Skip to main content

The Radio People Honor Mississippi College Communication Student


Scholarship winner Leisha Neismith of Birmingham, MC Department of Communication Chairman Cliff Fortenberry and executive Bryan Holiday of the Radio People

Growing up in Alabama, Leisha NeSmith first discovered Mississippi College as a fifth grader at a Christian camp one summer.

Having a terrific experience on the Clinton campus and returning a few years later as a teen at a Centrifuge camp prompted Leisha to make the Christian university her college choice.

This week, the Radio People recognized her hard work as an outstanding MC Department of Communication student and awarded her a $500 scholarship.

NeSmith “is a very talented student who represents everything that this award stands for,” says Bryan Holladay, an account executive with the Radio People in Ridgeland.

Owned by New South Radio, a Mississippi corporation, the company is “excited to be involved in the professional development of Mississippi College’s broadcast students,” Holladay says.

Word of the award was kept a surprise moments before it was announced in the Department of Communication headquarters in Aven Hall, a few feet from Christian radio station Star 93.5.

Department of Communication Chairman Cliff Fortenberry was delighted to see the award go to NeSmith. “As a student, her grades are exemplary, her study habits are excellent and she is driven to excel.”

Active in MC theatre productions, Leisha is a role model to others in the Communication Department, Fortenberry said. “The Radio People award validates the work of the Communication Department and Mississippi College as a whole.”

A former MC tennis player, NeSmith expects to receive her bachelor’s degree in 2013, attend graduate school, and then go “wherever God takes me.”

Getting recognized and receiving the scholarship from the Radio People “is really just a blessing,” says  Leisha, a graduate of Oak Mountain High School in Birmingham.

The company includes Jackson area radio stations such as Y101.7, Mix 98.7 and U.S. 96.3. The Mississippi corporation is owned by Bob Holladay, Clay Holladay and their children. The Radio People plan to award the scholarship every year at Mississippi College.