By the time the football teams for the University of Mississippi and Louisiana State University take the field on Saturday, Oct. 12, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, their supporters will be on day six of an epic contest: Beat Week 2024.
But, unlike the Ole Miss vs. LSU football rivalry, everyone wins Beat Week.
This week-long giving challenge will see alumni, students, parents, faculty, staff and fans rally to support the two powerhouse universities.
The rules of Beat Week are simple. Beginning at midnight on Sunday, Oct. 6, the web page www.magnoliabeatweek.com goes live, with links to donation web pages for the Ole Miss Development Office and the LSU Alumni Association. The school that garners the most donations by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 13, wins bragging rights for the coming year.
UM supporters’ gifts will be directed to the Ole Miss Fund, an unrestricted account that addresses the university’s most pressing needs — scholarships, campus facilities and technology, faculty support, exciting new initiatives and more. Each person who gives at least $5 to the Ole Miss Fund through the giving web page will be counted in the Beat Week effort against LSU.
“For us, it’s Beat LSU Week,” said Maura Langhart, the senior director of Annual Giving at Ole Miss, who is responsible for leading the Rebels’ fundraising efforts against the Tigers. “We’re grateful to our partners at LSU for launching this campaign with us, and we’re excited about how Beat Week can benefit both of our universities.
“But as a double alumna of Ole Miss, I have to admit, I also just really, really want to beat LSU! This is one of our most longstanding rivalries, and we’re here to win.”
Ole Miss and LSU, the flagship universities of their respective states, first competed on the football field 130 years ago, in 1894. More recently, the yearly football game between the two schools was dubbed the Magnolia Bowl (the magnolia is the state flower of both Mississippi and Louisiana).
Visit www.magnoliabeatweek.com to make a gift and check the status of the competition during Beat Week. To win the contest, Langhart said Ole Miss supporters will need to spread the word on their social media networks and encourage friends and family to make a gift.
“Our alumni base is smaller in number than LSU’s, but we believe we are greater in enthusiasm,” Langhart said. “To win Beat Week, we’re counting on our Ole Miss family to show up in force and bring their friends!
“But the best aspect of this competition is that there are no losers here. When we give back to our beloved universities, everyone benefits.”
For more information about UM’s Beat Week campaign, email ag@olemiss.edu or call (662) 915-2760.
By Angela Atkins/UM Development