Providing scholarships is all about presenting financial opportunities to students to attend Hinds Community College and get the leg up that many of them need on that first step to higher education. Rick Trusty (1976), current president of the Athletic Alumni Chapter, experienced that first hand as a Hinds student who received a scholarship to play football and baseball. “Hinds gave me that opportunity when no one else was going to. It was a great experience,” he said.
In 2002 members of the Athletic Chapter created the HCC Athletic Alumni Scholarship through the Hinds Community College Foundation to ensure that same opportunity for others. The purpose of the Athletic Alumni Chapter Scholarship is to award financial assistance to the children and grandchildren of active members of the Hinds Community College Athletic Alumni Chapter. While recipients don’t have to be involved in athletics at Hinds and can attend any location, they must be enrolled full time and meet the GPA requirements.
The first recipient of the HCC Athletic Alumni Scholarship was Will Mendrop (2007) of Madison. His now deceased grandfather was a former Hinds athlete, member of the Hinds Sports Hall of Fame and an active member of the Athletic Alumni Chapter.
“This scholarship is quite unique, and I was excited and honored to receive it. It made an impactful contribution to the first steps of furthering my education,” said Mendrop, who continued on to Mississippi State University for bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting. “It’s just another example of Hinds ‘keeping it all about the students.’”