Through his new position as the School of Pharmacy’s development officer, Port Kaigler is excited to give back to the school that has been, and always will be, deeply involved in his life.
Kaigler grew up in Gulfport and has an extensive family history tied to Ole Miss. His mom, dad, older brother and nearly every maternal aunt and uncle attended the university. As a result, Kaigler could not help but develop a love for the school as well.
Kaigler graduated in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in political science and said the university is a part of him.
“Ole Miss is in my blood,” Kaigler said.
Kaigler is now a month into his job as development officer for the School of Pharmacy. He describes his new title as a “fancy way of saying ‘fundraiser.’”
“My goal primarily is to go out and develop relationships with alumni and donors, specifically for the School of Pharmacy,” Kaigler said. “My job is to get out there and try and find those donors who have it in their hearts to give to Ole Miss.”
This is not Kaigler’s first time working with alumni. For the past seven years, he worked for the Ole Miss Alumni Association. He also worked in the office of the Division of Outreach and Continuing Education as an undergraduate student.
Kaigler said although he enjoyed his previous work for the Alumni Association, his real goal was to work in the Office of Development, which he applied to twice in the past few years, before landing the job.
“Third time’s the charm,” Kaigler said.
His drive to work in development stems from a strong desire to help students. Kaigler said it was hard to see if his work was paying off at the Alumni Association, but as a development officer, the benefits to students will be more direct and visible.
Kaigler aims to be on the road Tuesday through Thursday, going out and meeting as many people as possible, whether it be with pharmacists or national chain pharmacies like Walgreens.
Eighty percent of the School of Pharmacy alumni live in Mississippi, so a lot of Kaigler’s travel can be done by car, which is beneficial to his family life. While most development officers can fly, Kaigler is able to go home to his family some nights.
Kaigler said he hopes his 7-year-old daughter, Rowan, and 4-year-old son, Davenport, will attend Ole Miss, but the decision will be up to them.
Kaigler said considering the recent decrease in state financial aid, he wants to make sure he helps students in the best way possible.
“I just really want to see what I’m doing for the university is helping students,” Kaigler said. “Less and less money from the state is coming in, so private giving is becoming more and more important to the university.”
