Change Not Always Easy

During his childhood, Earnest Harmon spent many autumn Saturdays going to Ole Miss to football games. He even had dreams of one day putting on a blue uniform and running out of the tunnel at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

However, in 2003, an event occurred that forever changed the way he experienced game day.

“For seven years, I didn’t feel that I had an identity. Now I don’t even think I want one,” says Harmon.

Last fall, after seven years without an on-field mascot, the Rebel Black Bear was chosen to fill the void left by Colonel Reb’s departure.

Colonel Reb was a costumed Southern plantation owner who had represented the Rebels since 1979. His removal was one of several steps the university has taken in the past decade to distance itself from its Old South heritage.

Confederate battle flags are no longer welcome at games and there are no more chants of “The South will rise again” after From Dixie With Love was stripped from the band’s repertoire.

The process to find a new mascot began last spring when a committee comprising of 15 students was selected. It worked closely with Jackson-based marketing firm, The Ramey Agency, and mascot designer, Eric Rickabaugh of Rickabaugh Graphics.

The committee received more than 1,000 suggestions from the Ole Miss community. From that list, the committee submitted 11 concepts back to the Ole Miss community for input. Over 13,000 students, faculty, staff, alumni and season ticket holders responded to the first poll. More than 96 percent of those participants responded positively to at least one of the concepts.

The Rebel Black Bear was ultimately chosen as it was the most popular of the remaining choices. Despite countless hours of work from the elected students and highly qualified professionals, there remained a significant outcry from a large number of Ole Miss supporters for what was perceived as a lack of ingenuity.

“We picked the one that got the most support,” committee co-chair Ty New said.

The committee stated that the new mascot would “unify the Ole Miss community, have a Mississippi connection, be unique, adapt from the Grove to the game, fit the Ole Miss culture, project a proud image, be timeless and not trendy and have the ability to be active and appeal to children.”

Harman thinks more could have been done.

“I don’t understand how they spent so much time and money to come up with that. This process didn’t seem legitimate from the start.”

A group of Colonel Reb loyalists formed the Colonel Reb Foundation in 2003 to in an attempt to bring the old mascot back.

“We’re not giving up,” says Brian Ferguson, Chairman of the Colonel Reb Foundation. “The Rebel Black Bear is just not the tradition we’re used to at Ole Miss.”

It is not known when Ole Miss’ new costumed black bear mascot will make its debut, but after a divisive debate over symbolism and tradition, university officials say they aren’t rushing it.

“The real answer is it will be ready when we know we’ve got it right,” says Michael Thompson, senior associate athletic director for communications and marketing. “It has to be perfect the first time.”