Posted on 05/20/2003 6:38:19 AM PDT by stainlessbanner
OXFORD, Miss. - Colonel Reb, the mascot at the University of Mississippi, may soon be in for major changes.
Ole Miss athletics director Pete Boone said Monday that the mascot, decked out in red and blue and outfitted like an 18th century Southern gentleman, should no longer represent sports teams at the Oxford school.
"It doesn't fit anything we do," Boone said.
Coming up with an alternative has been a problem, so Colonel Reb will stick around at least through the 2003 football season, Boone said.
It's possible there could be a change for the 2003-04 basketball season, he said.
"We have made a stab at looking for a new mascot, but have failed miserably," Boone said.
Colonel Reb has been considered by some to be a symbol of the Old South and the Confederacy.
Chancellor Robert Khayat has considered changing the school's image by dropping some racially negative symbols.
In 1983, Ole Miss faculty and staff officially disassociated the school from the Confederate battle flag. The alumni association took similar action in 1991.
In October 1997, the Ole Miss student senate adopted a resolution urging students to refrain from waving the Confederate flag at Ole Miss athletic events and Ole Miss fans largely went along.
Also in 1997, Khayat, a former athlete at Ole Miss, hired the New York-based firm Burson-Marsteller to perform a study on Colonel Reb and other symbols at Ole Miss.
He said the primary purpose of the study was to provide guidance in efforts to strengthen the academic reputation of the university, which encompasses four campuses.
After the study was completed months later, Khayat announced Colonel Reb may get a fashion update for a more "vital" look in the near future, but that the school's athletic director would make that decision.
Short of that, any decision about the school's symbols will have to come from students and alumni, he said.
The private Ole Miss Loyalty Foundation that supports athletics recently spent $30,000 for the New York-based Phoenix Group to study Colonel Reb, Ole Miss lettering and logos.
Ole Miss may ask for suggestions in a design contest that opens it up to students, alumni and other supporters during the 2003-04 school year.
No matter what's done, just talk of changing the Ole Miss mascot generates e-mails and gets the attention of fans, officials say.
"People get very passionate about Ole Miss," said Jeff Alford, associate vice chancellor for communications. "Logos and images like that get old, outdated and stale," Alford said.
The athletic department felt it was a good time to freshen the image, he said.
Other colleges around the nation and pro sports teams are constantly updating their symbols and logos, Alford said.
"Big-time college sports is a very competitive industry," Alford said. "If you don't keep up, you stop being competitive."
You're probably not far off the mark. South may be changed in all dictionaries to "not-the-north". As in -- "I've been livin' in not-the-north all my life." Or, Not-the-North Carolina. It may even affect Not-the-North Dakota. My whole family is full of not-the-northerners. A little awkward, but we'll get used to it just to please our PC friends in north and the not-the-north.
There it is. Perfect example. "Cultural imperialism", a New York firm being invited to pimp over the symbols of the Old South, and help destroy them.
So, what's Khayat's deal? He dislike Southerners? I can see all the money- and image-conscious guys in the Alumni Association slaving for Northern-dominated firms, running away from Old South imagery. After all, cultural and personal mirroring (sucking up, for those of us who prefer our English unvarnished) is all about job preservation and getting ahead.
As for the student orgs -- someone call Orkin. They've got liberal termites.
Damn Yankee carpetbaggers....
He's a former law professor.
-archy-/-
Wouldn't you just know it. You gotta have the right people for the job ya know.
Makes perfect sense. </sarcasm
Southern Gentlemen never go out of style.
We got some Dawgs up in hee-yuh....WOOF WOOF!
(lone cowbell ringing)
[Fight Song Tempo] Southern Mississippi to the TOP! To the TOP!
University of Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles!
All that aside, I always thought Colonel Reb looked like he's selling fried chicken, so losing the old logo should be no big thing. I hope Ole Miss can come up with a new logo/mascot that incorporates some of the old style into the image they want to portray.
FWIW, USM puts out updated logos of the Golden Eagle, as well as new mascot "uniforms" periodically.
Cowbell ringing proudly!!
BTW, I'm pleased to announce that my goddaughter will be attending MSU this fall. Her father, a Nebreska grad, is still in shock...
FRee dixie,sw
Shucks, the Confederate Air Force name is too good to die. If those other fellers drop that flag, somebody appropriate will come along to pick it up.
-archy-/-
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