Ole Miss alum Jess Holland returns to alma mater to discuss career and give advice to students.

 

Jesse Holland, Ole Miss alum and author of “Who is the Black Panther”, returned to his alma mater on Tuesday and talked to students, staff and members of the community in the Overby Center about his career as a writer and offered advice to students.

Holland expressed to the crowd to not be quiet about what you love and want to do.

“I am loud and proud about that I’m a comic book geek,” he said, “Lucas Films and Marvel would of never found me if I kept my passions hidden.”

Holland has been writing since 2005. His first book, “Black Men Built the Capitol: Discovering African-American History In and Around Washington” was published in 2007 and his second book “The Invisibles: The Untold Story of African American Slaves in the White House” was published in 2016.

He was approached in 2016 to write a backstory for a character named Finn in the “Star Wars” trilogy and in September “The Force Awakens: Finn’s Story” came out.

A month later, Marvel reached out to him to write a book telling the origin of the Black Panther so they’d have an introduction of those characters for the movie that was coming out in 2018. In September of 2017, “Who is the Black Panther” was published and now is sold out internationally.

He emphasized the importance of having mentors and connecting with those in the area they want to be in.

“I have mentors in journalism, non fiction and fiction writing who I turn to,” he said. “Find your tribe and they’ll keep you on the right path.”

Holland majored in journalism and English as well as worked at the Oxford Eagle, the Daily Mississippian and hosted a radio show while at Ole Miss.

“Ole Miss allowed me to experiment and learn all types of journalism,” Holland said. “It gave me the opportunities to learn my craft.”

Holland left Ole Miss having done five internships and he stressed to students the importance of getting hands on experience

“It’s just as important to know what you don’t want to do as it is to know what you do want to do,” he said. “I got into journalism so I could write my books.”

For the upcoming future, Holland is in discussion with Marvel for a potential project as well as writing the outline’s for his next two non fiction projects.

“There will be more comic book and science fiction in my life, but I’m not going to leave non fiction behind.”

Chancellor Jeffery Vitter expressed that it’s always a good day when a esteemed alum returns and reaches out the students.

“I’m very proud he’s a graduate of our university,” he said. “He’s a role model to the university and an inspiration to our students.”

Sophomore and broadcast journalism student Andranita Williams enjoyed listening to all the advice Holland offered.

“I learned that if you want to be successful in journalism you need to surround yourself with people who desire to be into journalism as well,” she said, “I liked learning what I can do to become a better journalist.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oxford community walks to honor those affected by the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting (DM Story)

Last night members of the Ole Miss and Oxford community came together to walk in honor of the survivors and lives lost in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.

Lexy Johnson, senior integrated marketing communications major, organized the walk for her alma mater she graduated from in 2014.

“Parkland is my first home and Oxford is my second home and everyone here is family to me, so it’s great seeing that my second family in Oxford is showing support for my first family in South Florida,” Johnson said.

Johnson decided to organize the walk since she couldn’t be there alongside her former classmates to show condolences to the families affected.

“I knew I needed to do something here to show that we support them and we stand with them,” Jonhson said. “Wednesday is their first day back at school so it actually worked out great that they get as much support as they can before they walk into those doors tomorrow.”

The walk that took place from the Walk of Champions to the Lyceum, was recorded and sent to the principal of MSD High School, Mr. Thompson, to show the teachers and students during their first week back at school.

Johnson gave a speech before the event to thank those who came out and remind them the importance of the walk.

“We aren’t gathered here tonight to talk about the senseless act of gun violence, but instead to honor the victims affected by this tragedy” Johnson said. “We wanna be the light in their darkness and guide them through this really dark and tragic time. They’re eagles, we wanna help them soar again.”

The Meek School of Journalism sponsored the walk and many faculty and staff, like Debbie Hall, crisis communications professor, aided Johnson in putting the walk together.

“Alexa is one of my current students and I found out this week that one of my former students actually has a younger sister that was in the building when the shooter began attacking those students,” Hall said. “This one hit home to me, it’s very close to my heart.”

