University of Mississippi - Ole Miss Yearbook (Oxford, MS)

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7 PLACEMENT CENTER Y :?P! 38677 I am a Southerner. I like the sound of these words. I could no more be otherwise than I could shed my outer skin or change the color of my eyes. I know, because I have thought about it. Willie Morris This has been a year of challenged traditions at Ole Miss. Students and alumni have been forced to forfeit a part of their culture in the name of harmony, progress, and compromise. Some people ask why we have a change while others ask why it has taken so long. The fact is, whether we like it or not, Ole Miss has changed in 1983. A friend from up north asked me a question a few years ago that provoked me into a mental battle. Tinged with bitterness, yet genuine curiosity, he asked me, What is it with you people down South? You ' re constantly saying, The South will rise again, ' and stuff like that. Why won ' t you people just let the past For the next year or so when I thought about his question, I wondered if he was right. But one day I read the words quoted above fellow Mississippian, Willie Morris. Until :hen, I thought I was alone in my inner struggle Between shame and pride. Finally, I realixed tnose of us who cling ur roots so desperately. The answer was not jmple, nor was it fast in coming, but an answer oes exist for those outsiders who question our Jeep love for the South. Pride is the main reason; for we embrace our raditions. This emotion separates us from the f the country and urges us to defend our Itural heritage. We struggle to hold on to vnat we have in the South, because it is good People at Ole Miss are some of the lendliest you will find anywhere. (continued on back flap)