At stake for the Lady Bulldogs is a share of its first-ever Southeastern Conference Championship and, most likely, a No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. It has been a record-breaking season for the Bulldogs already, and a win today will give the team its highest ever win total (28). Currently ranked No. 2 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 3 in the AP Poll, MSU has lost just twice this season, each by three points, including a tough overtime loss Thursday at Kentucky. The team is worthy of the community’s support, which means Humphrey Coliseum should be packed. We believe the fans will do just that, so if you’re going, you would be wise to arrive early.
A rose to Michael J “Mike” McGrevey, who has been promoted as the new CEO at Stark Aerospace, replacing Robert “Doc” Foglesong, who is retiring from that position but will remain on the company’s board of directors. Headquartered in Columbus, Stark Aerospace is a leading innovator in the field of unmanned aircraft. Much like Foglesong, a former president at Mississippi State University, McGrevey also has strong ties to the university, which has been a key collaborator with the company. A retired Air Force officer, McGrevey has a PhD from MSU and served as VP for Finance and Administration at the university. We congratulate “Doc” on his retirement and welcome “Mike” to his new position.
A rose to Jason Spears and Melissa Luckett, who were appointed to school boards in Columbus and Starkville this week. The Columbus City Council unanimously reappointed Spears to his second five-year term last week while Starkville Mayor Parker Wiseman cast the tie-breaking vote to appoint Luckett to the position that will be vacated by Jenny Turner, who chose not to seek another term.
Spears has proven to be a well-prepared, committed member of the CMSD board and has used his background as a financial adviser to advocate prudent use of the district’s funds.
Luckett, meanwhile, also brings familiarity to her new role on the Starkville-Oktibbeha School District, having been a longtime volunteer, including stints as PTO president at both Sudduth Elementary School and Armstrong Middle School.
Serving on school boards is a time-consuming, complex, sometimes contentious and often frustrating task, but the benefit board members provide their communities is an important one.
We congratulate Sparks and Luckett as they work toward the goal of providing our children the best education available.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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