The University of Mississippi Athletics
Football Participates in Regions Bank "Reality Fair"
5/6/2015 | Student-Athlete Development
OXFORD, Miss. -- The Ole Miss athletic department and Regions Bank recently teamed up to provide some real-life financial literacy training to the freshmen members of the Ole Miss football team. Financial literacy is one of the six areas of Ole Miss' life skills portion of its student-athlete development program and provides education to student-athletes on their finances in a "real world" setting.
Regions Bank, a sponsor of Ole Miss athletics, most recently gave $500,000 in multi-year support to help Ole Miss develop a cutting edge financial education program for Rebel student athletes. Regions Bank currently has a financial literacy program that they present at the high school and collegiate level and was able to work with assistant athletic director of student-athlete development, Jennifer Saxon, along with other members of the Ole Miss athletic department, to modify its program to fit the needs of the Ole Miss student athlete.
The financial literacy program will extend to the entire Ole Miss student-athlete population through the Rebel Life skills program as well as the R.E.B.S. summer program.
"The reality fair was a great experience," said Saxon. "We learned a lot about the delivery of the program and how to make improvements moving forward. I believe our student-athletes truly enjoyed the experience, while learning how their everyday financial decisions can affect their living. I believe that as we move forward we will be able to make sure the information is constantly updated to reflect the current financial and economic climate and hopefully this will become a required activity for all freshmen prior to choosing their living arrangements for their sophomore year."
The reality fair was put together in conjunction with Regions Bank representatives, Candie Simmons, vice president for marketing and branch manager Shannon Ferguson and was designed around helping student athletes choose housing for the next school year.
The student athletes were given choices for housing which included: on-campus housing, a private apartment complex with two price ranges and private sublease for a townhouse or home. Based on each housing option the student-athletes then determined what their utility costs would be based on their selections.
Marquis Haynes, a sophomore defensive end, thought the experience was very helpful and educational in terms of showing exactly where money went.
"The experience with the reality fair was really good," said Haynes. "We all learned a lot about keeping our money safe and not spending it and not wasting it on worthless items. It taught us how to keep money in our pockets."
The next step was to talk about groceries and household items, particularly name brands vs. store brands and the final part was to choose a cell phone keeping in mind the idea of necessity vs. luxury.
Once the student athletes made their various selections, they took their checkbooks to the bank to learn if they had balanced them correctly given their chosen expenses. Throughout the experience the student-athletes were given "Life Happens" moments which ranged from monetary gifts to taking care of parking tickets. These moments were designed to give them examples of decisions they may be faced with throughout college and later in life.
"My perception of money did change a little bit," said Haynes. "For me, even though I live in the dorms, I try to keep money in my pocket just in case I want or need something the dorm or Grille doesn't provide. It was helpful to see where and how far my money did go."
Previously Published Media Articles
Clarion-Ledger | University of Mississippi News
Ole Miss Student-Athlete Development Mission
The mission of Ole Miss' Student-Athlete Development program is to challenge student-athletes to be lifelong learners while pursuing continuous improvement academically, relationally, socially, personally, and professionally during and beyond their careers as student-athletes.
Student-Athlete Development is the hub for a wide range of Ole Miss athletics sponsored programs designed to meet the needs of student-athletes and their families. It is divided into six areas: Student-Athlete Assistance Services, Career Development, Continuing Education, Community Outreach, Financial Education and Career Transition.
Visit Student-Athlete Development for more information on Ole Miss' Student-Athlete Development program and follow the Rebel Life Skills program on Twitter @RebLifeSkills
