Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Who The Hell Are We?


Hotty Toddy, Gosh almighty – who the hell are we? The debate over the mascot to represent the Ole Miss Rebels continues this week in Oxford.

The Colonel Reb Foundation is doing all that they can to preserve the original mascot, Colonel Rebel, to the University of Mississippi. This week, deemed “Colonel Reb Week”, is the foundation’s latest attempt to put the Rebel Black Bear to permanent hibernation.

A series of events have been planned by the foundation to celebrate the banished former University of Mississippi mascot. Over the course of the week, participants will have the opportunity to deliver a petition to Chancellor Dan Jones’ office, party with the Colonel at a local apartment complex and even participate in a fictional “Great Louisiana Black Bear Hunt."

The goal of the week, according to Kellie Norton, a junior journalism major leading the Colonel Reb Foundation, is to draw more awareness to restore the Colonel Reb as the school’s mascot. Even though the university’s administration seems to have shut the door after a painful eight-year process of removing the old, selecting the new and advertising the benefits of a mascot, hope may not be out of reach.

Purdue University announced in April that they will be bringing back the old Purdue Pete mascot following fan outcries after the new mascot’s debut just days earlier. After attempting to revise its mascot, Purdue University received an alarming reaction as the new mascot was literally booed off the field by Purdue fans at the annual Black and Gold football games Saturday, April, 14.

Though Purdue Pete was updated mainly to refrain from scaring small children, Colonel Rebel was removed from the field in 2003 because the reviled mascot brought the Confederacy to mind.

The Rebel Black Bear won 62 percent of the vote in a final poll and replaced the goateed Southern planter, who cheered on the rebels from the sidelines since 1979. The black bear defeated two other nominees: the “Rebel Land Shark,” based on the “fins up” hand motion started by late football player Tony Fein, and “Hotty Toddy,” a gray human-like character that personified the school cheer.

Students around the University of Mississippi have differing opinions about the mascot selection.

"I think it's hypocrisy. I think the fans of Ole Miss still want Colonel Reb. We have a petition with 3,500 signatures of students who still want Colonel Reb as their mascot, and that's the way it should be," said Brian Ferguson, a 2007 graduate who is a member of the Colonel Reb Foundation.

“I don’t see the big deal. We’re still the Rebels, and we always will be. The mascot was offensive to some of our fans, so away he went. The Rebel Black Bear was one of many options that was chosen by the majority of students, so he is better suited to represent the university as a whole. He’s still a rebel – just not a white man,” said Mia McElroy, a current student at the university.

While some students debate over which mascot is more appropriate, Lindsey Eakes feels that no mascot at all would be the best choice.

“You can’t please everyone. Other schools got lucky with a mascot that obviously isn’t offensive. I think the university should just go back to no mascot at all if students, faculty and alumni are just going to go back and forth in dispute,” said Eakes.

Though licensing of Colonel Reb's image ended this summer, he can still be found on bumper stickers, lapel pins and other merchandise on display at Rebel games.

Monday kicked off the events of the Colonel Reb Week with “Greeks + Colonel Reb”. Tuesday was “Colonel Reb Colors Day” which requested supporters to wear any material advertising the mascot.

Thursday is “The Great Louisiana Black Bear Hunt.” Supporters who buy a $20 bear hunting license can get into several bars for free Thursday night around the Square. Once supporters have gone to every participating bar and received a sticker on their license, they may take the license to Taylor’s Pub and receive a free Colonel Reb Bear Hunt t-shirt. As of Wednesaday, the participating bars include Taylor's Pub, The Levee, Round Table, The Cellar and Frank and Marlee's.

For more information on Colonel Reb Week and for a full schedule of the week’s events, visit www.saveolemiss.com.

Sidney Williams

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