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Money Matters The University of Mississippi School of Law contiunes to seek support to boost its endowment as a means to build and maintain one of the region’s top legal education programs. “The law school’s endowments are critical to our successes in recruiting faculty and students,” said Dean Samuel Davis. “New endowments are encouraged and can be started with a minimum gift of $10,000. There is no better way to provide perpetual support to the law school.” The endowment stands at just over $17.5 million, said Stephen Snead, assistant to the dean for advancement in the law school. Approximately 55 percent, or $9.6 million, is designated for scholarships, most of which are based on merit rather than need, he added.  The endowment also provides support for faculty ($3.4 million), the library ($1.5 million) and school programs such as guest lecturers ($281,147), the Law Journal ($295,878) and Moot Court program ($147,578). The late William P. “Pete” Mitchell of Tupelo is an example of a generous endowment donor. He gave an initial gift of $500,000 toward a $1 million pledge in December 2001. Following his death in 2005, his estate is funding the balance of the pledge. The gift is being used to fund student scholarships. Cary Lee, assistant dean for student affairs in the law school, said while the largest scholarship awarded tops $12,000 per year, it still doesn’t cover the $22,000 needed annually to pay tuition, fees and living expenses. “We need more and larger merit-based scholarships in order to attract the best and brightest students in the state of Mississippi,” Lee said. “Without competitive scholarships, we will continue to see these students choose other institutions.” James Rusk is one outstanding student who chose Ole Miss thanks to a scholarship. The 29-year-old California native is receiving the Lamar Order Scholarship, funded by the Lamar Order Endowment. Rusk said the award was a determining factor in his decision to remain at the university. “I really love this school and didn’t want to leave after I finished the undergraduate program,” he said. “I was offered a scholarship from the University of Alabama, but the Lamar Order scholarship was the incentive to stay here. I’m really appreciative because it’s enabled me to go to school and not be worried about the debt.” Upon completion of his juris doctorate in May 2006, Rusk and his wife plan to return to Hurricane Katrina-ravaged Long Beach, Miss., to build a future for themselves and their daughter. “Hopefully, I’ll find work, we’ll clean things up and try to resume a normal life,” he added. Joyce Whittington, director of career services at the university, cited several scholarship endowments that award significant amounts of money each academic year: • The James Oliver Eastland Scholarship in Law, established by friends of the late senator to honor his many years of service, provides $12,000 per year for three years to Mississippi students who have demonstrated academic ability, good moral character and good motivation for the study and practice of law. • The Dean Parham Williams Scholarship, established by David Nutt (71) to honor the former dean, awards full in-state tuition plus a $1,000 stipend for books for three years of law school (current value $26,160). • The Phelps Dunbar Scholarship pays $7,500 per year for a total award package of $22,500 to a deserving student from Louisiana, Texas or Mississippi. • The Earl R. Wilson Memorial Scholarship in Law, established by the family of the late Mr. Wilson, provides $7,500 annually for three years to an entering student from Mississippi. Other examples of endowment donors include the law firm of Butler, Snow, O’Mara, Stevens and Cannada, which has two endowments: $128,000 for scholarships and $140,000 for a faculty lectureship held by Bob Weems. “Public funding for the law school is not sufficient for Ole Miss to accomplish all that it wants to do, and it is important for the private sector, both law firms corporately and lawyers individually, to step forward and pay back the law school for the role it has played in their lives,” said Stephen W. Rosenblatt, chair of Butler, Snow, O’Mara, Stevens and Cannada, PLC. The Jackson law firm Pittman, Germany, Roberts & Welsh pledged $1 million to the law school in 1999. The gift, which supports the enhancement of library holdings and provides faculty assistance, “is an irreplaceable source of funds,” Snead said. “The law school library’s budget from the state has been flat for more than 10 years. It’s private funding that makes up the difference.” Tim Walsh, senior associate director of the Alumni Association, said funds such as the Steen, Reynolds, and Dalehite Trial Practice Endowment are “directly impacting our students each and every year.” James McClure Jr. (53) said he wanted to honor “a fantastic father who forgot more law in his lifetime than I ever knew” and to show “my love for the law school” by teaming with his sister, Tupper McClure Lampton, to establish the James McClure Memorial Lecture Series. The series has helped bring many distinguished lecturers to campus, including several Supreme Court justices. A scholarship named for his parents, James McClure Sr. and Helene Powell McClure, is also endowed and supports students from Panola or the surrounding counties. “We want everyone to know that the people who make these gifts are impacting lives, and the school is better for them,” Snead said. A complete list of all endowments will be available on the law school’s new Web site to be launched in early 2006. “Many of us owe our livelihood and the opportunity to be a part of this noble profession to the quality education we received at the Ole Miss law school,” Rosenblatt said. For further information or to make a donation to the endowment, contact Snead at 662-915-6929 or ssnead@olemiss.edu
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