Oxford, Miss. -- Colonel Reb, the mascot at the University of Mississippi, may soon be in for major changes. Posted on 05/20/2003 7:32:35 PM PDT by Pokey78
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said Monday that the mascot, decked out in red and blue and outfitted like an 18th century Southern gentleman, should no longer represent sports teams at the Oxford school.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."
Hey! If Arkansas can have a hog as a mascot, then Ole Missy surely can have a bottom-feeding piscean throwback.
Go, Dawgs!
using their "logic"; cotton pickers would be more representative...
I saw this post the other day and had very similar thoughts.
How about a character of a big fat rapper (rap music). They could play obscene rap music at half time while this mascot jumps around making gang symbols with his hands and maybe whips out a pistol every once in a while. The cheerleading HO's would be a nice addition.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.