On January 12, 2001, adult Northwest student Loretta Hanks was killed in a car accident on her way home from campus. Almost 21 years later, the Loretta Hentz Hanks Memorial Endowed Scholarship is set to begin making a difference in the lives of Northwest students.
Hanks, 45 years old at the time of her death and a sophomore at the college, was a Courtland native who had gone back to school to study social work. Her only child, Sally Agrawal, was 20 years old and attending Mississippi State University when her mother passed. Agrawal said Hanks wanted to make a direct impact on people through her new career.
After high school, Hanks worked for a doctor’s office before accepting a position with Batesville Clinic. When she enrolled at Northwest, she was a part-time employee with Lipe Gas Company. According to Agrawal, Hanks always wanted to go back to school, and when her daughter went off to college, she finally decided to pull the trigger.
Hanks thrived at Northwest, earning a 4.0 GPA and being elected Outstanding Student in Psychology and Social Work consecutively.
“Loretta was not only one of the best students I knew, but she also was a model worker as our work-study in the Humanities Building,” Languages and Communications Director Jean Moore said at the time.
Moore further remarked that Hanks was a student who also became a friend because of the two’s shared interests, including a love of nature, poetry, God, and fellow humankind. Agrawal adds that her mother was also very interested in plants and birds (she had taught herself to identify many different kinds), and would take care of any “poor orphaned creature that showed up at our house.”
Agrawal believes her mother would be thrilled about the scholarship, if only because it will accomplish what she wished to do in her career as a social worker.
“I think she would be tickled because she didn’t get to make that direct impact on people that she wanted to, and we can in this way,” Agrawal said.
As a student, Hanks herself had received scholarship money to attend Northwest. Her daughter notes that she also was a scholarship recipient in college, and is happy to be able to “pay it forward.” She and her husband Sameer, who now live in Virginia with kids Felix and Fritz, participated in Teach for America, an eye-opening experience.
“We saw how important it is to give back in this way to help get people started, especially at community college,” Agrawal said.
At her passing, Hanks left behind Agrawal, husband Jimmy Hanks, mother Lillie Darby, and brother Steve Hentz.
The Loretta Hentz Hanks Memorial Endowed Scholarship will be awarded to an adult learner student. If none are available, the scholarship will be awarded to a student from Panola County. Recipients must maintain at least a 2.0 GPA while enrolled at Northwest.
For more information about Northwest scholarships, contact the Foundation Office at (662) 560-1103 or email Scholarship Coordinator Anna Slocum at aslocum@northwestms.edu.