Hall also participated in the walk to not only support those affected by this shooting, but to support those taking a stand here and in Parkland.

“I think they’re gonna make a difference and I’m proud of them,” Hall said. “I wanna support our kids and the kids in Florida as well.”

Caroline Franco, sophomore general business major, was also in attendance last night due to her personal connection with the recent event.

“I’m from Fort Lauderdale, and it was a big impact on our entire community,” Franco said. “Also just everyone needs to support this, whether your from South Florida or not its great group of people and they need the support now more than ever.”

2018 RebelTHON ready to raise more for Batson Children’s Hospital

February 24th marks the sixth annual RebelTHON event at Ole Miss. Participants and patients will stay up from 3 PM to 3 AM dancing and raising money for Batson Children’s Hospital, the only medical facility in Mississippi devoted to the care of sick children.

RebelTHON serves as a part of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals’ national Dance Marathon movement, a movement uniting college, university and high school students across North America. Students involved in a campus’ dance marathon organization spend a year raising funds and awareness for their local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital.

Hailey Cooper, president of RebelTHON, has been doing RebelTHON for two years and this year the fundraising goal is $225,000.

“In terms of my fundraising, I’ve taken song requests with my flute that I haven’t played since high school, worn a crayon costume to class, and taken dares like singing the Mississippi State fight song,” said Cooper. “I’ve heard some people this year recreating famous film scenes, carpool karaoke, and wearing a prom dress to finals. People get so creative, and it’s really fun to watch.”

Andrew Russell, Children’s Miracle Network Coordinator, explained that last years past funds of $172,000 went towards renovations for the children’s center cancer floor and this year they will be going towards their new expansion where the hospital will be adding a NICU, PICU, operating rooms and other items.

“I think this year by far the most amount of money will be raised,” said Russell. “The students do a good job of putting out the red carpet for these kids, making them feel special.”

The event consists of dancing and staying on your feet for 12 hours as well as other games and food. Anyone can sign up to dance for the full time as long as they raise a minimum of $100 or people can come between 6-9 and pay $5 at the door to stay for community hours.

Due to the major growth of participants this year, RebelTHON has outgrown their former location, the Turner Center, and the event will be held in the Tad Pad instead.

Senior, Lexie Hill will be participating for the third time due to her personal connection with the Children’s Miracle Network.

“I wanted to be a part of RebelTHON because as a former patient of my local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital, I knew how important the work that hospitals like Batson do is,” said Hill.

From the time she was born to when she turned 18, Hill’s CMN Hospital became a home to her.

“From providing the absolute best medical care to simple things like giving you toys and popsicles before and after surgery, hospitals like Batson go above and beyond to make you feel like a normal, healthy kid,” said Hill.

Anyone willing to donate can go to RebelTHON’s donation page and anyone wanting to participate can register online.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

University reacts to ongoing efforts to contextualize Lyceum

The Lyceum: A Story of Prominence and Pain

When people think of the University of Mississippi, they often visualize the Lyceum. The oldest building on campus was constructed in the summer of 1848 and has since become a symbol for the university.

The Lyceum is the lone survivor of the six original buildings on campus. Even though it is such a staple for the university’s image, it is in the process of being contextualized. Language for contextualization plaques has been written, and it is now up to the administration whether the university will display the plaques.

“Contextualization is a process by which (the university’s) administration thought it was the best way to approach items on our campus, places on campus, locations, buildings that kind of have a troubled past in which they clearly have divisive racial connotation to them,” said Charles Ross, chair of the African-American studies program and a member of the contextualization committee on campus.

In March 2017, the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on History and Context announced it would be changing the name of Vardaman Hall and working to contextualize seven other sites on campus. These include Lamar Hall, Barnard Observatory, Longstreet Hall and George Hall, as well as antebellum buildings, including the Lyceum, Barnard Hall, Croft and Hilgard Cut because they were built by enslaved people.

Architect William Nichols designed the Lyceum and used slave labor to construct it when work began in 1846. Ross said the story of the Lyceum’s construction needs be a part of the overall history of the building.

