Our Crowdfunding Groups
Does your class have what it takes to support Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College’s finest? We are excited to launch Clash of the Classes! Funds raised will provide stipends for SMBHC students who do not have adequate technology, small scholarships for students economically impacted by Covid-19 and safety supplies for our faculty, staff and students.
While engaging in a fun class rivalry, you will be supporting students who are learning amid uncertain 
times. To encourage those who are economically vulnerable, we want to offer financial support for basic, technological resources to help students thrive in their online, remote or hybrid classes. We also want to assure all of our SMBHC students, faculty and staff have immediate and continued access to safety supplies.
“We need your assistance to meet specific needs that have arisen due to the pandemic,” said Dean Douglass Sullivan-González, “and we look for your financial support to meet these needs and to help the SMBHC to develop a novel way of engaging the community within the limited parameters of social contact."
Classes have two opportunities to win the Clash of the Classes: donors and dollars. One of the winning classes will be based upon the highest percent of class participation. The other winning class will be based on the total amount raised. Of course, it's possible that one class can win both titles! Bragging rights will be yours and displayed as Donor Champion Class and Dollar Champion Class with your year engraved on a plaque and showcased at the SMBHC.
Help us help others!
Challenging times call for creativity, compassion and forward-thinking.
“We live in challenging times and we prepared you for these moments," shares DSG. "No ‘how to manual’ to read … you draw from the breadth, depth and complexity of your Honors experience and respond as best as possible. We are thankful that you took the risk to engage the SMBHC experience so that you would be ready for the unexpected that life brings and offer real solutions to your community and for the public good.”
Whether you’re in a financial position to give $5 or $1,000, please know that your gift will go a long way in supporting bright and eager minds – our SMBHC citizen scholars. Thank you for all that you do to enable us to prepare another generation for what life throws at all of us!
The Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College was founded in 1997, thanks to the efforts of then Chancellor Robert Khayat, now late Provost Carolyn Staton, and Jim and the now late Sally Barksdale. The Barksdales committed what was then the largest-ever gift to UM academics to make the Honors College a reality.
In Japan, koi are a symbol of luck, prosperity and good fortune. For our students at SMBHC, being around the 38 koi in our little pond often helps relieve stress and renew focus.
Every first-year student at the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College takes Honors 101, a class that brings talented students from diverse backgrounds together to launch their academic journeys.
From 1987 to 2000, 459 UM students participated in the Honors Program, the direct precursor to the Honors College program. If you or someone you love was one of them, make a gift here!
Honors College students conduct research projects around the world and close to home. To help fund travel, supplies, technology and all the resources needed to do amazing work, students apply for research grants. Last year, the average size of a grant per student was $609. Your gift can fund an entire student project!
One thing is for certain: we'll never forget 2020. While so many have encountered hardships during the pandemic, we hope that 2020 has taught us to value everything we have, to tell the people around us that we care, and to support individuals who try to make the world a better place.