University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Former Golden Eagle Uses Adversity to Help Others
11/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
HATTIESBURG, Miss. â€" After Lauren Judson's first start as a collegiate golfer she received the worst possible news. Both of her parents had died in a plane crash.
In October of 2010 the Southern Miss Women's Golf team had traveled to Memphis to participate in the Memphis Women's Invitational. Jim, Lauren's Dad, usually came to every event that he could. Beth, Lauren's Mom, would come to events, but not as regularly. Lauren's brother Dean played collegiate soccer and Jim and Beth had traveled to see him play the week before. Since it was Lauren's first start, her Mom and Dad decided they'd attend the event.
"It was awesome to have them both there. [Coach] let me go have dinner with them the night before." Lauren said.
She had not played as well and she wanted to and at dinner the family talked about what Lauren did well and what she could improve on for the next and last day of competition.
"It was my way to decompress with them," Lauren said.
Some bad weather had rolled in and there was word that the tournament might be cancelled due to inclement weather. Lauren's teammate was tied for first with a golfer from Mississippi State at the start of the round and due to weather concerns the individual medalist would be decided by a sudden death playoff.
Lauren told her parents that since she wasn't playing that it would be okay that they left and get back to their duties at home in Atlanta. "We said ‘I love you.' and I was texting them a little bit and telling them about the playoff," Lauren said.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board, Jim and Beth's plane went down due to adverse weather conditions shortly after 9:30 a.m..
"I didn't find out anything until that night. I had assumed that they had made it back," Lauren said.
She had found out of her parents passing from phone call with her brother.
"My parents had this really awesome philosophy of go big or go home [and] live every moment. They knew tomorrow wasn't given and they really did a lot to really live life," Lauren said.
Lauren's coach suggested that Lauren and Dean do something to honor their parents. Lauren and Dean worked with friends and advisers to find a way to continue their parents' legacy of giving. They created the JCI Foundation in recognition of their father's staunch support of his children's participation in college athletics, seeing it as a means of developing personal leadership; and their mother's commitment to women's leadership movements.
With the help of hundreds of volunteers, Lauren and Dean hosted the JCI Foundation's first philanthropic event in the summer of 2012: a golf fundraiser that paired female collegiate golfers with the legends of women's professional golf. The goal of the event was to provide the participating collegians access to successful professional women who could advise and mentor them as they move beyond college and into their chosen careers. This mentoring was something that Beth was particularly passionate about. In the second year of the tournament, a Women's Leadership Workshop was added to the golf event.
The workshop started as just a panel right after the tournament and has become a conference attended by more than 800 individuals that is held separately from the tournament.
The goal of the JCI Foundation and the Judson Women's Leadership Conference is to inspire future leaders by bringing together today's leaders to share their journey and wisdom. The hope is that all who attended are able to use the tools and wisdom the speakers shared with them to go out in the world and attain their goals and dreams.
For more information about Lauren and the JCI Foundation, visit www.jcifoundation.org.