“It’s a symbol that represents the university on letterheads and corresponding literature, but the side of the story about how this structure actually came about and the individuals that were directly involved in helping create it and the sacrifices they made, that is something that is not a part of the mainstream narrative, so that is why the particular building was included,” he said.

Due to its longstanding history, the Lyceum has become a prominent building on campus. The building was used during the Civil War as a hospital for Confederate and Union soldiers and became an important place during the 1962 riots regarding the enrollment of James Meredith.

During the civil rights movement, Meredith was the first African-American student to integrate the University of Mississippi. His enrollment sparked controversy and riots in October 1962.

“The Lyceum was the centerpiece of the James Meredith riots because the registration office was in the Lyceum at that time,” said Dewey Knight, associate director of the Center for Student Success and First-Year Experience. “In order to register for class, he had to go into that building, and the two sides of people, people who supported his admission and those who didn’t, gathered and we got into this riot.”

Due to this association with the civil rights movement and the building’s 169-year-old age, the Lyceum was named a United States national landmark in October 2008.

“That’s the reason why when we restored it in 1999 and 2000. It took a year longer because when you do a historic restoration, you have to put the building back to the original as closely as you can,” Knight said. “The sheer presence it bears on that circle, every student that has ever been to this university, they identify with that building”.

This significant title has made some people feel it is even more important to have the Lyceum contextualized.

“It’s not simply white Southerners but African-Americans and other individuals that are very aware of the history of the Confederacy, what it stood for and how it was created,” Ross said.

There have been discussions about placing a plaque on the Lyceum that will tell the story of those individual slaves.

“Our committee has not been given the responsibility of making sure that these plaques are constructed and seeing that those plaques are placed in certain locations,” Ross said. “Our committee was given the responsibility of coming up with the language.”

Ross said it gave the university’s administration its wording for the plaques this May and now it will be the administration’s job to to make the plaque a reality, to tell this story of the Lyceum.

Junior psychology and nursing major Amelia DeWitt, an Ole Miss ambassador, is required to bring tour groups inside the Lyceum. Once inside, it’s up to her what stories she wants to tell.

“I think people have the right to know what has happened within the Lyceum walls, and during the past three years of giving tours, I have never had negative feedback about any of the stories I have told about the Lyceum,” DeWitt said. “It is an important part of campus, and most people are intrigued by the past of it.”

The university has been known to have a controversial past when it comes to race, and Ross feels that the university needs to do more than just contextualize.

“I’m ambivalent because I think that contextualization has been used as a justification for not doing more,” Ross said. “For people, like myself, who have been here for a number of years, the one thing that is very frustrating is this continuing perception the University of Mississippi has, that it drags its feet and is reluctant and not very proactive on issues of race.”

Ole Miss business students participate in Warren Buffett conference

Last weekend, 20 Ole Miss students traveled to Omaha, Nebraska, to visit for a group Q&A session with Warren Buffett, the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.

This was the first time Ole Miss was invited to attend the Q&A session and tour three Omaha-based businesses owned by Berkshire Hathaway. Students toured Nebraska Furniture Mart, Borsheims Fine Jewelry and Oriental Trading Company.

Ten universities and business schools attended the event, and each school was given the opportunity to ask Buffett two questions.

“I was incredibly impressed with our group. A significant amount of time and effort was required on the part of the students in order to ensure this would be a successful trip, and they were more than willing to accept the challenge,” Stephen Fier, associate professor of finance and the faculty adviser for the university’s Mu chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma, said. “Our students did an excellent job representing the School of Business Administration as well as the University of Mississippi.”

Fier got a chance to talk to the students who attended, and he said they seemed to have genuinely enjoyed hearing from Buffett and observing how some of the Berkshire Hathaway businesses operate.

“In my opinion, the primary objective of this trip was to provide our students with a unique opportunity that would enhance their educational experience, and I believe we succeeded,” Fier said.

Students who are members of the Financiers Club and Gamma Iota Sigma, a risk management, insurance and actuarial science honor society, submitted applications to participate and were selected on the basis of academic achievement, program and student organization involvement and the quality of their responses to questions on the applications.

