Connect with us

Headlines

Overby to Receive Women’s Council Legacy Award

Published

on

Charles Overby

Charles Overby

Charles Overby, a champion of the First Amendment and the free press, has been selected to receive the 2015 Legacy Award presented by the Ole Miss Women’s Council for Philanthropy.

The Legacy Award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions as philanthropists, leaders and mentors and brought about definitive, positive changes in the University of Mississippi, state and nation. A ceremony to present the award will be April 18, 2015 at UM, where Overby was educated as a journalist.

“Charles Overby has traveled the globe in efforts to promote First Amendment freedoms and to discuss media relations,” said Karen Moore of Nashville, OMWC chair. “In Washington, D.C., Mr. Overby led the development of the Newseum, a major specialty museum that explores how news affects our experiences surrounding historic moments.

“At Ole Miss, he continues to have a significant impact on both students and the general public through the Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics. The Overby Center gives individuals an opportunity to come together and discuss major issues of our region, nation and world, while creating a better understanding of media, politics and the First Amendment. The Women’s Council believes that discussing issues helps solve them.”

Overby is the former chairman of the Freedom ForumNewseum and Diversity Institute. For 22 years, he was chief executive officer of the Freedom Forum, a nonpartisan foundation that educates people about the press and the First Amendment. His service as CEO of the Newseum spanned 1997 to 2011, during which time he supervised the building of the Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington.

This interactive museum has been called the “best experience Washington has to offer.” He also was CEO of the Diversity Institute, a school created in 2001 to teach journalists and aspiring journalists while increasing diversity in newsrooms.

The Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics was established at Ole Miss with a $5.4 million gift from the Freedom Forum to honor Overby’s extensive professional contributions. He continues his involvement with Ole Miss students by helping them identify beneficial opportunities and internships.

Before joining the Freedom Forum, Overby was an effective public watchdog – a newspaper reporter and editor for 17 years – with a goal of protecting citizens by keeping them well informed. He covered Congress, the U.S. Supreme Court, the White House and presidential campaigns for Gannett Co., the nation’s largest newspaper company. He also served as the top editor at Florida Today in Melbourne, Fla., and the executive editor of The Clarion-Ledger and Jackson Daily News in Jackson.

Overby supervised the news and editorial coverage that led to The Clarion-Ledger winning the Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal for Distinguished Public Service in 1983 for coverage of the need for education reform in Mississippi.

His exemplary career – which began as an 11-year-old delivering newspapers at 5 a.m. for The Clarion-Ledger – also includes serving as vice president of news and communications for Gannett and as a member of the management committees of Gannett and USA Today. He experienced two stints in government, as press assistant to U.S. Sen. John Stennis, a Democrat from Mississippi; and special assistant for administration to Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander, a Republican.

When asked about his successful career, Overby credited his mother, his wife and longtime colleague Al Neuharth, founder of USA Today, the Freedom Forum and the Newseum, for mentoring and supporting him throughout his extensive career.

The Legacy Award is a focus of the 14-year-old OMWC, an organization which recognizes that meaningful lives and careers in and beyond college rely on strong relationships and nurturing support. Mentorship, therefore, is the cornerstone of OMWC scholarships, and almost 100 students have blossomed under this program.

Past Legacy Award recipients have been Netscape president/CEO and education visionaries, Jim and Donna Barksdale; “The Blind Side” mom and co-founder of the Making It Happen Foundation, Leigh Anne Tuohy; the heart and soul of America’s first family of football, Olivia Williams Manning, who has nurtured sons Cooper, Peyton and Eli to be servant-leaders; and Mississippi’s “education governor,” champions for improved race relations and volunteers for Habitat for Humanity, William and Elise Winter.

OMWC’s endowments total about $11 million, and each new scholarship is recognized in the Rose Garden adjacent to the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts.

–Staff Report, Ole Miss Media Desk

Ole Miss Men’s Basketball

Mon, Nov 4Long Island University Logovs Long Island University W, 90-60
Fri, Nov 8Grambling Logovs GramblingW, 66-64
Tue, Nov 12South Alabama Logovs South AlabamaW, 64-54
Sat, Nov 16Colorado State Logovs Colorado StateW, 84-69
Thu, Nov 21Oral Roberts Logovs Oral RobertsL, 100-68
Thu, Nov 28BYU Logovs BYUW, 96-85 OT
Fri, Nov 29Purdue Logovs 13 PurdueL, 80-78
Tue, Dec 3Louisville Logo@ LouisvilleW, 86-63
Sat, Dec 7Lindenwood Logovs LindenwoodW, 86-53
Sat, Dec 14Georgia Logovs Southern MissW, 77-46
Tue, Dec 17Southern Logovs SouthernW, 74-61
Sat, Dec 21Queens University Logovs Queens UniversityW, 80-62
Sat, Dec 28Memphis Logo@ MemphisL, 87-70
Sat, Jan 4Georgia Logovs GeorgiaW, 63-51
Wed, Jan 8Arkansas Logo@ 23 ArkansasW, 73-66
Sat, Jan 11LSU Logovs LSUW, 77-65
Tue, Jan 14Alabama Logo@ 5 AlabamaW, 74-64
Sat, Jan 18Mississippi State Logo@ 17 Mississippi StateL, 81-84
Wed, Jan 22Texas A&M State Logovs 13 Texas A&ML, 62-63
Sat, Jan 25Missouri Logo@ MissouriL, 83-75
Wed, Jan 29Texas Logovs TexasW, 72-69
Sat, Feb 1Auburn Logovs 2 AuburnL, 92-82
Tue, Feb 4Kentucky Logovs 10 KentuckyW, 98-84
Sat, Feb 8LSU Logo@ LSU7:30 PM
SECN
Wed, Feb 12South Carolina Logo@ South Carolina6:00 PM
SECN
Sat, Feb 15Mississippi State Logovs 17 Mississippi State5:00 PM
TBA
Sat, Feb 22Auburn Logo@ Vanderbilt2:30 PM
SECN
Wed, Feb 26Auburn Logo@ 2 Auburn6:00 PM
TBA
Sat, Mar 1Oklahoma Logovs 12 Oklahoma1:00 PM
TBA
Wed, Mar 5Tennessee Logovs 1 Tennessee8:00 PM
TBA
Sat, Mar 8Florida Logo@ 6 Florida5:00 PM
SECN

@ COPYRIGHT 2024 BY HT MEDIA LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. HOTTYTODDY.COM IS AN INDEPENT DIGITAL ENTITY NOT AFFILIATED WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI.