{"id":105421,"date":"2021-06-18T11:00:05","date_gmt":"2021-06-18T16:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/?p=105421"},"modified":"2021-06-18T12:46:21","modified_gmt":"2021-06-18T17:46:21","slug":"honoring-linda-spargo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/honoring-linda-spargo\/","title":{"rendered":"Honoring Linda Spargo"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

The new Linda Spargo Art and Rowan Oak Fund will contribute financially to academic research within the College of Liberal Arts \u2013 such as the work examining the history of author William Faulkner\u2019s former home, known as Rowan Oak \u2013 and to the work of the Department of Art and Art History. Photo by Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services<\/p><\/div>\n

OXFORD, Miss. \u2013 Navigating a four-year university can be daunting for some students, but University of Mississippi students had a mentor in Linda Spargo, who devoted her career to guiding them and their families.<\/p>\n

Recently retired, Spargo\u2019s impact is being honored through a support fund. Numerous donors, including former students and parents with whom she worked during her 25 years at Ole Miss, have contributed more than $44,000 to the Linda Spargo Art and Rowan Oak Fund. <\/p>\n

The Spargo Fund will contribute financially to academic research within the College of Liberal Arts<\/a> \u2013 such as the work examining the history of author William Faulkner\u2019s former home, Rowan Oak \u2013 and to the work of the Department of Art and Art History<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Linda Spargo<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI\u2019m an academic, so for me personally, it’s really wonderful and exciting to be associated with a fund that supports the university in this way,\u201d said Spargo, who first served as Chancellor Emeritus Robert C. Khayat\u2019s speechwriter and later as the longtime special projects coordinator for the Office of the Chancellor.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy very first class at Ole Miss was the Faulkner class, and it really changed my life. It affected how I read everything else that was required for my English degree. It was invaluable, and to me Rowan Oak is hallowed ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

While much is known about Rowan Oak during Faulkner\u2019s ownership, Center for the Study of Southern Culture<\/a> and Department of Sociology and Anthropology<\/a> researchers are focusing on Robert Sheegog, the builder and original owner of the estate.<\/p>\n

Jay Watson, Howry Professor of Faulkner Studies, shared that Rowan Oak has another history that goes beyond the significance of being the homestead of Mississippi\u2019s only Nobel Prize-winning recipient.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe two histories converge in Faulkner’s fiction, much of which he wrote at Rowan Oak<\/a> and a good bit of which he wrote about men like Sheegog, the powerful white planters and slaveholders of the antebellum era,\u201d Watson said. \u201cIn these ways, the residence has become an important part of the history of Oxford, the university and modern literature.\u201d<\/p>\n

Portions of the Linda Spargo Art and Rowan Oak Fund will support ongoing research into the early 1800s period of Faulkner\u2019s former home and grounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving the resources to continue this work means that faculty, staff and student members of the Slavery Research Group<\/a> can take a multipronged approach to accurately and comprehensively interpret the lives of enslaved persons who lived on what was then the Sheegog Estate, as well as better understand the long-term impacts of their lives through their descendants,\u201d said Jodi Skipper, associate professor of anthropology and Southern studies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe educational opportunities available to students of all ages that will come from this are tremendous,” she said. “In addition, these efforts can contribute to making Oxford and Lafayette County a more inclusive and welcoming environment for visitors and community members alike.\u201d <\/p>\n

Watson added that the research will give insight into the many \u201clives\u201d of Rowan Oak.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to this endowment, the university will be in a position to conduct historical and archaeological research that will tell us more about all of these lives. It’s a most worthy acknowledgment of Linda’s many years of service to the university and the wider community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The endowment also pays tribute to Spargo\u2019s assistance to 200 to 300 families a year and other areas of impact including co-founding and directing the university\u2019s Writing Center, teaching a section of business communications each semester for 20 years, serving as director of the Paris-Yates Chapel and helping develop the earliest safe ride program for students.<\/p>\n

Spargo holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in English and a master\u2019s degree in education in English from Ouachita Baptist University, as well as a doctoral degree in English from Ole Miss.<\/p>\n

To make a gift to the Linda Spargo Art and Rowan Oak Fund, visit https:\/\/umfoundation.com\/spargo<\/strong><\/a>. Checks with the scholarship name noted in the memo line also can be mailed to the University of Mississippi Foundation at 406 University Ave., Oxford, MS 38655.<\/p>\n

For more information on the fund, contact Brett Barefoot, senior director of development, parent and family leadership, at bmbarefo@olemiss.edu<\/a> or 662-915-2711.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OXFORD, Miss. \u2013 Navigating a four-year university can be daunting for some students, but University of Mississippi students had a mentor in Linda Spargo, who devoted her career to guiding them and their families. Recently retired, Spargo\u2019s impact is being honored through a support fund. Numerous donors, including former students and parents with whom sheRead the story …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":105604,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[199,460],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nHonoring Linda Spargo - Ole Miss News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/honoring-linda-spargo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Honoring Linda Spargo - Ole Miss News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"OXFORD, Miss. \u2013 Navigating a four-year university can be daunting for some students, but University of Mississippi students had a mentor in Linda Spargo, who devoted her career to guiding them and their families. Recently retired, Spargo\u2019s impact is being honored through a support fund. 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