News

Southwest Mississippi Community College is happy to announce that Karinlee Brister, our college recruiter, has been selected as a statewide finalist for the Sales and Marketing Professionals’ 2025 Mississippi Pinnacle Awards.

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Over the past 17 years, Karinlee has dedicated her life to Mississippi higher education. After working at The University of Mississippi, Karinlee came back to her community college alma mater as the first academic recruiter for Southwest Mississippi Community College. In addition to her duties as recruiter, she has worked in many roles to serve the college and the community. She served on the college blood drive committee, worked in many fundraising efforts for different organizations on campus, served on the SMCC Foundation Scholarship Committee, served on missions with the Baptist Student Union, served on the Pike County Baptist Association Baptist Student Union board, and is currently on the committee to develop a free, confidential food and hygiene pantry to serve the students on the SMCC campus. She is the Transfer College Fair organizer, Kick for Tuition organizer, Dual Enrollment Leadership Summit co-organizer, and helps lead the team that organizes campus visit days and summer orientations. Karinlee created the college’s handwritten letter campaign, which is a campus-wide recruitment effort in which college students, faculty, and staff hand-write letters to prospective students. Over the past two years, over 1600 personal, handwritten letters have been mailed to prospective students through this campaign. She was instrumental in developing and organizing the college’s first ever Dual Enrollment Leadership Summit for high school juniors and seniors.  This year, she was honored to travel with the Southwest Stage Band who performed at Canopy Solution’s 2024 Butterfly Ball. Karinlee donates a yearly scholarship to the SMCC Foundation in memory of her twin girls. The Kristilee and Karollee Book Scholarship provides books for a SMCC college student for an entire school year. She is the organizer of the yearly SMCC Princess Ball sponsored by the SMCC Bear Trackers. Princess Ball boasts over 430 guests for a night of dancing for princesses and their escorts. One of Karinlee’s most beloved service roles at Southwest is emceeing the famous SMCC Stage Band shows, which attracts around 5,000 guests to campus twice a year. Karinlee resides in McComb and is mother to Kathrynlee age 7, Jackson age 5, and the late Kristilee and Karollee.
 
Karinlee will be honored at an awards gala to take place at Lake Terrace Convention Center on Tuesday night, April 8th in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The event will feature a black-tie optional seated dinner and live entertainment to celebrate the 2025 finalists and 5 humanitarian honorees. The Mississippi Pinnacle Awards honor excellence, professionalism, and outstanding achievement in sales, marketing, and community engagement.  The evening serves as the primary fundraiser for the Rising Star Student Excellence Award, which provides a one time monetary stipend to, at minimum, one high school and one college student pursuing an education in sales, marketing or other business related field.