Contact: Maridith Geuder
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mississippi State employee Jacob Selzer said growing up in a large family in Slidell, La., grounded him in the core values of honesty and hard work.
"We went to church every Sunday and my parents trained us well," he recalled recently.
So Selzer, who has worked at the university for 11 years, didn't bat an eye when he found $50 in cash lying on top of an automatic teller machine in the foyer of Perry Cafeteria. "I held onto the money until I saw (MSU President) Dr. (Robert) Foglesong," the 45-year-old man said.
His honest reaction started a chain of events that led to identification of the bank whose machine had dispersed the cash. It turns out that the money had been dropped as part of routine maintenance and collections conducted by a company with whom the bank contracts.
"We were able to track down the information through some paperwork that had been left behind," said Wayne Bland, MSU associate vice president for finance and administration.
The $50 returned to Buddy Staggers, president of BancorpSouth's Starkville branch, actually brought that day's deposits into balance.
For his prompt action, Selzer is being recognized both by bank and campus officials as someone who did the right thing.
"While this is a relatively small amount of money, it says something huge about the character of this institution," Foglesong said. "Many people would have been happy to pocket that money, but Jacob went to great lengths to return it."
Selzer, the 10th of 11 children, said he couldn't imagine doing anything else.
An avid sports fan who attends most every home MSU sporting event, he originally moved to Columbus--where he still lives--to work for a local restaurant chain. In his time at Mississippi State, he's come to be recognized as someone who takes great pride in his work, said Eddie Keith, director of the Colvard Student Union.
A custodian in the renovated and recently reopened central campus facility, Selzer previously worked for campus dining services in the former union food court. When the university transitioned to a contracted food service, Keith said Selzer was hired because of his previous experience in the building.
"We knew what a hard worker Jacob is," Keith said. "He really takes ownership of his responsibilities and pride in what he does."
Selzer proudly admits he likes "doing things the right way," that he's just being true to core family values.
"My mom would be proud," he said.
Added Foglesong: "So is Mississippi State."
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.