Jasmine Whiteside was not herself.

Usually reliable and upbeat, the University of Southern Mississippi senior had begun ditching plans with friends and texting photos of herself crying.

Her mother, Angela Whiteside, was baffled. She knew her daughter, nicknamed Coco, as intelligent and independent, the kind of kid who takes care of business.

“Whatever you wanted or needed, Coco was there for you,” Angela Whiteside said.  “Ain't nobody perfect, but she was perfect.”

And now she was a perfect mess.

“She was saying stuff that didn't make sense,” Jasmine's mother said. “She told one of her professors that she was chasing the sun in her car.”

On Sunday, Dec. 14, 2013, an agitated and paranoid Jasmine showed up at the Hattiesburg home of Dr. Amy Chasteen Miller, her academic advisor, mentor and friend. 

Jasmine hadn't been sleeping or eating and had a headache. And when Miller took her in, she remembers thinking Jasmine was “a good night's sleep and a meal away from normal.”

Then things went from bad to unbelievable.

Supporters of LGBTQ rights are “winning” the battle for inclusiveness in Mississippi, the state leader of a civil rights group told a UMMC audience on Wednesday.

Rob Hill, state director of the Human Rights Campaign Mississippi, part of a Washington, D.C.-based gay-advocacy organization claiming more than 1.5 million members and supporters, addressed about 30 listeners at the invitation of the UMMC Gay-Straight Alliance, a student-led organization supporting an LGBT-friendly environment.

Describing the progress HRC Mississippi has made since its formation in 2014, Hill said the organization recently helped defeat all but one of a dozen “anti-LGBT” bills in the state legislature.

The one that got away was religious objections House Bill 1523.

“I don't believe the majority of Mississippians wanted this bill,” he said.

The Medical Center is proud to announce the following additions to its faculty and leadership staff.