Release Date: March 18, 2008
Marietta family endows scholarship in honor of their mother
Contact: Cheryl Anderson Brown, Assistant Director of Public Relations, 770-499-3417 or cbrown@kennesaw.edu
 |
(From left) Susan Ellis, KSU President Daniel Papp, Bill Beddingfield and Cherie Smith. Photo by Jim Bolt |
KENNESAW, Ga.—Bill Beddingfield and his sisters Susan Ellis and Cherie Smith of Marietta recently endowed an art scholarship in the College of the Arts at Kennesaw State University. The scholarship was established in honor of their late mother, Florence Beddingfield, a lifelong humanitarian and artist.
The official scholarship signing was held on campus and attended by KSU President Dan Papp, Vice President for Advancement Wes Wicker, College of the Arts Dean Joseph Meeks, Florence Beddingfield’s children and several of her grandchildren.
Florence Beddingfield was involved in many facets of community service. She played an integral role in founding the Cobb County Center for Family Resources, establishing assistance centers for disadvantaged women and children, and serving on the boards of the Marietta and Atlanta housing authorities. She was also an avid painter and earned an art degree from KSU in 1989 at the age of 71.
“My mother always wanted to help people,” said Smith. “And she did it by showing people a way that they could help themselves.” Florence Beddingfield instilled in her children her desire to help others and an emphasis on education. “Education was very important to her,” said Bill Beddingfield. Additionally, both Smith and Ellis have had careers in the teaching field and Ellis is currently an adjunct professor at KSU.
“Our mother had such a good experience at Kennesaw, we wanted to do something that lived beyond her time,” Billl Beddingfield said. “My whole intent was to establish something that would continue on and that people would remember who she was because it would be in her name.”
Endowed scholarships are long-term investments to help secure the future success and quality of arts majors. To establish a new endowment at KSU, the minimum funding level is $20,000, sometimes payable over a period of years.
Meeks expressed his gratitude to the Beddingfield children for paying tribute to Florence. “This scholarship creates and honors the legacy that Florence Beddingfield established. We have very fond memories of her living a broad, rich, deep life—doing everything for others.”
In endowing this scholarship, “we want to help those students who have the desire to advance themselves,” said Bill Beddingfield. “Mother would have liked nothing better than to help someone else.”
# # #
A member of the 35-unit University System of Georgia, Kennesaw State University is a comprehensive, residential institution with a growing student population of more than 20,000 from 132 countries. The third-largest university in Georgia, Kennesaw State offers more than 60 graduate and undergraduate degrees, including new doctorates in education and business.
The KSU College of the Arts is one of only four Georgia institutions to have achieved full national accreditation for all of its arts programs.