Greater enrollment leads to more philanthropy

As the Ole Miss Student Body grows to about 25,000, so does the opportunity to give back to the Oxford Community.

Ole Miss is growing at an alarming rate. You can see it everywhere, from the construction of the parking garage, and the new Johnson Commons, to the growing number of students joining Greek organizations. One place where people might not think to look for growth is in the amount of  volunteer work being done in the Ole Miss community.

This past year alone, the students of Ole Miss have raised record funds for a variety of charities. For example, Theta Encore raised more than $15000 for CASA, Court-Appointed Special Advocates, and kept its title as the largest philanthropy event on campus. Students are volunteering at places like Leapfrog tutoring, and the Humane Society.

Many students are required to do independent service hours by the clubs and organizations they are a part of.  With the student population growing, and such a great number of that population being involved, the amount of service done by the students of Ole Miss will be unparalleled.

The greatest showing of student philanthropy would definitely be The Big Event. It happens on one day in the Spring Semester, usually early April. The students  can sign up as individuals or in teams, and they are given projects to complete throughout the community. The assignments vary greatly. One group had to plant flowers; another organized clothes for a yard sale. Harrison Drake, freshman, and his group, were given the task of splitting logs for an elderly woman in Oxford.

“It was hard work, but so worth it. The lady, who lived alone, was so grateful to us for spending the 

 morning helping her.”

Harrison Drake, in orange, and the gentlemen of Pi Kappa Phi, after the Big Event.

There were a record-breaking number of people signed up this past year, and Austin Dean, Co-Director of Outreach for The Big Event, expects the number to double or triple by next year. Dean, who I interviewed for this project, also is employed by the Vice Chancellor’s office.  He is working towards becoming a major player in Ole Miss philanthropy, so he is thrilled that the student population will correlate to an increase in volunteer work.

The increase in students at Ole Miss is often seen as a burden- depleting available on-campus housing, and causing classes to fill up faster. However, if you take a step back and look at the benefits, like having more volunteers, you will realize that more people may not always be a bad thing. 

Sources:

Harrison Drake- harrisondrakemusic@gmail.com

Austin Dean- amdean@go.olemiss.edu