Even after vote, will Ole Miss mascot debate rage on?

MEMPHIS — Today, thousands of students at the University of Mississippi will vote on whether to start the process of finding a new school mascot.

In 2003, school officials retired the Colonel Reb mascot, a bearded cartoonish figure who invokes the image of a distinguished veteran or a Southern plantation owner, depending on whom you ask.

Passions run high on both sides of the issue. Despite the decision to retire the colonel, the character remains a prominent part of campus culture.

Although Colonel Reb's name is not on the ballot, in many ways, today's vote will decide if he continues to be the unofficial face of the school or if sports fans will soon have a new image to embrace.

There are some things in life that we should never stop fighting for. I was born in a nation and an era when many of my civil and human rights are guaranteed by law. I will always work to ensure that those rights and freedoms are protected, respected and extended to those who face discrimination and oppression at home and abroad.

Freedom of speech is one such right that has become essential to American culture and it is often used in the Colonel Reb debate. As we hail freedom of speech, let us also remember the art of negotiation and the value of conflict resolution.

The Ole Miss community has been locked in a distracting debate over a mascot for an embarrassingly long time. Other universities and professional sports teams have faced and resolved similar mascot controversies. And the issue of representation is a familiar theme on college campuses.

As an undergraduate at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Mass., I headed a campus cultural organization. During my time as a student leader, there were moments of friction between different campus organizations and at one point, the college president invited me to her office for a one-on-one meeting. Instead of addressing the campus controversy, the president started our conversation by sharing her philosophy on education.

"The purpose of education is to advance an argument," she said.

I will never forget those words. They seem particularly relevant at this moment as I sit on a campus that has been locked in the same argument for the last seven years.

Today, I and thousands of other students at the University of Mississippi will vote. One side will win and the other side will lose -- that part of the script is evident. But I wonder if the debate over a mascot will continue to rage tomorrow?

Cathryn Stout, a native Memphian, is a former reporter for The Commercial Appeal. She is in graduate school at the University of Mississippi. Got a topic, good book or event you think will interest local women? Contact her at 901-529-2320 or memphischickchat@gmail.com.