Members of the Ole Miss Women’s Council and their scholars celebrated the organization’s 15th anniversary recently in the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts. Photo by Kevin Bain/Ole Miss Communications
OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss Women’s Council for Philanthropy at the University of Mississippi has introduced the Global Leadership Circle, a philanthropy program through the UM Foundation that provides opportunities for donors to support students with plans to study abroad or intern with national or international organizations and businesses.
“It is all about creating an opportunity for our scholars to study abroad or to intern because it will take them beyond this great state of ours, and even this great nation, and ultimately expand their worldview,” said Mary Haskell, chair of the Ole Miss Women’s Council for Philanthropy, or OMWC.
Following a board meeting with Chancellor Jeffrey Vitter in attendance, former OMWC Chair Karen Moore, of Nashville, Tennessee, agreed the classroom is just one dimension of a student’s learning experience, compelling the council to implement the GLC.
“The Ole Miss Women’s Council has always focused its energies on the needs of the student scholars,” said Barbara Daush, the foundation’s regional development officer. “The Global Leadership Circle is a robust addition to the services that are already provided.
“Donors to the GLC are providing opportunities of a lifetime for students. It is truly an exciting time.”
Members of the GLC can be individuals, families, organizations or businesses who commit $25,000, payable at $5,000 a year for five years. Each fund established may be named at the donor’s discretion. Gifts pledged before July 2018 will designate donors as founding members.
“One of the ways we want to recognize the founding members is by displaying their names on a plaque in Memory House,” Haskell said. “They will always know that they took the first step.”
Kimberley Fritts, an OMWC board member from Arlington, Virginia, is among six donors who have already made a gift to establish the GLC.
“I wanted to give at a level that would be meaningful and impactful for a deserving student,” she said. “It is my hope that this gift will allow intellectually curious students to broaden their horizons and embrace the cultural diversity the world has to offer.”
Donors will complete a pledge agreement to formalize their financial commitment to become a GLC member. The gift of $5,000 per year for five consecutive years will provide for an endowment to aid students based on their eligibility and provided they maintain at least a 3.0 GPA. Preference will be given to existing OMWC scholars.
For more information or to join the Global Leadership Circle, contact Nora Capwell, OMWC program manager, at 662-915-2384 or ncapwell@olemiss.edu or Barbara Daush at 662-915-2881 or barbara@umfoundation.com.