<p>"The University of Mississippi wants to stop going by its nickname and improve campus race relations. Students are not happy." ...</p>
<p>I can see changing the name as a matter of official practice. Going further than that would likely generate more problems, not fewer.</p>
<p>I did not know about the origin of the phrase “Ole Miss” until recent months when my son considered attending. I have had trouble getting used to people calling me “Miss” so-and-so since I moved to Florida (barely the “South” but still influenced by some of the traditions.). It did not stick out to me as a remnant of plantation life, though. I just did not like the deference involved by people who are my peers and friends. Cashiers calling me “miss”? Sure, though I am too old for that really. That said, I have never liked being called "Miss (first name), and especially when my African American friends at church call me “Miss …” rather than just call me by my first name, but I don’t say anything because I don’t know if they would be offended. I hope I am not offending them by not using “miss.” To be safe, I just call everyone “brother” and “sister” :)</p>
<p>Anyway, I think I would rather see the school get rid of the whole Hotty Toddy greeting and replace the profanity in the school’s fight song. Packing up the Confederate flag won’t solve the issues, but open honest discussion might. One of the first guys my son met at Alabama orientation recently told my son and others in the group that the best thing about his home city was that it was segregated (and that student was not from Alabama but from Michigan.) My son could not believe how casually the guy said such a thing, and it certainly is not something we have heard much while out west, and not openly while here in the south. If my son had had some more time with him, he would have asked him to explain that a bit more. Perhaps something good could have come from that. It is hard to talk about the tough stuff if people are not willing to say what they really think.</p>
<p>There is much work to do on all sides. My son has played team basketball for years and wanted to play at Bama Bound. Of course, blue eyed and blonde, he was picked last for the teams, along with another blonde. The two of them were put together against the other non-blonde team, and when in a matter of minutes, he and his teammate were making basket after basket, the other guys decided that they needed to stop the game and choose teams again :). It all worked out. My son was not offended (he had been through that so many times before) and he got to play ball for hours, and the other guys learned to be a little more open-minded.</p>
<p>I had never given any thought to the name before</p>
<p>This is my D1’s top choice. I cringe every time I think about it. But I have to consider that she is going there for the best opportunity to reach her goals and to ignore the past. What has encouraged me is the efforts being made by the school. They recognize the historical problems and they aren’t afraid to tackle them.</p>
<p>I am sorry that you cringe when you think about your daughter attending Ole Miss. We were very impressed by the school, and we were on campus not long after the noose event, and were treated to tours by a very diverse group of students. The university has excellent programs, and excellent students, and I am confident that those students can figure this out on their own, working together. Seems like one common thread is that the Greek system brings with it a lot of problems - I have no appreciation for such a system and would not miss it at all if the university decided to minimize the influence of those groups on campus. So maybe start there rather than banning words.</p>
<p>I think it is too easy to say that the University of Mississippi deals with any more racism than other campuses around the country. It is a bias against the South that holds on, yet, incidents of racism happen all over, and some of the worst institutional racism occurs outside of the South. Political correctness and attempts to wipe away the history will not solve the problems. In fact, I wonder what African Americans (particularly in Mississippi), whose ancestors made it through the atrocities of slavery, and built this country with literal blood, sweat, and tears, think about the efforts to wipe out the history of plantation life and the Confederacy. Shouldn’t students be taught about both, and frequently, so that they truly understand why such a way of life was not the right way of life? Or at lesat why some people thought it was right, and some thought it was wrong. And why should those few, who may still wax romantic about those days, be able to bury that past? Put plantation life as it truly was on full display. Educate people. That is what a university is supposed to do, isn’t it? And it seems to me that Ole Miss has an opportunity to take the lead with this. But if some of the faculty insist on banning words, rather than educating students, it will all come to nothing.</p>
<p>I hope your daughter gets to attend, and that you will be able to come to terms with it (her great education will likely help with that.) My twins plan to apply to Ole Miss, because I am not sure we will be able to swing Alabama for them - plus they both preferred Ole Miss anyway - there are some wonderful programs there. I would not be ashamed at all for them to attend the University of Mississippi.</p>
<p>@chesterton Thanks for taking the time to write your message, it is very encouraging. We have analyzed all of the college options, scholarships, and programs, for what she wants University of Mississippi shines above the rest. Though she has the stats to get into prestigious universities, it would be a big mistake for her to look elsewhere. The commitment to Mississippi is so high that her application was submitted at 3 minutes past midnight after the application period started. </p>
<p>I just got back from our second visit to Ole Miss. Previously it was a one-day visit just to check out the campus, this time it was for student and parent orientation. In my opinion, people who think Ole Miss has a problem with racism, more so than other places, just doesn’t know the place. Everyone on campus is extremely courteous to everyone else, as far as we could see, and it made no difference what color anyone was. You see white and black students walking, talking and laughing together all over the place. Of course I don’t know it that well but my initial impressions are very positive. </p>
<p>@frugaldoctor - Didn’t realize you have a kid applying to colleges this year. Why not USC or Clemson?</p>
<p>IMO, University of Mississippi has the best Chinese Language Flagship. Their director has been fantastic. Unfortunately USC and Clemson, both schools I love, are not in the picture because they lack the Chinese Flagship. </p>