THE
Daily
MISSISSIPPIAN theDMonline.com
Monday, August 26, 2024
Hotty Toddy rush almighty
Volume 113, No. 1
Meal swipes now available at food trucks JORDAN ISBELL BRYNN BATES JORJA CARTER
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Ahead of the 20242025 school year, Ole Miss Dining announced changes intended to make food and meals more accessible for students on campus. An Instagram post on July 24 announced that food trucks are accepting meal swipes, with one swipe as an
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S
orority Row and Rebel Drive were filled with tears and screams of excitement on Saturday, Aug. 24 as Panhellenic Formal Recruitment ended with bid day and 11 Panhellenic Sororities welcomed new members home.
SEE DINING PAGE 2
MARIA RAMIREZ / THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN
New members run to the Chi Omega house on Aug. 24.
JANE DUNN
$8.50 cash equivalent toward food items. The idea of food trucks accepting meal swipes has been under consideration for several years. “(Concerns) included logistical issues such as setting up infrastructure for a uniform payment
The largest group of potential new members in university history — 2,461 freshman and transfer students — participated in the process this year. As of May 2024, 50% of the University of Mississippi students were active in Greek organizations. The location of bid day was moved to the Sandy and John Black Pavillion, a
shift from recent years, when it took place in the Grove. Freshman allied health studies major and new member of Alpha Delta Pi Ella Ann Jensen talked about her experience receiving her bid. “I knew from the very begin-
SEE BID DAY PAGE 5
ASHTON SUMMERS / THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN
Caitlin Magnuson working at the Magnolia Coffee Co. truck on Aug. 22.
University housing adapts to increase in student population
KHARLEY REDMON
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BRETT YOUNG IN OXFORD Two former student-athletes turned country music stars are coming back to campus, thanks to Ole Miss Athletics. SEE PAGE 6
OLE MISS FOOTBALL KICKS OFF Ending the month of September with their first SEC matchup, the Rebels will have to find early success to make waves this season. SEE PAGE 9
Three consecutive years of record-breaking freshman classes has caused the University of Mississippi to expand housing options and has created uncertainty for students as they sit on housing waitlists and struggle to find off-campus accommodations. When Assistant Vice Chancellor and Director of Student Housing John Yaun joined the university in 2019, there was a strategic plan for student housing. “Because of all the changes, much of that strategic plan is almost obsolete or not applicable,” Yaun said earlier this month. “At that time, the freshman class that we were housing was about 3,200, and right now I think we
have at least 6,000 firstyear students that are signed up for housing.” UM has 22 student housing locations on and off-campus, with a total of 6,841 bed spaces. On-campus residence halls and Campus Walk have 5,687 bed spaces. The other 1,154 bedspaces are distributed across five off-campus apartment complexes that have entered master lease agreements with the university. All bed spaces are currently filled, and many freshmen and upperclassmen spent the summer on university housing waitlists. At the beginning of July, the freshman waitlist consisted of approximately 140 women and 70-80 men, Yaun said. Freshmen are required by the university to live in student housing. The waitlist consisted of 30
women and 10 men on Aug. 9 and was down to one woman and two men on Aug. 21. The waitlist for sophomore and upperclassmen was at 120 on Aug. 9. As the university receives cancellations, students are contacted
and placed in open spots according to the order in which they joined the waitlist. While the university plans to house all freshmen, Yaun said it is not likely that the university would be able
SEE HOUSING PAGE 3
MARIA RAMIREZ / THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN
Parents help their daughter move in to her new dorm on Aug. 15.