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Spring 2001 Issue 10 Editor Graphic Designer Major Notes Editor Contributing Writers Contributing Photographers Assistant to the President
for College Communications Associate Director of Public Relations Assistant Director of Public Relations Millsaps College President Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College Vice President
for Institutional Advancement Vice President for Administration Vice President and Dean of Students Millsaps Magazine is published by Millsaps College, 1701 N. State Street, Jackson MS 39210 for distribution to alumni, parents, and friends. Send address corrections to Millsaps Magazine, care of the above address. You can reach us by phone at (601) 974-1019, by fax at (601) 974-1456, or by e-mail at peedejp@millsaps.edu. Visit our website for the online magazine. Periodical postage paid at Jackson MS. |
On a sunny Friday, April 6, 2001, Dr.
Frances Lucas-Tauchar’s presidency was officially
ushered in before an audience of nearly 1,000 people. The
Inauguration ceremony included a procession of some 250
faculty members, trustees, college and university
delegates, state and city officials, United Methodist
Bishops, former Millsaps presidents, alumni
representatives, and the presidents of the student body
association and faculty, staff, and alumni councils. It was a day of perfect weather and profound words, and it capped off a magical week that included student musical recitals, faculty lectures, guest discussion panels, community service projects, a celebration party with music and food, and many other activities. President Lucas-Tauchar’s Acceptance Address and a photographic narrative of the historic week’s events will run in the next issue. However, if you can’t wait until July to read her speech, you can read it online on the Millsaps website. It is a remarkable document that illustrates her dedication to creating a community that is at once more diverse and closer than it has ever been before during the College’s history. On the following pages, you will find an insightful article on our new leader from the perspective of the faculty. And you can learn more about her vision for Millsaps in a frank question-and-answer interview that she gave shortly before Inauguration. Both works underline the president’s agenda: upholding and enhancing our academic excellence, affirming the sacred worth of everyone in the Millsaps community, and working to increase the resources of the College. These are challenging times in American higher education, to be sure, but on a splendid April day those of us in this community were reminded that Millsaps has won the day in far more difficult times because it stayed true to its values. “I have been thinking a lot lately about Hodding Carter Jr. calling Millsaps ‘a candle burning in the darkness,’” President Lucas-Tauchar told us in her moving conclusion. “In the more than 30 years since he made that bold statement, the state of Mississippi and Millsaps College have taken some huge, difficult steps toward enlightenment. Both the college and the state have grown, sometimes together, sometimes apart.” “I want to say to you today that Millsaps is less a candle in the darkness and more a porch light at the break of day. Millsaps is less a fragile gift and more a strong beacon. Less a dream, more a life. My mission here, and my pledge to you, is to keep our light burning bright across this city.” That is a vision to celebrate. Jon Parrish Peede PAGE 1 OF 1 | NEXT ARTICLE |