Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College inducted three honorees into the Alumni Hall of Fame on Homecoming Day, Oct. 3. The ceremony was held in Malone Hall on the Perkinston Campus. The honorees were also recognized during pre-game activities.
Paul Grayson “Nebo” Carter Jr.
Mississippi Gulf Coast Junior College, Perkinston Campus
September 1965—May 1967
Jackson County Campus, Graduated December 13, 1985
Defeating the Pearl River Wildcats for the first time in 18 years as a member of Coach George Sekul’s first state championship football team (1966) made Nebo Carter’s two years at the Perkinston Campus some of the most memorable years of his life.
“I know that people often say this, but it really was like family on the campus and on the football team,” Carter recalled. “Our instructors were part of our everyday life, inside and outside the classroom. They were concerned about us and kept up with what was going on in our lives. I made many, many good friends while there.”
Carter, who played tackle for two years at Perkinston Junior College, has served as an adjunct instructor at the Jackson County Campus and is a member of the MGCCC District Workforce Council. He also supports the college by participating in alumni and Bulldog Club activities, always cheering for his alma mater. Several family members have also attended or are currently attending the college, including his two daughters, Pam and Allison; a granddaughter; and a grandson.
The granddaughter, Ashton Nelson, played softball for the Lady Bulldogs for two years and is continuing her softball career at Auburn University at Montgomery. His grandson, Aaron Nelson, is currently attending the Perkinston Campus and is a proud member of the football team. Pam was a football cheerleader while at Perk.
“I think my children and grandchildren have heard me say so much about the great times I had there, they wanted to have something of the same for themselves,” he said. “It is just a great college and such an asset for us to have here on the Coast.”
As chief human resources officer for Singing River Health System, Carter continues to support Gulf Coast through partnerships to foster world-class training in health-care programs, which, in turn, helps provide the nursing and other staff for the Health System. He also sponsors the Health Care Career Fair at the Jackson County Campus, attracting more than 800 high school students annually.
He currently resides with his wife, Barbara, in Vancleave.
Sara (Smolensky) Ford Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Jefferson Davis Campus Summer 1996—May 1997
Sara Ford attended the Jefferson Davis Campus in 1996 and 1997, and she gives credit to a Gulf Coast instructor and positive academic experiences for launching her academic and career success.
In the past 12 years, Ford’s career has skyrocketed. As a program manager at software giant Microsoft Corporation, she has authored a book, “Microsoft Visual Studio Tips.” She is a donor to an MGCCC Foundation scholarship fund, with an initial outlay of $12,000 in advance author royalties from her book. Microsoft agreed to match her initial outlay for the Save Waveland Scholarship Fund, making it the largest matching gift ever contributed to the Foundation. The scholarship, which enables any resident of Waveland to attend Gulf Coast if he or she is selected, will continue to be funded by the royalties. The book, released in October 2008, has received rave reviews and has been a great seller.
“I was raised with the belief that community is about being excellent to each other,” Ford said. “This book and this donation are my way of connecting the community I came from to the community I work in. I’ve always had a quest for knowledge. This scholarship fund will help others pursue their own quests.”
After seeing her hometown of Waveland devastated by Hurricane Katrina, Ford felt the need to do something positive for her old friends and neighbors. Her parents, Louie and Jane Smolensky, still live in Waveland. Their house was severely damaged. The school where Ford finished high school, Our Lady Academy, was severely damaged but did reopen. Many other landmarks familiar to Ford were completely obliterated. “After witnessing the devastation [in Waveland] first hand six weeks after the storm, I vowed that I would one day do something that would make a difference. With Microsoft matching the donation, I feel that day is today,” said Ford, who added that she selected Gulf Coast for the scholarship fund because of its proximity to Waveland. “Having attended a semester at the Jefferson Davis Campus prior to starting Mississippi State, I was familiar with the college and the quality of education there. Gulf Coast seemed like a natural fit for the scholarship fund.”
Ford is a program manager at Microsoft Corporation in Washington State.
Margaret “Maggi” Britton Vaughn of Gulfport
Perkinston Junior College
September 1957—May 17, 1959
Maggi Vaughn has worn many different career hats throughout her life – all of them involving writing. She is an award-winning poet, songwriter, playwright and author recognized by the governor of Tennessee with the Outstanding Tennessean Award in 2002 and named poet laureate of Tennessee in 1993. During her writing career, she has published 13 books and written songs for country music legends Loretta Lynn, Conway Twitty, Ernest Tubb, Charlie Louvin and Peggy Sue. One song was nominated for a Grammy in 2005.
Having achieved such success, Vaughn still remembers her two years at Perkinston Junior College as a special time. She will share her memories of Perkinston Junior College at this year’s Homecoming festivities, when she will read a poem about her years at the college.
“It was such a wonderful place with great people. We were all like family – students, instructors, administration,” she said. “I have always been a really outgoing person, and I really liked to sing. I would sing anywhere. Usually, I would get a group together to sing outside the dorm. We were always singing when we weren’t in class! After I left, people told me they missed that. Those are good memories for me.”
While Vaughn’s story begins in Murfreesboro, Tenn., in 1938, she moved to Gulfport after her father, a firefighter, was killed on duty. She began her writing career at an early age, writing about things she experienced and saw along the Coast. While living in Gulfport, Vaughn worked for The Daily Herald in Gulfport, earning the opportunity to become the first woman in an outside sales position for a Mississippi newspaper. As a student at Perkinston Junior College in 1957-59, she was an active member of the Christian Council, Wesley Club, Girls Ensemble, Choir, Band, Music Club and Dramatics Club, and served as president of the YWCA. After graduating from Perk, she transferred to Mississippi Southern (now The University of Southern Mississippi). Later, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Middle Tennessee State University.
Vaughn wrote the poem for the Tennessee Bicentennial, as well as “Who We Are,” a poem celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Air Force; poems for two governors’ inaugurations; and “The Tennessee Music Man,” a poem celebrating the 2002 release of the state quarter. She has appeared on PBS, TNT, USA, TNN and the BBC.
She now resides in Bell Buckle, Tenn., and enjoys an active writing career.
