{"id":263,"date":"2007-09-20T12:57:52","date_gmt":"2007-09-20T17:57:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ezing.me\/transfer\/?p=263"},"modified":"2014-09-23T09:25:33","modified_gmt":"2014-09-23T14:25:33","slug":"liberto-creates-lasting-tribute-to-moms-belief-in-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/liberto-creates-lasting-tribute-to-moms-belief-in-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Liberto Creates Lasting Tribute to Mom?s Belief in Education"},"content":{"rendered":"

OXFORD, Miss. — Maureen Liberto remembers pursuing a
\ndemanding doctoral program while juggling her busy family
\nand career. When Liberto entertained the thought of ending
\nthe coursework, her mother gave the encouragement Liberto
\nneeded to persevere.<\/span>
\n

“I remember specifically thinking that I couldn’t
\nfinish a doctorate with teenagers and everything
\nelse,” said Liberto of Oxford and formerly of
\nLaurel. “My mom said, ‘Maureen, you will be at that
\nage and place in your life no matter what youre
\ndoing. Devote some time to education.'”
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n Liberto, who successfully completed that doctorate
\nand enjoyed a career in higher education, is
\nhonoring her mother’s belief in the worth of
\neducation through the new Geraldine McGuire
\nHeffernan Women’s Council Scholarship Endowment at
\nthe University of Mississippi. Her gift of $100,000
\nestablishes the scholarship under the Ole Miss
\nWomens Council for Philanthropy, which enriches
\nscholarships by providing leadership training and
\nmentoring.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n Heffernan, who passed away earlier this year at the
\nage of 96, was “always an educator,” Liberto said.
\nThe Montreal resident was an elementary school
\nteacher, and Liberto’s father, Fintan Patrick
\nHeffernan, was a teacher and school administrator.
\nBoth earned their teaching licenses during the
\nDepression and ultimately received teaching awards
\nfor their many contributions. They were active in
\ntheir community by supporting an orphanage and a
\nhospital.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n “Maureen Liberto is an amazing educator and leader,
\nwho obviously is following in her parents’
\nfootsteps,” said Gloria Kellum, vice chancellor for
\nuniversity relations. “Not only is she providing
\nmajor financial support to the University of
\nMississippi for this Women’s Council Scholarship
\nhonoring her mother’s life but she also is giving
\nof herself to our students.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n“Upon her retirement, Maureen joined our university
\ncommunity as a volunteer mentor and counselor. Her
\nunwavering commitment to helping young people is
\nremarkable, and we are witnessing the tremendous impact her
\ncontributions are having on our campus. We are profoundly
\ngrateful for her devotion.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n Liberto said that while her mother knew about plans
\nfor the scholarship fund, she wishes she could have
\nseen it impact. “My mother was a woman of
\nsubstance. If she were alive, she would tell
\nscholarship recipients that self-confidence comes
\nfrom education. And, she would tell them that
\npeople can do anything they dream if they put their
\nminds to work.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n Recipients of the Heffernan Scholarship are to be
\nselected on academic ability and leadership
\npotential. They can pursue any academic major but
\nare to earn minors in leadership and public policy
\nthrough the university’s Lott Leadership
\nInstitute.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n The Women’s Council Scholarship marks the second
\nmajor contribution from Liberto, who with Laurel
\nbusinessman Julius W. King gave a combined $200,000
\ngift to the university establishing the
\nLiberto\/King Professorship in the School of
\nBusiness Administration’s area of insurance and
\nrisk management. The professorship honors the
\nlongtime friendship between King and V.A. Liberto,
\na businessman and husband of Maureen Liberto.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n After retiring in 2005 as assistant director of
\nadmissions and guidance at Jones County Junior
\nCollege in Laurel, Liberto moved to Oxford, where
\nshe volunteers as a counselor for university
\nstudents. She works with around 50 students in the
\nOle Miss First program, assisting them in a variety
\nof areas, from exploring careers and obtaining
\ninternships to arranging guest speakers to interact
\nwith students on campus.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n “There’s just a passion in me for students,” she
\nsaid. “Interacting with the students at Ole Miss
\nmakes me feel that there’s hope for America; they
\nare just so outstanding. This is where I want to
\nbe: sharing knowledge and experience to help guide
\nyoung people’s lives. I look forward to coming to
\ncampus every day.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n Liberto chose Oxford as her home after retirement
\nbecause of the long relationship her family has
\nenjoyed with Ole Miss. Her late husband was an
\nalumnus who gave of his time by serving on the
\nadvisory committee to the School of Business
\nAdministration, as well as on campaigns to raise
\nprivate funds. The couple’s three children also
\nattended the university.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n For more information about giving to UM, visit
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n
\nhttp:\/\/www.olemiss.edu\/giving\/<\/a>.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OXFORD, Miss. — Maureen Liberto remembers pursuing a demanding doctoral program while juggling her busy family and career. When Liberto entertained the thought of ending the coursework, her mother gave the encouragement Liberto needed to persevere.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[222],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nLiberto Creates Lasting Tribute to Mom?s Belief in Education - 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\/liberto-creates-lasting-tribute-to-moms-belief-in-education\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Liberto Creates Lasting Tribute to Mom?s Belief in Education - Ole Miss News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"OXFORD, Miss. — Maureen Liberto remembers pursuing a demanding doctoral program while juggling her busy family and career. When Liberto entertained the thought of ending the coursework, her mother gave the encouragement Liberto needed to persevere.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/liberto-creates-lasting-tribute-to-moms-belief-in-education\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ole Miss News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-09-23T14:25:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@OleMissRebels\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@OleMissRebels\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/\",\"name\":\"Ole Miss News\",\"description\":\"The official source for University of Mississippi news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/liberto-creates-lasting-tribute-to-moms-belief-in-education\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/liberto-creates-lasting-tribute-to-moms-belief-in-education\/\",\"name\":\"Liberto Creates Lasting Tribute to Mom?s Belief in Education - Ole Miss News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-09-23T14:25:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/4515cb1b4f8a759552c0827c3df56430\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/liberto-creates-lasting-tribute-to-moms-belief-in-education\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/4515cb1b4f8a759552c0827c3df56430\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3e8e7562bf6d779d771ad8ce4cecd7ef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43155,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263\/revisions\/43155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}