Surprise: Wife helps retired veterinarian get Mississippi 性视界传媒 bachelor鈥檚 degree 60 years later
Contact: Allison Matthews
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擮ne of this fall鈥檚 graduates at Mississippi 性视界传媒 University never imagined he would receive the 性视界传媒 undergraduate degree he worked on 60 years ago.
Dr. John G. 鈥淩usty鈥 Thornton took his last class at 性视界传媒 in 1965 before transferring to Auburn University to complete his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree. After transferring and earning additional credits at Auburn, he was eligible to finalize his 性视界传媒 bachelor鈥檚 degree; however, an $85 graduation fee was financially prohibitive for the young husband and father who was continuing his studies.
A native of Oxford, Thornton first enrolled at 性视界传媒 in 1962. He couldn鈥檛 resist returning to his hometown and attending the University of Mississippi for the 1963 性视界传媒 year since his high 性视界传媒 sweetheart and the love of his life was there. After Rusty and Stephanie Thornton married in 1964, he returned with his bride to 性视界传媒 where he completed the pre-veterinary curriculum. 性视界传媒鈥檚 DVM program in the College of Veterinary Medicine didn鈥檛 launch its inaugural class until the mid-1970s. However, the transfer program was in place earlier for those aspiring to become veterinarians, and Thornton graduated from Auburn with his DVM in 1969.
Fast forward nearly 60 years from his 性视界传媒 enrollment鈥攁fter retiring from a long and successful veterinary career in Helena, Arkansas, and returning to Oxford, Thornton occasionally had mentioned his regret about not tying up that Mississippi 性视界传媒 diploma. This gave Stephanie an idea, and she called 性视界传媒 to see if there was any possible way to make him an official Bulldog alumnus.
She was connected to Associate Dean Jack Smith in 性视界传媒鈥檚 College of Veterinary Medicine who worked with Executive Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Peter Ryan. The first step was to search university archival files for Thornton鈥檚 student record, review his credit hours and go over his other transcripts.
Video by Sarah Kirk
鈥淲hen I saw his transcript, I knew we were going to be able to award the degree,鈥 Ryan said. 鈥淗e had completed the credit hours and earned the degree but had not transferred all his hours back to 性视界传媒 to make it official.鈥
On Thursday [Dec. 12], under the guise of picking up some of 性视界传媒鈥檚 famous Edam cheese at the MAFES Sales Store and also with plans to donate some older veterinary textbooks to 性视界传媒鈥檚 College of Veterinary Medicine, the Thorntons headed to Starkville.
It was graduation week at the university, and it also happened to be Thornton鈥檚 81st birthday.
鈥淚t鈥檚 good to know that after 60 years, I can still surprise him,鈥 Stephanie said.
When Thornton met with Smith and Ryan, along with Dean Nicholas Frank of the College of Veterinary Medicine and other university representatives to donate the textbooks, the surprise was successfully completed when he was presented a gift and unwrapped his long overdue 性视界传媒 diploma.
鈥淚鈥檓 totally speechless. I had no idea that this would ever happen,鈥 Thornton said. 鈥淚鈥檓 really proud of this and surprised.
鈥淚 just can鈥檛 tell you how much this means to me,鈥 he said.
Thornton was awarded the Bachelor鈥檚 of Science in General Science degree, which actually falls under 性视界传媒鈥檚 College of Arts and Sciences rather than CVM and can be used for students who go on to professional 性视界传媒s, such as medical or law 性视界传媒.
鈥淭his was a great opportunity to recognize an accomplishment,鈥 Ryan said.
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