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Piper Walters Leads Wellness Team at Mississippi College


Piper Dawson Walters will quickly energize Mississippi College’s wellness programs.

A former fitness leader at two hospitals and a Clinton-based acrobatic dance instructor for girls, Walters hits the ground running as MC’s new wellness coordinator.

Her recent hiring became possible thanks to a grant of nearly $275,000 from the Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi Foundation to enhance Mississippi College wellness programs. The gift to MC includes construction of a quarter-mile walking track near the Longabaugh Soccer Field on the Clinton campus.

In early June, Walters says she’s working to benefit a series of wellness initiatives at the 5,000-student university. She will build upon the MoveMC program created in 2012. Her efforts will boost healthy lifestyles for faculty, staff, students and the Clinton community.

The summer months will give Piper time to design a number of wellness-related events beginning this fall.

Her partners will include the Baptist Healthplex, the university’s Department of Kinesiology and a campus wellness committee. She’s working as well with leaders of Campus Dining, MC’s food service provider.

“This program will be something good,” says Walters, a Clinton resident. “My goal is to have partnerships in different programs with faculty, staff and students.”

Walters received her bachelor’s in fitness management at Mississippi State University in 1996. She earned her master’s in exercise physiology at MSU in 1997.

Piper worked as a fitness specialist at St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson and as a fitness coordinator at St. Francis Hospital in Greenville, South Carolina. Her work experience ranges from pharmaceutical sales representative to sales manager at the clothing store Puttin on the Glitz in Clinton since 2004.

In addition, she’s stayed busy as an acrobatic dance instructor at the Just Dance studio in Clinton for girls, between the ages of 5 and 12. Piper is also a full-time mom with three children: Dawson, 14, Sutton, 12, and Maddux, 10.

Growing up in Clinton, Walters is pretty familiar with the Mississippi College community. A 1992 Clinton High graduate, Piper served as class president and was active in CHS sports. She was a member of the Clinton Arrows softball, basketball and cheerleading squads. And she was active in Clinton High’s award-winning Attache show choir.

Chris Washam, the chairman of the Kinesiology Department, is delighted to welcome Piper aboard.

“Piper will be planning a number of activities for the coming year which will help our MC community members lead more healthy, active lives both on campus and at home,” Washam said.

Walters will also teach kinesiology classes – from fitness for life to nutrition courses.

The classes, Washam said, are freshman level offerings for all majors. The classes should “help create an awareness in our student population of the importance of incorporating wellness principles into their lifestyles,” he said.

President Lee Royce applauds MC’s new push to promote wellness programs as a result of the $274,620 Blue Cross & Blue Shield Mississippi Foundation grant. It was announced in November. “We deeply appreciate the generous grant,” Royce said. “It will open the door for Mississippi College to strengthen healthy lifestyles for the entire university.”