Ole Miss athletics receives donation of $25 million
OXFORD - Ole Miss alumnus Gerald “Doc” Hollingsworth has given the equivalent of $25 million to the school’s athletic department, the largest donation it’s ever received.
The contribution will be split with $10 million going to the Forward Together campaign, which will be used to support the north end zone expansion at the football stadium. The remainder will go into a trust that will establish an athletic scholarship fund named after Hollingsworth.
“Transformational is the only adequate word I can summon when I think about Dr. Hollingsworth and the impact he has had on our entire university,” athletic director Ross Bjork said in a news release. “‘Doc’ continues to give to academic and athletic programs of the university, and his impact will be felt for eternity.
“Everyone who experiences Ole Miss as an alumnus, fan, coach, faculty, staff, student and student-athlete will see the difference his contributions have made to our beloved athletics program and university.”
The field at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium was named after Hollingsworth following a $3 million contribution toward the $13 million in private funds needed to complete expansion in 1998. That raised his donations to Ole Miss to more than $5 million at the time.
Hollingsworth's donation comes shortly after former player Bill Jordan donated $1 million to the Forward Together campaign, a contribution that will lead to the indoor practice field in the Olivia and Archie Manning Athletic Performance Center being named in his honor.
Hollingsworth earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Ole Miss in 1953 and attended two years of medical school there before completing his medical degree at Harvard.
He said his favorite memory was watching Ole Miss beat Maryland in 1953 and celebrating with his classmates by rushing the field.
“I hope it will motivate and stimulate other people to donate to the university because I think it's a great school and the money will be put to good use to provide scholarship aid to students who would not be able to attend the university otherwise, as well as provide for needs they might have,” he said in a news release. “I'm just hoping that young people will have the great experience and the great benefit I derived from going to Ole Miss.
“I'm fortunate to have this money available and it just seemed like a need the university had. I've benefited tremendously from the university and from my relationships and friendships with the people there in the athletic department over the years, and I just wanted to show my appreciation and possibly stimulate others to dig deep and also give aid to the university.”
Contact Daniel Paulling at dpaulling@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @DanielPaulling on Twitter.