Jennifer Ford (left), head of the Department of Archives and Special Collections, and Cecilia Botero, UM dean of libraries, share an autographed poster from ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ with Chancellor Jeffrey Vitter and his wife, Sharon. The poster is a gift from the Actors Fund of America. Photo by Robert Jordan/Ole Miss Communications

OXFORD, Miss. – Curators of the Mamie and Ellis Nassour Arts and Entertainment Collection at the University of Mississippi have created a unique archive to honor the late actress Marian Seldes and the Actors Fund of America, the latter for its generous donations of theatrical memorabilia. 

The Marian Seldes/Actors Fund Archive, housed in the J.D. Williams Library’s Department of Archive and Special Collections, includes signed Broadway posters and other materials.

To mark its establishment, the Actors Fund donated a framed poster signed by the original cast of Broadway’s longest-running musical, “The Phantom of the Opera.” Representatives of the fund also gave a commemorative Actors Fund 125th anniversary ornament to Chancellor Jeffrey Vitter and his wife, Sharon, for use at Carrier House, the UM chancellor’s residence.

“At the University of Mississippi, our arts and cultural programs are among the best, and one of our most passionate supporters is alumnus Ellis Nassour,” Vitter said. “We are extremely grateful to Ellis and to the Actors Fund for their gifts to Ole Miss.

“These donations enhance our Department of Archives and Special Collections and are a great resource for our students, faculty and staff.”

In celebration of the gift, the Department of Theatre Arts staged a reading with Ole Miss students John Brahan, a senior acting major from Hattiesburg and Ole Miss Hall of Fame inductee, and Rachel Staton, a senior musical theatre major from Atlanta who won and Outstanding performance award from the Kennedy Center’s American College Theatre Festival.

Brahan and Staton performed excerpts from Tennessee Williams and Edward Albee plays in which Seldes starred. The performance was directed by Rory Ledbetter, associate professor of theatre arts.

Co-founded in 1882 by classical actor Edwin Booth, the Actors Fund of America is a nonprofit human services organization that serves professionals in theater, film, television, music, opera and dance through programs that address their unique and essential needs. Joseph Benincasa is president and CEO of the fund, and Tony Award-winning actor Brian Stokes Mitchell is board chair.

With offices in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, the Actors Fund directly serves more than 8,000 entertainment and performing arts professionals, and approximately 300,000 more through web resource programs.

“We were happy to support this archive and the memory of Ms. Seldes, who was an ardent supporter of the Actors Fund,” Benincasa said.

The Actors Fund gifts, which began in 2015, include framed and signed Broadway posters from noteworthy performances and annual Actors Fund all-star fundraising galas.

Joseph Benincasa (right), president and CEO of the Actors Fund of America, and Ellis Nassour with photo of actress Marian Seldes. Submitted photo

Ellis Nassour, a Vicksburg native and member of the Ole Miss Class of 1964, suggested that the archive be named for Seldes, his longtime friend.

“Marian was among the most admired and hardest-working actors on any stage,” Nassour said. “Her 60-year career covered theater, television, film and radio. Her conversational abilities are still legendary. She was indefatigable until the very end.”

Seldes was honored with Tony and Drama Desk awards, as well as numerous nominations. She was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1995 and presented a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2010. She died in 2014.

The Mamie and Ellis Nassour Arts and Entertainment Collection, dedicated in 2004, was donated by Ellis Nassour in honor of his parents.

The collection includes posters, bound film and theater scripts, photos, caricatures, circus posters, show souvenir books and theatrical memorabilia. It also includes an impressive assortment of playbills, many of which are autographed, from performances worldwide.

A third of the collection is designated for exhibition display, and another third is archived for research. The most important third, Nassour said, is a growing collection of DVDs of film, opera and dance and CDs, ranging from country and pop to Broadway, classical and opera, that is available for circulation.

“We are extremely grateful to both Mr. Nassour and the Actor’s Fund of America,” said Jennifer Ford, the library’s head of special collections. “Donations such as these help to ensure the outstanding nature of the unique archival collections at the University of Mississippi.”

