College of Liberal Arts Scholarships

Eligibility:

• Full-time student
• College of Liberal Arts major
• Incoming freshmen
• Financial need (FAFSA required)

Strong candidates will have:

• Academic achievement 
• Leadership 

Application process:

• Complete the UM freshman scholarship application
• Deadline is January 10

About William Benjamin and Hazel Holmes Barnes

William Benjamin Barnes joined the family business, Barnes Truck Line, Inc. in the 1930’s, retiring as president in 1976. From a fourth-generation family of Marion County, MS he had strong ties to the community & was a member of the Columbia City School Board, Lions Club, Chamber of Commerce, and an officer in the Mississippi Trucking Association.  Hazel Holmes Barnes was licensed as a consultant of the National Accredited Appraiser of Landscape Design.  She served on the Board of Directors of the Garden Clubs of Mississippi and as State Roadside Chairman in the implementation of the National Beautification Act of 1965. She worked tirelessly toward the beautification of public and private facilities in Columbia and surrounding areas. She served as a member of the City of Columbia Planning Commission for 32 years.

Eligibility: 

• Full-time student
• College of Liberal Arts major
• Incoming freshmen
• Resident of Davidson County, TN; California, Illinois, or Florida

Strong candidates will have:

• Academic achievement 
• Leadership 

Application Process:

• Complete the UM freshman scholarship application
• Deadline is January 10
  
  

About the Furlong Family

Mr. Larry and Emily Furlong met at UM in the late 1960s, and their two daughters also attended UM. All earned their degrees from the College of Liberal Arts – political science, sociology, art, theatre, journalism, history, and anthropology. Now residing in Florida, Mr. Furlong is Vice President of Sales with Old Republic National Title Insurance Company, and Mrs. Furlong is Senior Program Manager for the Rollins College Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership Center. They gave back to the university that helped their daughters attend school through scholarship support. 

“Their scholarships were a real boon to us financially, so this endowment was our way of giving back to the university for its generosity to our children,” Mr. Furlong said.  “We chose the College because all four of us were liberal arts majors. We decided to award the scholarship to applicants from the states where we were originally from or where we had lived the longest.”

Eligibility:

• Full-time student
• College of Liberal Arts major
• Incoming freshmen
• Financial need (FAFSA required)

Strong candidates will have:

• Academic achievement 
• Leadership 

Application process:

• Complete the UM freshman scholarship application
• Deadline is January 10

About John Kenneth and Betty Overstreet Gresham

John “Buddy” Overstreet (1930-2009) served in the Korean War as 1st Lieutenant in the 224th Regiment of the 30th Infantry Division before attending UM. He and his wife were residents of Greenville, MS, for 42 years before retiring to Oxford.  He served four terms in the MS Senate, held many leadership positions in the state and in higher education, co-owned WJPR Radio Station in Greenville, and owned several nursing homes across the state.

Eligibility:

• Full-time student
• College of Liberal Arts major
• Incoming freshmen
• Financial need (FAFSA required)
• Resident of Shelby County, TN
• FASTrack program students have first preference

Strong candidates will have:

• Academic achievement 
• Leadership 

Application process:

• Complete the UM freshman scholarship application
• Deadline is January 10
  
  

About Dorothy A. Halliday 

Born in Rosedale, MS, Mrs. Halliday (1935-2012) received her degree from the College of Liberal Arts in 1956.  She worked for Delta Airlines and then the Memphis University School Bookstore. She was an avid painter and a member of the “Memphis Ten,” a group of talented local women artists who have been meeting regularly for decades. As she lived most of her life in Memphis, the scholarship is directed to students from Shelby County who have financial need.

Eligibility:

• Full-time student
• Major in African American Studies, English, History, or Southern Studies
• At least a 3.0 GPA 
• Incoming freshman or transfer student as first preference
• Resident of Itawamba County

Application process:

• No application process
  
  

About Elmo Howell

Mr. Howell was born in Itawamba County, MS, graduated from UM in 1940, and was an English professor at several institutions, including Memphis.   

Eligibility:

• Full-time students
• Major in the College of Liberal Arts
• Dependent of a current or veteran of the US Military Service

Application process:

• Complete the UM freshman scholarship application
• Deadline is January 10

Eligibility:

• Full-time student
• Incoming freshman
• Minimum high school GPA of 3.0
• Financial need (FAFSA required)
• Major in the College of Liberal Arts
• Accepted to the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College

Application Process:

• Complete the UM freshman scholarship application
• Deadline is January 10
• Apply to the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College

About Leah and Gary Lawson

Gary Lawson holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in History and English from UM (1996) then earned his law degree from UM in 1999. He is the founding and managing partner at Lawson, Beck, Sandlin, & Webb, LLC in Peachtree, GA. Leah Kraus Lawson earned a BBA from UM in 1997 and a MBA in 1999. The Leah and Gary Lawson gift supports a scholarship for first generation college students because they wanted to help ease the financial strain for students that often are only able to attend college by incurring student loan debt.

Eligibility:

• Full-time student
• Major in the College of Liberal Arts
• Tippah County, MS resident
• First preference for transfer students from Northeast MS Community College

Application Process:

• For incoming freshmen, complete the UM scholarship application
• Deadline is January 10

About Dr. Richard R. McMullen

Richard Robert McMullen (-1869) was a native of Panola County, Mississippi, and graduated from UM in 1854. Mr. McMullen was the great-, great-, grand-uncle of Joe Rees (1931-2023), who was originally from Tippah County and gave the scholarship in McMullen’s memory.

