Ole Miss Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Integration

Leslie Dickinson

Jour 271

October 4, 2012

Panel discussion story

420 words

 Ole Miss Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Integration

In 1962 James Meredith was admitted the University of Mississippi, he was the first black to attend the University. 50 years later Ole Miss celebrates the progress of the university’s accomplishment of integration. With the close of the events of the 50^th celebration of integration, students, faculty and alumni gathered at Overby Center Thursday morning about the racial progress since 1962.

“With controversy, you expect criticism”, said Chancellor Jones as he opened the panel discussion. He told the audience that this particular topic of integration brought much controversy and with that controversy, criticism comes along. David Sansing, professor and author, led the discussion with beginning with saying the panel will discuss where the university was, where it is now, and where it will be. Donald Cole, Valeria Ross, and Gerald Walton were the 3 individuals that went back in the past to talk about the progress of racial integration.

Valarie Ross, pictured above, gives her views on the progress of racial integration on campus. 

Walton and Cole were the first 2 speakers that gave their stories, as they were both at the university at the time of the beginnings of integration. Walton was a young professor in 1962 and Cole was a black student that was admitted in 1968. Those years were “interesting times”, Walton said. “The university made magnificent strives”. Cole who was a student at the time is now a faculty member and administrator at Ole Miss. Cole while attending Ole Miss participated in civil rights protests on campus that led him to get expelled. He later came back in 1977 to work. “It was natural to have protest here” said Cole.“ Protest were happening all over America”.

Valeria Ross brought the panel discussion to the present with her views on the progress of racial integration in the past 22 years. Ross is an assistant dean of students and chairman of the black history month committee. She described the university by saying it had never been so beautiful than it is today, referring to all the change socially for black students. She ended her 15-minute segment with saying that students and faculty need to continue looking in the mirror and have open dialogue to continue changing the university.

With the 50^th anniversary came some milestones for the black community. There is a black president of the ASB and there is a black homecoming queen. “I think it is a great thing for the university to have milestones like this, it shows that we have come a long way since James Meredith walked onto this campus”, said Tanya Howington, sophomore at Ole Miss.