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

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SPRING 2010 TRANSITION was the resounding theme of 2010 ' s spring semester; events surrounding the inauguration of Chancellor Dan Jones and the decision to develop a new mascot kept the campus buzzing with excitement and controversy. FEBRUARY 23, 2010 WE SAID GOODBYE TO COLONEL REB (AGAIN). NEARLY 2,500 VOTES became the nails hammered into the colonel ' s coffin in February 2010, almost seven years after administrators removed him from the sidelines. After months of heated and public debate concerning the choice to develop a new mascot, the student government put it to a vote, which resulted in a landslide decision to find new representation for the university. FEBRUARY MAY WE MET FAMOUS PEOPLE. IT ' S NO SECRET Oxford is a solid draw for well-known politicians, journalists, actors and authors, but nothing compares to the Spring 2010 guest speaker lineup. Former CBS news anchor Dan Rather returned to Oxford 48 years after covering James Meredith ' s historic enrollment to discuss what it was like as a journalist on the frontlines of the infamous 1962 integration riots on campus. photo AUSTIN MCAFEE photo ELIZABETH RAINEY ONE NIGHT WITH A SURVIVOR Author and Holocaust survivor Elie Weisel challenged students to stand up in the face of adversit) ' during his Spring ' isit to campus. photo ADDISON DENT NBC correspondent Tom Brokaw spent two weeks teaching Prof. Curtis Wilkie ' s honors journalism class as a Barksdale Fellow. WUkie, a former reporter for the Boston Cilobe, met the former Nightly News anchor in 1976 when Brokaw was working for the Today Show. photo NICK TOCE •What happens in one connmunity happens to all communities. This means evil cannot prevail. And evil can only prevail when people around it are indifferent to it. The opposite of love is not hatred. IT ' S INDIFFERENCE. -Elie Weisel -20-

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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-

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I THE RECAP WE LAUGHED. (A LOT) TRAPPED in controversy and often unflattering national attention, the spring sennester ushered in a brand-new era of laughing our way through the year. Of course, it always helps when fornner Saturday Night Live cast mennbers show up too. IMPROV NIGHT ( kimedian Tim Meadows, best known for his roles on Saturday Night Live (right) performs to a packed audience at the Ford Onter viith Second ( it) ' performers Brad Morris (left) and Joe Can ale. photo NICKTOCE WE BECAME THE STORY. . ' 5 T III ' 1) I I MISSISSIPPIAN H What happens next? -WHV TUtCEV MAITa n« tE EMERGENCE or r«stoacM owa- 2,510 856 2 ' ' crjr FEB. 23, 2010: What Happens Next? The ASB misconstrued what the (mascot) ballot said and they misinformed the students. Hannah Loy, May 2010 graduate MARCH 24, 2010: New York My guy stepped up and I just made a play. Murphy Holloway, on his game-winning shot which landed the team a spot in the NIT semifinals in New York. APRIL 9. 2010: The Docioi o in For Dan Jones, he comes into the chancellorship at a time when tough decisions are having to be made. The good news is we know he ' s up to it. Haley Barbour, Governor of Mississippi Sh