Nancy Jones says the university’s programs, students embody late
singer’s memory
NASHVILLE — The widow of
country music icon George Jones announced Monday that her family has established
a scholarship fund at Middle Tennessee State University, which they hope will
become a living memorial to the late singer.
Nancy Jones announced the creation of the fund at a Nashville ceremony to
unveil a monument to her husband of 30 years. The Country Music Hall of Fame
member died April 26 at the age of 81.
“George would have liked the fact that MTSU attracts so many
first-generation college students, as well as students who face financial
challenges,” Jones said. “Like George, they are hard-working folks who are
determined to make their dreams a reality.”
Nancy Jones will be making the first donation to the fund. MTSU Recording
Industry Department Chair Beverly Keel, who will oversee the donation drive for
the fund, said she hopes the effort will raise enough for multiple scholarships
and programs that celebrate Jones’ music and career.
MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee, who attended Monday’s announcement at
the Woodlawn Roesch-Patton Funeral Home and Memorial Park, thanked Jones for
choosing the university to honor the memory of her husband.
“MTSU is a very appropriate place to honor George Jones because of its
nationally known recording industry program,” McPhee said. “We have educated
many of the leaders of the country music industry and we are dedicated to
teaching students about the important contributions of country music.”
Donations can be made online at www.MTSU.edu/give or by mail at George
Jones Scholarship Fund, MTSU, Office of Development, Box 109, Murfreesboro, TN
37132. For more information, call 615-898-5595 or email at devofc@mtsu.edu.
MTSU’s
College of Mass Communication, which houses the Recording Industry Department
and the Center for Popular Music, is working to preserve and promote the legacy
of Jones, who
charted No. 1 country songs across several decades, from the '50s through the
'80s.
Jones won two GRAMMY Awards,
the first coming in 1980 for his now-classic hit "He Stopped Loving Her
Today," which was named Best Country Vocal Performance, Male, and the
second in 1999 in the same category for "Choices." He was presented a
Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012.
“George Jones had an extraordinary life and
career on so many levels and we are grateful that his legacy will inspire and
benefit a new generation through education,” said Mass Communication
Dean Ken Paulson. He said the college will
add to its collection of research material and artifacts surrounding Jones’
career.
Keel
said her department is developing a course on the life and music of Jones and will
“create opportunities for scholars to offer their analyses and interpretations
of his music that can then be shared with scholars internationally.”
“We want to make sure that students 100 years from now will
fall in love with ‘He Stopped Loving Her Today,’ just as we did, no matter what
future technology they may use to listen to his traditional country music,”
Keel said.
Nancy Jones said her husband would have been pleased to have
students benefit from this effort in his name.
“George received help from people as he strove to have a
country music career, so I am thrilled that we will be able to help young
people in the name of George Jones,” she said. “I know he would have loved
this.”
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