The Student Activities Association (SAA) has geared up to host the annual SAA Welcome Week at the University of Mississippi for over 20 years. This year’s theme is “People Make the Place.” SAA Welcome Week gives the student body an opportunity to attend a week full of free events and vendors. Festivities began on Sunday, Aug. 23, with “Build the M” and will end on Friday, Aug. 28, with the 2026 Fall Concert.
While the week’s events are not directly listed, SAA has teased what is to come on their Instagram.
- Monday’s events will start with SAA leaders using the golf cart to take students to class from the Union Plaza from 10am-2pm, and then there will be a silent disco on the Grove Stage from 8-10:30pm.
- Tuesday’s event will be a zipline on the Grove from 10am-2pm.
- Wednesday’s events include catering from Taylor Grocery on the Union Plaza from 10am-2pm, and pizza on the Plaza from 7pm-9pm.
- Thursday’s events start at 7am and 8am with pilates hosted on the Union Plaza, and a movie night featuring Ferris Bueller’s Day Off The Union from 7pm-9pm.
- Friday’s events will be on the Union Plaza from 10am-2pm and will conclude with the Fall Concert featuring Stella Lefty, Lawrence and Jake Scott starting at 6pm.
The student body will assemble on Hollingsworth Field inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium for “Build the M,” photographing students in the shape of an “M” from above. This event was introduced to Welcome Week in 2024.
Meredith Lovitt, Brayden Rodgers and Gibson Russell serve as the special events co-directors of SAA. Lovitt revealed more of what Welcome Week has to offer.
“We have an exciting lineup of over 10 events planned throughout the first week of classes. Students can look forward to our First Day of Class Bash, a zip line — which was a campus favorite last year — and a new event called ‘What’s Up Wednesday,’” Lovitt said. “The full schedule of events can be found on our Instagram, @olemisssaa. We will post event details and any updates that come during the week here.”
Nathan Snell, who serves as the president of SAA, encouraged students to show up and show out for this year’s festivities.
“We host this as a big welcome back to classes for Ole Miss sophomores, juniors, and seniors, as well as a big welcome to freshmen, which provides them a space to meet some of their first college friends,” Snell said.
The university supports Welcome Week by providing transportation, employees and space on campus. SAA also extended this year’s Welcome Week to six days instead of the previous five.
Rodgers explained what goes into organizing these events.
“We started preparing for Welcome Week back in April 2026. We prepare and plan basically up until the first day of school,” Rodgers said. “Myself and my other co-directors, Meredith Lovitt and Gibson Russell, are the main brains and planning behind Welcome Week, along with our amazing advisors and PR team.”
Russell reflected on his time spent preparing for Welcome Week and spoke on his goals for the events.
“The goal is to obviously welcome students back, but deeper than that, we hope to open up our campus and make it feel more like a home,” Russell said. “With each aspect of our programming, we seek to create moments where students can foster connections and relationships with one another in a fun environment. Our hope is to help students know, whether incoming or returning, that they can make Ole Miss their place.”
All three of the special events co-directors participated in Welcome Week in prior years, and they reflected on some of their favorite memories and takeaways from those experiences. For Lovitt, participating in Welcome Week directly impacted her work as an organizer.
“Throughout planning Welcome Week, I have made sure to include things that freshman-year me walking onto campus for the first time would’ve loved to get involved in,” Lovitt said. “Knowing how much these experiences meant to me has motivated me to create events that are memorable and welcoming to every student who attends.”
Rodgers highlighted the zip line activity as one of his favorite Welcome Week memories.
“As a student, I would definitely say my favorite Welcome Week activity is the Ole Miss zip line from last year,” Rodgers said. “I love it because it is so out of the blue and an eyesore on campus that you can’t help but not love it. And who doesn’t like zip lining across the Grove at 10 a.m.?”
Russell said that attending Welcome Week stirred his interest in eventually joining SAA.
“I absolutely loved participating in Welcome Week before I planned it,” Russell said. “The first event I ever went to was Silent Disco, and it is what sparked my love for the SAA and, more specifically, special events.”
Aside from the scheduled events, South Depot Taco Shop, The Oxford Creamery, Sno Biz and Taylor Grocery are some of the many vendors and caterers that will be on-campus during Welcome Week.
“Welcome Week 2026 is packed full of fun (and) energy and (is) something you want to be at,” Snell said.
