JTC 25: Luckyday to Legacy

Lifelong Oxonian, Stamps Scholar and member of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College at the University of Mississippi, Janelle Minor is ready to stay home a while longer.

After graduating in May with a multidisciplinary studies degree that includes minors in public policy leadership, African American studies and journalism, Minor will begin her master’s degree in Southern studies at the university this fall.

It’s safe to say that Minor has spent more time on campus than any of her peers. For 10 years of her childhood, Janelle lived with her sister, Jasmine, and her parents in the Luckyday Residential College at Ole Miss.

Minor is a daughter of the late Rev. Julius Minor and Ethel Young Scurlock, who served as the senior faculty fellow of the residential college for a decade before becoming the Honors College interim dean in 2021 and permanent dean in '22. Minor has fond memories of growing up on campus.

“I remember the probate in the Luckyday courtyard, which was my early exposure to Greek life,” she said. “And I remember our family of four attending every home football game.”

It is no wonder that Minor loves attending football games and joined the NPHC sisterhood of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority last year.

By all accounts, Minor experienced an idyllic childhood on the most beautiful campus in the nation until Sept. 22, 2012, when her dad died suddenly at age 52.

Yet even during that impossible grief, she remembers the kindness of the Ole Miss community. Two years later, her family welcomed Carlo Scurlock, whom her mom married in 2014. 

Janelle has spent several summers at Camp Lake Stephens in Oxford. After advancing from camper to junior counselor to junior counselor coordinator, Janelle finds peace and camaraderie at camp. This summer, she’ll be serving as an au pair for the camp directors.

The camp’s Methodist affiliation eventually led Janelle to Ole Miss Wesley Foundation, a campus ministry.

“Janelle is truly one of one,” said campus minister Luke Blades. “She has a big personality that brings a lot of energy to the room, and she has a way of rallying people together.

“These traits make her a person that people naturally want to follow.”

Minor believes Camp Lake Stephens and the Wesley Foundation have “radically changed” her life.

“Understanding Christ’s unconditional love has released me from a lot of sadness and shame,” she said. “I get to be a light in this community, and I don’t have to define myself by my wrongs.”

Camille Boles, a friend and coworker at Camp Lake Stephens, shares that Minor is “the friend who checks in on you because she genuinely cares.”

Minor values the connections she has with her AKA sisterhood and specifically loves the graduate chapter of the Upsilon Iota Omega Chapter of AKA.

“I want to give a shout out to Darlene Williams Washington and Heather McTeer Toney,” she said. “Those women are my mentors, and they have poured into me.

“Darlene was my neighbor before we moved to Luckyday, and she has advised me on roles within AKA, and Heather’s professional bio is pages and she’s often away from Oxford, but when she is here, she always reaches out to me.”

Alumna Torie Marion is another influential adviser in Minor’s life.

“Janelle has a strong, courageous heart,” Marion said, “She has been a joy to work with.”

Minor draws inspiration from alumna Rose Flenorl, who was the first Black woman named to the UM Hall of Fame.

“If she could navigate this campus back in the '70s, when few students looked like her, then I know that I have the capability to do anything,” Minor said.

Besides holding leadership roles in AKA and the university's NAACP chapter, Minor also finds strength in singing with Women’s Glee and the University Chorus. She recently experienced a full-circle moment when the University Chorus performed Gabriel Fauré’s “Requiem, Op. 48,” a composition that embraces peaceful acceptance of eternal rest and one she performed early on in her time with the Oxford High School choir.

Many of Minor’s life experiences occurred in Mississippi until she used her Stamps enrichment funds in 2024 to travel to Greece, a trip that expanded her worldview. The love she has for Mississippi, however, keeps her close by. One of her favorite memories does not involve the Acropolis of Athens but the Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

“Rushing the field when we beat Georgia was one of the best days of my life,” Minor said. “I ran around giving the football players hugs and telling them thank you.”

When Minor considers her future, she thinks of her foundation.

“As a kid, my mom would joke that my sister and I couldn’t get married until we earned three college degrees,” said Minor, who received an associate degree from Northwest Mississippi Community College at the time of her high school graduation. “My family is full of educators, and I am a third-generation college graduate.

Minor’s sister said she is a “force for good.”

“She improves the lives of everyone she encounters,” Jasmine Minor said. “She’s inquisitive in the best way possible. She asks questions that get to the heart of the matter. I hope she knows how much I love her and how proud I am of her.

“Janelle is more than my little sister; she is my best friend.”

Minor is wrapping up her Honors capstone, “It’s a Whole New Ballgame,” under the direction of journalism professor Debora Wenger. Her thesis builds on an article she published in the Daily Mississippian, wherein she examined “attitudes toward the NIL (name, image and likeness) policy among the Jackson State University community.”

During her graduate studies, Minor hopes to expand her research by exploring “how environmental and cultural factors around HBCUs influence the marketability of student-athletes.”

Down the road, Minor might attend law school to pursue prison reform, or she may work toward a doctorate. In the meantime, she’ll take her own advice.

“No one knows your story the way that you know your story, and you can’t live your life based on the opinions of others,” she said. “At the end of the day, be satisfied with the decisions you make.

“It’s very easy to get lost, so make connections with good people. Be intentional.”

Top: Janelle Minor, an Oxford native and Stamps Scholar, has spent most of her life on the Ole Miss campus and is graduating with a multidisciplinary studies degree before beginning a master’s in Southern studies this fall. A leader, scholar and community light, Minor’s journey reflects a deep commitment to service, faith and the power of connection. Photo by Bill Dabney

See more photos from Janelle Minor's Journey to Commencement