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MC Parents Gather for Family Weekend


President George Bush is her neighbor in Crawford, Texas, said Mississippi College parent Devvie Duke, one of thousands of visitors on the Clinton campus for MC's Family Weekend. To let people know Saturday, she decorated her tent on the Quad with cowboy boots, hats and the flag of the Lone Star State.

Duke made the eight-hour drive to the Christian university to be on hand for this fall's special weekend. It combined a Choctaws home football game with the Broadway musical Oklahoma!, a performance by the Naturals, a Lady Choctaws soccer game, plenty to eat, academic seminars and much more.

As music blared on loudspeakers, Duke came to see her 18-year-old son, Travis Duke, an MC freshman and get to know the MC family.

The weekend saw the initial meeting of the Mississippi College Parents Club as 40 new members dined Saturday afternoon on big scoops of chocolate and vanilla cream in MC Parents Club cups and began networking.

Some of the new members of the Parents Club, like John Howard of St. Louis, Mo. joined the festivities in the B.C. Rogers Student Center and heard remarks from President Lee Royce.

"This is an excellent idea," Howard said of the Parents Club as he strolled along the Quad with other family members.

Parents Clubs are popping up on college campuses all over the nation to give moms and dads more plugged into their schools, Royce said. "It's a neat time to launch the Parents Club," he said, and predicts there will be a good deal of interest for a generation of parents that seem to "hover" over their kids. The Parents Club will provide "a conduit of information to parents," he said.

It's also a good way to help their sons and daughters cope with the stresses and strains of college life and mix a little fun with their academics.

A number of parents have expressed interest in forming teams to pray for their children as they begin four challenging years of collegiate studies. Ashley Thomas, an MC residence life administrator who's the chief coordinator for the Parents Club, said she was pleased with the turnout. A new web site for the MC Parents Club should help it expand.

"I like the atmosphere and the closeness," said Jerlean Rogers, a new Parents Club member from Simpson County. "I like that it is a Christian university and the location. We prayed about it." Jerlean and her husband, Johnny Rogers, were on hand this weekend to see their son, Justin, an MC freshman. "My son always wanted to come to MC," she said. The couple were decked out in new Choctaws T-shirts to show off their MC pride.

For more information on parents Club go to www.mc.edu/mcpc or email the organization at mcpc@mc.edu

PHOTO: Neighbor to President George Bush and parent to Mississippi College freshman, Travis Duke, is Devvie Duke of Crawford, Texas. She decorated her family's tent on the Quad with cowboy boots, hats and the flag of the Lone Star State. The Dukes were among the thousands of visitors on the Clinton campus for MC's Family Weekend.