Veterinary college gets new endowment

Students at the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine are getting $7.2 million in new scholarship help

The Scholarship comes from the estate of Charles E. and Viola G. Bardsley, residents of Ocean Springs in their later years, who donated money to the CVM, starting in 1996. Charles E. Bardsley was a native of Newport, Rhode Island, who held two graduate degrees from MSU, and Viola G. Bardsley was a native of Litchfield, Illinois and a chemist, according to an MSU news release.

“Our college gratefully appreciates and will uphold the wishes of the Bardsleys to educate promising students and make available scholarships to those with potential who may need financial assistance,” Kent Hoblet, CVM dean, said in the release. “The students benefiting from their generosity will address the health and wellbeing of animals and associated human and environmental health issues through modern veterinary medical science.”

During their lifetime, the Bardsleys created 24 gift annuities to benefit the university, and the CVM gift will nearly double the college’s endowment, according to the release. The current scholarship was created following Viola G. Bardsley’s death in 2015.

“The earnings from the endowment will result in significant yearly support of our students,” Jimmy Kight, CVM director of development, said in the release.