OXFORD, Miss. – To show support for the University of
Mississippi and its MomentUM campaign, UM alumnus Jamie
Houston of Ridgeland has planned a bequest through the
University of Mississippi Foundation to create the Jamie
Houston Family Endowment.
Houston said he wanted to give to Ole Miss because he has
such a love for the university.
“Ole Miss is so much more than an institution to me,” he
said. “It’s like a second family. I felt that by creating
this endowment the Houston family would be leaving a legacy
for future generations of the Ole Miss family. I had a
wonderful experience here and my family is supportive of
this campaign.”
The endowment will support both the Patterson School of
Accountancy and the School of Law.
“I think it’s important to give and continue to be a part
of the Ole Miss family no matter where we are,” Houston
said. “Providing scholarships to enrich the lives of
students helps Ole Miss attract and retain the best and the
brightest students in Mississippi. As individuals and as a
society, we receive immeasurable benefits from producing
educated graduates who also feel a strong connection to Ole
Miss.”
A longtime UM Foundation Board member and former chairman
of the board, Houston continues his service to the
university through his leadership as chairman of the
Deferred and Planned Giving Society Committee, a group
working to increase the number of planned and deferred
gifts to UM. The committee’s mission is to inform, educate
and encourage alumni and friends to provide private support
through planned gifts to the university.
“Planned giving is extremely important to Ole Miss,” he
said. “I think it’s important to give to the future of the
university. A planned or deferred gift is truly the gift of
a lifetime and creates a permanent legacy.”
Houston provided tremendous leadership to the UM Foundation
as chairman and graciously agreed to help with Deferred and
Planned Giving Society, said Sandra Guest, vice president
of the foundation. The committee set an ambitious goal to
increase membership to 1,000 during the MomentUM campaign.
Membership has increased to 750 members and they are well
on their way to reaching their initial goal.
“We are so thankful to Jamie for his exemplary gift and to
the rest of our committee members for supporting Ole Miss
through planned gifts,” Guest said. “I don’t think anyone
realizes the impact of these significant gifts. Since the
beginning of the UM Foundation, over $30 million has been
received from planned gifts and there is over $47 million
in future gifts pledged that we are aware of. The Jamie
Houston Family Endowment adds to that and we are profoundly
grateful.”
Houston received his bachelor’s degree in 1974 and law
degree in ’76, both from Ole Miss. He completed the master
of laws degree at New York University in 1978. He is a
member of the Jackson law firm of Watkins & Eager PLLC. He
has practiced there since 1979 and has been a member of the
firm since 1983. While at Ole Miss, he was a member of the
Sigma Chi fraternity and the honorary fraternities of Beta
Alpha Psi, Omicron Delta Kappa and Phi Delta Phi. Houston
has served as member of the UM Foundation Board of
Directors since 1997.
Houston’s gift is part of the university’s MomentUM
campaign, a four-year initiative to raise $200 million. The
campaign, which ends in December 2008, already has raised
more than $180 million for scholarships, graduate
fellowships, faculty support, a basketball practice
facility, residential colleges and a new law school on the
Oxford campus. Also in the plans is a cancer center at the
UM Medical Center in Jackson.
For more information on planning a gift to the University
of Mississippi, visit
http://www.umf.olemiss.edu/planning/plannedgifts.php