It has been more than a decade since the University of Mississippi began stripping away its images of the Old South. Confederate battle flags were first to go. Next was mascot “Colonel Reb,” the goateed Southern planter who cheered on the Rebels from the sidelines since 1979.
The new mascot is part of an effort to remove past racial tensions that date back to 1962, when a deadly riot followed James Meredith’s attempt to become the university’s first black student.
The university, known as Ole Miss, has struggled for more than a decade with how to retain tradition while shedding symbols of the Old South, stretching back to slavery though the Civil War, racial segregation and the modern civil rights struggles.
So, after seven years and plenty of bickering, his successor was named on Thursday: “Rebel Black Bear” won 62 percent of the vote in a final poll and will become the new face of the school’s athletic programs.
Tradition dies hard in Oxford, where thousands of fans turn out in ties and sundresses on fall Saturdays for elaborate pre-game parties.
Picking a replacement became a matter of statewide import and the subject of online pranks, like the suggestion of a “rebel” from the Star Wars movies, Admiral Ackbar.
In the end, the smiling black bear won out, defeating two other nominees: the “Rebel Land Shark,” based on the “fins up” hand motion started by late Rebel football player Tony Fein; and the “Hotty Toddy,” a gray human-like character that aimed to personify a school cheer.
“I know there was a lot of people emotionally invested in Colonel Reb and everybody might not completely agree with the bear, but I think everyone can be proud of how our students went about the process,” said Sparky Reardon, the university’s dean of students.
The black bear is connected to Ole Miss through one of the state’s famous sons, Nobel Prize-winning novelist William Faulkner, who penned The Bear. In it, Old Ben stands as a symbol of pride, strength and toughness. The tale of the “teddy bear” originated with the story that former US president Teddy Roosevelt refused to shoot a bear on a Mississippi hunt in 1902.
Margaret Ann Morgan, a co-chairman of the student mascot selection committee, said the bear was recommended because it had a Mississippi connection, would appeal to children and would be unique to the Southeastern Conference.
Some of the colonel’s faithful staged protests earlier this year and attempted to derail the search for a new mascot in the last few weeks by gathering signatures to make Colonel Reb one of the choices.
“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 also a member of the Colonel Reb Foundation.
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.
Renderings of the new mascot show the burly black bear wearing a blue sports jacket for appearances on the campus and a dressed in a football jersey or a basketball uniform for games.
Whether Rebel Black Bear will be accepted is still unknown.
Roy Yarbrough, a professor at California University of Pennsylvania who consults with schools on choosing new mascots and symbols, said Ole Miss could spend US$100,000 or more for costumes, letterhead and marketing fees.
He said there’s still a risk the bear will be rejected, citing the example of a school in Pekin, Illinois, that once had a racial epithet for Chinese people as its mascot. They changed it in the 1980s, but it’s still a sore issue.
“If no one accepts the new mascot, Colonel Reb could make a comeback,” he said.
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