The Phil Hardin Foundation of Meridian has issued a $450,000 challenge grant to the University of Mississippi, $100,000 of which is to complete the purchase of the Kenneth S. and Rochelle J. Goldstein Folklore Collection. The University acquired the first portion of the collection in 1980 and is in the process of raising $390,000 to buy materials Kenneth Goldstein and his widow, Rochelle, collected between 1980 and his death last fall.

The collection, regarded as the finest folklore library in the English language, includes over 25,000 books and periodicals, 6,000 sound recordings, and hundreds of English, European, and Southern ballad broadsides and songbooks. According to Chancellor Robert C. Khayat, "The Goldstein Collection will help make the University of Mississippi a major resource for studying folklore of English-speaking cultures in general, and of the American South in particular."

Center director Bill Ferris is pleased with the Hardin Foundation challenge grant because it puts the University one step closer to purchasing a collection of materials in which he is greatly interested: "The collection is an unparalleled resource which positions the University for study of the American South and its rich folklore traditions in the coming century. We are deeply grateful to the Hardin Foundation for this and many other significant gifts they have made to benefit our Center. Future generations of students and scholars will be blessed by their magnificent gift."

The other $350,000 of the challenge grant is aimed at increasing the existing Liberal Arts Faculty Excellence Fund and endowing three Faculty Fellowships in the College of Liberal Arts. All of the projects that the Hardin Foundation challenge grant seeks to support are part of the University's efforts to secure a Phi Beta Kappa chapter.

Individuals wishing to help the University raise the $900,000 needed to receive the $450,000 grant should direct their contributions to the University of Mississippi/Hardin Foundation Challenge Grant, P.O. Box 249, University, MS 38677.