OXFORD, Miss. – A public discussion Tuesday (May 1) at the University of Mississippi will tackle “brain drain,” the exodus of thousands of talented young Mississippians from the state, and how to stop it.
The program, which is free and open to the public, is set for 5:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics. The event comes just days before the university’s spring Commencement ceremonies, where some 5,000 students are to receive undergraduate and graduate degrees.
The discussion will be led by Jake McGraw, a UM alumnus and public policy analyst for the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, and Savannah Smith, a graduating senior in the university’s Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College. The program is expected to attract other students who have expressed concern about the flight of their contemporaries.
“This is a terribly relevant topic to consider at this time,” said Overby fellow Curtis Wilkie, who directed Smith’s Honors College thesis and taught McGraw earlier. “Jake and Savannah have devoted a great deal of study to our brain drain and have become experts on this issue that affects their generation in Mississippi.”
McGraw, who studied public policy and economics, graduated from Ole Miss with honors in 2010. As a Truman Scholar, he studied economics and social history at the University of Oxford in England before returning home. An Oxford native, he lives in Jackson and also edits Rethink Mississippi, a website featuring commentary about issues facing young Mississippians.
A native of Corinth, Smith is graduating with a double major in public policy and journalism. Her honors thesis was devoted to the staggering number of new college graduates who leave the state. She plans to pursue a graduate degree from New York University, where her studies will primarily involve magazines.