PRESS RELEASE - For Release Wednesday, January 29, 2008
For More Information, contact:
Susan Rayner Puckett, President,
The Mississippi University for Women Alumnae Association
(601) 209-7573, susanpuckett1@bellsouth.net
Historic MUW Alumnae Association to Hold Board Meeting
The Executive Board of the University for Women Alumnae Association invites all alumni to attend the MUWAA Winter Board Meeting in Columbus Feb. 15-16. A dinner meeting at 6 p.m. Friday in Pope Dining Hall will precede the meeting beginning at 9 a.m. and concluding at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
"We are pleased to be able to conduct the meetings of the historic and affiliated MUW Alumnae Association on campus," said MUWAA President Susan Rayner Puckett of Clinton, a member of the class of 1975. "The logistics of setting up the Winter Board Meeting have been complicated by the ongoing legal dispute between the university and the association," Puckett said, as the association complied with the university's request to adhere to a complex process of go-betweens involving attorneys in order to communicate with the appropriate university staff.
Board Has Full Agenda
During the Board Meeting, one of four held each year, all pending business of the association is reviewed and motions are made concerning those items that will be brought before the general membership at the Annual Business Meeting. As required by its by-laws, the Association's Annual Business Meeting is held at Homecoming Convocation, set this year for April 18-20.
Business for discussion and approval by the Executive Board includes a proposal for the adoption of new by-laws and recommendations for nominations for new officers. In addition to the recommendations of the Nominating Committee, nominations also will be accepted from the floor.
Donette Lee, chairman of the By-laws Committee, said revision of the by-laws was begun several years ago, with one of the primary goals being to broaden and diversify participation and leadership in the historic Association.
"We have a very full agenda as our association continues its 118th year of support for the nation's first public institution dedicated to the education of women," Puckett said. "Alumni support is more important now than it ever has been as our association and the university face challenges unlike any before."
Those who have received a degree from MUW or who have spent at least one semester as an undergraduate or graduate student at MUW is a member of the original and historic Alumnae Association. Those having made a contribution within the past year to the MUW Foundation, another independent, affiliated entity, are eligible to vote.
Valentine Fundraiser Aims for $100,000 Goal
The Association's Winter Board Meeting is one of several area events targeting MUW alumni during February. The "Tenth Annual Valentine's Extravaganza" will be hosted by the Lowndes County Chapter of the MUWAA from 7-9 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 14, at Belle Bridge, the home of Chance and Gail Laws. The event benefits the MUW Foundation and raises money for the local chapter's scholarship program. This year the group hopes to reach a milestone of $100,000 raised in support of scholarships for MUW by adding another $10,000 to the $90,000 raised during the previous nine extravaganzas. Tickets are $75 per person, $50 of which is tax deductible as a charitable contribution.
"We are hoping many 'W' alums will come to Columbus one day before the Board meeting and join fellow alumni to make this 10th annual Valentine's Day event even more memorable," Puckett said. "There is no better way to show support and love for our alma mater than to help fund scholarships so that even more students can know the special educational experience of attending MUW."
"We have an opportunity to reach a landmark in alumni giving this year," she said. "We want as many people to be there are possible to celebrate such an amazing achievement by a group of local alumni who have been working together for a decade to support the university and reach this mark."
Mentoring Workshop for Students
To help MUW students make informed career choices there will also be a Mentoring Workshop and Panel Discussion at 10 a.m. Friday in Room 303 of Cochran Hall. It is being presented as a joint project of the MUW Alumnae Association Education and Mentoring Committee, chaired by Linda Ross Aldy, and the MUW Student Services Division. The workshop will include presentations on the importance of mentors at various stages of life and career, as well as first-person accounts by panelists regarding their experiences with mentoring, graduate school and career choices. MUW Career Services also will be launching a new Mentoring Web site during the workshop.
Alumnae panelists for the workshop include attorney Kym Gore; Sarah Sheffield, recent graduate who is currently pursuing her master's degree at Ole Miss, and Penelope J. Stokes, author of a dozen published books, including Delta Belles, a novel about MUW students set in Columbus.
Court Hearing Set on University and Alumni Motions
A hearing before Chancery Court Judge Dorothy Colom is set for 9:30 a.m. Feb. 19 at the Court House in West Point.
Following Judge Colom's ruling last year in favor of the Alumnae Association, attorneys for the University appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court for an expedited hearing. After the Supreme Court denied that motion, university attorneys filed a Motion to Stay in Judge Colom's Court, essentially asking that her original motion not be enforced during the appeal process.
That motion was answered by Association attorneys filing a Motion to Enforce the original ruling. Those counter motions, along with other ancillary motions, are to be heard in Judge Colom's court Feb. 19.
In her earlier ruling, Judge Colom found that MUW President Claudia Limbert should "uphold the existing and valid affiliation agreement between the Association and the University, dated October 25, 2006, and that Dr. Limbert operate under the affiliation agreement in good faith for the duration of the Agreement." That decision reaffirmed the 118-year-old association as the official alumni organization of Mississippi University for Women.
Colom now is being asked to delay implementation of that ruling while the defendants pursue a Supreme Court appeal. MUWAA attorneys are petitioning Judge Colom to fully and immediately implement the ruling.
"As this year's President of the MUW Alumnae Association, I am urging alumni to attend the hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 19, as a show of support for both the association and the university," Puckett said. "It is my fervent hope that the opinion and decision issued by Judge Colom will finally be implemented in its entirety and that all parties will set aside this dispute to work together in support of the W."
"This is a challenging and eventful period in the existence of the MUW Alumnae Association, and all loyal daughters and sons are encouraged to take an active role in moving forward together," Puckett said.