The collection is an amazing resource, said Ed Meek, an Ole Miss classmate of Nassour, former UM assistant vice chancellor and founder of the Meek School of Journalism and New Media.

“When he was director of social affairs for the Associated Student Body in the ’60s, the innovations he brought to revamping campus entertainment were impressive. He went on to establish a niche in New York among his news and public relations peers.

“This is another first for the university that could only be made possible by an alumnus who loves Ole Miss.”

Nassour points out that he had help from ASB presidents Douglas Abraham, Dick Wilson and Tom Cleveland, volunteers on various committees and the late Tom Hines, dean emeritus of students.

Early in his life, Nassour developed an interest in the performing arts. At UM, he was a contributor to The Daily Mississippian, where his first interview was Bob Hope, who was performing on campus.

Nassour began collecting materials related to the entertainment industry while at The New York Times, where, under the tutelage of Mississippian Turner Catledge – at the time the newspaper’s managing editor – he climbed the ranks.

He later became director of artist relations of MCA Music/Universal Pictures, where he worked with Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber on their landmark studio album “Jesus Christ Superstar,” and artists Elton John, Neil Diamond, The Who, Brenda Lee, Clint Eastwood, Dean Martin, Shirley MacLaine, Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn.

Nassour has written two biographies of Patsy Cline: the first, “Patsy Cline, An Intimate Portrait,” in 1981 and “Honky Tonk Angel: The Intimate Story of Patsy Cline,” in 1993. The entire spoken portion of the revue “Always, Patsy Cline” is taken from four pages of Nassour’s biography.

Camp Best, a regular volunteer in the Horizons summer program, teaches social skills to elementary school students. Submitted photo

OXFORD, Miss. – Members of the Lafayette-Oxford-University community have an important opportunity Wednesday (May 17) to support an innovative summer learning program operating on the University of Mississippi campus.

Horizons, a key initiative in the McLean Institute for Public Service and Community Engagement’s mission to fight poverty through education, is a six-week, full-day summer learning program that provides academics, enrichment and recreation to underserved students from the community.

Horizons aims to raise $20,000 to support its mission to eliminate summer learning loss. The UM affiliate will join other Horizons affiliates across the country Wednesday to raise money to expand existing programs and bring Horizons to more communities nationwide.

“UM’s Horizons program is creating summer learning opportunities for students in Oxford and Lafayette County school districts who otherwise might not have it,” said Albert Nylander, director of the McLean Institute and executive director for Horizons. “For six weeks, students are afforded an opportunity to be Ole Miss students on campus.

“UM students are also making a difference in the lives of these schoolchildren through their volunteer efforts in the program.”

Horizons offers a quality learning experience outside the traditional school year that supports academic achievement and healthy youth development.

Children who begin Horizons after kindergarten are invited back every summer for at least nine years. This long-term commitment means that children in Horizons will accumulate learning gains that will prepare them for success in college and their careers.

“Research shows that students not reading at grade level by third grade are unlikely to graduate from high school, and low-income students enter kindergarten already behind in literacy skills due to disparities in opportunity, vocabulary and nutrition,” said Laura Martin, assistant director of the McLean Institute.

First-grade teacher Raven King helps Horizons program students with their reading skills. Photo by Robert Jordan/Ole Miss Communications

“Summer learning loss compounds over time, so without programs like Horizons, students who experience summer learning loss can be as much as three years behind by the fifth grade. Horizons exists to eliminate summer learning loss and, over time, close the achievement gap in our community.”

Horizons will host 90 kindergarten-to-fifth-grade students from the Lafayette County and Oxford school districts this summer. On average, students who participated in the previous four summers started the school year at or above where they ended the previous year.

Horizons is a community-based program with a number of campus and community partners contributing students’ success.

For Horizons Giving Day, all Horizons’ staff, board members, partners, alumni, volunteers, donors, corporate partners, sponsors and supporters will come together for a friendly, yet competitive, race to raise $1 million for Horizons programs across the nation, with all money raised locally remaining with the local affiliate.

