MC School of Business Welcomes BancorpSouth Support

BancorpSouth's Thomas Darnell and David Barrentine, School of Business Dean Marcelo Eduardo, and Brad Miley of BancorpSouth

BancorpSouth leaders remain big players in support of Mississippi education at all levels.

It’s been that way for decades with BancorpSouth enriching programs stretching from kindergarten through graduate school. It was evident again in August 2010 when the Mississippi College School of Business welcomed BancorpSouth as the newest member of its corporate partners program.

A year later, BancorpSouth officials from Hinds County followed up by giving a $2,500 check to the School of Business to enhance that partnership on the Clinton campus.

During a brief ceremony in the Self Hall lobby on August 26, School of Business Dean Marcelo Eduardo was delighted to accept the company’s contribution and warmly thank the BancorpSouth visitors.

Support from corporate partners like BancorpSouth help strengthen the Baptist-affiliated university’s Center for Economic Education and Analysis. The MC center promotes a greater understanding of economics in Mississippi schools and is a primary resource for state agencies, public companies and private sector organizations seeking economic research data.

BancorpSouth Mid-Mississippi Division President David Barrentine, Thomas Darnell, the company’s Jackson/Hinds County president and first vice president Brad Maley were on hand for the check presentation. Barrentine and Darnell are both Mississippi College graduates, with Maley pursuing his MBA at the Christian university.

Based in Tupelo, Bancorp South is a $13.2 billion-asset bank holding company that operates more than 300 locations in Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Texas and Tennessee.

The company’s chairman and CEO Aubrey Patterson of Tupelo is a tireless education champion who serves on the state College Board that oversees Mississippi’s eight public universities. Founded in 1876, BancorpSouth has more than 4,000 employees.

For BancorpSouth, “the key driver from the top on down is education,” Darnell said. Whether it is backing adopt-a-school programs, metro Jackson teacher-of-the-year competitions, the Magnolia Speech School or institutions like Mississippi College, the company actively supports education across the board, he said.

BancorpSouth is also solidly committed to Clinton, Mississippi.

Earlier in August, company leaders joined Mayor Rosemary Aultman, Clinton Chamber of Commerce officials and others at ceremonies celebrating the renovation of the bank’s Clinton facility off U.S. 80.

“We’ve been in the community for 21 years and this was an indication we are committed to Clinton,” says Darnell, a 1975 Mississippi College graduate.

Being closely linked to the MC School of Business, he said, “is another way to be a community partner.”

The MC School of Business salutes corporate sponsors in its alumni magazines, on its website, at honors day awards programs and at conferences.