• Full-time student
• Entering freshman
• Major in the College of Liberal Arts
• Demonstrated academic ability and leadership potential

Application process:

• Complete the UM freshman scholarship application
• This Scholarship is administered by the Ole Miss Women’s Council

About Rachel McPherson

Rachel McPherson (BAEd 1974 at UM), a native of Monticello, Mississippi and an Academy Award-nominated producer for film and television. A freelance artist Rachel is credited with designing the official state logo for the “Way Up North in Mississippi Picnic”, an annual event started in 1981 and held in New York City’s Central Park. A founder of the picnic, she was also instrumental in forming the New York Society for the Preservation of Mississippi Heritage.

Eligibility:

• Full-time student
• Major in the College of Liberal Arts
• Good academic standing
• Students with a learning disability who are registered with Office of Student Disabilities Services

Application process:

• Registration with SDS

About Mark Paukune

UM alumnus Mark Paukune of Fort Worth, Texas, wants to help students remain dedicated to their goal of obtaining college degrees even if learning disabilities make them feel like giving up. Paukune credits his UM education for his professional success, adding that he hopes his gift will incentivize learning-challenged students to stay the course.

“My liberal arts degree taught me how to learn and how to use information, not just to be stagnant with it, but to apply it,” he recalled. “Specifically, like political science and history, which were my majors: Those are things you apply to your life. You learn from the past; then apply it to the present and future.”

Eligibility:

• Full-time student
• Entering freshmen
• Major in the College of Liberal Arts
• First preference as graduate of a public high school in one of five counties: Chickasaw, Itawamba, Lee, Monroe, or Pontotoc; Second preference Lee County.

Application process:

• Complete the UM freshman scholarship application
• Deadline is January 10

About Dr. Elizabeth Payne

Elizabeth Payne (1943-2025) was a history professor, accomplished writer, and a founding director of the UM Honors College. She was a recipient of many awards including the Mississippi Historical Society’s Elbert Hilliard Oral History Prize, an award for extraordinary service to the Southern Association for Women Historians, the Public Humanities Award from the Mississippi Humanities Council, and a National Humanities Center Fellow in Chapel Hill, NC. Her North Mississippi Women's History Project contains interviews North Mississippi women who came of age during the World War II era. They recounted their experiences with sharecropping, race relations, the Great Depression, and industrialization. Therefore, Dr. Payne focused this scholarship for students from the North Mississippi counties from Chickasaw, Itawamba, Lee, Monroe, or Pontotoc.

Eligibility:

• Full-time student
• Major in the College of Liberal Arts
• Public high school graduate from one of the following Delta counties: Bolivar, Carroll, Coahoma, DeSoto, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Leflore, Panola, Quitman, Sharkey, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, Tunica, Warren, Washington, and Yazoo

Application Process:

• Complete the UM freshman scholarship application
• Deadline is January 10

About Dr. Rich Raspet

Dr. Richard Raspet was a professor emeritus of physics and astronomy with the UM National Center for Physical Acoustics. He was a dedicated cyclist, earning more than 100 career victories and being named a Masters National Champion. Dr. Richard Raspet always believed in the importance of public education. The Richard Raspet Memorial Scholarship creates an opportunity for a student selected from 18 counties in the Mississippi Delta to continue their education.

Eligibility:

• Full-time student
• College of Liberal Arts major
• Incoming freshman
• At least a 3.0 GPA in high school
• Mississippi resident  

Strong candidates will have:

• Academic achievement 
• Leadership 

Application process:

• Complete the UM freshman scholarship application
• Deadline is January 10
  
  

About Dorothy Lee Tatum

Dorothy Lee Tatum (1924-2015) attended the University of Mississippi to finish her degree, traveling one semester to Oxford, England to study at St. Johns College. She graduated in 1989, serving as Class Marshall. She was a member of the Board of Directors for The Center for the Study of Southern Culture as well as being a member of Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters.

Eligibility:

• Full-time student
• Incoming freshman
• Major in the College of Liberal Arts
• Mississippi resident
• Financial Need (FAFSA required)

Application Process:

• Complete the UM freshman scholarship application
• Deadline is January 10

About Amy Wise and Walter Permenter

Amy Wise Permenter (1911-1993), originally from Yazoo City, MS, was a talented piano and voice teacher in the state. Her husband, Walter Permenter (1908-1995), a native of Jackson, MS, was a WWII Navy veteran, taught and coached in schools around the state, retiring as an educational counselor. The couple had four daughters, each attending UM from 1959-1974 without a single break in attendance by a member of the Permenter family! Although Amy and Walter did not attend the university themselves, they experienced it vicariously through their daughters. In 2014, the sisters endowed a scholarship in memory of their parents.

Eligibility:

• Full-time student
• College of Liberal Arts major
• Rising juniors or seniors
• Good Academic Standing
• Financial need (FAFSA required)

Candidates will have:

• Exhausted all other avenues for aid on campus
• Experienced a personal financial emergency that has made degree completion difficult
• Demonstrate determination and commitment to complete the UM degree
• A current account balance with the Bursar’s office

Application Process:

• Deadlines are October 1 and March 1 for a scholarship awarded before Priority Registration for the next semester
• Application opens Feb. 1–Mar. 1, 2027
• When the application window is open, a linked form will be used to apply

Recipients are selected by the College of Liberal Arts Scholarship Selection Committee in consultation with the Office of Financial Aid and will receive one-time emergency funds up to $1000.