JTC 26: Aiming to Change Lives

OXFORD, Miss. – Emily Davis didn’t know much about the University of Mississippi before touring campus on a whim. What she did know was that she wanted a place that felt like home, grounded in tradition but still personal. 

Davis, of Benton, Louisiana, came in looking for the energy of a large SEC campus but also wanted a place where she could be known and could work on building meaningful relationships with her professors. 

“I thought it was either one or the other,” she said. “Then I got here and realized a place like this exists.” 

Davis graduates in May with a bachelor's degree in exercise science from the School of Applied Sciences. She will continue her education at LSU Health Sciences in Shreveport, Louisiana, pursuing a master's in occupational therapy, a goal she has held since seventh grade. 

That goal began with a volunteer experience at a Night to Shine event, a prom-style celebration for individuals with special needs, hosted by her hometown church. 

“I got to see them experience the celebration, and I just fell in love with that community,” Davis said. “I went home and asked myself, ‘What can I do to be around this for the rest of my life?’” 

After exploring career options and learning from her mother, a physical therapist, Davis chose occupational therapy and mapped her academic path accordingly. What started as a personal passion became something more tangible once she arrived at Ole Miss, where she began to see potential for broader impact. 

During her sophomore year, Davis became involved with Special Olympics, where she met Bailey Beaird, who graduated in 2024 from the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College. Beaird's honors thesis helped shape her Davis' steps, laying out the groundwork for a four-year inclusive higher education program at Ole Miss. 

Building on that work, and in response to university feedback to begin with a smaller-scale model, Davis developed her honors thesis focused on launching READY, a four-week residential summer program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  

“After Bailey’s thesis, they were talking about starting a pilot program, and I was like, ‘Who’s going to do it?’” Davis said. “(Beaird) suggested, ‘That could be you.’”  

From then on, Davis stepped into a leadership role, helping transform the concept into a working program.  

The donor-funded initiative, designed to expand access to higher education through a structured, on-campus summer experience, will debut in summer 2026.  

The program offers a holistic introduction to college life, immersing participants in both academic and social aspects of the university environment. Participants will live in residence halls, attend classes, navigate campus using university transportation and engage in everyday routines that foster independence and confidence.  

What began as a small effort with Cade Smith, assistant vice chancellor for access and community engagement, and Tori Laing, a compliance specialist, quickly grew into a broader university collaboration. Davis spent much of her junior yearbuilding connections across campus, forming a task force and researching how similar programs operate. 

“My junior year was just meetings,” she said. “Reaching out to people, learning from other schools, just trying to make it real.” 

She traveled to the University of Alabama over the summer to study CrossingPoints, its inclusive higher education program. Davis kept detailed notes of each and every moment, bringing those insights back to Ole Miss. 

“The biggest takeaway from that trip was that things like this change lives,” she said. “Seeing students come in nervous and leave with confidence, meant everything.” 

READY team members say Davis’s leadership has been instrumental in bringing the program to life. 

“I was first struck by her calm, confident and warm presence,” said Smith, who met Davis during Beaird’s honors thesis defense. “At 22, she has a strong sense of who she is and how she can work with others to bring something meaningful into the world.” 

Rather than simply contributing to an existing initiative, Davis helped mold READY from the ground up.  Her work accelerated after that transition, particularly following her internship with the CrossingPoints program, Smith said. 

“She came back eager to roll out READY,” he said. “That experience gave her not just the theory but lived understanding of what a program like this should look like.” 

Her ability to translate that experience into action became clear during key moments of the program’s development. During a campus presentation about READY, Smith recalled being asked a detailed question about what a typical day in the program would look like. 

“I hadn’t experienced that yet,” Smith said. “But Emily had. She calmly said, ‘I can answer that,’ and she did. In that moment, she was the expert.” 

Through her work developing the program, Davis came to see a clear connection between READY and her future career, which reinforced her decision to continue the path to occupational therapy. 

“The goals of the READY program are the same as occupational therapy,” she said. “It’s about helping people gain independence and live a higher quality of life.”  

Although she will not be on campus for the program’s first full summer, Davis hopes to remain involved in the program as it continues to grow.  

“I would love to come back and be the READY occupational therapist,” Davis said. “I think it would be incredible.” 

As she reflects on her time at Ole Miss, Davis credits the people around her for making the journey possible: her advisers, professors, family, friends, fiancé and God. But, for Davis, this work has always been about something bigger than herself.  

“I think about being in the Grove 10 years from now, standing next to a student from the READY program and having fun tailgating,” she said. “That’s what keeps me going.” 

Top: Emily Davis, an exercise science senior from Benton, Louisiana, channeled her passion for serving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities into founding READY, a donor-funded residential summer program set to debut at Ole Miss in 2026, before heading to LSU Health Sciences to pursue a master's in occupational therapy. Photo by Srijita Chattopadhyay/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services