Ed Meek greets 2015 Bill and Jean May Mississippi Sun scholars HartLee Gabbert (left) and Lyndy Berryhill in front of the UM Meek School of Journalism and New Media. The scholarship honors longtime friends of Ed and Becky Meek.
OXFORD, Miss. – Two University of Mississippi journalism students are benefiting from scholarships established by Ed and Becky Meek of Oxford in honor of Bill and Jean May, former editors and publishers of the Mississippi Sun, now known as the The Charleston-Sun Sentinel.
HartLee Gabbert of Gulfport and Lyndy Berryhill of Brookhaven are the 2015-16 recipients of the Bill and Jean May Mississippi Sun Scholarship awards.
In her first few weeks on the Oxford campus, Gabbert quickly became involved, working as a writer for The Daily Mississippian, and was selected as a member of the Associated Student Body Freshman Council. As a print journalism major, she will utilize her scholarship toward the pursuit of a career within the industry.
“I love the thought of working at a newspaper,” she said. “My short time on staff for The Daily Mississippian has given me so much appreciation for the newspaper industry and opened my eyes to it as a future career. Developing a story and seeking out interviews and other information provides such a rush for me.”
Gabbert graduated from Gulfport High School on the Superintendent’s List with consecutive honor roll awards, having previously served as the president of the Mississippi Youth Legislature Delegates. She also is a recipient of the Rotary Youth Leadership Award.
Berryhill, a junior transfer student from Copiah-Lincoln Community College, is majoring in print journalism with a minor in history. She was a recipient of the President’s Volunteer Service Award, president of the Centurion History Club and was named the Social Science Student of the Year before transferring to Ole Miss.
Berryhill is also a Luckyday Scholar who hopes to pursue news reporting abroad and ultimately return to Mississippi to work in education.
“My short-term goal is to graduate from Ole Miss with my degree and a lot of reporting experience under my belt,” Berryhill said. “After graduation, I want to be a foreign correspondent.
“When I retire, I will go back to college so I can teach high school journalism and American history in Mississippi. I want to teach students who are growing up in low-income households because I want to be the teacher who tells them what my teachers told me: ‘You can do anything you set your mind to.'”
Ed Meek, whose generous gifts made these scholarships possible, said he is proud to have contributed to furthering the education of these aspiring journalists.
“It is wonderful to see these outstanding young people coming to the Meek School of Journalism and New Media, which is the fastest growing academic program on campus and perhaps in the nation,” Meek said. “Their presence pays tribute to my dear friends, the Mays, who have made significant contributions to Mississippi journalism.”
Thanks to a $5.3 million gift from the Meeks, both Ole Miss alumni, in 2009, the university’s journalism department became the Meek School of Journalism and New Media. The school’s degree programs – the Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts and the new Bachelor of Science in Integrated Marketing Communications – give students an opportunity to understand the changing role of journalism from different perspectives while developing the multimedia and intellectual skills necessary to succeed in the media industry.
Students also have opportunities to immediately apply the skills learned in the classroom by gaining paid experience at the S. Gale Denley Student Media Center, where Meek School students can be published in The Daily Mississippian or The Ole Miss yearbook, gain on-air experience by reporting for NewsWatch or Rebel Radio, or get a glimpse of the business side of journalism by working for the student-run advertising division.
Additionally, students can gain hands-on experience, working for HottyToddy.com and Experience Oxford magazine, each of which the Meeks established to support the journalism school and its students. Last year, the publications hosted 24 interns. HottyToddy.com averages 1.6 million readers and its Facebook site reached a record 2.4 million views during the week of the Ole Miss-Alabama football game.
In 1962, Ed Meek took a job as staff writer in the university’s public relations office. Two years later, at age 24, he became UM’s youngest-ever department head and helped shape the university’s image for 37 years as a former assistant vice chancellor for public relations and marketing and associate professor of journalism. His wife, Becky, earned a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in special education, both from Ole Miss.