“Why Ole Miss?”
This question has been a constant in my life since I decided to attend the University of Mississippi School of Law. Upon the announcement of my decision to certain individuals I have seen varied responses. In the faces of my family and my friends I have seen joy, pride, sadness, disgust and confusion. Those who have been to Oxford recently seem to understand my decision. And so I turn the question to the Commission of Presidential Debates. Why have you chosen the University of Mississippi for the first and probably most important Presidential debate?
“Why Ole Miss?”
Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain will meet at the University of Mississippi on September 26th, 2008. During their stay in Oxford, they are likely to see the statue commemorating the desegregation of the university by James Meredith in 1962. They are likely to drive through the old Southern square, where the state flag of Mississippi is almost entirely overshadowed by the upper left hand corner of it, where the Confederate battle jack is prominently displayed. These two presidential candidates will do battle with words in a state that has often been called “reactionary” and “stubborn.” It is a state that is one of the least likely to be in play in this election cycle. In the universally acknowledged “change” election:
“Why Ole Miss?”
In part, the selection of the University of Mississippi for the first Presidential debate of 2008 is an acknowledgment of the progress the university has made in recent years. This quiet, uniquely Southern town of nearly 13,000 is likely to welcome the 3,000 journalists expected for the debate as readily as they accept the 15,000 Ole Miss students every semester. Oxford has become an extension of Ole Miss unlike any other college town. It is unique in that the town gives off a vibe of being all about Ole Miss. Undoubtedly, Oxford’s reputation as being an excellent college town and Ole Miss’s reputation as an excellent university weighed heavily on the minds of the Commission of Presidential Debates as they made this decision.
Although the venue was announced long before Barack Obama was even favored in the Democrat primary, it seems almost destiny that he appear here, in Oxford, the first African-American candidate for President. His arrival in Oxford will show a much different side of the town than many remember in 1962, when federal marshals went face to face with state law enforcement officials beneath the beautiful magnolias in the grove and atop the streets of Oxford.
So why Ole Miss? Because it’s not your grandmother’s Oxford. It is the New South, a place where a Yankee boy from Muncie, Indiana can be welcomed while getting an excellent legal education. It’s a place where the first African-American Presidential candidate can be welcomed as well. It is a hospitable town that has been entirely changed since 1962, but refuses to be ashamed of its past. America is finally giving Oxford its well-deserved second chance. I look forward to the coverage and analysis of my new hometown this September, and I will be providing coverage of my own to you.
