McCOMB - Like reports of a famous writer's death before his time was up, suggestions that the University of Mississippi would kill the name Ole Miss have been greatly exaggerated.
Or so it would seem, judging from a widely distributed column written a few days ago by University Chancellor Robert Khayat, who stated unequivocally: "We are the Ole Miss Rebels and will continue to present ourselves to the world under that name."
Some will say, well he's just reacting to the criticism and the alarms sounded by those protesting the decision to remove from athletic events this fall the Colonel Rebel mascot - a Disney-like character that somewhat resembles the stereotype of a pre-Civil War Southern planter.
I don't think so, but even if they are right, then they should be comforted by Khayat's assurances.
As a season ticket purchaser and a minor contributor to the Loyalty Foundation, I follow Ole Miss athletics probably a little closer than the average Mississippian and a lot closer than some of those - including people who didn't even go to Ole Miss - who are so alarmed by our "losing our traditions."
And I remain confident that Chancellor Khayat and Athletic Director Pete Boone - both Ole Miss alumni and former Ole Miss athletes - are better qualified to make decisions on a mascot than I. So I support them.
As for the mascot itself, many people overlook the fact that it has only been used on the field since 1979. Someone even sent me a copy of a column appearing in the Starkville newspaper (it was picked up from the Corinth newspaper) writing tongue-in-cheek about the death of Colonel Rebel at age 65. Even in Starkville, home of Mississippi State, they should know this doesn't add up.
I haven't seen this in print, but some people have even suggested to me privately that Ole Miss should adopt some sort of black mascot since, in their view, the change is being made to appease minorities.
The following isn't news to Ole Miss folks as old as I, but we used to have an unofficial black mascot.
Ironically, his clothes and walking stick were a lot like the ones worn recently by the Colonel Rebel mascot.
For several generations of students until his death in the 1950s, a tall black man known as "Blind Jim" was the closest thing Ole Miss had to a mascot.
The 1955 Ole Miss annual featured a picture of him with these words:
"Never has there been on the Ole Miss campus, a truer Rebel fan than Blind Jim, whose famous words are 'I've been following the Rebels for over 50 years and I have never seen them lose a ball game yet.'
"Every one who comes to Ole Miss knows Jim, and more than likely, if you have ever talked to him he will remember you also. He is known all over the United States for his undying loyalty for the Rebels. When things are not going so good for us out on the field, it is Jim who is the first to give a rousing Rebel yell and raise the Ole Miss spirit again.
"It is only fitting and proper to give and dedicate this page in the 1955 Ole Miss annual to Blind Jim, a true Rebel."
Jim, by then a very old man, died later that year. He had been a campus figure for many years and, I suppose, made a living off the generosity of students and alumni who gave him money.
Even in old age a handsome man, he was obviously once a powerful figure. I seem to recall reading he had been blinded in some sort of accident at an early age and at some point just showed up on the campus and was adopted by the students.
Many these days would call Jim an Uncle Tom. Some would call him a panhandler. I would call him a survivor.
In the 1950s we just called him Jim, and the 1955 annual had it right. He was, unofficially, a respected part of the institution.
That was a different era, of course, and many things have changed for the better. It certainly wasn't right for the only black person on the campus, aside from employees, to be a mascot.
Now 12 percent of the student body, along with a great deal of the faculty and the head basketball coach, are African-American.
Given the demographics of Mississippi, the ratio of black students is bound to increase if Ole Miss is to be a leading public university, competitive in athletics and academics in the future.
Will Ole Miss change in the future? Undoubtedly; just as it has in the past. But I predict it will always be called Ole Miss.
