Released June 29, 2005

HATTIESBURG – Three Simpson County 2005 high school graduates have been awarded $2,000 scholarships to attend The University of Southern Mississippi this fall.

Kemiaya K. Jackson and Anna W. Morris, both graduates of Magee High School, and Delwyn Fewell, a graduate of Mendenhall High School, are among the first recipients to receive the James V. Robinson Jr. Simpson/Smith County Scholarship Program.

Magee High School’s 1949 salutatorian James V. “Robbie” Robinson Jr., a retired University of Charleston, S.C., professor, established the scholarship program at The University of Southern Mississippi Foundation, a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) corporation that serves as a fiduciary of private funds donated to the university. In an effort to continue educational developments of high school students in Simpson and Smith counties, Robinson’s scholarships are awarded to seniors who have a desire to pursue a degree in the College of Education and Psychology at Southern Miss.

Robinson was born in a log cabin near Taylorsville to sharecropper parents. He was the first in his family to finish high school and was financially challenged when he attended college.

“There were no student loans then,” said Robinson, who graduated from Southern Miss in 1954 and earned a doctorate of psychology from Ole Miss. “Once, I wouldn’t have wanted it known that I was the son of a sharecropper. Now I realize if I can do it, anyone can.”

Jackson, Morris and Fewell have enrolled in the College of Education and Psychology at The University of Southern Mississippi. To qualify for this scholarship, they had to graduate from a Simpson County high school with a 2.5 grade point average or above and submit a written essay about their goals in the area of education or psychology.

Graduates in Southern Miss’ College of Education and Psychology’s academic programs hold leadership roles in educational institutions, businesses, industries, governmental organizations, medical facilities and social agencies. The college focuses on behavior, the teaching/learning process, educational technology and information transfer through degree-granting programs and service in children and family studies; curriculum, instruction and special education; educational leadership and research; library and information sciences; technology education; psychology; and educational field experiences and education service center.

Jackson is the daughter of Keith and Marion Jackson of Magee; Fewell is the daughter of Howard and Patricia Fewell of Mendenhall; and Morris is the daughter of Roma Morris of Magee.

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