This year’s senior class officers started last fall with a usual goal. They wanted to raise $16,000 to replace the 23-year-old turf near the Grove stage on campus.
But as the COVID-19 pandemic has affected virtually everyone on the planet, they knew their situation was anything but usual. Having already raised $6,000, the senior class officers decided to redirect their efforts.
“We decided to switch gears,” Secretary/Treasurer Parker Blaylock said, “because the Grove turf project is not something that is completely appropriate now and can be done down the road. There’s a much bigger need in our university community.”
The class officers are responding to that need by raising funds for a class gift, with the goal of adding $5,000 (in addition to the $6,000 already raised for the turf) to the Christopher C. Holman Fund for Student Emergencies. The Fund was started in 2012, and in usual circumstances, would be used for things like travel expenses for students who cannot afford to return home.
However, amid the pandemic, this Student Emergency Fund is being used to help affected Ole Miss students, and not just seniors, with medical expenses and even costs like rent, utilities, food and bursar expenses. As of April 15, $296 has been donated by 7 people, with a June 21 deadline. Donors can select from different giving levels, ranging from the $10 “Every Gift Counts,” to $1,848, inspired by Ole Miss’ founding in 1848, or simply input a custom amount.
Senior class President Cole Blue hopes that the collective experience of his classmates in what he called a “once-in-a-lifetime event” will motivate students to donate to help those impacted. He said that it is important, now more than ever, to stay positive.
“It’s easy for all of us to get discouraged,” Blue said. “I was discouraged at first, too. Nobody thought this would happen. But I just hope everybody keeps a positive mindset and realizes that there are better days ahead.”
Blue, Blaylock and Vice President Cady Cooper have worked with the UM Foundation and University Development, which are the university’s fundraising apparatuses, to develop the class gift.
To generate awareness, University Development produced a 90-second video on behalf of the senior class officers that shares how their focus has shifted from the Grove turf to the Student Emergency Fund. The three officers each recorded 4-minute videos to allow them to get personal with their fellow seniors and give the University Development team great content to use in the final product.
“I tried to be really transparent and express how I was feeling, but also to highlight the positives that (COVID-19) is bringing a lot of people and communities closer together in a way that shows the real heart of humanity,” Blaylock said.
The video was released via the Class of 2020 Facebook page, as well as Ignite Ole Miss, which is the university’s crowdfunding platform and host site for all of the ongoing digital campaigns, including the Senior Class Gift and Rebel Relief pages. Over $391,000 has been raised so far across the 22 active projects on the site.
Brett Barefoot, senior director of development at University Development, said that for student-led projects, videos can really help to create buzz for donating.
“Student videos are key to projects like these,” Barefoot said. “Seeing and listening to actual students makes it real for donors and/or potential donors.”
When Cady Cooper was elected as senior class vice president last spring, she never thought she would be in a position to help people in such an important way. Despite the difficulties brought on by COVID-19, she said that in her mind that will always be outweighed by the good memories.
“I never expected to be able to be there for my fellow seniors in this way,” Cooper said. “What was originally going to be a simple fundraising project has turned into so much more. And when I look back, I’ve definitely been thinking much more about the friendships than about the hardships.”
Although it might be easy for a pandemic to overshadow this year’s senior class, Blaylock said that the officers’ goal was to make sure that did not happen.
“Ultimately, we wanted to be remembered for something that was bigger than ourselves and for helping others,” Blaylock said. “That’s our legacy.”
Impacted students who need aid from the various fundraising projects, Barefoot said, should contact Katie Foster, who is the director of advocacy at UMatter. If approved, funds are distributed to the student by the Office of Financial Aid.