Mississippi Colleges, Universities Launch “Stronger Together” Initiative

Institutions throughout Mississippi announced the “Stronger Together” initiative on Thursday to unite the state’s athletics programs and communities in support of togetherness, diversity and equality.

During the 2020-21 academic year, college and university athletics programs in Mississippi will incorporate a special logo on their uniforms, equipment, warm-up gear or bags. The logo will serve as a visual representation of the state’s schools coming together and will feature school-specific branding with the words “Stronger Together” inside the outline of Mississippi.

Alcorn State, Delta State, Jackson State, Millsaps College, Mississippi College, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Southern Miss, Mississippi University for Women, Mississippi Valley State, Rust College and Tougaloo College are among the schools that will take part in the “Stronger Together” initiative.

“As we showed at the capital in June, the universities of our state, and particularly their athletics programs, are certainly stronger together, and this initiative is designed to continue our momentum as change makers in Mississippi,” said Keith Carter, Ole Miss Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics. “I appreciate the spirit of teamwork with our peer institutions, and we look forward to partnering with the leadership on those campuses to continue to impact our state in a positive way.”

The campaign was created for the state’s colleges and universities to come together, listen, learn and support student-athletes through their challenges, stresses and pressures related to events around the country. As part of the initiative, the schools will unite in their efforts to promote social justice and racial equality through advocacy, awareness and education. 

Additional goals of “Stronger Together” include creating action-based events and programming, collaborating on community engagement projects, using respective platforms to amplify the voices of underrepresented populations and marginalized groups in the state, and focusing on voter education and registration among student-athletes.

Development of the initiative began in June, when coaches and administrators from schools across the state united at the Mississippi Capitol, urging legislators to change the state flag of Mississippi. Three days later, on June 28, the State of Mississippi legislature voted to replace the flag, and the bill was later signed by the Governor.

On Sept. 3, the flag commission selected the Magnolia Flag to be the next flag of Mississippi. Voters will decide in November whether to approve it or restart the process.

More information, details and events related to the “Stronger Together” initiative will be released throughout the 2020-21 academic year.

Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports