Content about Hometown News

The first day of classes for the 2011 Fall Semester.

Each year, The University of Southern Mississippi Department of Recreational Sports honors outstanding student staff members and graduating seniors at the Student Staff Appreciation and Awards night. Southern Miss Rec Sports held the 2013 awards night at the end of the spring semester at the Southern Miss Payne Center.

The awards night gave professional staff members the opportunity to say thank you to the students for their hard work. During the banquet, awards and scholarships are given to outstanding student staff members.

2012-2013 Student Staff Award Winners

The 2012-2013 Southern Connection Leadership Team was recognized for their year of service at The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Awards Day ceremony in April.

Throughout the year, the team of 12 student leaders served as the host group for the orientation and registration event, Gold Rush, and as leadership ambassadors for a variety of university events, including commencement and Welcome Week.

The University of Southern Mississippi has selected 14 students earning their degrees from the Gulf Park campus for the 2012-2013 Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges.

Students were selected based on leadership, extracurricular activities and community contributions throughout their academic career. Additionally, students must graduate in the current academic year. Undergraduate students are required to have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 and graduate students must have a minimum grade point average of 3.75.

Each year, The University of Southern Mississippi hosts its Founders Day Ceremony in conjunction with the founding of the University on March 30, 1910.  During this ceremony, faculty, staff and students are recognized for their accomplishments and awards are presented to deserving recipients.

Exemplifying the excellence demonstrated in the College, several college faculty, staff and students that were recognized during this year's ceremony included:

Five audiology doctoral students from the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at The University of Southern Mississippi recently received the prestigious white coat, signifying their transition from academic studies to clinical health sciences.

The white coat recipients include Amy Bishop of Picayune, Miss.; Noelle Dunbar of Sumrall, Miss.; Ashley Greening of Richmond Hill, Ga.; Catelin Powell of Germantown, Tenn.; and Mr. Matthew Walker of Columbia, Miss.

Students in the Department of Casino, Hospitality and Tourism Management at The University of Southern Mississippi will present their capstone projects during the Historic Hattiesburg Downtown Association’s monthly meeting on Thursday, April 25.

The meeting and presentations will take place at 7:30 p.m. at the Hattiesburg Cultural Center at 723 Main St. The public is invited to attend.

Community health science students at The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast reached out to the university community by hosting the health fair, “Are Your Loved Ones in the Zone?,” during National Public Health Week April 1-7.

University of Southern Mississippi doctoral candidate Tina McDyess hopes to build a strong foundation in molecular genetics as a participant in the National Institute of Nursing Research Summer Genetics Institute June 3-28 at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md.

McDyess, a second-year student in the College of Nursing’s doctoral program, has made childhood obesity the focal point of her career in nursing.

Founders’ Day on The University of Southern Mississippi Hattiesburg campus April 1 was a celebration of the institution’s past, its future and the people who have made it what it is today.

It was also the first day of the presidency of Dr. Rodney Bennett, the University’s 10^th executive officer. Bennett welcomed those in attendance at Bennett Auditorium (named for the University’s second president Claude Bennett) to the event that included honors and recognition for the achievements of students, faculty and staff.

Nicki Elizabeth Relan, a University of Southern Mississippi senior nursing major, is following a career path she set in motion many years ago as a kindergarten student in Diamondhead, Miss.

That path has now taken her to The Southern Nursing Research Society’s annual conference in Little Rock, Ark., where Relan delivered a presentation on her Alzheimer’s Disease research project.