When officials from the University of Southern Mississippi instituted “Give Wing – The Campaign for Southern Miss” in April 2019, the goal was to raise funds to support academic success, academic excellence, innovation and discovery over the course of seven years.
To their pleasant surprise, that goal was met two years ahead of schedule, with donors submitting more than $156 million in only five years. That announcement was made during a November 10 news conference at the Thad Cochran Center on the Southern Miss campus.
“This is remarkable and a cause for celebration, and this is the Southern Miss way,” university president Joe Paul said. “We set audacious goals and we pursue them with an uncommom passion and a relentless persistence.
“This is Southern Miss grit. (These) results are both heartwarming and game-changing.”
That amount was made possible by almost 20,000 donors, who contributed more than 130,000 throughout the course of Give Wing. That includes $124.3 million committed for student success, with the establishment of 232 new scholarships.
Approximately $54 million was given for endowed student scholarships. When matured those will generate more than $2 million each year to support the university’s students.
Donors also contributed more than $26.8 million to fund programs, along with more than $21.2 million to transform USM’s two campuses – including the Hattiesburg and Gulf Park sites – and multiple research sites through new facilities and renovations.
That included the 2022 completion of the Quinlan-Hammond Hall of Honor, which is the home of the Center for Military Veterans, Service Members and Families. That 5,500-square-foot facility is designed to meet the needs and interests of the military-student community at Southern Miss.
“Let us be reminded that every gift to Southern Miss – large, small or in between – is making a difference,” Paul said. “We thank all of our donors for helping us knock through the roof of our campaign goal.”
Additional achievements throughout the campaign include the following:
- Approximately $112 million that was contributed to the USM Foundation. Of that, more than $70 million directly supports the endowments.
- Funding from Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi that will enable university officials to provide outdoor classrooms and accessible playgrounds for The Children’s Cener for Communication and Development on both campuses.
- A scholarship endowment for STEM students from disadvantaged backgrounds that was established by Wick and Randall Moorman, along with an endowed academic position to support those scholars.
- A successful start for an initiative to endow the de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection Curatorship.
- Endowed support for, and the naming of, the Public Health program was committed by doctors Geoff and Marcia Hartwig to honor its founder, the late Dr. Lynn Cook Hartwig.
- Approximately $44 million that was contributed to the Southern Miss Athletic Foundation for scholarships and support for student-athletes. Enhancements to athletic facilities includes upgrades at Pete Taylor Park, the completion of the Bower Academic Center, volleyball and beach volleyball facilities, improvements at M.M. Roberts Stadium and a new golf facility.
“Give Wing is a success on every level,” said Joe Quinlan, chair of the USM Foundation Board of Directors and Give Wing campaign chair. “We reached our audacious goal in record time, and the Golden Eagle family continues their tremendous generosity today, and I do mean tremendous.
“This achievement doesn’t come as a surprise – our culture of determination and grit drives us, and makes us who we are, and maps out our future of where we’re going.”
