2006

Du_. l/!60 WEEKOF~~=-~-+L------

Seventy years of Mr

East Central Junior College was forme: !n J928 and eight years later the college belhrJtS first Who's Who elections. For the first t f M' East Central was chosen. n years, only a I.~s Miller from Philadelphia 1936, Marguen e d t body to be honored was chosen by the stu en . C l with the title "Miss East Cen~l Juruor o - " Since that time, the title of Mr. and le~e. C tral has become one of the most Miss East en . coveted honors a student can achie~e; 1937 It is not known who was el~te Ill ~ b . 1938 Elizabeth McNeil' also fro ut Ill . (If e knows Philadel hia won the title. anyon who hel~ the' title in 1937, please co6ntac~~ D . the 7 o years from 193 to . • unng th h r of bemg 135 students have had . e ono . fi Mi s East Central. Thirty- ve ~~:~e~d~nts ~ere from Neshoba 1 ~o:~ 16 from Leake, 31 from Newton , Winston, 27 from Sc~tt and 10 from other towns states or countnes. Mr Th~ demographics of those elected as . There are certain criteria that those seeking the position of Mr. and Miss East Central must meet. The student must have completed 40 semester hours at East CentraL A grade point average of 2.0 is required, and if a per– son has had discipline problems, he or she is not eligible. Fellowstudents must sign a peti– tion for an individual's name to appear on the ballot. If a person is running for class favorite, be or she cannot have their name placed on a ballot for Mr. or Miss East Central. Ballots are prepared by the office of the Vice-President for Student Services. A voting day is announced as well as a campus location J where voting will take place. At one time, photographs of all Mr. and Mis East Central Junior College hung in the now unoccupied student union, the Sullivan Center. When a fire in the 1960, destroyed a pan of the student union, these photographs were damaged to some extent by 'moke. After

OVID VICKERS

Vickers Continued from page 1B

The Second lime Around

childhood, and allbough she could grasp a pen or pencil, she had no use of her right arm. Therefore, she had to lift her right rum to the top of her desk in order to take notes. Sue was one of those remarkable people who had such an outgoing personality and such a sincere demeanor that those around her soon forgot she was severely handicapped. After graduat– ing from East Central, she completed her Bachelor's {lnd Master's Degrees and was a member of the faculty at Wood Junior College in Mathiston for a number of years. Ilene Richie from Philadelphia was Miss East Central in 1946 and later mruTied Mr. East Central f~r 1947 attorney Rex Gordon. Rex lS now deceased while Ilene is on the staff ofSenator Trent Lott and works out of the Senator's Jackson office. In 1997 a young man from Ge•mru 1 y wi'th family connections in Newton County enrolled at Ea~t Central. Fellow studenL~ were fa~cl­ nated by his accent and his back– ground. After all. it is seldom that a student from a European country decides to matriculate at East Central. Uwe Dotzauer did well in his classes, was a member of the tennis team, and was elected Mr. East Central alo~g with Ragan Mitchell from Na~1h Waiya who captured the title of Miss East Central. Among those students from 1936 to 2006 who have been elected Mr. and Miss East Central, there are many worthy individuals who .have taken their places as professl?nal people and conti~~e to ~ rec~gmzed as outstanding CitiZens 10 thelf com– munities and professions.

d M' East Central are interesting. Stu– ~nts :!re elected from cities as la;ge ~ Montgomery, Ala. (Jeff Chap:O: to:ns Atlanta, Ga. (Charles Hope) and ) d Wal- ll as Chunky (Lena McGee an . as srna ) African Amen- nut Grove (Shirley Upton . Indians . (Marcus Mann) and Choctaw . . cans De ) are also members of thJs ehte (James nson

• and Miss ECCC group.

the fire. they were taken out of their frames, cleaned, and stored. Today, these pictures (24'' x J 8") are a pan ofthe collection ofpho– tographs housed in the co/lege Memorabilia Room in the Burton Library. Among the students selected as Mr. and Miss East Central, 12 are now deceased. Eight men and four women have passed away. 11 should be remembered that 70 years have passed since the first Miss East Central was elected. As 1 have been connected with East Cen– tral for more than half a century, it has been my good fortune to have either taught or to have known the majority of these young peo– ple. There are some interesting stories related with certain students who were Mr. anti Miss East Central. Sue Yarborough who was Miss East Cen– tral in 1954 graduated from Noxapater High School. She had been crippled since early See VICKERS, page 28