This one-day fundraising event has the potential to bring crucial resources to the children served by Horizons at UM. For more information, go to https://www.horizonsgivingday.org/donations/new?org_id=441094 or like Horizons on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/horizonsum.

Lee Cohen (second from left), dean of the UM College of Liberal Arts, congratulates (from left) Matt Long, Carey Bernini Dowling and Steven Davis on their teaching honors announced Friday. Photo by Thomas Graning/Ole Miss Communications

OXFORD, Miss. – The College of Liberal Arts at the University of Mississippi recognized three faculty members Friday (May 13) for their excellence in teaching.

The Liberal Arts Outstanding Teacher of the Year award went to Matt Long, associate professor of art. Steven Davis, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, was given the Cora Lee Graham Award for Outstanding Teaching of Freshmen. The Liberal Arts Outstanding Instructor of the Year honor was presented to Carey Bernini Dowling, instructional assistant professor of psychology.

The recipients were recognized at the university’s spring faculty meeting. They also will be honored Saturday at the university’s 164th Commencement. They each receive a plaque and $1,000, and their names are added to award plaques in the dean’s office.

“The recipients of this year’s outstanding teaching awards join the cadre of past honorees recognized as the best and most accomplished faculty within the University of Mississippi,” said Lee Cohen, dean of liberal arts. “We commend each of them for dedication, excellence and service to our students and their educational pursuits.”

Each recipient reflected upon the meaning of his selection for the prestigious honors.

“Clearly, I was more than flattered to be even nominated for such an award,” said Long, who completed his Master of Fine Arts at Ohio University. “What a wonderful feeling to be told by your colleagues and students that what your doing is worthy of recognition. I am honored!”

Long, who has worked at UM for 12 years, received the University Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching and Mentoring last year.

Davis said he is pleased and honored that his students and the college have chosen to recognize his commitment to teaching.

“It is a great honor to be included in the list of awardees,” said Davis, who received his doctorate from the University of Virginia and has been on the UM faculty for 28 years. “I really enjoy working with freshman students as they adjust to college and begin their academic training here.

“Ultimately, I hope my students view my class as gaining skills to be used throughout their careers, not just as a grade to move onto the next class in their majors.”

Winning the teaching award makes Dowling, who joined the faculty five years ago, feel gratified.

“It is difficult to express how much this nomination and award mean to me,” said Dowling, who earned her doctorate from Stony Brook University of State University of New York. “To receive recognition for something I care so deeply about is truly an honor.”

Criteria for Teacher and Instructor of the Year awards include excellence of class instruction, intellectual stimulation of students and concern for students’ welfare.

Established 30 years ago by Cora Lee Graham of Union City, Tennessee, the Graham award aims to help retain better professors who teach freshman classes in the College of Liberal Arts. Criteria for this annual award also include excellence of class instruction, intellectual stimulation of students, and concern for students’ welfare.

Administrators said all the honorees are worthy of the recognition.

“Matt is one of those teachers that makes such an impression, students take one class with him and then change their major,” said Virginia Rougon Chavis, chair and professor of art. “He is one of those teachers who is informative in the classroom and raises the bar without the students realizing they are working.

“He is recognized at the top of his field by his contemporaries with celebrity-like status and is sought after by institutions across the country to have him lecture or give a workshop.”

Greg Tschumper, chair and professor of chemistry and biochemistry, said Davis is one of the most enthusiastic and dedicated teachers he’s ever worked with.

“He has become one of the department’s most effective instructors for our first-year general chemistry sequence, aka Freshman Chemistry,” Tschumper said.

“This course is the source of much anxiety for many freshman students. Yet Dr. Davis has consistently been able to maintain a perfect balance between maintaining high standards and still making some challenging material very accessible to the university’s newest family members.”

Similar praises for Dowling came from Rebekah Smith, chair and professor of psychology.

“Dr. Dowling provides intellectual challenges and meaningful contributions to supporting student success in the classroom and beyond,” Smith said. “Dr. Dowling is an ideal instructor who takes teaching very seriously and is always exploring ways to build upon her already superior performance.”

