For the past 27 years, the Ole Miss chapter of Sigma Nu Epsilon Xi has honored the memory of Chucky Mullins and raised more than $2 million by playing its annual charity football game to support victims of paralysis. Each year, a recipient is selected by the chapter to receive a sizable donation at halftime of the Charity Bowl with aspirations to alleviate some of the financial burden on his or her family because of the tremendous medical costs associated with injuries similar to that of Mullins, a former Ole Miss football player who was tragically paralyzed in 1989.
The 2018 Charity Bowl will take place at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Thursday, April 12 at 7 pm.
This year’s recipient is former Hoover High School and Harvard University football player Ben Abercrombie, who was paralyzed from the neck down during the first football game of his college career. Abercrombie’s story has been told through multiple notable outlets such as ESPN’s College Gameday. The Ole Miss Sigma Nu Chapter has selected Abercrombie so that it can assist with his medical expenses and establish a college fund in hopes he will be able to finish his academics and ultimately obtain his degree.
The Sigma Nu Charity Bowl was founded in 1990 to honor Mullins, who was paralyzed during the 1989 Ole Miss Homecoming game against the Vanderbilt Commodores. The inception of the Charity Bowl was a cornerstone of the unification of the community that still remains and serves as a remembrance of such a unique time while generating hundreds of thousands of dollars for regional individuals that experienced similar traumas as Mullins.