When the last online donation was received on April 9 for Giving Day 2025, 2,685 donors had joined together to give $1.34 million to bolster the University of Mississippi.
This year, Ole Miss students, parents, alumni, friends, faculty and staff members united to contribute 3,221 gifts. Resources gained during the sixth annual Giving Day will strengthen the Ole Miss student experience, academic programs and community offerings.
Chancellor Glenn Boyce kicked off Giving Day by announcing the “Let’s Book It: Ole Miss Opportunity Book Fund” to benefit students enrolled in the Ole Miss Opportunity program, which provides financial assistance to full-time Mississippi students with family incomes of $40,000 or less. The book fund aims to give each scholarship recipient $500 to purchase textbooks.
“When I think of how much one gift can influence the lives of our students, I am continually grateful and humbled at the transformational impact our Ole Miss community can have together,” Boyce said. “Resources secured during Giving Day will allow us to continue expanding access to Ole Miss in our state and across the nation while empowering our students to achieve beyond their wildest dreams.”
A highlight of Giving Day was the announcement that the Ramoo and Radhakrishnan Family Foundation of Ashburn, Virginia, committed $500,000 to the Let’s Book It Fund.
“By contributing to the Let’s Book It Fund, we hope to ease the financial burden and ensure that students can focus on their education without having to worry about how they’ll afford the essential tools for learning,” said Regu Ramoo, who represents the foundation.
“We see this gift as … a way to empower students to build brighter futures for themselves and those around them,” said Ramoo, a 1984 Ole Miss mechanical engineering graduate. “Our family firmly believes that education is not just an individual asset — it has the power to uplift entire families and communities.”
The social media-driven Giving Day 2025 launched April 8 and continued for 1 day, 8 hours and 48 minutes in honor of the university’s founding year of 1848. UM Marketing and Communications hosted the largest-ever livestream with 20 hours of live content on the Giving Day website, Facebook and YouTube. More than 55 guests including donors, deans, directors, Ole Miss and Willie Price Lab School students, the Gospel Choir, Miss University, Mr. and Miss Ole Miss and Chancellor Boyce, encouraged people to make gifts to the participating schools, colleges and programs.
All funds raised are part of the historic Now & Ever: The Campaign for Ole Miss, which set a goal of securing $1.5 billion and ends June 30. Notable contributions among many included $100,000 from an anonymous donor and $50,000 from the Madison Charitable Foundation of Port Gibson, Mississippi, for the Let’s Book It Fund to generate matching gifts.
More than 90 challenge gifts from alumni and friends kept the momentum running high throughout Giving Day as did competition between schools and units. The top performer according to the most donors participating (304) was the Division of Access, Opportunity and Community Engagement fueled by enthusiasm for the Let’s Book It Fund. The unit raised $761,202.
Winning the Early Bird Challenge of $1,000 from Bill, Shannon and Tyler Jordan of Columbus, Georgia, was the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College. Taking the Vice Chancellor Charlotte Parks Leaderboard Challenge of $2,000 was the School of Law. Claiming the Chancellor Glenn Boyce and First Lady Emily Boyce’s Lunchtime Challenge of $2,500 was the Division of Access, Opportunity and Community Engagement, while capturing the Funkys Happy Hour Leaderboard Challenge of $500 also was the School of Law.
In addition, the School of Law won the Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy’s Buzzer Beater competition to win $5,000.
Three students found stuffed squirrels in a scavenger hunt: Emma Marrell, a nutrition major, who supported the Ole Miss Mock Trial; Ellyn Waits, a biology major, who gave to the Advancing STEM Scholarship initiative; and Melanie Moody, an elementary education major, who supported the School of Education’s Student Teaching Fund. They got to direct $250 each to the area of Ole Miss of their choice. And speaking of squirrels, 65 donors gave $50 each to name one of the Grove’s furry residents.
Liberal Arts students who made gifts were randomly chosen to sign the iconic turret of Ventress Hall. They included Betsy Vise, an Arabic and international studies major, and Daniel Stewart, a physics major.
Individuals also had the chance to register as social media influencers for the day and win prizes. Ninety-one influencers brought in almost $90,000.
“The importance of Giving Day is the opportunity it offers for all of us to combine our gifts and make a difference together,” said Maura Langhart, senior director of Annual Giving. “We had more areas to support this year, giving people many choices to express what they love most about Ole Miss. It was a vibrant, exciting event, and we are extremely grateful for everyone who participated in making Ole Miss stronger.”
For more information on ways to support the university, visit this page.
By Tina H. Hahn/UM Development