“It was an honor and privilege to be chosen to attend this event,” senior managerial finance major Jocelyn Cropper said. “I have always admired Buffett, and this was definitely at the top of my bucket list, as it is for pretty much anyone interested in stocks and investing.”

Cropper and the other students were able to attend this event largely because of the work of Andrew Lynch, assistant professor of finance.

When Lynch was a graduate student at the University of Missouri, he taught a class called “The Investment Strategies of Warren Buffett.” While at Missouri, he accompanied students on visits to the Q&A sessions.

“While Ole Miss has never gone on one of these visits before, we believed it would be extremely beneficial for our students,” Lynch said. “I was able to get in touch with the executive assistant at Berkshire, who schedules these meetings, and we were fortunate to be able to get on the schedule this year”.

Cropper said she will remember much of what Buffet said, but his genuine advice about life was what stuck out the most.

“He said the best asset is a good group of friends, to surround yourself with good people and to ask yourself, ‘Why do you do what you do?’ and if you can’t answer that, find something else,” Cropper said. “As far as investing goes, his philosophies are that temperament is the most important investing characteristic and that being focused is essential to being a good investor.”

Travis Box, assistant finance professor, said he believes an event like this does a lot to highlight the university’s strength in the fields of investment and risk management.

“If a potential student has an interest in one of these areas, this trip demonstrates that the Ole Miss finance department is committed to providing them with the type of experiences that can lay the foundation for a wonderful career.”

Ashley Glennon, a senior managerial finance and Spanish double major, said Buffett answered every question in an insightful way.

“I thanked him for the opportunity he gave all of the students and universities that were chosen to attend,” Glennon said. “I’ve never been so excited and honored to be able to shake another person’s hand.”

International Justice Mission brings awareness to modern-day slavery

At least 20.9 million adults and children are bought and sold worldwide into commercial sexual servitude, forced labor and bonded labor.

The International Justice Mission is a faith-based international non-profit that works with governments, police forces and social workers to protect people from this slavery, rescue those affected and aid them in rehabilitation.

Ole Miss students had formed a campus chapter to shed light on sex crimes not only around the world but also right here in Oxford.

In April, a couple was arrested for kidnapping and transporting a woman from Georgia to Oxford. The FBI is currently investigating the incident.

“Human trafficking is an issue in the U.S. just as much as it is internationally and needs to be discussed more in our communities,” Caroline Bass, junior and treasurer of the Ole Miss IJM chapter, said.

While the chapter has been on campus for a couple of years, Bass said it is trying to build a stronger on-campus presence this year.

“While the issues of modern-day slavery and human trafficking have become more well-known in the past few years, awareness is still a huge deal,” she said. “The more conversations we have about these issues, the closer we will get as a society to bringing an end to these awful things.”

In order to spread the word about its mission, the Ole Miss chapter is participating in the IJM “Fast for Freedom” event Nov. 9 and 10.

Members of campus chapters across the nation will be fasting for 24 hours with the goal of raising $1 per hour to give back the cause. The event will begin with a worship night, followed by the 24-hour fast.

“We are hoping to raise money for the efforts of IJM but also to bring people’s attention to these issues,” Bass said.

Bass said the event will help start conversations in the campus and local community about these issues.

Mollie Bradford, junior and secretary of the chapter, said she joined the organization because she hopes to work with organizations made to help people who are suffering from injustice and cannot help themselves in the future.

“IJM is an incredible organization, and the victims they save are overlooked and abused by their traffickers and other people around them,” Bradford said. “IJM removes the victims from the situation and rehabilitates them so that they know they are worthy and important.”

Out of the Darkness Walk fundraises for suicide prevention and awareness

Sunday’s second annual Out of the Darkness Walk shed a light on suicide awareness and prevention by raising funds for research, education and support programs for those affected by suicide. The program included several speakers, a blessing from a local minister, a balloon release and a mile-long walk around campus.

More than 600 people registered for this year’s walk, and $24,711 was raised through donations, more than doubling last year’s numbers. Online fundraising is open through December.

Junior Maddy Gumbko, chairman for the walk, helped plan both this year’s and last year’s walk due to her personal connection with suicide.

