When Kay Webber Cochran moved to Washington, D.C., in 1981, she promised herself she would explore a different arts and cultural facility or event every weekend. After amassing 37 years of experiences in the nation’s capital, she is expanding that passion by creating an art scholarship at the University of Mississippi.
It is her hope that the Kay Webber and Thad Cochran Scholarship in Art Endowment, established with a $50,000 gift, will encourage students who want to pursue careers in art, whether that’s painting, sculpture or other artistic mediums. The scholarship is designated for students with financial need.
“I did that because I was a single mother who worked three jobs to take care of my daughters,” Cochran said. “My girls had to have scholarships to pursue college degrees. We struggled, and I know there are many talented students who also struggle because of financial need.
“I’ve lived a very interesting life, enjoying the art galleries of Washington and all over the world. It’s such a privilege to enjoy the arts and I want other people to enjoy them,” she continued.
Cochran said the arts were part of the common ground she shared with her husband, the late U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran.
“Thad was a promoter and supporter of the arts,” she said. “He would purchase a Mississippi artist’s painting or photograph, buy the rights to reproduce it for his annual Christmas card and hang it in a prominent place in his Washington office,” she said.
“Art is a universal language — whether it’s music, painting, sculpture or something else. It’s a language everyone understands. I can’t imagine not having art in my life,” said Cochran, who now calls Oxford, Mississippi, home and spends the winter months in Gulfport, Mississippi.
The donor chose to establish the scholarship at Ole Miss because of Sen. Cochran’s great affection for the university.
“Through the years, Robert Khayat (chancellor emeritus), Gloria Kellum (vice chancellor emerita for university relations), Alice Clark (vice chancellor emerita for university relations), Amy Lewis (executive director of federal relations) and many others came to Washington to see Thad,” she said. “Getting to know them made me realize what a wonderful university it is.”
Sen. Cochran died in May 2019, after retiring in 2018, having served 45 years in Congress. In 1972, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and was re-elected twice, earning over 70% of the vote. In 1978, he won election for the U.S. Senate, becoming the first Republican in over 100 years to win a statewide election in Mississippi. In 2018, the university honored him with its Mississippi Humanitarian Award and he was inducted into the Ole Miss Alumni Hall of Fame the same year.
Sen. Cochran’s political papers are stored in Ole Miss’ Modern Political Archives; the Thad Cochran Research Center, home of the National Center for Natural Products Research, is named for the longtime distinguished public servant; and the Thad Cochran Law Endowment provides scholarships to Ole Miss law students.
Michael Barnett, interim chair of the UM Department of Art & Art History, expressed appreciation for the new scholarship endowment.
“The Department of Art & Art History is deeply grateful to Mrs. Cochran for the creation of the Kay Webber and Thad Cochran Scholarship in Art Endowment. This gift will enable more students to pursue their passions and bring new perspectives to their art. Endowments such as this one have an enormous impact on our students and, by extension, our communities.”
A native of Fulton, Kentucky, Cochran pursued business studies at the University of Tennessee on a scholarship. Her parents promoted the fine arts, and both her daughters — Shawn Webber Kipfer of Punta Gorda, Florida, and Gina Webber Wilde of Blue Diamond, Nevada — are artistically talented. For years, Cochran has restored antique linens, and she views bringing old lace, silk and linen back to life as an art form.
To make a gift to the Kay Webber and Thad Cochran Scholarship in Art Endowment, contact Delia Childers, senior director of development for the College of Liberal Arts, at dgchilde@olemiss.edu or 662-915-3086.
By Tina H. Hahn/UM Development