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Date 3-6-06
Contact Daphne Alford 601.266.5916
Hattiesburg
– Family and friends of the late Natia Zeametria Hutchins
have endowed a scholarship in the College of Health at the University
of Southern Mississippi. The Natia Z. Hutchins Education of the
Deaf Endowment Fund will provide scholarships for students who pursue
a degree in deaf education.
The only child
of Dr. Bob Hutchins and Gwendolyn Washington, both of Jackson, Natia
was in her final semester at the university when she died Aug.12,
2005. The Bachelor of Arts in Education of the deaf degree was awarded
posthumously to her parents during commencement on Dec. 17, 2005.
“I was as proud
as if she were there (in person),” said Gwendolyn Washington, a
second-grade teacher at Casey Elementary School in the Jackson Public
School District. “She would have been so happy because she worked
so hard for her degree. It was like having her there at her own
graduation … I was living it for her.”
Natia attended
Jackson public schools and graduated from Callaway High in 2000.
She came to Southern Miss in 2001 to study deaf education. Her father,
Dr. Bob Hutchins, who practices emergency medicine in Jackson, said
his daughter’s interest in educating hearing-impaired children as
a career choice was heightened once she settled in at the university.
“We established
the scholarship because of Natia’s passion and love for deaf education,”
said Dr. Hutchins. “I thought it was the best way to remember her
and also do something to inspire others to consider this field as
a career choice.”
For more information
about the scholarship fund, please contact development officer Ben
Samel at 601.266.5481 or 1.888.GIVEUSM (1.888.448.3876). To make
a donation, please make a check payable to the University of Southern
Mississippi Foundation, with a memo notation to the Natia Z. Hutchins
Education of the Deaf Endowment Fund, 118 College Drive #10026,
Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0001.
The University
of Southern Mississippi Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization that
serves as a fiduciary of private funds donated to Southern Miss.
Gifts are tax deductible within the limits of current IRS regulations.
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Last updated:
03/06/06 |