“I lost a very close friend to suicide, and there are so many other people out there who have, too,” Gumbko said. “It’s an illness. These people are in a dark tunnel, but it’s 100 percent preventable.”

In Mississippi, suicide is the second leading cause of death for the ages 10-24 and is the 12th leading cause of death overall. On average, one person dies by suicide approximately every 20 hours in the state. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention has worked to pass laws regarding suicide prevention in the state.

“This walk addresses the elephant in the room and lets people know, especially on college campuses, that they’re not alone and there are resources out there to help them,” Gumbko said.

AFSP board member Pam Smith’s son committed suicide two-and-a-half-years ago. In her role, Smith promotes awareness and educates others on suicide prevention by helping plan walks, events and various other programs with all the funds AFSP raises.

“Once in a while, I’ll look up to my son, and I thank him for giving me a second job,” Smith said.

In addition to the programs AFSP offers to high schools and universities, it has firearm awareness programs which provide free gun locks. AFSP also holds various events, including Strikeout for Suicide, Singing to Save a Life and its annual Survival Day, planned for next month at Saltillo City Hall.

AFSP also has the ASIST (Applied Suicide Invention Skills Training) program through which people can become trained caregivers and help prevent someone from committing suicide.

“I get calls constantly from parents if they think their child is suicidal and from people themselves who are struggling,” Smith said. “If I think it’s very serious and there could be self harm, I call an ambulance.”

Kathryn Forbes, senior president and founder of the Ole Miss Active Minds chapter, paired up with AFSP and helped promote this walk to help spread mental health awareness.

“Mental health and suicide awareness is really close to my heart and something that should be talked about,” Forbes said. “This walk promotes this talking and keeps these tough conversations happening.”

Active Minds is planning other events to help spread mental health and suicide awareness throughout the year. It also has a Mental Health week planned for April.

Associated Student Body President Dion Kevin was walking at the event to remember his fraternity brother who took his own life and said he believes there should be more events like this walk in the future.

“It’s important for the campus communities to seek adequate answers to this problem,” Kevin said. “It really falls on the younger generation, and it’s important to learn about suicide prevention.”

The group’s next planned Out of the Darkness walk is next Saturday in Tupelo.

Consent Carnival educates students, spreads sexual assault awareness

By: Kathryn Abernathy

Prevention Office and Rebels Against Sexual Assault partnered to hold the annual Consent Carnival on Tuesday in the Lyceum Circle.

Nathan Payne, graduate assistant for the Violence Prevention Office, said he hoped this event would get people talking about consent.

“Consent is something that we navigate daily and is very important to understand,” Payne said. “Some are not always conscious of consent and what that truly means in our lives.”

Event organizers created games and activities as ways to get students not only to talk about what consent means to them but also to get them to understand consent and its policies.

“We use events like this to press current policies about consent, such as the definition of consent and what qualifies as consent,” Payne said. “Students should be aware and know the reasons and policies behind it.”

RASA uses events like the Consent Carnival and its Sex Week activities to present to students important topics in a lighthearted and fun manner.

Freshman T.J. Bleeker, peer educator in training for RASA, volunteered at the event in hopes of spreading awareness about consent.

“I want to help out my community, and this is an issue we should be addressing,” Bleeker said. “Sexual abuse on college campuses is such a big issue, and it’s becoming more and more prominent.”

The American Civil Liberties Union estimates 95 percent of campus rape goes unreported.

Though some may consider sexual violence a common occurrence on college campuses, Bleeker believes Ole Miss has a bigger problem than usual with the issue.

“Every university has a sexual assault problem, but there has been a sexual assault happening every week since I moved in here,” Bleeker said.

According to the University Police Department Clery Daily Crime Log, six sexual offenses have been reported this year. All offenses were reported as sexual battery, with two reported as having happened at fraternity houses and the rest at on-campus dormitories.

Because of the number of reports, the Violence Prevention Office and RASA made it their goal to provide various awareness events for students.

The Consent Carnival has been a yearly event since 2015, and Payne sees this and other events as proactive for students and the university.