Let's Keep Building Ole Miss Up Rather Than Tearing Her Down By Taking Away Her Traditions And Heritage

The Lyceum

   I knew Willie Morris, Barry Hannah, Dr. Porter Fortune, Ron Shapiro and The Hoka. I knew the Rebel flag, the Rebels, Frat Row, the Dixie Song and Kentucky bourbon in my Coke on a Saturday football fall afternoon. I knew the Spirit of Ole Miss as I graced her hallways in The Lyceum on an early Spring morning or as I sat in a classroom at Bondurant Hall on a long, hot summer day. I knew the beat of her heart when I walked the Grove on a beautiful fall afternoon.

    And I can still hear her calling my name as I am one of thousands of students who knew and loved her as she was. Thirty three years later, it’s not a matter of how much money I have given her through the years. But it’s a matter of how much she has given me. She prepared me for the world, my career and how to be a family man. She made me into a productive and responsible citizen in my community.

My late mother and I in 1986 at Ole Miss

   
She has given me so much more than I could have ever given her. So the question is, “Would we recognize her today? No, I don’t think so. Has her spirit, heart and soul been destroyed? Yes, I think so. The liberals and socialists have crawled all over her like poisonous and diseased insects. So let’s keep building her up rather than tearing her down. Let’s keep her traditions and heritage alive so she will continue to have a positive impact on all of her student’s lives for future generations as she done for mine today. May God Bless Ole Miss and Hotty Toddy! (Pic below: My late mother and I in 1986).