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Student's Scholarship List and Resource Guide (2010-2011)
The department chooses an annual outstanding student through the Jesse Rushing award.
JESSE L. RUSHING was born in Blytheville, Arkansas on January 9, 1953 to Jesse and Latonia Rushing and lived his very early years in Missouri. His family and he moved to Central California and were farmworkers during the early years of his life. His parents, wanting to improve themselves, both went to school to become certified to work in the state hospitals as psych techs and raised their children in Porterville. Jesse was the eldest and only son of four children. He loved playing drums in the school band as well as playing basketball and baseball. He was a very good pitcher and was scouted by the pros during his high school career. He went onto USC on a baseball scholarship but soon found his interest in sociology and religioncourses. After dropping out of USC, he worked a variety of jobs, married Marjorie Coots, and went to work as an eligibility case worker for Tulare Co. Dept. of Social Services. He decided to return to school to earn a degree in social work to advance in the field. After entering Fresno State, he decided his real interest was in sociology, especially criminology and religion. He finished his BA and was thrilled to be accepted to the graduate program at University of Washington where he worked as a research assistant with Dr. Joe Weiss, Dr. Rodney Stark, & Dr. Daniel Doyle with whom he published, posthumously, the research paper “Beyond Durkheim: Religion & Suicide” in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (1983, 22(2):120-131). During finals week of his first semester of graduate school, Jesse suffered a brain aneurysm and, after surgery and being in a coma for several days, died on December 17, 1979 at the age of 26. Dr. Joel Best, chair of the sociology department of Fresno State (1978-88), was instrumental in establishing the Jesse L. Rushing Scholarship Award, funded by donations from sociology faculty. Nearly every year, a cash award is presented to an outstanding sociology student who is aspiring towards a doctoral program. Between 1990 and 2010, of the 19 Rushing Award Recipients, four of them have completed a Ph.D., one is ABD (all-but-Dissertation), five have earned master’s degrees, and two are enrolled in master’s programs.
Jesse |
L. |
Rushing |
Memorial |
Award |
|
Outstanding |
Sociology |
Student |
| Year | First | Last | Graduate Degree | |
| 1981 | Linnea | Naley | ||
| 1982 | Beverly | Smith | ||
| 1983 | Anne | Brockley | ||
| 1985 | Judith | Wasson | ||
| 1986 | Jenny | Rodriguez | ||
| 1987 | Barbara | Pia | ||
| 1988 | Franklin | Barker | ||
| 1989 | Ginger | Rainey | ||
| 1990 | Kim | Sweeney | Ph.D. | |
| 1991 | Matthew | Jendian | Ph.D., University of Southern California | |
| 1992 | Melissa | Riba | ||
| 1993 | Nancy | Gutierrez | M.A., University of Wisconsin | |
| 1994 | Lisa | Elliott | ||
| 1995 | Michael | Carley | M.A. | |
| 1996 | Zebedee | Fuller | ||
| 1998 | Bertha | Dominguez | M.S. in Counseling, CSU, Fresno | |
| 1999 | Laura | Guske | ||
| 2000 | Sandra | Stephenson | Ph.D. | |
| 2001 | Maria | Magana | Ph.D. in Anthropology, University of Chicago | |
| 2002 | Ashley | Howard | ||
| 2003 | Janice | Brown | M.A. in Rehabilitation Counseling, CSU, Fresno | |
| 2004 | Henry | Giron | ||
| 2005 | Kristine | Frost | M.S. in Counseling, CSU, Fresno | |
| 2006 | Tania | Pacheco | ABD, UC San Francisco | |
| 2007 | Melanie | Hatfield | ||
| 2008 | Janine | Nkosi | M.S. in Counseling, CSU, Fresno | |
| 2009 | Luis | Morales | M.A. in Criminology, CSU, Fresno | |
| Additional Outstanding Sociology Majors Nominated for Dean's Medal | ||||
| Year | First | Last | ||
| 2005-2006 | Kellie | Foster | Doctoral Program | |
| 2006-2007 | Melanie | Hatfield | ||
| 2007-2008 | Hagar | Attia | M.A. in Communications, CSU, Fresno | |
| 2008-2009 | Geneva | Skram | M.P.A., CSU, Fresno | |