Jane Lauderdale Flowers, work-based learning coordinator on the Vicksburg-Warren Campus, came to Hinds as a college student, earned her degrees from both Hinds (1973) and Mississippi State University, returned as an employee and hasn’t looked back since.
“I feel like I am a part of Hinds,” she said. “Not only am I an alumnus, but I have been a member of the faculty on the Vicksburg-Warren Campus for 29 years, and I am still passionate about what I do.”
In 2010 Flowers won the college’s top employee award – the 3E, for Emphasis on Excellence and Enrichment – because of her work on behalf of the college in economic development.
Flowers and her siblings, Bill, Joe and Chris, are first-generation college students and all have strong Hinds connections. “Three of us rode the Hinds school bus from Vicksburg each semester, and my oldest brother drove it for extra money. Our time and investment with studying at Hinds gave my siblings and me the opportunity to have a comfortable life.”
In addition to her administrative duties, Flowers is a part-time instructor, teaching at least one class per semester. Reflecting on her 29-year stint as a Hinds employee, Flowers says that her favorite thing about Hinds is how welcoming the administration has been to her ideas.
“The administration recognized that I had ideas for improvements, and they not only listened, but implemented many of those suggestions. That motivated me to keep trying harder to make the college, and education in general, better for our students. I want to keep encouraging them to excel academically.”