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Letter From Chancellor: New Advisory Committee on History and Contextualization
Photo by Robert Jordan, Ole Miss Communications
Greetings,
Spring has arrived, and with it the campus has transformed from the winter season into a spectacular array of colors and signs of renewal. I particularly want to thank Jeff McManus and his team in Landscape Services for the incredible work they do to showcase our beautiful campus.
I’m writing today about another vibrant process we are going through: a continuing journey to recognize our university’s history, learn from it, and be a national model for moving forward. Earlier this month I wrote to inform you of the forthcoming installation of a plaque to contextualize the Confederate statue at Lyceum Circle. The creation of the plaque was in response to a key recommendation of the 2014 action plan.
Last summer, Dr. Morris Stocks, as interim chancellor, appointed Drs. Donald Cole, Andrew Mullins, Charles Ross, and David Sansing to draft the language for this plaque, as well as ways to contextualize Paul B. Johnson Commons, Lamar Hall, and Vardaman Hall. For the first project, this esteemed committee of experts worked diligently to balance perspective and history, and in late fall they completed a recommendation for the plaque wording. The plaque arrived and was installed in front of the Confederate statue on March 17.
Since then, the committee and I have received a great deal of input from the community. While the strong majority of comments has been supportive of both the contextualization concept and the specific language of the plaque, we received three important messages: (a) lack of awareness of the committee and its work, (b) insufficient opportunities for community input, and (c) suggestions to change the wording of the plaque.
During a meeting Thursday evening with the four committee members, two faculty members from the Critical Race Studies Group, and representatives from the UM NAACP student chapter, I announced that later this semester I will formally establish the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on History and Contextualization. The goal is to provide a process going forward that is transparent, inclusive, and aligned with our Creed. I am pleased to report that Drs. Cole, Mullins, Ross, and Sansing have agreed to serve on this new committee, and we will add additional experts to the committee after seeking input from the university community.
The Advisory Committee will be charged with completing contextualization of the remaining three projects (Johnson Commons, Lamar Hall, and Vardaman Hall), determining if and how other contextualization projects should be undertaken, and assisting in telling more of the story of the university’s history.
The Advisory Committee will develop a range of mechanisms to ensure broad community input. We may also add ad hoc members to the committee on a temporary basis with specific expertise relevant to an individual project.
At the meeting Thursday, the four committee members also expressed their interest to consider all input received to date about the wording on the plaque at the Confederate statue, as well as to invite further suggestions from the UM community to help determine whether and how the plaque should be revised. I have complete respect for the process followed, and in that light, I respect the committee’s request to have more time to rethink their recommended wording. I agree that everyone who wants to provide input should be able to do so.
If you want to provide input, please do so by April 8, after which the committee will look at all responses and determine whether the wording on the plaque should change and, if so, what it should say. On the Campus Briefs section of the university Web page, the committee has posted information about how to provide input. You may also wish to listen to an interview with Dr. Don Cole and me conducted by Mississippi Public Radio.
I close by thanking all who have contributed to the process. We are fortunate to have a university community so dedicated to creating an inclusive and welcoming climate for all. I am committed as your chancellor to doing all I can to make our university a vibrant magnet to attract and retain the very best minds from Mississippi and around the world. Thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey S. Vitter,
Chancellor
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Barry
March 29, 2016 at 3:11 pm
I’m sure the heritage groups are going to have a fit.
KD
March 29, 2016 at 8:18 pm
Where does crap like this stop? Political correctness has killed this once great university. I’m offended by a group entitled the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the university association with such a group. I’m for the advancement of all people. Only shallow people determine worth by skin color.
Anonymous
March 29, 2016 at 10:07 pm
I was hoping that when Jones was dumped, and Stocks was out, that Vitter had some sense, and maybe some balls to stop this foolishness. Well I wa surely wrong about that.
Anonymous
March 30, 2016 at 12:34 am
Pathetic pandering by the new Chancellor. New hand wringing by an enlarged committee with goals that are pre ordained. When will it ever end?
Ole Miss Grad
March 30, 2016 at 2:06 pm
You have a group on one side who feels besieged and a group on the other who feels marginalized. Add the complex racial history of Mississippi’s past to the mix, and the process of finding common ground becomes more complicated. This division all too often suffocates the larger goal with rhetoric, threats, insults, and misinformation from one or both sides. Such discord serves no one in the end and only harms the university.
This is not an easy or comfortable process, especially for those on the Advisory Committee, but it needs to happen so we may move forward with our mission as a university and to help prevent future conflicts regarding the history and symbolism of Ole Miss. This is why the university is implementing the action plan instituted under former Chancellor Jones and first executed under the direction of former Interim Chancellor Stocks.
The contextual plaque is part of that plan, and is an attempt to illustrate its importance on campus and it being woven into the fabric of Ole Miss beyond a mere Confederate monument.
As mentioned in the original wording, the monument is a place where a mob gathered to prevent the enrollment of the university’s first African-American student. It is also a place where Duncan Gray, the university Chaplin and local minister, implored the mob to disperse. Unfortunately omitted from the plaque is the name of George M. Randall, an Ole Miss football player who also stood at the monument and yelled for the rioters to stop.
Beyond the historical, the monument also serves as a meeting place for students to gather for social events, a focal point on campus, and it is listed as a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Ole Miss is committed to a path of inclusion and respect that values all parties. Not everyone will be satisfied with the outcome, but remaining static is not a viable option. We must move forward together as a place of learning and as the Flagship University for Mississippi. We are Ole Miss.
Anonymous
March 30, 2016 at 8:41 pm
The previous message brought to you by the organization of apologists for the administration.
Ole Miss Alumni
March 31, 2016 at 6:10 pm
I am an Ole Miss alumni, and find the current situation at Ole Miss to be shameful! To place a permanent statement concerning a monument that others erected, at best, is in extremely poor taste, and rude, at its worst violates the Code 1972 55-15-81, and is a criminal act.
JiotV
February 6, 2017 at 1:47 am
i like this. thanks for sharing
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