September 30, 2026
Event Photos
East Central Community College celebrated the generosity of scholarship donors and the achievements of its students during the 2026 Scholarship Recognition Reception held Wednesday, Sept. 30, in Founders Gymnasium on the Decatur campus.
Sponsored by the East Central Community College Foundation, the annual event brought together scholarship recipients, donors, college representatives and guests to recognize the private support that helps students pursue their education at East Central.
Dr. Stacey Hollingsworth, executive director of the ECCC Foundation, welcomed guests to the reception, followed by the invocation from Foundation Fundraiser Jason Tune. Three students then shared remarks about the impact of scholarship support: Kyra Bigby, recipient of the Thomas W. Thrash Memorial Scholarship; Lane Nelson, recipient of the Harvey & Martha Wheeler Pre-Pharmacy/Pre-Med Scholarship; and Grettel Ruiz, recipient of the Stella Dickerson Technical Honor Scholarship. ECCC President Dr. Brent Gregory concluded the program with closing remarks.
The reception recognized more than 170 scholarship awards made possible through endowed and annual scholarships, memorial funds, businesses, organizations, alumni and friends of East Central Community College.
Scholarships and recipients recognized during the 2026 reception included:
Bobby Addy Memorial — Carson Pierce
Dr. L. B. & Dixie Adkins — Jasmine Pickens
Alumni Association Lifetime Membership Endowed — Megan Miller
AT&T Endowed — Aidan Latiker
AT&T Endowed — James Hayden Smith
Automotive Technology Program — James Kaleb Davis
Bank of Commerce — Aries Queen
Bank of Commerce — Thomas Gage Crapps
BankPlus Annual — Caden Chaney
BankPlus Annual — Zane Tadlock
Dr. Conrad C. Barnes, Jr. Math & Science — Gracey Wood
T.T. Beemon — Cheyenne Vrbicky
Ruth Bennett Memorial — Anna Boykin
Pleas Clayton & Nancy Amanda Breazeale Blount Memorial — Ava Smith
W. Clayton Blount — Summer Wright
Board of Trustees — Adriane Luke
Dr. Austin P. Boggan — Taylor Wade
Iris Pellegrene Boggan — Jaiden Reid
Ernest Harrison Boswell Memorial — Karley Watkins
Dr. Frank & Bobbie McPhail Bowen — Kyndall Lee
Denver Brackeen — Marley Lowrey
Paul V. & Voncile H. Breazeale Ministerial — Walker Jones
Ann H. Burkes Phi Theta Kappa — Reagan Hayes
Landon Bryan Burt Memorial — Marleigh Myers
Jessica Cager Memorial — Ethan Brasher
Nancy Heard Campbell Memorial — Addison Price
Caperton Family Endowed — Aiden Reed
Mable Moore Carr Educational — Madison Davis
Dan T. Chatwood — Keily Lopez Perez
The Citizens Bank of Philadelphia — Thomas Gage Crapps
Chris J. Clark Memorial — Dixie Nance
Class of 1964 Endowed — Addison Hyde
Classes of 1957, 1958, & 1959 — Caroline Bass
Mr. & Mrs. Billy J. Cleveland Memorial — Jordan Smith
Randy & Nina Cleveland Pre-Engineering — Austin Watson
Prentice & Dorothy Copeland — Annagail Anderson
W. R. Covington — Emma Cremeen
Frances Brown Crenshaw Nursing — Addison Sykes
Frank M. Cross Endowed — Haley Graham
Nellie Neill Cross Memorial — Hylan Murrell
Fred Preston Dallas & Maudie Threatt Dallas Memorial — Bailee Ridout
