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Ticket Deadline is March 19 for Mississippi College Scholarship Dinner with Jeb Bush


Jeb Bush

People seeking to purchase tickets to hear former Florida Governor Jeb Bush headline Mississippi College’s Spring Scholarship Dinner will face a March 19 deadline.

The program on the Clinton campus is set for the evening of March 26th with Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant among the special guests. Booked at Anderson Hall, the event is MC’s biggest scholarship fund-raiser of the year. Beginning in 2008, the dinner has generated more than $1.3 million for student scholarships.

Bush is the latest in a powerful lineup of American luminaries headlining the Christian university’s scholarship banquet. Last year’s keynote speaker was former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, now a professor at Stanford University. Others have included former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, host of a popular weekend talk show on Fox News, magazine executive Steve Forbes and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole.

As of March 1, 354 people have purchased tickets for this spring’s dinner. Ticket sales have already raised nearly $233,000, university reports show. Individual tickets cost $200. The price is $1,500 for a table of eight guests.

First elected Florida’s 43rd governor in 1998 and re-elected in 2002, Bush led comprehensive education reform in the Sunshine State and is widely considered to be a potential Republican candidate for president in 2016. He’s the brother of former U.S. President George W. Bush.

Speculation about a possible Jeb Bush bid for the White House recently picked up lots of steam, media reports say. It was announced the former Florida governor and businessman will speak for the first time to the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) conference in Maryland March 14-16. It will be the largest gathering of conservative leaders and activists across America.

“We look forward to welcoming Gov. Bush to the CPAC stage for the first time in March,” said Al Cardenas of the American Conservative Union.

Mississippi College political science professor Glenn Antizzo believes Gov. Bush is on the short list of GOP presidential prospects for 2016.

“Governor Bush is, for many, the embodiment of Republican principles of entrepreneurialism and public service,” Antizzo said. “Mr. Bush is considered a progressive voice in the conservative movement, embracing the big tent approach of reaching out to minorities while adhering to the movement’s core principles.”

The son of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, Jeb Bush remains “one of the nation’s most popular political figures,” Antizzo added. Jeb Bush has worked in various private enterprises ranging from banking to sales to real estate before serving as Florida’s governor.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida is also being strongly mentioned as a potential Republican presidential prospect in 2016.

During his MC visit on March 26, Gov. Bush is expected to attend a book-signing event on the Clinton campus. He will also address Mississippi College students, and the media before his scholarship banquet speech that Tuesday evening.

For information on tickets, contact Amy Rowan of the MC Office of Advancement at 601.925.3257.