By Julia Peoples
HottyToddy.com Intern
jtpeople@go.olemiss.edu
Joshua Mannery has always been driven by a desire to help people. Now as the director of Campus Outreach, he has the ability to help students in ways he never imagined.
The new position was created by the Associated Student Body (ASB) under the Barron’s Cabinet and fulfilled by Mannery this year; however, Mannery’s desire to help others started long before his new position.
When he began his journey at Ole Miss, Mannery knew joining ASB was a way to really touch people, so he joined Freshman Forum his freshman year.
This year, as a junior, he serves as ASB’s very first director of campus outreach with a team of five people helping him.
In addition to ASB, Mannery serves as an executive member of the Honors College Ambassadors, as the elections director for the Black Student Union, and on the Honors College Engagement Council.
This summer, Mannery was inspired to make a larger difference in the Ole Miss community by serving as an MPower and Orientation leader.
“I’ve always had pretty big aspirations, but this past summer I really felt like an Ole Miss Rebel. Being connected with the freshmen was probably the best experience I’ve had so far. It was so beautiful to me to help them grow and paint who they will become. It’s kind of emotional for me,” Mannery said, “This summer really fueled my passion for helping others.”
Various organizations claim Mannery, but his main goal in everything he does is to represent all groups and to ensure that everyone feels they have an active part on campus.
“I really want to represent all groups and work towards a campus that puts the students first,” Mannery said, “But I want to add, not the groups first. I don’t want a certain group first. Although we do try to help all groups make sure their voices are heard, at the end of the day, we want all students to feel that they have an active part on this campus. At the end of the day, we are Ole Miss students first.”
Mannery is transforming his ideas into reality through his new position. Recently, he and his team began working on expanding the idea of “Everybody’s Tent” at the Grove.
“Everybody’s Tent is a safe space on game days, every home game, where all students, regardless of background, student organization, classification, they can all come and have a safe space to have conversations, free food, and free stickers. That space is really important,” Mannery said.
Part of his plan is to transform Everybody’s Tent into a huge “Everybody’s Corner” for homecoming weekend.
The idea is to invite all registered student organizations to apply to join with their own respected tent. The space would be available between the Walk of Champions and the Croft Institute. “Everybody’s Playlist” is also in the works for these events—a combination of songs contributed by each organization.
Mannery said he believes no matter what happens, he has been successful already in his role and strives to continue to see success.
“In anything that you do, it’s important to have values and principles to stand by. For me, helping people has been that value. Service has been a big word for me and I have focused on helping students. So as long as I help one person, I’ve done what I set out to do,” Mannery said, “And I believe the past three weeks have been very successful in that ASB has truly worked to use student experiences to think about how we can help this campus.”
Mannery encourages his fellow students to get involved however they can, whether it is serving in a leadership role or talking to student leaders. Mannery said any type of involvement is valued.
His biggest piece of advice on the easiest way to get involved right now, however, is to be vocal. He said it is important to engage with student leaders and express the positives and negatives on campus. He said appreciation really helps to motivate leaders to continue to work for the student body, as well.
Mannery said he wants students to know that as director of Campus Outreach his goal is to provide a voice for all students.
“ASB and the Outreach department are working on programs to give students the equity they need to be great students on campus. This goes from financial opportunities such as grants and stipends, creating more meaningful opportunities within ASB, all the way to providing more information to students,” said Mannery.
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