news UNIVERSITIES continued from page 4 Ole Miss, it was more than 50 percent of the revenue. That declined last year to being around 15 percent. “Now, the greatest volume of revenue we get to support the university is coming from tuition. The only way to keep up is to increase tuition or increase the number of students who are coming to the university. To try to keep rates low, you have to grow at a certain rate,” Eppes said. Eppes said the university has done well in keeping tuition down amidst funding and revenue changes. “If you try to walk this very fine line to balance quality and price – which is what equals value – we’re doing a pretty good job,” Eppes said. Also named in the Almanac was the university’s status as top fundraiser and holder of the largest endowment in the state. This funding, Eppes said, helps to retain the professors that make a difference and allow the academic programs at the university to excel. Supplementing salaries is not the only function of donations, however. Katie Morrison, communications specialist at the UM Foundation, said private donors choose where their money goes when they give to the university. Currently, 38 percent goes to academic and program support, 20.4 percent goes to faculty support, 4.4 percent goes to library support and 37.2 percent to scholarship support. Morrison said donations for 2014 amounted to $118 million, a decrease from 2012’s donation of $122.6 million.
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The National Association of College and University and Business Officers collected the data used to determine the university as having the largest endowment in Mississippi. The university’s endowment increased from 461,913 in 2012 to 520,216 for the 2013 fiscal year. This was followed by Mississippi State University, which topped at 394,925, and Millsaps College at 110,456. Eppes said this continuous support results from the alumni and their commitment to the university. “One of the wonderful things about universities like ours is that we have a very loyal alumni base,” Eppes said. “They leave this place and love it so strongly that when they get to the point that they have the means to give back, they’re doing it and on an extraordinary level.”
CROWDS continued from page 1 “This game will require a lot more time,” Briscoe said. “I’ll have to spend most of Friday in the Grove just holding a spot for my tent. Then Saturday, I’ll leave the Grove early to line up well before the stadium gates open at 12:30.” Sellers will also be on campus Saturday, but he won’t be waiting around with a drink in his hand. “We know that with some games we’re going to have a larger crowd, and by virtue of that, you’re just going to have more problems,” Sellers said. “And we know that Alabama is going to bring a bunch of folks. With more drinking, there are
NEWS | 3 OCTOBER 2014 | THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN | PAGE 5
more people fussing over seats. There’s opportunity for different fans to intermingle and argue and fuss with a bigger crowd.” “Bigger crowd” may be an understatement, though. Briscoe said he’s been “Groving” for over ten years now, and he thinks this weekend’s crowd will compare to the one at Eli Manning’s last home game against LSU in November of 2003. “It was the biggest Ole Miss game I’ve ever been to,” he said. “I think there will be as many people here this weekend, or more, because of GameDay. It’ll be a similar atmosphere with a better outcome, I hope.” The outcome of the game will have a significant effect, according to the chief of police. “There will be a big crowd that leaves; it just depends on who wins the game,” East said. “The good thing about Alabama,
though, is that it’s an early game, so that should help us with traffic and getting people out. The new roundabouts have worked great, but the biggest issue we’re having right now is with Jackson Avenue and 278. People aren’t utilizing the new Belk Boulevard enough.” But East said traffic leaving Oxford won’t be the only thing OPD has to worry about. “We’ve had times with big rivals where we had to shut the Square almost completely down, which means there’s no drive-thru traffic,” he said. “We have to monitor that because there’s so many people walking the streets there that it becomes a public safety issue.” According to East, though, nothing is certain. “We just don’t know. If Ole Miss wins, it’s going to be big.”
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