Together, we can change lives.

Through gifts to the Ignite Ole Miss campaign, funding for the William Magee Center for Wellness Education has soared! The campaign experienced an exciting conclusion during Homecoming Weekend, as Ole Miss Athletics and the M-Club alumni chapter each made a matching gift that resulted in the two giving $50,000. This generosity propelled the campaign right past the stretch goal of $250,000 and pushed the total upward past the $343,000 mark.

Thank you for caring about Ole Miss students and drug/alcohol education and prevention! Thank you also for making monetary contributions and for sharing news of this initiative with others! This was truly a grassroots movement launched by an Ole Miss family in memory of one student to serve the entire Ole Miss family and countless students.

Our alumni and fan base is known to come together when there is a need, and this campaign has further illustrated that admirable hallmark. We have set an ambitious goal of raising $1 million by Dec. 31, 2017, for the Magee Center, and now have $893,061 ($550,000 in gifts before the Ignite campaign and $343,061 in Ignite gifts). Ongoing efforts will secure other gifts and exceed the $1 million goal, supporting the Magee Center for years to come.

Thanks to your generous support — around 240 donors strong — the William Magee Center for Wellness Education in the new South Campus Recreation Facility will enhance student success when it opens in 2018 with:

• Evidence-based education, prevention and intervention initiatives
• Support, counseling, treatment and outside referrals to assist students
• Accountability for outcomes related to substance-use decisions

William Magee, 23, lost his life in an unfortunate 2013 overdose. He had hoped to help others win their battles against substance abuse. We must carry on this work for William and for many others who have had their dreams interrupted by substance abuse. We are Ole Miss.

#ThankYou #WIlliamsStory #CenterforWellnessEducation #OleMiss

In an act of incredible generosity and leadership, Ole Miss Athletics and the M-Club have announced they will match all donations to the William Magee Center for Wellness Education from Oct. 9 until Oct. 14. That means, for every dollar given to this Ignite Ole Miss campaign, these organizations will give $2, making a significant impact. 

The Center for Wellness Education at Ole Miss will honor the memory of William Magee, a University of Mississippi scholar-athlete whose life was cut short by drug addiction. Likewise, the center will represent everyone whose journeys and goals have been derailed by substance abuse. But moreover, the center is committed to educating the whole person — mind and body — so that Ole Miss students of today and tomorrow can live their best lives. 

Alcohol and drug abuse is a widely recognized problem on college campuses nationwide, and Ole Miss is no different. At this moment, you can likely think of someone in your circle of family, friends and colleagues who is struggling with substance abuse or perhaps you know a family that is grieving because the battle was lost. We must unite to make a difference — the kind of difference the Ole Miss Family can make. We are Ole Miss, after all. 

We are deeply grateful to Ole Miss Athletics and the M-Club for adding fuel to this movement. Their offer to match all gifts comes as a rallying cry as this campaign nears completion. 

Likewise, our thanks go to the many donors who have already propelled this meaningful campaign forward. We began this journey with a $100,000 goal to enhance funds already committed to this crucial initiative. In just a brief amount of time, you have stepped forward with gifts that will strengthen alcohol and drug education and prevention and, more importantly, save lives. 

Please spread the word to anyone who might make a gift to this movement, especially while that gift can be tripled by the generous contributions of Ole Miss Athletics and the M-Club. 

It’s time to act. We are Ole Miss. Hotty Toddy!

With less than two weeks left in the Ignite Ole Miss campaign for the William Magee Center for Wellness Education, we are setting a new stretch goal of $250,000. That’s because incredibly generous Ole Miss alumni and friends continue to make gifts of all sizes that, combined, have far exceeded the original $100,000 goal! Recent gifts from Ginger and Quentin Whitwell of Oxford, Olivia and Archie Manning of New Orleans, and 187 other donors have inspired the stretch goal, and now we need your help to push this campaign across the finish line! 

Please tell your family, friends, and colleagues about this significant project dedicated to providing a heightened focus on drug and alcohol education and prevention. The Center for Wellness Education at Ole Miss will honor William’s legacy, representing all who have had lives and dreams disrupted by substance abuse. But it is so much more than that: the center is about the commitment to educate the whole person — mind and body — so that our students of today and tomorrow can live their best lives. 

The Center for Wellness Education’s location at the new South Campus Recreation Center and transportation hub, opening in 2018, provides ideal positioning to address holistic wellness for our student population. The majority of students are committed to the pursuit of personal health and wellness as evidenced by the recent momentum in substance abuse conversations, outreach events, task forces, and training. However, data reveals many students use alcohol and drugs to manage academic pressures, to fit in, to sleep, and more. Among the goals of the Magee Center will be to encourage students to be accountable for outcomes related to their substance-use decisions.

