STARKVILLE, Miss.--A major gift from a 1949 Mississippi State University alumnus is launching the new "Promise" program at the land-grant university.
A $250,000 donation by Louis A. Hurst Jr. of Houston, Texas, will support the first year of the program recently announced by President Robert H. "Doc" Foglesong.
For students from families with annual incomes below $30,000, MSU Promise provides tuition and fees for both incoming freshmen and community college students transferring to the institution.
"This is a wonderful investment in the future of Mississippi and in the future of deserving students," said Foglesong. "Mr. Hurst is providing a lifetime legacy to students who otherwise might be squeezed out because of rising tuition."
Candidates qualifying for the awards must meet academic requirements and be Mississippi residents.
Hurst, a Poplarville native, is an accounting graduate of the College of Business and Industry. He also completed study at Rutgers University's Graduate School of Banking. In the 1980s, he retired after a 32-year career with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
He previously established the L.A. Hurst Jr. Endowment Fund in MSU's business college, where he serves as a member of its senior executive advisory board. He is a member of the MSU Foundation's prestigious Old Main Society and also has been designated as a Dean W. Colvard Founder because of lifetime gifts to his alma mater. (Colvard, MSU's 12th president, led in establishing the foundation in the early 1960s.)
"Louis Hurst has a strong commitment to education, which continues with his latest gift," said Dennis A. Prescott, MSU vice president for external affairs. "He is ensuring that a new generation of students benefits from the opportunities Mississippi State can provide."