The university’s inaugural Stamps Scholars recently gathered to re-create their class photo from four years ago. They are (front, from left) Madeleine Achgill, Kate Prendergast and Eloise Tyner, and (back, from left) Dylan Ritter, Kathryn James and Ben Branson. Photo by Bill Dabney

OXFORD, Miss. – Four seniors graduating Saturday (May 13) from the University of Mississippi have the distinction of being among the first six UM students to have benefitted from the prestigious Stamps Scholars program.

Funded by the Stamps Family Charitable Foundation, the awards are the university’s most comprehensive, full scholarship packages for in-state and out-of-state students. Each package covers the full cost of attendance, along with a generous stipend for unique educational pursuits, including study abroad, research internships and academic conferences.

Inaugural Stamps Scholars graduating this weekend are Madeleine Elena Achgill, a Mandarin Chinese and international studies major from Indianapolis; Kathryn Elsa James, a public policy leadership, economics and Southern studies major from Mandeville, Louisiana; Dylan James Ritter, a chemistry major from Somerset, New Jersey; and Eloise Wright Tyner, a public policy leadership and Arabic major from Oxford.

The two other inaugural Stamps Scholars will receive UM degrees at later dates. They are Kate Louise Prendergast, a psychology and theater arts major from Luling, Louisiana, on track to graduate in December; and Benjamin Carter Branson, a mechanical engineering major from Madison scheduled to graduate in spring 2018. All six are members of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College.

“Our first generation of Stamps Scholars has set a high bar with their scholastic achievements and their ethic of excellence,” said Douglass Sullivan-Gonzalez, dean of the Honors College. “They created a spirit of collegiality and they pushed each other to excel, to imagine and to push through to the conclusion. We could not be luckier to have landed such an outstanding group for our first cohort of Stamps Scholars.”

UM Chancellor Jeffrey S. Vitter also praised the exceptional seniors.

“With the graduation of our inaugural cohort of Stamps Scholars, we are so pleased to be seeing the first fruition of our tremendous partnership with the Stamps Family Charitable Foundation,” Vitter said. “These gifted, talented students have spent the last four years leaving their mark of excellence on our campus and in our community.

“We are proud to call them Ole Miss Rebels and send them out into the world so that they can continue to impact lives and communities, from across the street to around the globe.”

Grateful and optimistic, each of the scholars reflected upon his/her most memorable experience and shared future plans.

Achgill came to UM to become fluent in two foreign languages by the time she graduated college. Her Spanish and Chinese scores show that she is highly professionally proficient in both languages.

The university’s 18th David L. Boren Scholar, Achgill will attend Nanjing University in China this fall, followed by an internship in a Tier 1 city next spring. Due to Capstone and Boren requirements that she remain a degree-seeking student until the completion of her China program, Achgill will not receive her diploma until August 2018.

“Because of my interests in China and Latin America relations, I’m hoping to intern with a Chinese company with business, cultural or research ties to Latin America,” she said. “After the year in China, I hope to fulfill the Boren federal government service requirement through a job that combines my interests, perhaps through the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.”

The inaugural cohort of Stamps Scholars at UM entered as 2013 freshmen. They are (from left) Madeline Achgill, Dylan Ritter, Kate Prendergast, Kathryn James, Eloise Tyner and Benjamin Branson. Photo by Kevin Bain/Ole Miss Communications

James said she found her niche in education working with Mississippi First, a nonprofit organization specializing in education policy research and advocacy, during her freshman year. Her commitment was reaffirmed while teaching with the Sunflower County Freedom Project in the Mississippi Delta after her junior year.

Her plans are to ultimately work in education policy, deconstructing opportunity gaps so that all students are equipped to achieve.

“My most transformative moments in college – working for Mississippi First, Mississippi’s leading education advocacy group, teaching at a nonprofit in the Delta, experiencing public conceptions of religion in Europe and traveling through eastern and southeastern Asia – have all been supported by the Stamps enrichment fund,” said James, who will join the Mississippi Teachers Corps this fall to begin work on a UM master’s degree in curriculum and instruction.

