Contact: Amy Cagle

STARKVILLE, Miss.—The Mississippi State University Alumni Association is launching its newest initiative, the Legacy Program, which allows university alumni the chance to foster the MSU spirit in their children and grandchildren.

“From an early age, children who are a part of the Legacy Program will learn what makes Mississippi State University special, just as their parents or grandparents did before them,” said Jeff Davis, executive director for the MSU Alumni Association. “It is the spirit of giving and family which connect all Bulldogs that we want to impart through the program, thus strengthening the appreciation our alumni and their families have for MSU.”

The Legacy Program is available to MSU alumni who are active members of the association. The program requires no cost beyond the yearly contribution needed to maintain an active membership, and there is no limit to how many children and grandchildren active members are eligible to register. All enrolled children receive a yearly birthday card and a unique MSU birthday gift for every even-year birthday.

The gifts begin at birth, or the age that the child is first enrolled in the program. Newborns receive a baby bib, two-year-olds are given an MSU cowbell, four-year-olds get an activity book for coloring, and six-year-olds receive a school kit with a pencil bag and other school supply items. Sport packs are the gifts at age eight, sunglasses at age 10, earbuds at age 12, while 14-year-olds are gifted a T-shirt, and 16-year-olds receive an MSU car decal and phone wallet.

Initial distribution of the gifts begins this month, with gifts set for delivery during the birth month of each child. Among early program enrollees are the grandchildren of the immediate former national president for the MSU Alumni Association Board of Directors, Tommy Roberson.

“Since the Alumni Association began planning the Legacy Program last fall, I’ve been really excited to enroll my grandchildren,” said Roberson, a 1967 graduate who resides in Madison.

“I love any opportunity to spread maroon and white through the whole family, and this is a great way to make my grandkids feel even more a part of the Bulldog community.”

As with all of its endeavors, the Alumni Association’s goal for the Legacy Program is to bring together a nationwide family of Bulldogs and make the growing network of living alumni, numbering nearly 137,000, feel even more unified.

Legacy Program registration may be completed online at alumni.msstate.edu/legacyprogram, where photos of gifts are available. For specifics about the program, contact Casey McGee, the association’s assistant coordinator for chapter and recruitment programs, at 662-325-3349 or email cmcgee@alumni.msstate.edu.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.