The Student Association has yet to complete a commemorative statue of alumnus Gillespie V. “Sonny” Montgomery. The project, slated for completion in October of 2004, has not met its quota.
“We have to make some changes to the actual statue,” said Jennifer Glaze, SA director of student activities. “The sculptors did a great job. It just wasn’t exactly how we wanted it.”
SA President Adam Telle said the sculptors had originally completed the statue in August, but some of Montgomery’s close friends expressed concerns that the statue made him look too old. The SA decided to have the statue redone to make him look younger.
“It will depict Sonny as he was as a student here, not as he was in his political career,” Telle said. “Basically, we had to raise more money to give Sonny a facelift,”
Funding for the project is nearing completion.
“We’ve raised, including the facelift, approximately 85 percent of the money,” he said. “All systems are go as soon as the sculptors get [the statue] done and we plan the dedication for it.”
The project should be completed by early 2005, with a dedication ceremony in March, Telle said. The original plans called for the statue to be placed in a park between Allen and McCool halls, but now it will be displayed in Mitchell Memorial Library before the park.
“[The statue] will probably be dedicated in March of 2005,” he said. “It will temporarily go in the library. As soon as we finish raising money for the Montgomery statue, we’re going to start raising money for Old Main Park, which will be the future home of the statue.”
“We have a surprise for the students that won’t be revealed until the dedication,” Telle added.
Another concern related to the completion of the statue was the project’s Web site, which has not been updated since last school year.
“The primary purpose of the Web site was for fundraising,” Telle said. “Most of our fundraising is completed. All the rest of our fundraising is being done through other channels.”
Even with its unexpected setbacks a monument for Montgomery is a primary concern for the Student Association, Telle said.
“Sonny Montgomery is one of our greatest alums of all time, and one of the most world renowned Mississippi State graduates,” he said. “He doesn’t have much of a tribute on campus. We have a need to fill.”
Montgomery served as Student Association president during his senior year at Mississippi State. After he graduated, he joined the military to fight in World War II.
He is most known, however, for the Montgomery GI Bill, which he fought seven years to pass while representing Mississippi’s 3rd Congressional District, a position he held for 30 years.