“Attending Ole Miss, and having the flexibility Stamps provides, has been absolutely pivotal to my career path. I came to UM planning to work in international development, but quickly learned about the educational inequity present in Mississippi, which led me to learn about opportunity and achievement gaps in this and every state.”

Since enrolling at Ole Miss, Ritter has spent summers conducting research at both Texas A&M University and in Ireland for five weeks at a pharmaceutical lab, where his performance earned an opportunity to perform independent research for the multinational company. He worked last summer in a lab associated with the University of California at Davis that integrated his earlier research from Texas A&M.

“Getting to travel to Texas A&M during my freshman and sophomore summers gave me a great chance to see a new career path in the sciences,” he said. “During those summers, I realized how much I enjoyed research.

“The experience was so rewarding and fulfilling that it shifted my post-undergraduate plans from medical school to graduate school.”

Ritter’s post-graduation plans include going to Ireland to visit a host family from high school and to travel around.

“The Stamps Scholarship has given me the financial freedom to plan trips like this in order to see new perspectives in the world and learn about different ways of living,” he said. “Long term, I will be going to Vanderbilt University for a Ph.D. in the biomedical sciences as part of their interdisciplinary graduate program.”

Tyner’s service projects have included a Cherokee mission trip and work with the Oxford Food Pantry and Operation Christmas Child.

“I spent four months in Amman, Jordan, working on proficiency in Arabic and returned for an action-packed summer with the Sunflower County Freedom Project in Mississippi,” Tyner said. “My time abroad and work in the state enabled me to pursue my thesis interest in racial reconciliation.”

Prendergast said her most fulfilling experience as a Stamps Scholar has been serving on the leadership team at the Ole Miss Wesley Foundation, the campus ministry of the United Methodist Church.

“The Stamps Scholarship has afforded me the opportunity to engage in clinical psychology research at Ole Miss, focusing generally on the mechanisms of anxiety and disgust reduction, and the presentation of psychiatric symptoms in pregnant women,” she said. “These experiences have led to my passion and excitement to work in this field and tap into the resources it offers for improving mental health care.”

Prendergast’s short-term plans include conducting research with a clinical psychologist at the University of Hawaii this summer, working at a mental health clinic and applying for doctoral programs in clinical psychology. Her long-term plan is to complete a Ph.D. and work in a university medical center where she can research, teach and see patients.

A student in the Haley Barbour Center for Manufacturing Excellence, Branson led a Capstone design team throughout the year designing, prototyping and manufacturing wooden sunglasses. He continued his work with Outward Bound during a January expedition in the Florida Keys.

“This summer, I will be leading sailing expeditions in coastal Maine for (Hurricane Island Outward Bound School) and performing thesis research there as well,” Branson said. “For my thesis, I’m thinking of taking what we learn in the CME about efficiency and manufacturing and organization and applying it to the sailing base, to see if I can’t make it more efficient and easier to understand.”

The partnership with the Stamps Family Charitable Foundation was established in 2012, when Ole Miss alumnus William Dunlap of McLean, Virginia, brought his alma mater to the Stamps family’s attention. After reviewing a proposal, the foundation chose to partner with the university.

For 2016-17, 12 incoming UM freshmen were selected as Stamps scholars, making the university one of only four to award more than 10 Stamps Scholarships to incoming students.

“We couldn’t be more proud of our first class of graduating Stamps Scholars at Ole Miss,” said Roe Stamps, founder of the Stamps Family Charitable Foundation. “These amazing young men and women have proven to be well-equipped to continue making a positive impact in their communities and abroad, and I am confident they will achieve true greatness as Stamps Scholar alumni.”

The foundation supports more than 400 Stamps Scholars through partnerships at more than 40 outstanding universities and colleges. As one of the country’s most prestigious awards for high school seniors, the Stamps Scholarship typically provides four years of generous support, with additional funding available for enrichment experiences.

The awards are made on the basis of leadership, scholarship, perseverance, innovation and service.

For more information about the Stamps Scholars program at Ole Miss, visit http://www.olemiss.edu/finaid/scholarshiptypes.html. To learn more about the Stamps Foundation, visit http://www.stampsfoundation.org/.