April 25, 2017

State legislator presents House Resolution to Hinds CC men’s soccer team

State Rep. Tom Weathersby, R-Florence, recently presented the Hinds Community College men’s soccer team with a House resolution honoring them for their 2016-2017 state and Region 23 championships, as well…
BY: Cathy Hayden

Against a backdrop of heavy machinery, fencing and freshly moved dirt, the Utica Campus officially broke ground on a new coed residence hall behind the Cooper Fine Arts Building on May 3.

The new residence hall, expected to be complete in December 2024, will have 183 beds on three floors, a laundry room, kitchen on the first floor, study rooms, computer lab, a mini-mart plus an apartment for a residence hall director.

“We are investing in our future, we are investing in our community and we are investing in our students,” said Sherry Bellmon, Vice President of Instruction, Career & Technical Education. Her office has been on the Utica Campus, an HBCU (Historically Black College and University), since 2019.

Hinds is using $28 million in federal Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds made available during the COVID-19 pandemic. In June, the U.S. Department of Education allowed colleges to make requests for use of remaining HERF funds. The college submitted a request and received approval to use the funds for the residence hall construction.

Bellmon said when Dr. Stephen Vacik became president in July 2020 he asked her what her top priority was for the campus. “He asked me, ‘What can I do for you?’ I told him I wanted a new residence hall for our students,” she said.

Dr. Vacik said he knew such a project would take considerable funds. “I made a promise to get this done when I first came to Hinds, and today I have made good on that promise. I am very grateful that we were able to find the resources needed for this project,” he said. “It’s been a long time coming.”

In the meantime, three existing residence halls on the opposite side of the campus are receiving much needed renovations including new HVAC and painting.

“This will be an exciting campus expansion,” said sophomore Lauren Gatlin. “I’m happy to see that we are moving forward and advancing resources on our campus. I hate I won’t be able to experience living in a new residence hall. This hall will be an essential tool for recruitment and increasing enrollment.”

Hinds recruiter and HBCU Liaison Donny Epting said the new building will be an asset to him as a recruiter.

“As an institution, it is our mission to provide students the best place possible to achieve their dreams. This new space will add to the many attributes that Hinds already maintains, which includes our costfriendly tuition, small class sizes and a variety of resources to help our students succeed,” he said.

Quoting Kevin Costner from the baseball movie “Field of Dreams,” he added: “Build it and they will come.”

State Rep. Tom Weathersby, R-Florence, recently presented the Hinds Community College men’s soccer team with a House resolution honoring them for their 2016-2017 state and Region 23 championships, as well as other accomplishments.

Weathersby presented the Resolution, passed during the legislative session, on April 24 at Fountain Hall on the Raymond Campus.

“When I look over this room at the players here, I’m so impressed. You can tell this is just a really good bunch of young men and a lot of young men who would be easy to coach,” he said. “It was unbelievable the number of games that y’all have won over the last 18 years, as well as all the accomplishments the soccer team has made.”

Doug Williams, who was named Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges Coach of the Year for the 10th time in 2016-2017, has been soccer coach at Hinds for 19 years. He and former coach Tom Shepherd, for whom the soccer field on the Raymond Campus is named, are the only two men’s soccer coaches the college has had since the program began in 1989.

“Hinds has the oldest soccer program in the state, and we’ve only had two coaches in all that time. Tom Shepherd paved the way before me,” said Williams, soccer coach since 2000.  “When the soccer program first began they borrowed old baseball uniforms to wear as soccer uniforms. Over the years the administration of the college has really supported us and built us a great soccer facility, gave us scholarships, and just done whatever we needed to get the support we needed and continue to build and improve the soccer program.

“As a result of that, we’ve been able to attract phenomenal students. These guys are great students, they’re super guys. These guys have been easy to coach,” he said.

Front Row, L to R: 12-Caleb Pace, 13-Victor Munagorri, 3-Wanner Paiz, President Clyde Muse; Head Coach Doug Williams; Miss. House Repr. Tom Weathersby; 8-Terry Rogers and 4-Patrick Ross. Middle Row, L to R: ?-???? 23-Paxton Bounds; 11-Josh Vidana; 6-Ethan Zodrozny; 2-Sess Means and 20- Victor Freitas Back Row, L to R: 17- Evan Ratcliff; 14-JP Burke 24-Dalton Sullivan; 32-Josh Parron; 9-Spencer Lucas and Assistant Coach Brandon Mitchell

Pictured are, front row from left, Caleb Pace of Terry, Victor Munagorri of Batesville, Wanner Paiz of Crystal Springs, Hinds President Dr. Clyde Muse, Head Coach Doug Williams of Raymond, State Rep. Tom Weathersby of Florence, Terry Rogers of Brandon, Patrick Ross of Madison; middle row, Cashunn Harris of Louisville, Paxton Bounds of Pearl, Josh Vidana of Pontotoc, Ethan Zodrozny of Ellisville, Sess Means of Brandon, Victor Freitas of Fortaleza, Brazil; back, Evan Ratcliff of Brandon, J.P. Burke of Brandon, Dalton Sullivan of Pearl, Josh Parron of Brandon, Spencer Lucas of Canada and Assistant Coach Brandon Mitchel of Clinton.

 

[tweetable alt=””]Hinds CC men’s soccer honored by House resolution.[/tweetable]

 

For the entire resolution, click SoccerStateChampsHouseResolution-HR0105PS (002)

 

Hinds Community College is celebrating its 100th year of Community Inspired Service in 2017. Hinds opened in September 1917 first as an agricultural high school and admitted college students for the first time in 1922, with the first class graduating in 1927. In 1982 Hinds Junior College and Utica Junior College merged, creating the Hinds Community College District. Today, as Mississippi’s largest community college, Hinds Community College is a comprehensive institution with six locations. Hinds offers quality, affordable educational opportunities with academic programs of study leading to seamless university transfer and career and technical programs teaching job-ready skills. To learn more, visit www.hindscc.edu or call 1.800.HindsCC.