MHC Receives $25,000 Grant From Phil Hardin Foundation

The Mississippi Humanities Council has been awarded $25,000 from the Phil Hardin Foundation to support the MHC’s Ideas on Tap program. The funds will be used to support a statewide Ideas on Tap initiative focusing on education that will take place throughout 2019.

“We are thrilled to receive these grant funds from the Hardin Foundation and to have them as partners on this important project. The topic of education is extremely timely as we approach the 2019 statewide elections. Through this series, we hope to bring different voices to the table in order to engage Mississippians around the state in these crucial conversations,” said MHC Executive Director Dr. Stuart Rockoff.

The 12-part series will take place in six communities around the state: DeSoto County, Tupelo, Clarksdale, Jackson, Meridian, and Biloxi. Each community will host two programs, the first featuring a panel of institutional statewide partners to discuss education policy and philosophy, and the second featuring a panel of local voices to discuss the current state of education at the community level, as well as underlying social and economic factors that affect educational access and outcomes.

The MHC has secured statewide and local partnerships to help carry out the series. Statewide partners such as Empower Mississippi, The Parents’ Campaign, and Mississippi First will help carry out the first of the two programs in each community. Local partners including the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi in DeSoto County, Meraki Roasting Company and Griot Arts in Clarksdale, and the CREATE Foundation in Tupelo will help tailor each conversation to the respective communities and publicize the series.

Ideas on Tap is the MHC’s monthly happy hour series of regular humanities-based community discussions about important contemporary issues. The program began in Jackson in 2016 and has expanded to host programs in Oxford, Cleveland, Starkville, Hattiesburg, and Pass Christian. Ideas on Tap stresses the importance of civil discourse to convey differing ideas.

Founded in 1964 by Meridian baker and entrepreneur Phil Hardin, the Phil Hardin Foundation seeks to improve education opportunities for all Mississippians. Since its inception, the Phil Hardin Foundation has provided more than $50 million in grants and loans to further Mr. Hardin’s charitable intent.