English Department Announces Virginia Morgan Scholarship for Undergraduate English Majors
After
an early career in the business world of
Memphis and New York, Virginia Morgan
earned an M.A. degree in English at the
University of Mississippi with a thesis on
Renaissance drama. She took several
doctoral courses before joining the
faculty in 1968 and served the University
in many capacities until her retirement in
1991. Morgan died in Memphis in 1997.
Former Provost Gerald Walton describes her
as “perhaps the most reliable, most
helpful, and most knowledgeable instructor
ever in the Department of English.”
During the years Walton served as director
of freshman English, Morgan was his
“unofficial assistant,” helping to run
the program smoothly while teaching a full
load of courses in composition and
sophomore literature, along with an
occasional Shakespeare course. Between
1979 and 1982, she took on additional
duties as project coordinator for the
fledgling Center for the Study in Southern
Culture, providing invaluable assistance
in organizing its activities.
Former Dean of Liberal Arts Dale Abadie
recalls that “Virginia was considered
among the most thorough and efficient
advisors of students in the College.”
She touched thousands of students’
lives, advising not only English majors
but undecided students in Liberal Arts as
well. Walton says that, during a period
when the advisory system was often
criticized, one student commented, “If
everyone had an advisor like Miss Morgan,
there would never be any complaints.”
Until her retirement, Morgan was also
crucial to the success of the Savage
Lecture series, one of the College of
Liberal Arts’ best-known annual events.
From the book exhibits she meticulously
prepared to the local tours she conducted
for the internationally famous speakers on
Renaissance literature and culture, Morgan
was at the heart of the program named
after her early mentor, Professor James E.
Savage.
It is especially fitting that a teacher
who warmly encouraged several generations
of Ole Miss students should be
memorialized in the Virginia Morgan
Scholarship. Information on how to
contribute to the scholarship fund is
available from Joseph Urgo, Chair of the
Department of English, by telephone
(662-915-7439) or e-mail (jurgo@olemiss.edu).
Joan
Wylie Hall
