Cover Your Bases

As sights and sounds of spring – such as flowers budding and baseball bats cracking – get underway, two University of Mississippi organizations are teaming up to encourage recent graduates to become more engaged with their alma mater.

The Cover Your Bases campaign launches Friday (March 5) and offers UM graduates who received their diplomas within the last 10 years an opportunity to join both the Flagship Society and the Ole Miss Alumni Association at a significantly lower rate. The campaign runs through May. 

“The overall goal is to reengage with young alumni to make sure they know the Ole Miss family wants to be a mainstay in their lives, even after graduation,” said Brady Bramlett, associate director of annual giving who earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from the university in 2016 and 2018, respectively. “Ole Miss will always be their home.

“Additionally, the campaign gives these graduates the opportunity to support the next generation of students as they join the Ole Miss family.”

With a simple click, graduates in the last 10 years can commit to Cover Your Bases – joining both organizations for one monthly payment over a year. Those who earned their degrees from one to five years ago can join for only $12.50 a month, and those who graduated six to 10 years ago, for only $45.84 a month. The membership fee covers a 12-month period.

Otherwise, the minimum level to join the prestigious Flagship Society annual giving recognition group is $1,000.

“While the Flagship Society fuels excellence by supporting academic scholarships and programs, Alumni Association membership is the best way for young alumni to connect with their fellow classmates and others,” said Sunny Brown, assistant director who earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees in 2009 and 2011, respectively. “Through our nationwide club program, alumni can network with alumni of all ages.”

Among other benefits, new members will:

• Enter a raffle for a chance to win an autographed baseball bat from Rebel head coach Mike Bianco
• Receive a special edition red Solo cup with alumni and Flagship Society vehicle stickers 
• Support the next generation of Ole Miss students by funding scholarships
• Become a valued donor with recognition from the university 
• Receive invitations to alumni and Flagship Society events

“I would encourage my fellow young alumni to give back to the place that gave them so much,” said Bramlett, a former member of the Ole Miss baseball team, Concert Singers, Men’s Glee and the University Chorus. 

“Oxford felt like home to me the moment I visited campus, and so many of the opportunities I had as a student – such as traveling to Europe twice and performing in New York City – were possible because of dedicated alumni and friends who gave back to Ole Miss.” 

Bramlett emphasized that the campaign is a way for the Flagship Society and the Ole Miss Alumni Association to come together just like family – the Ole Miss family.

“Sunny and I knew it was only natural to collaborate and work together as ambassadors for the university,” he said.

For more information on supporting the Cover Your Bases campaign, contact Bramlett at bradyb@olemiss.edu or 662-915-3081 or Brown at sunny@olemiss.edu or 662-915-2367. Giving online is available at https://umfoundation.com/coveryourbases.

 By Tina H. Hahn