Service Fair

The Chancellor, Dr. Jones, and Mrs. Jones stopped by to discuss the Riverside program and the new Delta project. It was my first opportunity to meet him. In his opening remarks this morning, he said, "The University of Mississippi is a great American public university...but we must remember we are a great university in the poorest state in the nation." He challenged us to continue our service in transforming our community, our state, and our region, and the importance of the work we do here at home.
My colleague and friend, Debra, and I listened as he talked about our plans for work in the Delta. He gave us a tip on a book we needed to read!

The predicted throngs did materialize. We went out there today with little more than the sign announcing the name of the project and a sign up sheet. By the end of the fair, we had a sheet full of names, mostly people who are from the Delta themselves and excited to see someone beginning work there. I made 4 new professional contacts--3 from the university--and discussed ways to partner with 3 of the programs who are interested in our plans.

What a great day--and all without benefit of fancy posters, lap tops with power points and slide shows and movies. We had a little 8x10 sign that said "Want to work on a service project in the Delta?" We have a variety of majors from journalism to sociology, from 5 different towns in the Delta who signed up, along with some social work majors. The work is ON!