COLUMBUS, Miss. – The Mississippi University for Women Alumni Association announced that the 2018 Long Blue Line Auction, held during the annual Homecoming celebration in March, raised another record amount, exceeding $21,000 in proceeds.
Historically, the funds raised by the Long Blue Line Auction funded the MUWAA Legacy Scholarship endowment which provides a $2,500 scholarship to an entering, full-time student who is a family member of an MUW alumna or alumnus. Recipients of this award are selected based upon a combination of their academic achievements, work and volunteer experience and extracurricular activities.
Silent auction proceeds also fund Faculty Enhancement Grants designed to enrich the educational and professional activities of faculty members and the New Faculty Award given to a newer faculty member to recognize his or her work supporting the academic mission of The W. Since fully endowing the Legacy Scholarship, the MUWAA Board of Directors has elected to have proceeds that exceed the amount of these grants work toward endowing additional funds that will sustain these awards in the future.
This is the sixth year of the Long Blue Line Auction and the third year Kristi Hipp Mosley, special events chair, and her seven-member committee diligently worked to make this auction a great success.
Katy Canion Pacelli, MUWAA president, was ecstatic when she announced the auction results to the Board of Directors earlier this month. “I want to sincerely thank Kristi for her leadership of the Long Blue Line Auction over the past three years. Along with a committed group of volunteers, she has taken the auction to new heights and cumulatively raised over $49,000 for the Legacy Scholarship and faculty awards. These funds are increasingly important to the university as state funding for higher education declines.”
Mosley said, “Each year, we have received tremendous support from alumni and friends of Mississippi University for Women by way of monetary event sponsorships as well as auction item donations such as handmade goods, artwork, crafts, events and vacations. Auction interest and support has grown each year, and without the involvement, hard work and support of all of our alumni, including those who purchase items from afar during the online bidding, we would not be celebrating such an outstanding success today. I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to lead and grow this event over the past three years.”
In addition, alumni chapters across the nation come together to donate items that spotlight their destination cities through tickets to local events, items from local artists and culinary treats exclusive to their areas, helping to bridge the geographic gap between chapters and The W.
Preparations for next year’s auction are under way under the direction of Carolyn Byrd, the MUWAA special events chair for 2018-19. The auction will be held during Homecoming March 28–31, 2019. When asked what individuals could expect for the coming year, Byrd shared that planning was already under way, and that “building on the success of Kristi and her committee’s work for the past three years is the aim of the current committee. No question.”
For more information on donating to, becoming a sponsor of or volunteering at the 2019 Long Blue Line Auction, please contact Carolyn Byrd at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at (251) 455-4249.
The MUWAA exists to support and promote the mission of The W while providing alumni engagement opportunities. Any former student who has completed at least 12 semester hours at the university and who has made an annual contribution to the MUW Foundation is an active member eligible to vote and hold office for the year. For more information, please visit the Mississippi University for Women Alumni Association website at longblueline.muw.edu.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 25, 2018