Remnants of the goal post remain at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
Thirty-six hours. $220,000.
Rebel fans are generous. And they respond quickly.
In less than 24 hours, contributors donated more than $100,000 to help with the costs of a fine for students rushing the football field and the replacement of goal posts following Ole Miss’ win against Alabama.
That generosity continued Wednesday with the “I Wear 38” campaign.
In less than four hours of the midday campaign launch for the Chucky Mullins Scholarship Endowment, the fund raised more than $114,000. That’s over 75 percent of the 99-day goal of $150,000.
The academic scholarship has benefitted 250 students since it was created 25 years ago, but the university wants to make it grow. The funds will go toward providing education for students with physical disabilities or exceptional financial need.
Ignite Ole Miss
When University Development previously surveyed financial donors, the majority wanted to know exactly where their contributions were going. This led to the UM Foundation to explore crowd-funding platforms and develop Ignite Ole Miss.
The Ignite Ole Miss platform was not scheduled to be up and running until later this week. However, when the foundation was approached by alumni wanting to help with costs of the fine and stadium repairs, administrators saw an opportunity to allow contributions early.
The campaign, called “Ole Miss Football October 4, 2014 Victory Celebration Fund,” was launched at 1 p.m. Tuesday.
Before the online campaign launch, contributors gave $21,395. Just between the hours of 3 and 6 p.m. Tuesday, nearly $51,000 was donated.
“The tool was in place, and the ’cause’ was really a perfect storm,” said Suzanne Thigpen, UM Foundation’s director of annual giving. “It is my hope that this will be a catalyst for future initiatives within the university – for both academic and athletic programs. This was possible because of Wendell Weakley, president and CEO of the UM Foundation, who provided the support for our vision for more cause-driven fundraising in higher education.”
The nation has taken notice of the exceptionally fast response.
The Clarion-Ledger reported the $75,000 goal was met Tuesday afternoon.
ESPN said fans were so thrilled by the win, they don’t mind picking up the costs.
The donation platform is available to all entities on campus.