$67,474
Amount Raised
281
Gifts Received
Projects
Inclusive Excellence Retention Fund
By University of Mississippi
Help the Inclusive Excellence Retention Fund provide grants to students in need who promote diversity, inclusion and respect across all of our campuses.
Help the Inclusive Excellence Retention Fund provide grants to students in need who promote diversity, inclusion and respect across all of our campuses. University of Mississippi Started by students to benefit students, the University of Mississippi Inclusive Excellence Retention Fund provides grants to students in need who actively promote diversity, inclusion and respect across all of our campuses. The Division of Diversity and Community Engagement’s Center for Inclusion and Cross Cultural Engagement (CICCE) established the Inclusive Excellence Retention Fund as a joint initiative with UM’s Class of 2021 to help students eliminate financial barriers to their success. Class of 2021 officers came up with the idea to create the fund in the summer of 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and partnered with the CICCE to bring the plan to fruition. The Inclusive Excellence Retention Fund awards grants to University of Mississippi students who have been outstanding in promoting diversity awareness, respect and acceptance through education, advocacy and outreach. Some of these students are facing modest financial barriers affecting the students’ ability to pay academic-related expenses, preventing them from enrolling or remaining enrolled or limiting their ability to take advantage of professional development opportunities. The fund’s mission inspired so many people that the Class of 2021 had one of the most successful senior class gift campaigns in UM history, raising the money needed to start the fund and begin awarding grants. So far, these awards have already helped make a difference! One student used a grant to overcome a financial emergency and pay for housing. After a professor recommended additional tutoring for one promising student, the student paid for it using a grant and performed at a higher level in his courses. A grant helped one student pay for a particularly expensive textbook. His instructors reached out to support his award. A top-performing pre-med student could not afford the Medical College Admission Test preparatory materials due to financial difficulties and received a grant to buy them. To keep their excellence going, it’s our turn to contribute! Please make a gift to ensure that the Inclusive Excellence Retention Fund assists students with academic expenses for years to come.
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Participation
14
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The James Meredith Legacy Scholarship
By University of Mississippi
Contribute to James Meredith's legacy of courage, perseverance and faith by supporting a new scholarship in his honor.
Contribute to James Meredith's legacy of courage, perseverance and faith by supporting a new scholarship in his honor. University of Mississippi Every day, students at the University of Mississippi pay tribute to the legacy of James Meredith simply by walking through the doors of a classroom and sitting with one another. Students of every race, every ethnic background, hailing from Mississippi and from huge cities or rural villages around the world, learn and live together because of Meredith’s uncommon bravery. When Meredith faced down legal challenges and a racist, violent mob to enroll as the first Black student at the University of Mississippi on Oct. 1, 1962, his courage paved the way for thousands of students who followed. That is his legacy. UM alumnus and Mississippi native J. Steven Blake, now a physician in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, recently established the James H. Meredith Legacy Scholarship Fund as another, tangible way to “contribute to Mr. Meredith’s legacy and memorialize his presence at the university.” “The courageous actions by James Meredith in 1962 stand among the most profoundly meaningful events in our university’s history, and it is truly an honor to work with the Merediths, the planning committee and other campus stakeholders in commemorating the 60th anniversary of his enrollment,” said Shawnboda Mead, vice chancellor for Diversity and Community Engagement. “We are deeply grateful to Dr. Blake for creating this thoughtful scholarship in Mr. Meredith’s honor.” As a child in Coahoma County in the 1960s, Blake remembers hearing about Meredith, his courage and his experiences at Ole Miss. Blake himself chose to make Ole Miss his college home during his sophomore year of high school while attending a Future Business Leaders of America conference on the Oxford campus. His college experiences were “not all good or all bad.” “My parents helped me mentally and emotionally keep race relations in perspective. I am a lifetime member of the Ole Miss Alumni Association — a devoted, loving alumnus of the University of Mississippi.” Blake, a gastroenterologist, is also an alumnus of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, where he has served on the Board of Trustees and as an assistant clinical professor. When he had a chance to meet Meredith in the Chancellor’s Box of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium at the 2012 Homecoming game, Blake said he was “giddy, excited and