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Ļć½¶Ö±²„Alumni Delegates announce latest winner of ā€˜freeā€™ tuition

Ļć½¶Ö±²„Alumni Delegates announce latest winner of ā€˜freeā€™ tuition

Monroe Countian Ryan Pickle (left) accepts the Ļć½¶Ö±²„Alumni Associationā€™s Tuition Drawing award from Will Basden, Ļć½¶Ö±²„Alumni Delegates president, and other delegates (third from left to right) Ashley Vargason, Chris Morgan, Abby Sparks, Dipa Patel and Jake Thomas. (Photo by Beth Wynn)

Contact: Amy Cagle

STARKVILLE, Miss.ā€”Student Ryan M. Pickle of Hamilton is the latest winner of the Ļć½¶Ö±²„ Alumni Associationā€™s Tuition Drawing.

Sponsored by the associationā€™s Alumni Delegates student organization, the drawing provides funding for 12 academic credit hours at the land-grant institutionā€”$4,035 or the equivalent of a typical semesterā€™s tuition.

Begun in 2013, the Tuition Drawing program is available each fall and spring semester to a Mississippi resident. Tickets are made available only to parents of those enrolled full time.

Pickleā€™s name recently was drawn from 330 submitted. A rising senior in agricultural science, he receives the award for the fall 2017 semester.

ā€œThe ā€˜freeā€™ tuition will take a huge burden off of me during the coming semester,ā€ he said. ā€œIt also means my parents wonā€™t have to worry about the expense of paying for my schooling in the fall.ā€

The award has an added benefit for parents Tracy and Grace Pickle, since they also are supporting Ryanā€™s sister Megan, a senior accounting major. This will be the first time since the siblings entered Ļć½¶Ö±²„that their parents will not incur tuition expenses for both.

Jeff Davis, the alumni associationā€™s executive director, said though only four years old, the program has ā€œbecome a proud tradition for the Alumni Delegates because it serves as a way for them to positively influence the college experience of fellow students.

ā€œExcess funds raised beyond the amount of each tuition award goes to a scholarship endowment, with the goal of eventually helping even more students with tuition expenses,ā€ he added.

Alumni Delegates serve as links between the 139-year-old land-grant institution and its more than 137,000 living graduates. Members assist with organizational programs and activities on behalf of the association such as football tailgate gatherings, class reunions, and the associationā€™s annual awards banquet and leadership conference.

For more information about the Ļć½¶Ö±²„Alumni Associationā€™s tuition drawing, contact Libba Andrews, association associate director, at 662-325-3479 or landrews@alumni.msstate.edu.

Ļć½¶Ö±²„is Mississippiā€™s leading university, available online at .