Aaron R. Davis Memorial — Brianna Cook
Stella Dickerson Technical Honor — Grettel Ruiz
Tony Dobbs Memorial Golf — Alondra Bello
Kyle Dunkerson Memorial — Tate Thompson
East Central Scholars - Thomas Foundation — Seth Gipson
East Central Scholars - Thomas Foundation — Charley Hollingsworth
Etheridge Family — Bentley Rose
Ona Mae Ethridge Annual — Baron Rose
Jessie M. & Bobby Everett — Taite Edwards
Robert G. Fick Memorial — John Jones
Major General (Ret.) William L. Freeman, Jr. & Karen M. Freeman — Dennis Knott
Hubert D. Gilmore — Abby Goldberg
Clyde B. & Flossie H. Goodson — John Hamilton
Sue Gunter Memorial — Brooke Shedd
Gene Haas — Blaine Clarke
Gene Haas — Tyson Pham
R. O. & Bertha Hannah — Kelsey Everett
Nancy Auline Hiett Harris A.D.N. — Stephanie Clark
Pam Harris Memorial — Macy Brooke Hayes
Richard L. Harris — Preslee Ferguson
Dr. Shelby L. Harris Memorial — Miranda Rigdon
Dan Harrison Rush Health Systems Endowed — Kelsie Hamilton
Sylvia Ann Graham Haywood Memorial — James Gray
Hilton-Yelverton — Andrea Williams
Jeffrey G. & Kathy L. Hitt Memorial — Kallie Parker
Hogue Brantley Endowed — Jenna Griggs
Albert F. & Fannie M. Hollingsworth — Kadesha Culpepper
Hudspeth — Isabella James
Max Huey Memorial — Jaemsie Reese
Martha Kate Tullos McBryde Hummel Memorial — James Clark
S. Lebrun Hutchison — Riley Ruple
Brenda K. Johnson Gospel Choir — Hylan Murrell
Johnson Family Engineering — Noah Butler
Johnson-Taylor Memorial — Mercy Anderson
Frances Aycock Johnson & Jo Ann Aycock Thomas — Marcy Griffin
Brenda Whatley Kirby Annual Nursing — Krislyn Warren
Jesse A. Ladd Memorial — Scarlett Kirkland
James E. Land Memorial — Zarian John
La-Z-Boy — Addisyn Fox
La-Z-Boy — Addison Germany
Frank Edwin & Nena Holt Leatherwood — Addison Sykes
Leon Eubanks Kaljyc-Peers — Maury Ann Walley
General Martha Jo Leslie — Madison Trest
Frances E. & Moody C. Lockley Endowed Nursing — Mason Ingram
William Wade Long Memorial — Anna Leigh Clark
Edwin & Marie Lowe — Tasha Conn
Pauline Matthews Memorial — Miranda Rigdon
Thomas Rudolph Mayes Memorial — Yazmine Wingo
Russell McCann Memorial — Abigail Leewer
Dr. Howard Carlton McMillin Memorial — Devin Harrell
James & Gloria McRae Endowed — Hagan Bobo
Mississippi Land Bank Annual — Lilly Harsh
Mississippi Power Heritage Annual — Amare Brown-Carter
Mississippi Power Heritage Annual — John Garrett Norton
Mississippi Power Heritage Annual — Parker Savell
Mississippi Power Heritage Annual — Harrison Smith
Mississippi Power Heritage Annual — Hunter Stephens
Model Student — Jordan Wilhelm
Robert J. Moody, Jr. Special Education — Zachary Lloyd
Dr. Margaret Mosal Memorial for Leadership — Maury Ann Walley
Dr. Vernon Clyde & Vashti Muse Endowed — Cara Cantner
Ben Myers Memorial — Alyssa Baugh
Ben Myers Memorial — Kobe Tangle
Claire Myers Memorial Scholarship — Jonahvan Hawkins
Rev. John Lambert Neill Memorial — Anna Young
Stella Weathersby Newsome — Lauren Huey
Newton County United Givers Fund — Ethan Brasher
Newton County United Givers Fund — Valyn Crosby
Newton County United Givers Fund — Jocie Johnson
