Couple Supports Student Wellness Programs at Ole Miss

David Rogers, who oversees several camps, has witnessed many of his college-age counselors and even teenage campers struggle with anxiety and depression, leading to substance abuse, addictions and other disorders. Deborah Butt Rogers' grandmother Mary Holdsworth Butt served under six governors as a member of the Texas Mental Health Board, and her father, Howard Butt Jr., founded Laity Lodge, a renowned ecumenical retreat center designed to support mental and spiritual wellness.

The couple has given $500,000 to support the University of Mississippi Counseling Center. Funds will be used to promote and grow UM's Mental Health First Aid-Adult program – an evidence-based course that trains students to recognize and treat patterns of thoughts, feelings, behaviors and appearances that indicate the possibility of a mental health challenge. 

"We have 300 college kids every year running camps for up to 1,800 campers, and the current generation continues to face mental health issues," said David Rogers, president and CEO of the H.E. Butt Foundation. "I see it every summer."

The foundation is an operating organization focused on restoring people to better relationships and helping institutions better serve their communities. More than 63% of the foundation's programs – a youth camp, a family camp, an adult retreat center, an outdoor school and a camp that provides free facility use to qualifying groups – take place in the Texas Hill Country on 1,900 acres along the Frio River Canyon.

Each year, more than 20,000 guests visit the property, most for free because they would not otherwise be able to afford a quality camping experience. The retreats and camps encourage fellowship and community while focusing on individual reflection and wellness. 

"Every college campus is facing mental health issues, including Ole Miss, and students often don't have the resources to thrive," Rogers said. "A professional can help them through those times when they're having issues like anxiety or depression." 

Besides supporting the university's MHFA program, the couple's gift will be used to add two new counselors to the center's staff. 

"Deborah and I wanted to support the well-being of students for both of our alma maters," he said. "We worked with each university to identify their most urgent need and to help their students find support resources.

"Knowing that Ole Miss needed a couple more counselors this year, we wanted to support that. Maybe our gifts will cause some other families to recognize this is a good place to help the next generation of college students." 

The University Counseling Center provides services, such as individual counseling, group therapy and crisis intervention, to more than 2,000 students and about 150 faculty and staff members each year. Services include personal, couple and group counseling; stress management; crisis intervention; assessment and referrals; outreach; consultation; and substance abuse counseling. 

"The Rogers' gift means so much to the University Counseling Center and, ultimately, to our students who may be facing a variety of issues including anxiety, depression, substance abuse and adjustment to college," said Dr. Juawice McCormick, the center's director.

"We are extremely grateful to Deborah and David for their generosity. They are such wonderful people and really have a heart for supporting our work in mental health." 

The couple also made a similar gift to Baylor University, Deborah Rogers' alma mater. There, the gift supports an initiative to provide strength-based resilience education and a Well-Being Ambassadors Program.

Under three decades of David Rogers' leadership, the H.E. Butt Foundation has grown to one of the largest in Texas and one of the largest operating foundations in the nation.

Additionally, in San Antonio and South Texas, Rogers has led several community engagement initiatives, including efforts to support mental health awareness, build capacity for nonprofits, develop rural communities and address the challenge of socioeconomic inequity. 

Most recently, Rogers worked with the American Camp Association to employ a program similar to MHFA but specifically designed to train camp counselors to support mental wellness among campers. The program, in its third year, is being used by 70 camps nationwide, and Rogers expects the number to triple next year. 

A Gulfport native, Rogers earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Ole Miss in 1984 and an MBA from the University of Texas in 1991. In college, he was inducted into the student Hall of Fame and Omicron Delta Kappa, Order of Omega and Lambda Sigma honoraries.

The Deborah and David Rogers University Counseling Center Fund is open to gifts from businesses or individuals by sending a check, with the fund's name written in the memo line, to the University of Mississippi Foundation, 406 University Ave., Oxford, MS 38655, or give online here. 

For more information on how to support the UM Counseling Center, contact Patrick Salter, associate director of development, at psalter@olemiss.edu or 662-915-2712.

Top: David Rogers addresses leadership staff of the H.E. Butt Foundation at the opening of the 2024 summer season. Submitted photo