Haskins family, Kappa Delta sorority create scholarship to memorialize student

The late Susan Haskins was known for her genuine and caring spirit by friends and family. Haskins was beloved by her family members, her Kappa Delta sorority sisters and the young people she worked with at Camp Sunshine in Pike County.

To carry forward the spirit for which she was best known, her parents, Don and Barri Haskins of Fernwood with the Kappa Delta sorority have created a scholarship in Haskins’ name as a lasting tribute to her life.

The Susan Christena Haskins Memorial Scholorship Endowment will provide assistance to hospitality management majors, like Haskins, in Ole Miss’ School of Applied Science.

Haskins was killed in August 2009 when she was involved in a car accident.

“Susan was a very caring person and loved people,” Don Haskins said in a press release. “She had a big heart, particularly for individuals who were disabled or struggling economically. She worked every summer as a counselor at Camp Sunshine and loved all the people there. She had an outgoing personality and never met a stranger.”

Many at Ole Miss agreed that Susan possessed many unique qualities that inspired others to be better people.

“There was never a time that I would pass Susan in the dorm hallways or headed to lunch at the Kappa Delta house that she wouldn’t stop with that beautiful smile of hers and greet me with the utmost sincerity and hospitality,” Laura Katherine Henderson, Kappa Delta’s Vice President-standards, said in a press release. “Susan was someone everyone in our sorority wanted to emulate.”

The Haskins Scholarship is the first endowed fund for the hospitality management program. Professors in the School of Applied Science remember Haskins as being very passionate in her chosen field.

“As faculty, we hope for classrooms full of students as attentive and caring as Susan was,” Teresa Carithers, associate dean of the School of Applied sciences, said in the media release.

“In the words of her advisor, Candis Varnell, ‘Susan was an absolute joy.’ This gift will allow many future students, who may have financial constraints, to have amazing experiences within the Department of Nutrition and Hospitality Management.”

To raise funds for the scholarship, the Kappa Delta sorority hosted the “Susie Haskins Bash” on what would have been Haskins’ 21st birthday.

More than 600 people came out to pay tribute to her life and enjoy music and food at the Powerhouse Community Arts Center located off University Avenue. The sorority plans to make the “Susie Haskins Bash” an annual fundraising event for the scholarship.

The Susan Haskins Memorial Scholarship Endowment is open to accept gifts from individuals and organizations.

To contribute, visit http://www.umfoundation.com/makeagift, call 800-340-9542, or mail checks to the University of Mississippi Foundation at P.O. Box 249, University, MS 38677, noting “Susan Haskins.”