In the summer of 1964, just before his junior year at the University of Mississippi, Pick Scruggs faced a crisis: He didn’t have enough money to return to school.
Back home in Memphis, Tennessee, his family had suffered some unexpected financial reverses that put his future in jeopardy. Faced with the prospect of not finishing his biology degree and saying goodbye to his Ole Miss friends and his girlfriend, a Tri Delta from Dallas, Texas, named Jody Shelton, Scruggs scrambled to find a solution.
“I got really lucky,” Scruggs said. “I got two loans. One from the Gooch Foundation in Memphis, and the second one was from my fraternity, Pi Kappa Alpha. I moved from the fraternity house to Kincannon Dorm, so that saved me some money on board. And then I got a job at the Phi Mu house as a houseboy, which probably turned out to be the best job I've ever had.”
By working, scrimping, saving and studying, Scruggs paid for two more years at Ole Miss, graduating in 1966 with Jody. Then came medical school, marriage, children, a successful career as a radiation oncologist in Dallas, grandchildren and finally retirement in Oxford, Mississippi — back where the Scruggs family story began.
Dr. Pick and Jody Scruggs see those generous loans from the summer of 1964 as a bridge to the future they built together. The loans were paid back long ago. Now, the Scruggs family is paying them forward.
“We know that financial support for a student in crisis can be the bridge between dropping out of Ole Miss and becoming a successful Ole Miss graduate,” Pick Scruggs said.
They’ve established the Bob and Irma Scruggs Bridge to Success Memorial Scholarship, an endowed fund that will give UM College of Liberal Arts students up to $1,000 in need-based emergency scholarships to keep them on track to graduate despite financial adversity.
“We see many of our students struggling with rising living costs, and, similar to Dr. Scruggs’ experience, families also have unexpected financial distress that can affect enrollment,” said Holly Reynolds, associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts. “Thanks to the generosity of the Scruggs family, those students now have a place to turn.”
Several Ole Miss students have already benefitted from the Scruggs Bridge to Success Scholarship, accessing emergency funds to help clear their bursar accounts and pay for rent, books, food or whatever they need to stay on track to graduate.
Reynolds said the College of Liberal Arts will disburse the emergency financial scholarships twice a year. Students can apply for help via the College of Liberal Arts scholarship website.
“When we shared the news about the Scruggs scholarship with our liberal arts department leaders, they were very thankful to learn of this new resource,” Reynolds said. “Often, students in distress turn to their professors for help, and it’s wonderful to be able to offer solutions.”
With their endowment, the Scruggses have ensured that UM College of Liberal Arts students can depend on their support for many years to come.
“So many students in crisis are also scared to say anything,” Pick Scruggs said. “I was scared. I’m so grateful I got help.”
The Scruggses named their scholarship in honor of Pick Scruggs’ parents, the late Bob and Irma Scruggs of Memphis.
“I've often jokingly said that my brother and I hit the lottery when we were born,” Pick Scruggs said. “We had great parents. If parenting was an Olympic event, they would earn a gold medal.”
While Bob Scruggs took classes at Memphis State (now the University of Memphis) and Irma Scruggs attended Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas for two years, neither finished a degree. However, they prioritized higher education for their children. Bob Scruggs’ love for Ole Miss football nudged Pick Scruggs toward choosing the University of Mississippi in 1962.
Jody Scruggs spent her childhood in Texas but often visited her Mississippi relatives in Winona as a child. On a tour of colleges her senior year of high school, she told her parents the search was over as soon as she saw Ole Miss.
“From my very first visit, Ole Miss felt like home to me,” she said. “It’s a place where I always felt like I belonged. We both felt that way, and we still do.”
Several years ago, Jody and Pick Scruggs also established the Ruby Simpson Shelton Memorial Scholarship for UM film and theater students in honor of Jody Scruggs’ mother, who died of cancer in 1970.
“We believe in giving back to Ole Miss because we both received a really good education here, and we have seen over the years that the university is a very good steward of our donations,” Jody Scruggs said. “Giving to Ole Miss is a wonderful opportunity to make the experience that we had here available to more young people.”
To make a gift to the Bob and Irma Scruggs Bridge to Success Memorial Scholarship, send a check with the fund’s name noted in the memo line, to the University of Mississippi Foundation at 406 University Ave., Oxford, MS 38655 or online here.
For more information on supporting the College of Liberal Arts, contact Caroline Hourin, director of development, at cehourin@olemiss.edu or 662-801-3995.
By Angela Atkins/UM Development