PHS grad gives scholarship

STARKVILLE, Miss. — A Portales High graduate has established a scholarship in memory of her family at Mississippi State University.

Donna Michelle Smith, a 1988 PHS grad commonly known as Mickie during her Ram days, named the Thornton and Magnolia Pinkston Miller Endowed Scholarship in the honor of great aunt and uncle.

“Education is important in our family as it means upper mobility and will open up possibilities,” Smith said in a school release. “We’re paying it back for the future of Black farmers and landowners.”

The scholarship is awarded to full-time students at MSU’s college of agriculture and life sciences who have demonstrated academic achievement and financial need. Preference will be given to Black or African American students who are residents of Yazoo or Humphreys counties and majoring in agriculture or a related field, but the scholarship can be awarded to any eligible student if the primary categories aren’t met.

Smith grew up in Portales when her parents served as faculty at Eastern New Mexico University, and moved to Georgia after her graduation to be closer to family in Mississippi.