thrilled.” “I was anxious to connect with Mr. Meredith. I wanted him to know I had the utmost respect for him and his unselfish sacrifice to do what he did. He transformed Ole Miss, the state of Mississippi and every institution of higher learning in the country and abroad. “I am a believer in giving back. Because I have so much respect for the challenges he endured so that other African Americans could attend the University of Mississippi, I was inspired to begin this scholarship fund.” Recipients of the Meredith Scholarship will be incoming freshmen from one of the following counties in the Mississippi Delta: Washington, DeSoto, Humphreys, Carroll, Issaquena, Panola, Quitman, Bolivar, Coahoma, Leflore, Sunflower, Sharkey, Tate, Tunica, Tallahatchie, Holmes, Grenada, Yazoo and Warren. Students from Meredith’s home county, Attala, will also be eligible. Recipients will have a minimum 3.0 grade-point average and have financial need. Dr. Steven Blake graduated from Ole Miss in 1980 and went on to medical school. He established the James Meredith Legacy Scholarship to celebrate the impact Meredith has had on generations of students.“There are a lot of things young people and all people can learn from Mr. Meredith including courage, determination and the importance of education,” Blake said. “For students to know his story will inspire them in their work — to believe they can do whatever they put their minds to doing.” He encourages others to make gifts to the scholarship fund. “No matter your race or gender, we should all be driven to do good,” Blake said. “Contributions to this scholarship fall in line with doing good and what’s right for those less fortunate who want to work hard and achieve academic credentials.”
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Diversity and Community Engagement Fund
By University of Mississippi
Help us build a better university, state and world by removing barriers and addressing inequities that exist in education.
Help us build a better university, state and world by removing barriers and addressing inequities that exist in education. University of Mississippi The Division of Diversity and Community Engagement supports the University of Mississippi in fulfilling its mission to transform lives, communities and the world. Our work engages with all campus and community stakeholders to foster belonging, enrich learning and development, enhance research and create equitable opportunities for all. As we celebrate the 60th anniversary of James Meredith’s enrollment and the integration of the University of Mississippi, your support is crucial to deliver on the dreams of today’s students and generations to follow. Together, we can ensure our flagship university is an accessible and inclusive space where all students thrive. We are better when we work with others from different backgrounds to solve the greatest challenges of our campus and society. This is the transformative power of education, diversity and community engagement. All members of our community, particularly those who are historically underrepresented, should have the opportunity and support to successfully navigate the University of Mississippi. Your support of the Diversity and Community Engagement Fund helps us build a better university, state and world by removing barriers and addressing inequities that exist in education. The DCE Fund bolsters these initiatives: The Center for Inclusion and Cross Cultural Engagement, where students build community and engage in cultural programming, mentoring and retention programs, and other initiatives that support their success. The Center for Community Engagement, where students, faculty and staff develop mutually beneficial connections with community partners and community-engaged research, learning and service are supported. Diversity education across campus to support the knowledge, skills and awareness needed to cultivate an inclusive and equitable university. Awards and incentives that recognize the incredible work across our campus and provide support for innovation. Dialogues on Diversity, Longest Table and other programmatic initiatives, where we celebrate, learn and connect on many topics that improve our institutional capacity toward diversity, equity, inclusion and community engagement. Pathways to Equity: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Institutional Strategic Plan. This plan, unveiled in 2021, lays the foundation for improving outcomes and meaningfully advancing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives on our campus. The overarching goals, coupled with individual college/school- and division-level Equity-in-Action plans, provide a road map for building on existing work, promoting inclusivity at all levels for all members of our community, and advancing a more equitable environment and a better University of Mississippi. The essential work of diversity, equity, inclusion and community engagement on our campus will require deep, sustained partnership across all areas of our institution and community. By taking this responsibility seriously and plotting a principled and measurable path forward, the University of Mississippi can play a role in setting an example for the nation and the world – and all of our stakeholders have a role to play. Please make a gift to the DCE Fund today!
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