This Ignite Ole Miss campaign concludes Oct. 13-15, when we celebrate Homecoming and Fall Family Weekend — the perfect time to reflect on the number of students the Magee Center can serve, with your help, for generations to come. 

Please consider giving the Magee Center and the Ole Miss Family your support today. Thank you!

What leadership! The Alpha Delta Chapter of Phi Mu and the Delta-Xi Chapter of Kappa Sigma have each committed a $25,000 gift to the William Magee Center for Wellness Education. This awesome support from Phi Mu and Kappa Sigma take the Ignite campaign over the $200,000 stretch goal and match the gift challenge from the Madison Charitable Foundation! Thank you, Phi Mu, for being the first sorority to support this important initiative on the Ole Miss campus. Thank you, Kappa Sig, for your amazing philanthropic values.

Other fraternities that have made incredible gifts to the Magee Center are Kappa Alpha ($25,000), Sigma Nu ($25,000) and Phi Delta Theta ($30,000). Our deepest thanks go to these outstanding student organizations! You make us proud!

Thank you, also, to the 160-plus donors who have joined this campaign! Ole Miss is seeking to proactively enhance student success by taking a closer look at substance abuse issues and implementing best practices to educate and intervene with students affected. While honoring William Magee’s legacy, the Center for Wellness Education also represents all who have had lives and dreams disrupted by substance use.

Through the Magee Center we will direct expertise from several disciplines across our campuses to the development of effective solutions reducing alcohol and drug misuse. The center will be committed to educate the whole person — mind and body — so that Ole Miss students can live their best lives. 

Please don’t stop giving just because the goal is met! We will continue this campaign through Homecoming Weekend, Oct. 13-15, as the Magee Center will require substantial funding to pursue its work over the coming years. You can help further the center’s work by encouraging your family members, friends and colleagues to give. Spread the word!  

If you haven’t made a gift yet, please take a moment today to be a part of this noteworthy movement.

Thank you … thank you!

#WilliamsStory #CenterForWellnessEducation #OleMissFamily

Today we celebrate a tremendous gift to the William Magee Center for Wellness Education — a gift so exciting that we have decided to aim for a “stretch goal” of $115,000 for this Ignite Ole Miss campaign!

The Madison Charitable Foundation — founded by Houston, Texas, businessman and Mississippi native Wiley H. Hatcher — has committed a generous matching gift. Going forward, when the Magee Center campaign attracts $25,000 more in contributions ($25,000 added to the $90,000-plus already contributed), the Madison Foundation will match that with $50,000! Such a match means the value of new gifts dedicated to this important initiative will be tripled!

Many thanks go to the Madison Foundation and to Joc Carpenter of Port Gibson, Miss., an Ole Miss alumnus who serves on the foundation’s board. What an extraordinary gift! The Ole Miss family deeply appreciates the Madison Foundation, Mr. Carpenter, and the more than 140 other donors who have supported the Magee Center. Gifts of all sizes will ensure that significant drug and alcohol education and prevention resources are available for Ole Miss students. The Center for Wellness Education’s location at the new South Campus Recreation Center (opening Fall 2018) provides ideal positioning to address holistic wellness for our student population.

Thank you, donors! Please encourage your friends and colleagues to give!

Let’s exceed our stretch goal!

#WilliamsStory #CenterforWellnessEducation #OleMissFamily

Today we celebrate the men of Phi Delta Theta fraternity for an incredible $30,000 gift to the William Magee Center for Wellness Education! What a way to kick off Ole Miss’ fall 2017 semester and support alcohol and drug education/prevention! We have achieved almost 75 percent of the $100,000 goal!

Many thanks go to the Phi Delts and the 83 other generous donors who have stepped up with gifts of all sizes through this Ignite Ole Miss campaign. There is such power in combining our gifts to undergird this significant initiative. One person cannot fund this center alone, but we can certainly do it together. And we will! 

Crafted by the leadership of UM Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Brandi Hephner LaBanc and Assistant Vice Chancellor Leslie Banahan, the William Magee Center for Wellness Education will strive to become a nationally recognized leader in education, support and research contributing to substance abuse prevention in a collegiate environment.

Thank you, Magee Center donors! Please encourage your friends and colleagues to give!

#WilliamsStory #CenterforWellnessEducation #OleMissFamily