Ole Miss Students Brouckaert, McKemey Lobbying in Washington

Jessica Brouckaert and Tripp McKemey represented Ole Miss in Washington, D.C., to lobby for a change in the College Housing and Infrastructure Act.
Photo courtesy UM Communications

Ole Miss students Jessica Brouckaert and Tripp McKemey were among a select group representing 100 fraternities and sororities in Washington, D.C., recently to lobby for a change in the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act.

As the law stands, CHIA allows charitable contributions to be used to maintain and build student housing on campuses, except for not-for-profit Greek organizations. The group is lobbying for a change that would allow all nonprofit housing to be treated the same, thus allowing fraternity and sorority housing to use charitable donations to build and maintain their facilities.

“A change in this law is important for Ole Miss and our students,” said Brouckaert, a senior from Ocean Springs and a member of Kappa Delta sorority. “Those donations in the future will help the cost for expansions to give more space for our members to live in and will free up space for others to live in the dorms.”

The students spent five days in Washington meeting with legislators about the bill.

McKemey, a junior from Tega Cay, South Carolina, is president of Sigma Nu fraternity at Ole Miss for the 2014-2015 school year. He was selected to speak at the Fraternity and Sorority PAC reception and dinner.

“I was honored to represent Sigma Nu and Ole Miss,” McKemey said.

Courtesy Ole Miss News Desk