Ole Miss After the Crisis Assignment - Sarah Douglass

A panel of four discusses the University of Mississippi's progress made in the past 50 years.

Sarah Douglass
Jour 271
October 4, 2012
Word Count: 362

Ole Miss After The Crisis

UNIVERSITY, Miss. - This Thursday, prominent Ole Miss historian, David Sansing, inspired a crowded Overby Center Auditorium to work towards a better future. 

Sansing, with three other influential speakers, had the crowded room of students, faculty, Oxford residents, and administrators reflecting on the University of Mississippi’s past, present and future.  

The panel of speakers included, Valerie Ross, assistant dean of students for multicultural affairs and volunteer services, Gerald Walton, former Ole Miss professor, and Donald Cole, professor of mathematics. 

Each speaker’s 15 minute speeches stressed that courageous acts were the driving force for the progress of Ole Miss.

Walton stressed the importance of knowing one’s past in order to understand one’s present. 

Each speaker successfully painted a picture of Ole Miss’s past and helped the audience fully understand the progress that’s been made these last 50 years since James Meredith’s enrollment at Ole Miss. 

“Attending this seminar has really helped me get a better idea about Ole Miss’s history and how far we’ve come as a community,” Megan Hauglid, Junior journalism major at Ole Miss, said.  

The panelists took turns stressing the importance of continuing Ole Miss’s forward thinking. 

“We have come a long way, we have a long way to go, but it’s only going to get better,” said Walton.

Cole reflected on his days as one of the first African American students at Ole Miss. He joked about the “exotic” nature of hoping for African American faculty members, “going as far left” as wishing for integrated sports teams, and his plans for “fixing this town, this University, and this state.”

Ross talked about the changes at Ole Miss being “greatly owed to leadership.” And emphasized on the progress made at Ole Miss since her arrival as a secretary at the university. 

“Some challenges African American students shared with me was anxiety over going to the Grove and the Square.... Today, I’ve been to the Library on the square and on campus,” She said with a laugh. 

The panelists rallied “go outside [their] lane” as Ross put it, and work on continuing Ole Miss’s journey to a better future.

“I will continue to be bold,” Ross said as a promise the crowd.