Wild Game Dinner Boosts MC Athletics November 5
Robert Khayat
The 6:30 p.m. event is at the B.C. Rogers Student Center. It is the biggest fund-raiser of the year for MC athletics.
Typically the Billy Joe Cross Wild Game Dinner annually attracts more than $100,000 for MC athletic programs. In just seven years, more than $600,000 has been raised. Last year's guest speaker was former Mississippi State head football coach Sylvester Croom.
Khayat, a longtime law professor, led Ole Miss as chancellor until his retirement in June 2009. Now the 71-year-old Mississippian is working part-time to boost fund-raising at his alma mater and serve as a professor on the Oxford campus.
The Mississippi Gulf Coast native went to work as chancellor of 17,300-student Ole Miss in 1995. The university's 15th chancellor, Khayat helped boost private giving to record levels, saw enrollment make substantial gains, and successfully led the management of a four campus comprehensive university. During Khayat's final year at the helm, Ole Miss hosted one of the nation's presidential debates and the Rebels football team defeated Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl.
As always, this year's dinner will be prepared by Billy Joe Cross, a world famous wild game chef. Smoked venison, frog legs and fried quail will be among the items on the menu.
The money raised is keeping MC Choctaws athletics near the top of the American Southwest Conference.
"Our athletic department at Mississippi College owes much of our success to the Wild game Dinner," says MC Athletic Director Mike Jones, a longtime basketball coach at the Baptist-affiliated school. "We are blessed to have the level of support we receive from our friends and alumni and look forward to another great year."
Over the years, funds raised at the MC dinner have helped with the athletic department's purchase of digital cameras, computers and software, sparked the creation of the GoChoctaws.com web site and renovated offices plus sports facilities on the Clinton campus.
For additional information, contact the MC athletic department's Missa Turman at 601.925.3341 or send an email to turman@mc.edu.
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