WCU welcomes Justice Dawn Beam
Associate Justice Dawn Beam of the Mississippi Supreme Court was guest speaker Sept. 4 at William Carey University’s weekly chapel service. She talked to a packed auditorium about the 19th Amendment granting women to right to vote as part of Hattiesburg’s celebration marking the amendment’s 100th anniversary.
Beam extended her historical observations to a personal message based on John 5:1-9 and challenged WCU students to “stir the water” to bring healing to poverty, addiction, illiteracy and injustice.
The fourth woman to serve on the state’s highest court, Beam grew up in small Mississippi towns where her father was a Baptist pastor. Beam holds bachelor and law degrees from the University of Mississippi. Most of her legal career has been in the Pine Belt area, where she served as county prosecutor and chancellor. Her primary focus has been protection of abused and neglected children.
Beam and her husband, Dr. Stephen Beam, have five children and live in Sumrall. They are active in their church and community.
In the photo: Justice Dawn Beam, center, visits with a group of Carey Ambassadors after chapel service. They are, front row from left, Arlene Cui, Shriya Pandey, Giselle Reyes, and Lauren Welch. In the second row are Omar Villarreal and Suroj Upreti.
