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Historic Now & Ever Well on Its Way to Success
Co-chairs Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy of Memphis, from left, and Debra and retired Major Gen. Leon Collins of Madison are leading the steering committee for Now & Ever: The Campaign for Ole Miss, which has attracted $1.2 billion toward its $1.5 billion goal. Now & Ever is the largest fundraising campaign in the history of Mississippi universities. Fiscal Year 2022 fundraising saw $150.6 million secured in private support.

The largest fundraising campaign in the history of Mississippi universities, Now & Ever: The Campaign for Ole Miss, just secured $1.2 billion toward its $1.5 billion goal.

Elevating the total is more than $150.6 million in gifts — the second highest fundraising year on record — during the University of Mississippi’s 2022 fiscal year that closed June 30.

“We’re energized, inspired and truly grateful for this outstanding response to our monumental and historic campaign,” said UM Chancellor Glenn Boyce. “The tremendous generosity of our alumni, friends and donors plays a significant role in how we transform lives and improve the communities, the state and the world around us. It also fuels the extraordinary academic achievements and unprecedented triumphs we are experiencing right now at Ole Miss.”

This generosity reflects well on the Ole Miss family, said retired Maj. Gen. Leon Collins of Madison, Mississippi, one of the campaign co-chairs with his wife, Debra, and Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy of Memphis, Tennessee.

“I am so excited about the possibilities for our university,” said Collins. “With our baseball team winning the College World Series, it just goes to show what quality facilities can produce. We are well on our way to meeting our goal but now is not the time to rest. Now is the time for everyone to be part of something very special.

“There is no better time to be an Ole Miss Rebel.”

The Now & Ever campaign lays out areas of concentration that will define Ole Miss today and tomorrow: building leaders, empowering academic excellence, fueling research and innovation, creating economic opportunities and enhancing facilities for champions.

“There’s something for everyone to support in this campaign, from innovative programs and student scholarships to faculty support and new building construction,” said Leigh Anne Tuohy, a co-chair. “I encourage alumni and friends to find an area they are passionate about and consider making an investment.”

One of the most visible impacts of the campaign is the ongoing construction of the Jim and Thomas Duff Center for Science and Technology Innovation.  In late June, the topping out ceremony of the Duff Center marked securing the last steel beam and signifying the construction had reached its maximum height.

Charlotte Parks, vice chancellor of development, said the Now & Ever campaign is helping the university strengthen its hyper-focus on students and is generating many more student scholarships.

“Students are the reason we exist, of course, but having this campaign enables us to concentrate on elevating student success, expanding preparation for successful careers and making it possible for more students to earn their degrees on time,” she said. “We will extend our expertise in student retention, now above the national norm at 88.2% for freshmen to sophomores, to all years that students are here.

For more information on supporting Now & Ever: The Campaign for Ole Miss, contact Charlotte Parks at cpparks@olemiss.edu or 662-915-3120; or online at Now & Ever: The Campaign for Ole Miss. Checks can be mailed to the University of Mississippi Foundation, with the designated area written in the memo line, to 406 University Ave., Oxford, MS 38655.

By Tina H. Hahn/UM Development

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Online gifts for the 2024 calendar year should be made no later than noon on December 31, 2024.  Checks by mail will need to be postmarked by December 31 to be counted in the 2024 calendar year.