Millsaps College has always been a place where preparing students for the workforce and commitment to the hallmarks of a liberal arts education are not mutually exclusive, but rather mutually reinforcing, goals. Thanks to a $500,000 grant from the Phil Hardin Foundation, this will remain true for years to come. The grant will support development of the Millsaps Pathways Program.
The program will feature six Pathways to career readiness—arts, culture and communication; business; exploratory; health; STEM/data science; and law, politics and social leadership—that connect students with similar areas of interest and professional goals and provides immediate access to like-minded mentors, advisors and peers. The program will also emphasize student internships, study abroad and other out-of-classroom and experiential learning experiences. It will be integral to Millsaps’ vision of producing students who are prepared for both employment and for a life of meaning and significance.
The Hardin Foundation sees Pathways as a tangible way to help realize their vision of making excellent education the norm for all Mississippians. “We are great believers in the value of the first-rate liberal arts education Millsaps offers,” said Lloyd Gray, executive director of the Hardin Foundation. “We see this initiative as a means of both demonstrating and enhancing that value.”
An integral partner to Millsaps over the years, the Hardin Foundation has funded projects ranging from student internship programs to the Eudora Welty Chair of Southern Literature.
“We are deeply grateful to the Hardin Foundation for the lasting influence their generosity will have on our students and our community,” said Dr. Rob Pearigen, president of Millsaps. “The Pathways Program ensures that Millsaps will continue to live boldly into its mission of graduating students who are prepared to shape the economic, cultural and social progress of our region.”