Ole Miss - from James Meredith to Barack Obama

In 1991 when I showed up to the University campus just one mile from my parent's house, I had no idea what I was becoming a part of. I was 18, from Mississippi and going to a local college that was rumored to have many attractive co-eds. Sure, I was ambitious and hoping to get involved in campus politics, make good grades and find lifelong friends, but Ole Miss was not the special name then that it has become to me and many others. What is encouraging about this realization is that Ole Miss is not what it used to be but it also has a nostalgia that will not be forgotten (in a good, elegant sort of way). And thousands from other nationalities and states have discovered the wonder of being an Ole Miss graduate.

On the right, you see an up and coming eighth generation Mississippian who is looking more and more like an Ole Miss Rebel everyday!

In the photo on the left is my wife and me on the night that Barack Obama debated John McCain. The subject was to be foreign policy but John McCain had just one day prior threatened to not attend the debate because he needed to go to Washington to fix the financial crisis. This holier than thou attitude cost him in the debate but cost him even bigger back in smalltown, Mississippi where the public sentiment grew from rural Republican to join the Obama campaign rather quickly. When Obama got to Oxford, surely he had thoughts of William Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha and the colorful fictional characters he wrote about (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoknapatawpha_County), being inspired by his neighbors.

But could Obama not also have thought about James Meredith, the sole African-American who deeply aspired to a college education, so much so, that when faced with being turned away by the University, was escorted in by the National Guard and not without incident? What a flood of memories that could erupt from one's mind as you stroll down the Ole Miss campus not far from the tombs of Confederate soldiers who fought for the South, a slavery state. Right where you see us, we sat on that balcony watching as thousands more watched just below on a huge screened television as the candidates debated, just down the street is the performing arts center on University Avenue. And just down from there? A statue of James Meredith walking through a 17-foot-tall limestone portal with the inscribed words "courage," "perseverance," "opportunity" and "knowledge."

At a ceremony commemorating this event and introducing the statue, Mississippi resident and actor Morgan Freeman had these words to say, "Mississippi is a much better state today because of James Meredith, and this is a much better university. Thank you, Mr. Meredith."

When I was in college, Chris Rock appeared at Fulton Chapel (because we did not have the beautiful hall known as a performing arts center) and he opened with this line, "Oooollee Miissss. I sure hope this is New Miss or (use your imagination!). . . ."

Well guess what, Mr. Rock! President Obama has been there and the changes we made and the successes we had over the years are now shaping up to prove that Ole Miss is new and improved but it is still OLE MISS!