2021FallWarrior

A Message From the President Greetings from East Central Community College. We are pleased to bring you the newest edition of The Warrior magazine. I hope you enjoy all the good news inside these pages that follow, and take particular note of the 2021 Homecoming honorees and the Homecoming schedule. It will be our first true Homecoming celebration together since October 2019, so I hope you will make plans to join us on October 14. While there is plenty of good news in this issue, there is none more important than the article be- low. Fundraising and friendraising are critical functions for the success of any institution of higher learning, and we are fortunate to have Dr. Stacey Hollingsworth as the new Executive Director of the Foundation and Maria McLeod leading our alumni affairs efforts. We are excited to have these two women in these pivotal roles at ECCC, and I hope you will join me in supporting their efforts as we close in on 100 years serving the educational needs of our five- county district and beyond.

Sincerely,

Dr. Brent Gregory ’96 President

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Familiar Faces to Lead College’s Foundation and Alumni Efforts

have a great affinity and love for this institution, and that will be very important as they raise money and friends for our college.” A native of Decatur, Holling- sworth is no stranger to the college’s Foundation and Alumni Association, having overseen both organizations as Executive Director for Foundation and Alumni Relations from 2005- 2015. A 1993 graduate of ECCC, she holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Mississippi and both a master’s in business administration and a doctorate in community college leadership from Mississippi State University.

Two alumna with nearly 50 years of experience working at the college have been tabbed to lead ECCC’s major gifts fundraising and alumni relations efforts. ECCC President Dr. Brent Grego- ry recently announced that Dr. Stacey Hollingsworth has assumed the upgraded position of Executive Director of the Foundation. Maria McLeod will oversee the college’s Alumni Association as part of her expanded duties in the ECCC Of- fice of Public Information. After a national search, Holling-

From left, Dr. Stacey Hollingsworth and Maria McLeod in front of the future home of The Alumni House on the ECCC campus.

sworth transferred to the posi- tion of Executive Director of the Foundation from her duties as the college’s Director of Admissions and Records.

McLeod, who is a native of Sebastopol, also received her as- sociate degree from ECCC in 1993 and her bachelor’s degree in communications from Mississippi College. Both Hollingsworth and McLeod are part of a team working to implement a new cloud-based fundraising, donor manage- ment, and relationship building software program at ECCC expected to be fully functional in Fall 2021. This product includes a much enhanced ecommerce function which will al- low supporters to easily make one-time and recurring gifts at varying levels and various designations. ECCC is currently renovating the original president’s home located at the corner of Broad Street and North 7th Avenue on the front of campus to serve in the future as The Alumni House, housing offices and serving as event and meeting space.

The Executive Director of the Foundation reports directly to the president of the college and coordinates daily opera- tions as well as the fundraising efforts of the East Central Community College Foundation, Inc., including annual fund campaigns, capital fund campaigns, planned giving cam- paigns, special events, and scholarships designed to secure funds for the college. McLeod, who has served as assistant to the vice president for public information for the past 24 years, will now direct the Alumni Association as part of her responsibilities. Her new title is Director of External Relations. “I’m excited about the future of our major gift fundrais- ing and alumni relations efforts under the leadership of Dr. Hollingsworth and Mrs. McLeod,” said Gregory. “They both

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