Rose garden blooms in memory of former Ole Miss students.

The Ole Miss Women's Council for Philanthropy is providing meaningful opportunities for families to memorialize lost loved ones while at the same time helping young women pursue an education at the University of Mississippi.

When Sarah Meisenheimer died suddenly four years ago at the age of 32, her family sought a lasting way to remember her. "She had a deep love for the university," said Sarah's brother Ed of Oxford. "My family felt very strongly as we moved forward that we wanted to remember Sarah in a way that would live forever and also help other people accomplish their goals in life." The Council for Philanthropy provided them this fitting memorial, and Sarah Meisenheimer became the first of more than 20 women whose names grace its endowed scholarships.

Recently, a rose garden was dedicated on the Ole Miss campus in front of the new Gertrude Ford Center for the Performing Arts. The garden, which features a sculpture depicting a female mentor with several young people, is a tribute to the women honored by the scholarships. "The rose is the symbol, a metaphor for the vision of the Ole Miss Women's Council that is now a reality," said Chancellor Robert Khayat. "Like growing roses, the mentoring of student leaders takes a lot of tending, pruning, watering, and fertilizing in the right soil to bring them into the full bloom of service to the world."

Indeed, just as a gardener tends and nourishes his roses, the Women's Council is encouraging and mentoring the students who receive the scholarships. Each scholar has several mentors who counsel them on issues ranging from choosing a career path to dealing with personal problems. "The students have the opportunity to make real-life relationships with their mentors who are there for them when their parents can't be," said Molly Meisenheimer, program coordinator and Sarah's sister-in-law.

The Ole Miss Women's Council was established in 2000 to raise scholarship funds for incoming freshmen. In less than two years, they had far exceeded their goals, raising nearly $2 million and awarding scholarships to six students in the fall of 2001.

Last fall, the Council welcomed seven more scholars to the Oxford campus, including accountancy major Ashley Perryman. The Philadelphia, Mississippi, native was planning to attend college closer to home before the Women's Council's Christine Hickonbottom Scholarship enticed her to Ole Miss. "I'm glad it turned out this way," Perryman said. "Ole Miss has a great environment, and I'm happy to be a part of it."

Also pleased is Memphis resident Edith Kelly-Green, an Ole Miss accountancy graduate and FedEx vice president who established the Christine Hickonbottom Scholarship in honor of her late grandmother. "Now that I have met Ashley, there is no doubt that establishing this scholarship was the right thing to do. I am delighted, and I know that my grandmother would be, too," she said after meeting Perryman at the Rose Garden dedication.

For more information about the scholarship program, contact the University of Mississippi Foundation at 800/240-9542 or see www.olemiss.edu/giving/omwc/.