FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 6, 2005
Contact: Edmond McDavis III
(662) 241-7851

MUW Mag Chain Ceremony to feature Justice Cobb

COLUMBUS, Miss. -- Mississippi University for Women’s Magnolia Chain Ceremony will feature Presiding Justice Kay B. Cobb of the Mississippi Supreme Court on Saturday, May 14 at 9 a.m.

Justice Cobb, a MUW alumna, was appointed to the Mississippi Supreme Court on April 1, 1999.

In 2000, she was elected to the Supreme Court for an eight-year term that began in January 2001. She has served in her position of presiding justice since April 1.

A native of Quitman County, Justice Cobb graduated from MUW in 1963. She was class president, a member of the Hall of Fame and Who’s Who in American Universities and Colleges.

She would later go on to attend the University of Mississippi School of Law and graduate 13th in her class in January 1978. Justice Cobb practiced law in various occupations and held numerous titles up until her appointment to the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Prior to her appointment, she served as state senator, special assistant attorney general, attorney for the Bureau of Narcotics and director of the Mississippi Prosecutors Association.

Justice Cobb has served as president of the MUW Alumnae Board and in 1990 was awarded the MUW Medal of Excellence.

The Magnolia Chain, one of MUW’s most treasured traditions, has taken place in some form since 1890. During this event, the magnolia chain is carried by seniors singing the “Magnolia Chain Song” from the steps of Poindexter Hall to Shattuck Lawn where the ceremony is held.

The procession is led by the senior class president who carries a bouquet of daisies in honor of the graduates who began the ceremony years ago. Daisies are carried because the magnolia chain was originally made of daisies and other flowers.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, the seniors form a circle around the magnolia chain, lock arms and sing the “Friendship Circle” song. After the song is completed, the seniors make a made dash for a magnolia blossom.

Tradition holds that graduates who are able to walk away with a magnolia blossom will find good fortune and romance.