The James Meredith statue stands as a monument to civil rights, we have come a long way since 1962.

Del Mixon

JOUR 271

October 4, 2012

Ole Miss after the Crisis

 366

            OXFORD, MS-  “This is a very historic day for me to introduce such a distinguished panel.” Said David Sansing, a retired history professor and host for “Ole Miss after the Crisis”, “I get to introduce two people, who have already made the history books.”

            On October 4^th at the University of Mississippi’s Overby center, the final presentation of “50 Years of Integration: Opening the Closed Society”.

            The Presentation entitled, “Ole Miss after the Crisis” , tells the story of integration after James Meredith in 1962.  Civil rights activists and leaders of campus integration spoke.  The panel included Gerald Walton, Donald Cole, and Valerie Ross. 

            Walton, a retired faculty member, spoke about the history behind integration campus.  “If you had only knew what is was like the night of September 29^th 1962, you would know how much has changed considerably.” Said Walton.

            He recalls seeing the circle today with black students, white students, even Chinese students all walking together without a care in the world.  

            Cole, the second speaker, shared his perspective as a student in 1968, six years after integration.  Cole protested certain areas of the school that still hadn’t been integrated included sports team and the law school.  His protests had such a strong influence; he was expelled from the University, along with eight other African American students. Cole returned to Ole Miss as a graduate student and then later as a Mathematics professor. Today he describes the University as a “School of the two-thousands.”

            Ross spoke about the progress of the Black Student Union. She was a witness to the BSU protest of the Confederate flag and the dangers and betterment it raised.

            Ross is active with the University and revers its current culture.  “This campus and community has always been beautiful, but it has never before looked so attractive.” Ross said.

            All members of the panel shared an experienced point of view of  the turbulent past Ole Miss has had.

            Jeremy Ewing, a Freshman from Gulfport MS, has a fresh view of the campus.  “The school is very open minded and accepting, we are moving away from the stereotypical Deep South.”