Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Ole Miss Students Dump Colonel Reb

The racial history of Ole Miss is not a happy one.

This was one of those universities, after all, that had to be desegregated by force. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy had to call out the troops so that James Meredith could go to class at the University of Mississippi.

Today, however, another vestige of the Old South bit the dust. The students voted to do away with their mascot, known as Colonel Reb. Read the Washington Post story about it here.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Just to clarify... the students did NOT vote to do away with the mascot. Colonel Reb has been gone from the Ole Miss sidelines for more than a decade. When he was banished, there was no vote by the students. The administration made the understandable decision for them.

What the students will vote on is a replacement mascot, as the team has not really had one at games since the Colonel was sent packing.

There was a new mascot chosen several years ago. However, it was not embraced by the students or alumni. Hopefully, enough time has passed, since Colonel Reb has been gone, that the process will go much more smoothly this time. It is time to put this to bed and move on!