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

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We are all different people and the differ- ences in our friends are what attracts us to them. People need human interaction to make life interesting. Diversity isn ' t only between races but between men and women, greeks and non-greeks, it ' s about all of us. To except your neighbors dispite their faults is to know that you have made it a long way. It takes a big person to sacrife their ideas to ensure the y° u wiu ever be t0 knowing what it ' s like to be rights of others. After you think about it for a someone else or something else is being with whil you realize that being around different peo- y° ur friends and listening to their experiences pie helps you put your life into perspectives that and learning from them. Learning is the ulti- you may not have thought of before. The closest mate S 03 - it EMBRACING- DIFFERENCES 18 M|SS October 1-3 the University sponsored a summit on race relations, named, Many Faces, Many Voices: One Solution . The summit involved 11 other colleges and universities. The objective of the weekend was to get peo- ple from different backgrounds to interact. The summit grew from a group of students gathering from Ole Miss and Jackson State University to discuss race issues. They eventually felt the issues they spoke about needed to be discussed by the student bodies of their respective universities. Together Jackson State and Ole Miss stu- dents, lead by S.E.E.D, planned the Summit on Race Relations. Schools throughout the state sent represena- tives of their student bodies to take part in a 3 day con- ference, organized of panels of students discussing racial topics. PARTICIPANTS IN RACE SUMMIT JACKSON STATE UNIVERSITY MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY DELTA STAE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI ALCORN STATE UNIVERSITY MISSISSIPPI UNIVERSITY FOR WOMEN MILLSAPS COLLEGE MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE RUST COLLEGE TOUGALOO COLLEGE Many Voices many faces PHOTOGRAPHS BY STEPHEN MILES AND RYAN PERNINI WRITTEN BY CAMILLA TAYLOR 117

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CAMP SPEAKS frcbcifig wc V£ ceice The job of the yearbook is to take a year of your life, freeze it in the form of articles and pictures, and deliver it as the Ole Miss Yearbook. Our jobs would not be finished if we only showed the best parts of Ole Miss and pol- ished over the real issues. Quite often Ole Miss is depict- ed negativly, with proclaims of ram- pant racism and sexism. While many students have not personally encountered either of these emotions, it would be ignorant to pretend they don ' t exisit. As we quickly approach the year 2000, University officials have com- mitted themselves to making Ole Miss a thriving multicultural body, readily excepting of others beliefs, and ideas. The way to reach our goal is to learn to embrace the differences in everyone. It is our place as future leaders at Mississippi ' s premire instiution to accept our neighbor for the unique person greatly created by an awesome God. A unique person that would be made inadequate if stripped of any part of their being. Regardless of popular believe, you are who you are for a reason, to make a difference in the role you were given. What kind of world would it be without difference? Ole Miss is different and that is part of her appeal. Ole Miss draws you in and teaches you the most valuable lessons in life, this makes Ole Miss special to us, but what is the job of a I University if not to give its students compassion and understanding. The times we live in make it hard to embrace the differences in our fel low man, because sometimes the most important thing to someone is th everything you have vowed to hate. My first year at Ole Miss 1 learned something that I alread} knew but had forgotten. A political science professor, Dr. C. Smith, explained in class one day the con- cept of Civil Liberties. He said, ' You can ' t deny someone the right tc do something they believe is right. If it is not illegal they have ever) right to do what they want as do I The day we began to take away thu rights of our neighbors is the day wc all lose. 116 r-aa j.!-

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Dr. Matthews Takes a Stab at Fencing... Professor of pharma- cology Dr. John Matthews plays fenc- ing, the near-mythical sport of nobles and gentlemen. Matthews took part in fencing ' s Summer National Championships in Charlotte, N.C., where he won a medal for eighth place in the Veteran ' s Men ' s Foil class. He nation- ally ranked fourteenth overall in his class. Fencing is the most fun I can imag- ine having legally. The more difficult the competition, the more fun it is. And, thanks to all the protective equipment, it ' s also one of the safest sports I know, Matthews said. Matthews began playing fencing ten years ago when the Ole Miss group was founded. He now serves as facul- ty adviser to the Ole Miss Fencing Club. In addition, Matthews teaches fencing to local children. Matthews plans on competing again next year at the Summer Nationals and hopes to place in the top four, which would qualify him for the World Cup Veterans Tournament.