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Mississippi College's "Beacon" Magazine Wins Award


Mississippi College's tutoring center for Clinton youngsters, a profile of an innovative professor who brings a human brain to his classes, and the campus visit of former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole are among the stories in MC's "Beacon" magazine.

It's all contained in the Spring 2008 issue of the Christian university's alumni magazine that was recently the winner of an award from District III of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. The certificate of special merit will be formally presented to Mississippi College staff members at the CASE District III conference in Atlanta Feb. 8-11.

CASE is a nationwide education support group that includes professionals in the areas of communications, fund-raising, alumni affairs, marketing and other fields. The region includes such states as Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Its mission is to advance and support education and professionals in these fields in the Southeast.

The award-winning "Beacon" focused on a key component of the Mississippi College mission to serve others. "In this issue of the 'Beacon,' you'll meet alumni, faculty and students who have taken Christ's message of servanthood to heart," wrote MC President Lee Royce in his message in the magazine. Whether it is creating an after-school tutoring center for children or taking on challenges in the mission field, "these members of the MC family have discovered the genuine reward that comes only from serving others," Dr. Royce said.

On its cover, the 50-page magazine spotlighted a photograph of the moving sculpture "Servant Savior" crafted by nationally celebrated art professor Sam Gore, a 1951 MC graduate. Appearing in the middle of the Clinton campus, the sculpture depicts Jesus Christ washing the feet of His disciples just prior to The Lord's Supper. Gore's work of art was given to Baptist-affiliated Mississippi College by the children of Robert and Sara Hederman of Mississippi, longtime supporters of the university.

MC and other schools seeing their magazines get the stamp of approval from CASE received kudos from the judges. Judges consider content, writing, editing, design, photography, and printing. They also review the budget and use of resources.

"The winning publications displayed breadth and depth of editorial content, striking photography and illustration, bold headlines and intuitively navigable architecture," wrote judging coordinator Betsy Robertson, editor of Auburn Magazine. "The judges also searched for magazines with souls that mirrored those of their institutions."

Previous winners of the special merit award include University of Richmond, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Agnes Scott College in Georgia. Others joining MC this year include Vanderbilt University, Lynn University, and Elon University in North Carolina.

About 30,000 copies of the magazine were distributed to MC alumni, faculty, staff and other key supporters of Mississippi's largest private university. MC enrolls nearly 4,900 students, including its main campus in Clinton, law school in downtown Jackson, and MC evening branches in Brandon and Madison.

Tracey Harrison, director of public relations at MC and the editor of the "Beacon," said the special award represents the work of an excellent team - from writers to photographers to designers to others playing a role. Harrison is an MC graduate. Assistant editor Andy Kanengiser, contributing editor Marlo Kirkpatrick, public relations office manager Tracy May, designer Alecia Porch, and photographers Robby Followell and Jay Thomas were among others on the team making the magazine a success.