Holt and Lynn McMullan, Center Advisory and ExecutiveCommittee Members, Are Ventress Order Trustees

Holt and Lynn McMullan of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, are Center Advisory and Executive Committee members accustomed to making the Center for the Study of Southern Culture a priority in their lives. They help strategize and move Center initiatives forward generally and in particular assist with Center activities in the southern part of the state. Recently, they made another important decision. Last year, they became Ventress Order donors at the University, committing $5,000, pledging $1,000 a year for five years. Once again, they made a choice designed to benefit Southern Studies, specifying that their gift be allocated to the Center. 

   Holt believes that “the Ventress Order gives you many ways to make a substantial gift--as a one-time cash gift, a multi-year commitment, monthly installments, or even transfer of property such as stocks, bonds, art work. In our case, our loyalty was to the Center, and we wanted to make sure that we could designate our gift for the Center’s use. With the Ventress Order, this kind of targeted giving is allowed, and yet we are also viewed as donors expressing an interest in the long-term health of the College of Liberal Arts at Ole Miss. The Center is an important part of the University’s overall liberal arts program, and we want to help insure awareness of the Center’s role in University affairs. Serving as a Ventress Order member will help us do this, as we are invited to Order meetings where the progress and development of liberal education is discussed and fiscal decisions are made.”

   The Ventress Order was established by the University of Mississippi Alumni Association in cooperation with the University of Mississippi Foundation. If you or someone you know would be interested in learning more about the Ventress Order, and making the Center your Ventress Order funds’ beneficiary, please contact Perry Moulds, Liberal Arts Advancement Associate, at 800-340-9542. Or, call the Center at 662-915-5993 and request help in setting up a Ventress Order/Southern Studies gift. You may also seek donation information on the University’s Web site: www.umf.olemiss.edu.

   Members of the Order have their names inscribed on a plaque displayed at the College of Liberal Arts, housed in historic Ventress Hall, named for James Alexander Ventress, a principal figure in the early history of the University. Each member also receives annual-giving credit and will be invited to Order-sponsored events designed exclusively for members. An annual meeting of the Order is held where members vote on all Order matters, fiscal or otherwise. All Ventress Order gifts are tax deductible. 

   Ventress Order gifts help to broaden the scope and content of the College of Liberal Arts, enhancing the total program of instruction at the University of Mississippi. In the coming year, the Center for the Study of Southern Culture would like to add a number of Ventress Order members to its ranks, with Order members designating, like the McMullans, their gifts to the Center. If you can afford $42 a month (for 10 years) as a charitable donation, you too can become a Center Ventress Order member today!

   Join the Ventress Order today, and help support the Center for the Study of Southern Culture.

Lesley Urgo