Two distinguished leaders to receive Order of the Golden Arrow at Mississippi College Homecoming
Two well-respected leaders who have risen to the pinnacle of their respective organizations will be honored with the prestigious Order of the Golden Arrow at Mississippi College’s 2024 Homecoming.
John William “Billy” Roberts ‘72, president and founder of AmFed Companies, now Ascot Workers Compensation, and Marcus L. Thompson ‘96, president of Jackson State University, will each receive the honor during the annual National Alumni Association Awards Brunch at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26, in Anderson Hall on the second floor of the B.C. Rogers Student Center.
The Order of the Golden Arrow honors individuals, alumni, or friends of the University who have made outstanding personal or professional achievements in their professions, businesses, or careers. It recognizes exceptional performance or leadership beyond the ordinary.
“Billy Roberts and Marcus Thompson are two of the finest examples of Mississippi College graduates who live out their calling through their professions and have well-earned the honor of the Order of the Golden Arrow,” said MC President Blake Thompson.
“Through their livelihoods, Roberts in the private sector, and Thompson in the public sector, represent themselves and Mississippi College in exemplary fashion. I’m thankful for this opportunity to celebrate them.”
Roberts was surprised to have been selected for the honor.
“As a student at MC over half a century ago, I could never have imagined receiving such an honor,” Roberts said. “I have tried very hard to live up to the Christian principles and values instilled in me at this institution during my business career and have found that influence to be a great gift.”
Roberts’ father, Earl John, a 1939 graduate of Mississippi College, encouraged Billy to follow in his footsteps to his alma mater, where older sister Karyl was matriculating. Billy blazed his path in MC Business and overcame lifelong structured-learning challenges to be elected president of the campus chapter of the Delta Sigma Pi business fraternity – his first foray into a leadership opportunity.
Roberts obtained his B.S. in business from Mississippi College and completed several courses at the School of Law before entering the property and casualty insurance business. He started as marketing director for Fred S. James and Co. and became a partner at Southern Cross Underwriters.
He then launched AmFed Companies and, within three decades, grew the enterprise into the largest writer of workers compensation insurance in Mississippi, with additional business in 15 Southeastern states. Ascot, an international insurance organization, acquired Amfed and expanded the workers compensation product line to all U.S. jurisdictions.
Roberts has received the Mississippi Workers Compensation Educational Association Sam Cox Spirit Award and the J.H. Johnson Memorial Award, the highest honor presented by the Independent Insurance Agents Association of Mississippi. He is also a Mississippi State University Insurance Hall of Fame inductee.
After being urged to reacquaint himself with his alma mater by former classmate George Dale, Roberts has become an invaluable contributor to the Mississippi College Foundation Board.
Roberts and his wife, Rhonda Faye Godard, whom he met while both were students at MC, have three children – Jason, Lyndsay Shipp, and Dr. Sydney Murphy – and eight grandchildren.
The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning named Marcus L. Thompson the 13th president of Jackson State University on Nov. 16, 2023. He began his tenure at the helm of the state’s largest Historically Black College and University on Nov. 27, 2023.
Thompson earned his B.A. in history and Spanish and his M.Ed. at Mississippi College, where he was a member of the Student Government Association, the Collegian staff, and the Black Student Association. He obtained his Ph.D. in urban higher education from JSU.
With more than 20 years of leadership experience in early childhood, K-12, and higher education, Thompson served as deputy commissioner and chief administrative officer for the Mississippi IHL, the state’s public university system, where he oversaw IHL staff for more than a decade.
During the last 15 years, Thompson has advised the IHL Board of Trustees, the IHL Commissioner, and Mississippi’s public university senior leadership and institutional executive officers.
Thompson led the formation of the IHL ADA/Accessibility Services Task Force to ensure individuals with disabilities have equal opportunities to thrive within the university system. He also led the IHL Board’s efforts to encourage diverse campus environments and ensured that all aspects of institutional practice affirmed the Board’s commitment to access and success.
Thompson is a former K-12 educator and administrator, serving private schools and public schools in the Jackson Public School District and the Copiah County School District, where he enjoyed and excelled at the one-on-one student interactions the classroom provided.
He and his wife, LaToya Redd Thompson, a practicing attorney, have three children: Kaelyn, Jessica, and Marcus Jr.
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