Trojan News
Historic Donation to MDCC Starts Stepping-Stone Initiative
“It’s exciting to have the chance to lay the first stone in the Stepping-Stone Initiative and to create a pathway for students to find their passions and realize their dreams as I have.”
MOORHEAD, Miss. (June 8, 2023) – Mississippi Delta Community College (MDCC) has received a historic, anonymous donation from a former student in the form of $250,000.
“This donation will create an endowment that will fund thousands in scholarships annually,” said Executive Director of College Advancement and Alumni Affairs Jim Aycock. “We have never received a donation this big, and it will allow us to award an additional $10,000 in scholarships every year!”
The alumnus said that when they were at MDCC, they felt that the college prepared them very well for their future career and ignited a love for the sciences.
“When I was there, the sciences were hard but the teachers were fair and always willing to get us up to speed,” said the donor. “That was no easy task because most of us had never had a real science class in high school.”
The donation received is not only the beginning of generations of scholarships but also the beginning of a new strategy for supporting students entitled the Stepping-Stone Initiative.
“The Stepping-Stone Initiative is a new program that we believe symbolizes the role MDCC serves as an institution. Many of our students utilize us as a stepping-stone to either move on to further their education or enter directly into the workforce. Stepping-stones are essential for helping students get to their destination. With endowments created by donations like the one received today, we are happy to provide another financial path to assist our students in reaching that end goal,” said Aycock.
The anonymous donor was similarly excited about the new development and went on to say that they hope that this donation can give someone the same opportunities that were given to them.
“It only seems fair to help those who come after me,” said the donor. “It’s exciting to have the chance to lay the first stone in the Stepping-Stone Initiative and to create a pathway for students to find their passions and realize their dreams as I have.”
The quarter-million-dollar donation will increase MDCC’s scholarship offerings by 20% from previous years.