Humanities can be defined as literature, philosophy and the fine arts as distinguished from the sciences. However, the word means more to the director of the University Honors Program Jack White.
White’s passion for the humanities earned him the 2003 Scholar Award from the Mississippi Humanities Council.
White will formally receive the award at a ceremony in Jackson on Feb. 6.
Mississippi Humanities Council executive director Barbara Carpenter said the award recognizes an outstanding humanities scholar who has contributed to and participated in council programs.
“Jack was one of the most obvious choices there ever could be,” Carpenter said. “He has participated since 1972 and has served in virtually every capacity and has done an outstanding job,” she added.
White says he feels the council is worthwhile because of its leadership role.
“The council is widely recognized for bringing very different groups of people together to discuss issues that are important to them,” White said.
His involvement in the humanities has also included many organizations outside the council. White has served on the boards of directors of the Mississippi Alliance for Arts Education and the Starkville Community Theater, among others.
White says he can pinpoint when the fine arts first caught his eye-when his parents took him to see his first theatrical production, “The Student Prince.” He was 5 years old.
“It caught me the moment the curtain lifted, revealing the lavish stage set,” White said. “I remember that as vividly as if it was in front of me right now.”
He began his undergraduate studies in accounting, but he changed his major to English during his junior year.
Upon completing his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Texas A & M University-Commerce and his doctorate at Texas Tech, White took a job teaching Medieval studies at Mississippi State.
As his first teaching job, White planned to stay at MSU only a couple of years before moving on to his next job. However, his interest in the humanities led him in a different direction. By the end of those two years, he married a fellow humanities enthusiast, Emilie.
White said they had both come to Mississippi State to work.
“She was in the humanities department in the library, and that was the area of the library that I used,” White said.
They also ended up living in the same apartment building.
“At that time, there was only one apartment building in Starkville that would rent to single people,” White said.
He added that a number of single faculty members lived in the building, and many of them ended up married to each other.
“There were also a number of widowed women who lived there and took care of us,” White said. “It was almost like a little town.”
Thirty-five years later, White and his wife still live in Starkville, although no longer in the same apartment building.
He said that while they do not have any children of their own, they have grown close with many students over time.
“Through the years, the students we’ve been assisting have, in one sense, been our children,” White said.
Senior electrical engineering student Wes Johnson said that as a student he also felt this connection.
“As far as his relationship with students, (White) is a very open and honest individual,” Johnson said.
White said that he and his wife have even stayed in close touch with some of their students after they leave MSU, and they enjoy hearing about the successes in their lives.
“I’m always very proud of their accomplishments,” White said.
Now those students can be proud of his.