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

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WHY GEORGE LUCAS WONT RETURN OUR CALLS FIFTEEN MINUTES OF FAME When ESPN arrived on campus in Summer 2010 to film a commercial parody about the Ackbar movement, students, community members and even Dean of Students Sparky Reardon were more than willing to join in on the action. H6- .,.., — . — OLE MISS STUDENT VM ION ' w i i

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. eV- CATF,s e ' V- OEADe tBEAR V RtACt WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED WHAT IT COULD HAVE BEEN THE WAY WE SEE IT Since our new on-field mascot had not been created at the time the O e Miss went to press, we decided to take matters into our own hands. Enjoy. DISCLAIMER: RENDERINGS DO NOT REFLECT ANY CREATIVE ABILITY. NONE WHATSOEVER. -V?-

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I It starred as a joke and became a movement. Six davs before the student body was called to vote on whether to accept the responsibilit)- of developing a new mascot, four students came together to fill a void for those who were ready to lay Colonel Reb to rest. Drawing comedic inspiration from a squid- like Star Wars character, Tyler Craft, Matthew- Henry, Joseph Katool and Benjamin McMurtray launched the Ole Miss Rebel Alliance and unwitdngly introduced Admiral Ackbar as a potendal mascot candidate. We were just thinking of funny ideas, Katool said. We were looking into pop culture and famous people around Mississippi. We really thought, AVe are rebels! Ole Miss Rebel Alliance! VCTio leads it? Admiral Ackbar! ' Not long after, a wooden sign sat in the Grove promoting Ackbar, which immediately drew widespread attention. Katool, an art major, took creative charge designing the campaign, while Craft and Henry led faithfully from the depths of their pockets. They created a Facebook page, purchased sidebar ads and created their own website. This joke among friends quickly spread throughout campus as a way to give the student body a voice in the selection of a new mascot without negativit} ' , McMurtray and Katool said. The original ballot asked, Do you want an on- field mascot? , with the options ' es, ' ' No, ' or i don ' t have a preference. ' Protest campaigns launched by local organizations were suddenly on a mission to persuade students to vote ' no. ' The whole mascot issue was getting really heated, Katool said. We wanted to make sure aO the smdents knew what the vote was about. Those looking for an alternative to the battle between a new mascot and the colonel ' s resurrection suddenly had a common, albeit laughable, rallying point. And four jokesters found themselves at the forefront of not only a campus movement, but a national media blitz - one that remcwed focus from a universir - clinging to images representative of its divisive past to one where smdents were ready to move on. It took seven days for the organization to evolve from a novelt}- piece circulating around the SEC blog circuit to a national story featured on the Web sites of the Adanta journal Constitution, the Washington Post and MSNBC, as well as entertainment site TMZ. com. While the creators made their mark on campus with the alien-like mascot, they also sparked attention at a greater level when ESPN decided to feamre the universit} ' by filming a commercial on campus for the national ad campaign, It ' s not crazy, it ' s sports. I was sitting in my cubicle at work and 1 got a voicemail, Katool said. The dean of students (Sparky Reardon) wanted my contact information to give to ESPN. ESPN asked Katool and McMurtray to gather those involved in the development of the Ackbar movement. The commercial a ired in September 2010, feamring Reardon, Katool, McMurtray and many other students. Through their humility and passion for promoting a new on-field mascot, the group ' s creation gained a lot more attention than expected. It ' s unbelievable how much attention it got, but at the same time it worked, McMurtray said. story ALEX MCDANIEL HOLLY REEVES photos NICK TOCE Screen shots courtesy of YouTube ESPN. Ackbar appears courtesy of Lucasfilm, Ltd. THE MASTERMINDS BEHIND THE OLE MISS REBEL ALLIANCE: 1) TYLER CRAFT 2) JOSEPH KATOOL 3) BENJAMIN McMURTRAY 4) MATTHEW HENRY BELOW (LEFT) The Associated Student Body decides to bring the proposed mascot referendum to a campus-wide vote during a special session in Heb- ruar ' 2010. Weeks later, sevenn,-four percent of students who voted chose to begin a student-led process to develop a new mascot for the university ' . (RIGHT) A sign featuring Admiral . ckbar sits in the Grove days before the referendum. Joseph Katool developed the images used for all Ole Nfiss Rebel Mliance promnrional material. -49-