Southern Miss Senior Earns Hub Award Leadership Scholarship
Fri, 12/06/2024 - 12:16pm
Southern Miss President Dr. Joseph S. Paul, left, presents Braxton Ruddock, senior and president of the Student Government Association, with the 2024 Hub Award Leadership Scholarship (photo courtesy of the Pinebelt Foundation).
Braxton Ruddock, a senior Pre-Law/Legal Studies and Communication Studies double major at 91少女集中营 (USM), was presented with the Hub Award Leadership Scholarship during the annual banquet held in November.
The HUB Award originated in 1979, when Hattiesburg community leaders honored USM alumnus and former Hattiesburg mayor Bobby Chain, who at the time served as president of the board of trustees of the State Institutions of Higher Learning. The award was then permanently established to annually honor other outstanding citizens in the community. Proceeds from the event support academic scholarships for students, as managed by the Pinebelt Foundation.
A native of Lafayette, La., Ruddock serves as Student Government Association president, as well as president of his fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon. He is also a member of Eagle Connection and served with the 2023 Southern Style student recruitment team. Ruddock plans to attend law school after graduation in May 2025.
鈥淎n award like this helps in so many ways, both by allowing financial needs to be less of a focus and serving as an encouragement that the impact I have had on Southern Miss has been meaningful,鈥� said Ruddock. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really amazing to know that I have been able to give back to a place that has done so much for me and changed my life for the better.鈥�
Hattiesburg cardiologist Dr. Thad Waites, left, and 10th Chancery District Judge Deborah Gambrell Chambers are recipients of the 2024 Hub Award (photo courtesy of The Pinebelt Foundation).
Recipients of the 2024 Hub Award included Dr. Thad Waites, a cardiologist with Hattiesburg Clinic鈥檚 Heart and Vascular division, and former 10th Chancery District Judge Deborah Gambrell Chambers.
Dr. Waites has strong ties to the university, as both his parents graduated from what was then Mississippi Normal College. Dr. Waites also served on the USM Foundation board and he and his late wife, Gerry, established scholarships in music and education at the school; his brother, Jimmy Waites, is a former Southern Miss Alumni Association president.
Chambers enrolled at Southern Miss at age 16 and graduated in 1972 with a degree in political science. She was a member of the university鈥檚 renowned Dixie Darlings dance team. She went on to earn her juris doctor with cum laude distinction in 1978 from Mississippi College School of Law.
Click for more information about the Pinebelt Foundation.