Newton County United Givers Fund — Jayden Tillman
Newton Rotary Club — Mary Lee Gregory
Newton Rotary Club — Odell Williams
Dr. Beverly (Henry) Oliphant-Martin & John E. Martin — Benjamin Shelton
Dr. Beverly (Henry) Oliphant-Martin & John E. Martin — Micah Stevenson
Polk & Jennie Pace — DreMonty Wooten
Delisha Payton-Townsend Memorial — Dalea McKinney
Phi Delta Kappa Vocational Education — Lateshia Deering
Charles P. Phillips & Bonnie Saxon Phillips — Ian Mckay
Coach Ken Pouncey Memorial — John “JD” Gibson
Roscoe C. Pugh Memorial — Nolan McCall
Haywood Reeves — Jamari McDonald
Shirley Renaud Memorial — Cody Whittington
Herman & Mosoura Rigby Memorial — Gabrielle Brown
Regina Gail Gibbs Rigby Memorial — Madison Davis
Ruth Round Volunteer — Tatum Coy McMullan
Sam Rush Memorial — Kalie Carroll
Sam Rush Memorial — Cooper Wright
Alvin & Iris Sharp Memorial — Maggie Long
Elva Smith Sigrest Memorial — Wyatt Bufkin
Dr. Omar Simmons Memorial — Kolbie Wansley
Kurt Daniel Simoneau Memorial — Emily Scott
Willis E. Blum & Frances Gaines Blum Slagle Memorial — Rylee Pullin
Willis W. (Bubba) Smith Memorial — Layla Coleman
Jay B. & Frances Harris Smith — Adilyn Vaughn
SouthGroup Carthage — Litzy Olmedo
SouthGroup Carthage — Coby Kemp
State Farm Insurance Company — Jessica Bell
Huey G. Stone Memorial — Ceely Graham
Wallace Strickland Rush Health Systems Endowed — Avery Agent
Taylor Advanced Welding — Tyler Glenn
Charles & Judy Dowdle Thomas — Marcella Moore
Albert P. & Blanche W. Thompson Memorial — Lauren Skinner
Laura Reeves Thorne Memorial — Maury Ann Walley
Kinoth & Ella Mae Thornton & Emerson Electric — Marti Tune
Thomas W. Thrash Memorial — Kyra Bigby
Dustan Todd Memorial — Ester Herrera
Donald Gray Triplett — Beckham Lopez
U. S. Electrical Motors — Coby Kemp
U. S. Electrical Motors — Zoey Sanderson
Frances Adell Russell Vance Annual Career Technical — Aiden Ramage
James M. Vance Endowed — Allison Savell
Ovid S. & Carol F. Vickers — Macie Chaney
Arno & Ruth Carr Vincent — Gavin Smith
Lavern & Elizabeth Vowell Memorial — Rett Hatcher
Elton D. Wall Memorial — Brandon Allen
Captain Charles E. Ward USN/RET Memorial — Kristen Barnhill
Warrior Golf Classic Alumni Association — James Adkins
Warrior Golf Classic Alumni Association — Owen Gipson
Mack & Bertha Weems — Mercy Anderson
Weems Family — Riley Ruple
Weems Family — Cooper Stevenson
Harvey & Martha Wheeler Pre-Pharmacy/Pre-Med — Braxton Lane Nelson
J C White — Gavin Parham
Jack White & Mary Jo White — Jacie Leach
Bob Wilkerson Memorial Vo-Tech — Baylea Bone
Wilks-Palmer Scholars — Luke Reynolds
Jones & Carrie Williamson & Bascom & Hattie Chisolm Memorial — Jamarian Brown
General William Patrick Wilson Memorial — Davis Reynolds
Lidia Chesney & Ursula “Toni” Withers Memorial — Zachary Goforth
Lucille Wood — Collier Mangum
Youngblood Family — Madison Phillips
The event served as an opportunity not only to recognize the students receiving scholarships but also to thank the individuals, families, businesses and organizations whose continued generosity supports East Central students and the mission of the college.
