About the Campaign
Distinguished and vibrant, The W develops students who are prepared to thrive locally and globally. Our reputation for academic integrity, quality program offerings, and competitive athletic programs has produced quality growth in student admissions, faculty recruitment, and private giving.
We have managed this growth while staying true to our commitment to provide a high-quality academic experience in a nurturing, personalized, empowering, and dynamic environment.
Students, faculty, and staff benefit from a supportive environment and campus culture that embraces, encourages, and celebrates the unique gifts and potential of each individual.
Since our 1884 founding, The W has been an original. A special place where we believe being different is good…for us and for our state. We have charted our own course by responding to the needs of the times, staying grounded in our values, and always looking ahead. Our past, present, and future have a common thread: We study for light and bless by light.
As we turn the page on the next chapter of The W story, we forge a path forward that builds on the rich history and core strengths that have defined us since 1884. The future is ours to create. The W will make its way as a distinguished, vibrant institution that provides a globally relevant and regionally competitive educational experience.
We also will build a name for ourselves as an agile university, firmly rooted in tradition but ready to respond and adapt—as we have throughout our history—to the changing world and opportunities around us.
With your help, we will write this next chapter. We ask you to join us and to "Be the Light."
Areas for Funding
Building on our tradition of success, The W is in the expanded phase of its first-ever capital campaign with broad support from alumni, friends, faculty, staff, and students. Private giving provides important resources for continued quality in student scholarships, and faculty recruitment, retention, instruction, and facilities, among many institutional areas.
The W provides the best value proposition for our students compared to any public university in our state. While our academic programs are of the highest quality, we remain committed to affordability to provide access for our students. Mississippi is not immune to the challenges facing public universities across the nation. Costs are increasing along with the competition to hire and retain our outstanding faculty. Many of the academic programs offered by The W are costly and challenge our commitment to low tuition rates. More than 95 percent of our currently enrolled students receive some form of financial aid.
"Be the Light" for Our Future
Throughout its history, The W has been an educational institution that has embraced new opportunities and a call to serve others. Graduates take to heart the words they sing in their alma mater to honor The W’s heritage, one that “illumines the path untrod.” The words are a reminder of the great educational gift they have received and their responsibility to light the way for others.
With your help in this historic campaign, we can “Be the Light” for generations of future students. “Be the Light” and
give now to continue The W’s pay-it-forward tradition.
Please contact us for further information.