Senate Concurrent Resolution 584

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION COMMENDING THE CIVIC AND HUMANITARIAN CONTRIBUTIONS OF MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY'S "FIRST LADY" PATRICIA LEE.

WHEREAS, during the past 21 months as Mississippi State's First Lady, Pat Lee has assumed an active and visible role in the life of the university; and

WHEREAS, she has traveled widely throughout Mississippi and across the nation, helping represent Mississippi State University to alumni, professional organizations and business, industry and agriculture groups; and

WHEREAS, Mississippi State University First Lady Pat Lee chaired the "Bulldogs in Response" Task Force to help plan and coordinate MSU's efforts to aid those affected by Hurricane Katrina; and

WHEREAS, the "Bulldogs in Response" Task Force has conducted seven trips to the Coast, involving about 200 faculty-staff volunteers, and the relief teams have aided many of the 160 MSU employees who live in the hardest-hit areas, along with families of some of the 1,300 MSU students in coastal counties and others; and

WHEREAS, under Mrs. Lee's leadership MSU volunteers helped with the recovery of materials from the Armed Forces Retirement Home at Gulfport, whose 600-plus residents were evacuated after the hurricane. Other volunteers have worked at three Gulfport Distribution Centers; and

WHEREAS, on Halloween, "Bulldogs in Response" volunteers from the Starkville Campus joined MSU Extension Service Staff on the Coast to help distribute 60,000 pieces of candy to more than 10,000 children in hurricane-affected communities; and

WHEREAS, students and staff donated 135 units of blood in an on-campus effort organized by "Bulldogs in Response"; and

WHEREAS, with Mrs. Lee's support, the Extension Service, Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, and College of Veterinary Medicine provided feed, medical supplies and other support to livestock and poultry producers; and

WHEREAS, the MSU Extension Service offered evacuees Internet access through county extension offices as a way of helping locate family and friends, and conducted a statewide survey to help assess the needs in every county of the state; and

WHEREAS, MSU provided on-campus housing for more than 100 storm evacuees. MSU established expedited processes to allow students enrolled at institutions hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina to attend fall-semester classes at MSU. Out-of-state students from affected institutions were treated as in-state students in regard to tuition and fees. The university also provided streamlined and expedited processes for academic drops and withdrawals; and

WHEREAS, she is active in the MSU Women's Club and has been heavily engaged this year in helping plan observances of Mississippi State University's 125th Anniversary and this fall's inauguration of her husband as MSU's 17th President; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Lee served for nine years during the 1990s as Executive Director of the International Livestock Congress, an international educational program held each year in Houston, Texas, in collaboration with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and Texas A&M. She also has held administrative support positions during much of the past 40 years at Texas A&M, Mississippi State, and North Carolina State Universities; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Lee is an avid proponent of women's athletics. One of her first public appearances upon becoming First Lady was as guest coach for the University's Women's Basketball Team; and

WHEREAS, she is devoted to her husband of 44 years, Dr. J. Charles Lee, President of MSU, and her three grown children and three grandchildren; and

WHEREAS, it is with great pride that we recognize the dedicated civic and humanitarian service of this gracious lady who symbolizes the cooperative spirit of Mississippi State University: NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby commend and congratulate Mississippi State University's "First Lady" Patricia Lee for her outstanding citizen and humanitarian service to the State of Mississippi, particularly for her leadership in coordinating the recovery and relief efforts by Mississippi State University in response to Hurricane Katrina, and we extend to her and her family the best wishes of the Legislature in their future endeavors.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to Mrs. Patricia Lee at appropriate campus ceremonies and be forwarded to the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and be made available to the Capitol Press Corps.