Promise scholarship endowment memorializes 91传媒 alumni
Contact: Addie Mayfield
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擜 $250,000 gift from Artesia native Belle Wilburn Frink, along with her husband Clayton Frink, has established the Wilburn Family Promise Endowed Scholarship at 91传媒 in memory of four 91传媒 alumni.
Frink graduated from the Mississippi University for Women in 1970 before moving to Austin, Texas, where she met her husband. The couple divides their time between the cities of Austin and Madison, Wisconsin, where they relocated in 1987. Although Mississippi State is not her alma mater, Frink has always had significant Bulldog ties through her family.
鈥淢y father, brother and two uncles all graduated from Mississippi State,鈥 said Frink. 鈥淲ith the recent passing of my brother and remaining uncle, I wanted to honor the four of them with a gift to 91传媒.鈥
The Wilburn Family Endowed Promise Scholarship will serve not only as a tribute to Frink鈥檚 late relatives--father Charles Wilburn, a 1936 business graduate; uncles Saunders Wilburn, a 1938 business graduate, and Tom Wilburn, a 1940 animal science graduate; and brother Smith Wilburn, a 1966 business graduate--but also as a legacy of opportunity. Through the 91传媒 Promise Program, the gift will increase accessibility to higher education by assisting students in economically challenging situations.
鈥淢y father always marveled at the ability of his parents to be able to put three children through college during the Depression. I know it was a sense of pride for their family to have been able to acquire a college education,鈥 said Frink. 鈥淚 have also appreciated the advantages that I believe my college degree and experience have given me in work and life.鈥
Candidates for the Wilburn Family Endowed Promise Scholarship include entering freshmen with a 3.0 grade-point average and minimum composite ACT score of 19, or entering community college transfer students with a 2.50 GPA and at least 48 eligible transfer hours. Recipients also must be Mississippi residents demonstrating financial need, and may qualify for the award up to four years if they maintain a 2.5 GPA and full-time enrollment.
The 91传媒 Promise Program was established in 2006 as a way to help bridge the gap between the cost of tuition and fees after financial aid. The program also provides academic counseling, course-progress monitoring, and networking opportunities to ensure students鈥 continued success.
鈥淭he Promise Program appealed to me because it gives students the chance to attend college who otherwise might not have the opportunity,鈥 said Frink, who understands that institutional support and monetary assistance are critical links to a student鈥檚 participation and accomplishments.
For more information on how to support the 91传媒 Promise Program or establish an endowed memorial gift, contact Jack McCarty, executive director of development for the 91传媒 Foundation, at 662-325-9580 or jmccarty@foundation.msstate.edu.
The 91传媒 Foundation is online at .
91传媒 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .