Ole Miss chancellor on Obama protest: “Very immature and uncivil approach” to election results
Note: Stopped comments at 9:44 a.m. as we weren’t saying anything productive, Maureen
Here is the official statement from the University of Mississippi Chancellor Dan Jones on the reaction last night of some Ole Miss students to President Obama’s victory over Gov. Mitt Romney.
University police were notified by students shortly before midnight Tuesday that Twitter chatter was indicating students were gathering near the student union to protest the results of the election. The officers found 30-40 students gathered in front of the union, and over the next 20 minutes the gathering had grown to more than 400 students, many of whom were chanting political slogans. The crowd was ordered to disperse by university police, and after about 25 minutes students had returned to residence halls. About 100 students gathered again at one hall, and university police dispersed the group and made two arrests for disorderly conduct, including one for public intoxication and one for failure to comply with police orders.
“While we are grateful that there were no injuries and there was no property damage, we are very disappointed in those students who took a very immature and uncivil approach to expressing their views about the election,” said University of Mississippi Chancellor Dan Jones. “The gathering seems to have been fueled by social media, and the conversation should have stayed there.”
“Unfortunately, early news reports quoted social media comments that were inaccurate. Too, some photographs published in social media portrayed events that police did not observe on campus. Nevertheless, the reports of uncivil language and shouted racial epithets appear to be accurate and are universally condemned by the university, student leaders and the vast majority of students who are more representative of our university creed.”
Jones said, “Parents are being notified that it’s a normal day on campus and that one of America’s safest campuses is safe again this morning, though all of us are ashamed of the few students who have negatively affected the reputations of each of us and of our university. We are initiating a thorough review of this incident to determine the facts and any follow-up actions that may be necessary.”
Jones said, “We are reminding our students of relevant statements within the university creed: The University of Mississippi is a community of learning dedicated to nurturing excellence in intellectual inquiry and personal character in an open and diverse environment. As a voluntary member of this community: I believe in respect for the dignity of each person. I believe in fairness and civility. I believe in personal and professional integrity.”
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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73 comments Add your comment
lahopital
November 8th, 2012
8:35 am
What race card? Why, haven’t you heard? There’s no racism and anybody who plays that card is just making things up! I’m sure these youngsters were just roasting marshmellows and it got out of hand.
Top School
November 8th, 2012
8:36 am
@ INDIGO
nO WAIT A MINUTE…If black students do this it is called…FREAK NIK.
if white students “do it “…
It’s called Spring Break.
Kind of like CHEATING on the Southside…& FUDGING SCORES on the Northside of Atlanta.
Top School
November 8th, 2012
8:39 am
Caught in the moderating net…LOL @ private citizen was rather brief today and right on point !
Solution for the Liberals
November 8th, 2012
8:47 am
Let’s just go ahead and line up all white, Southern males and put bullets in their heads. Will that make ya’ll happy? Sheesh.
skipper
November 8th, 2012
8:48 am
Go to a gathering in southwest Atlanta…..if you can get past the shootings and ‘jackings, and report a little more on stuff like that that happens EVERY DAY, as supposed to 30 or 40 drunk college kids. By the way, chances are nobody got robbed or shot at ole miss…..
Grob Hahn
November 8th, 2012
8:49 am
This is very very pale compared to the riots we would have had if Obama lost. And we ALL know this. One of the reasons all this racial crap remains unsettled is because of the kind of denial so many have expressed in here. We have plenty of evidence for all to see, but pointing it out is racist if a white guy does it. THIS is why the race issue in America won’t be settled. Only 1 side gets to talk about it. I have never done ANY of the crap that ALL whites are accused of doing to blacks. But my skin says otherwise doesn’t it? Nothing gets better till we can be honest.
Grobbbbbbbbbbbbbb
Grob Hahn
November 8th, 2012
8:49 am
BTW, how come they weren’t called “youths” or “Teens” this time?
Grobbbbbbbbbb
Alumni
November 8th, 2012
9:01 am
As an alum of Ole Miss, I am saddened and disgusted by the actions of these young people. The students who were responsible should be punished. They need to be taught that while political opinions are acceptable, hateful demonstrations are not.
When received my email from Chancellor Jones about this incident, I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach because I KNEW what the reaction would be. This event would not be seen an event that is symptomatic of a deeply divided nation, but would instead be viewed as an event that is symptomatic of the racism that apparently only exists in the South. For a number of reasons, Ole Miss has become a symbol of the dark past of the South. I want to remind people that we, as alums, are not supporters of this sort of pernicious behavior.
Since I was student, the University has worked diligently to create a welcoming diverse environment which is no easy task considering the weight of history in Mississippi. We have “banned” for lack of a better word, the confederate flag. We replaced Colonel Rebel as our on field mascot. We have built a statue commemorating and celebrating the memory of James Meredith. We have had 4 African American Student Body Presidents, and this year our home coming queen is a lovely African American young lady. Finally, on campus we are commemorating the horrible events of 50 years ago. Because in Mississippi, the past isn’t even the past, we are acutely aware of the importance of acknowledging the wrongs of the past while trying to forge a new future.
Many of these actions have been unpopular.( Ironically, some of the alums, students, and supporters of other SEC institutions have been the most vocal in berated us for “caving in to political correctness by giving up our honored Southern traditions.” ) They have been unpopular but they were the right. (The members of our Ole Miss family are more important than any symbol ever will be.) These students have disgraced our University, and have embarrassed the Ole Miss family.
Four years ago, we welcomed President Obama and Senator McCain to Oxford for a presidential debate, and the nation was given a glimpse into the special character of the town and University that those of us who know it intimately love and cherish. I ask that you remember the best of what we are. Welcoming. Hospitable. Loving. Don’t paint us with a broad brush because of the actions of an ignorant few.
Lee
November 8th, 2012
9:04 am
In retrospect, I shouldn’t be too hard on Maureen. In the world of journalism, dog bites man – not a story, man bites dog – it is a story.
Ergo:
Blacks behave badly, not a story.
White behave badly, story.
In this case, it wasnt even “bad” behavior. You had a peaceful gathering of politically aware youths who dispersed when the police asked them to. A couple were arrested because they had too much to drink. There was no “rioting”.
Too bad we couldn’t have witnessed black student behavior if Obama lost the election.
cpandy
November 8th, 2012
9:04 am
I heard the crowd was demanding that black athletes leave their sports teams.
cpandy
November 8th, 2012
9:05 am
Lee – Grob – Obama did lose the election – in Mississippi. But, hey, they’re not racists, they’re just so much smarter than the people in California, New York, New Jersey, etc.
lahopital
November 8th, 2012
9:08 am
Wow, you guys make a great point about never hearing anything on the news about when blacks do something wrong. Why, I never turn on the tv or pick up the paper and see a story about crimes done by blacks. Just never, ever, ever. (sarcasm, again)
indigo
November 8th, 2012
9:10 am
cpandy – lahopital
Amazing as it may seem, sometines race really IS a factor in media and political actions.
mom of 3
November 8th, 2012
9:10 am
@Alice….Are you kidding? Many blacks were and continue to be very open about voting for Obama because of his skin color.
skipper
November 8th, 2012
9:13 am
Maureen,
Part of the racial problems that occur are because there is really not much dialogue. There are too few Ms. Daniels as you pointed out yesterday. Jesse and Al keep the flames fanned, yet run and hide when real issues like the daily killings in Chicago, the problems in Detroit, and many other black enclaves occur because there is no profit ($) in it for them. For God’s sake, Victor Hill got elected! Many feel the liberal agenda of Obama is more of a problem: Obama Care, gay issues, etc. Some of the protests, I bet, were more about issues. I am certain that had Herman Cain won the nomination Ole Miss as well as other places would have supported him vehemently. Let blacks massacre each other all the time….and it gets a little press. (Except Chicago….) Let a few college kids do something PERCEIVED as racial, and whoopty-do!!! What happened at Ole Miss pales in comparison to the EVERY-DAY happenings in the heretofore mentioned metropolitan areas. Funny (and I guess this does sound bad) there are truly bad folks everywhere. But, find a larger city w/o a “minority” majority and compare murders, crime stats, etc. Nobody will talk about that; it is “politically incorrect and insensitive!”
Phil from Athens
November 8th, 2012
9:19 am
Enter your comments here
Phil from Athens
November 8th, 2012
9:21 am
“Interesting though, Maureen is quick to print when whites act up, but where was she on these glorious events:”
That was EXACTLY my point yesterday. I’m not trying to protect what stupid kids at Ole Miss did but the fact that Maureen never comments on blacks attacking whites or rioting at colleges is hypocritical.
Phil from Athens
November 8th, 2012
9:22 am
“When I think of all the students in Egypt, in Syria, in Bahrain and Tunisia and Yemen and Libya, and what *they’re* protesting, and then I look at these spoiled, drunken yahoos …. I weep for our future.’
Four Americans were killed in Libya. You’re saying you support them?
Alum
November 8th, 2012
9:24 am
Why was my post removed? I didn’t feel there was anything offensive. It’s OK for Alan Sampson to mention the Ghosts of Ole Miss, but not the changes that have been made in the past 20 years or so?
Maureen Downey
November 8th, 2012
9:32 am
@Skipper, There is a legitimate argument to be made about news coverage, but not the one that you make. There is far more attention to crimes when whites are the victims. When a white woman is abducted or missing, it gets the front page. Many black parents have to plead for coverage of their missing teens.
As for college kids and crime, I disagree. White parents have more resources and often prevent their kids from even getting into the system in the first place when they are caught vandalizing a park or getting into fights.
To its credit, the media have taken a hard look at how it covers crime and are doing a better job.
Maureen
Maureen Downey
November 8th, 2012
9:34 am
@mom, This is getting comical. For centuries, white men have elected white men. Take a look at our Legislature. Once, a friend commented to me how a black colleague only went to lunch with other black reporters.
At the time, we were walking to lunch — six of us, all white reporters.
We can’t see the truth when we are in the middle of it.
The Bible addressed this succinctly: “Why do we see the speck in our brother’s eye but fail to notice the beam in our own eye?
Maureen
Maureen Downey
November 8th, 2012
9:40 am
@Lee, Here is what is so funny about your comment. I read college newspapers online every now and then to keep up. Just read a college newspaper online reporting seven rapes reported on campus in the span of two months, two in fraternities. The college is an elite private college, almost all white.
Why hasn’t that been reported?
Because there is an effort to keep that news out of the public view.
You are so wrong on so many points about news coverage slanted against reporting black crime when the opposite is true. Spend some of your time looking at research on which crimes and which victims get covered.
It is shock to me how many people comment on this blog without a shred of information beyond their limited world views. There’s this thing called the Internet. You can get a view beyond your front yard.
Maureen
skipper
November 8th, 2012
9:40 am
@Maureen,
You may have a point. After all, if they coverd all the murders, ‘jackings, etc. in Chicago, there would be no time to see the weather or sports. Also, I was referring to over-all crime…..ESPECIALLY MURDERS! I appreciate your politics, and you have a right to your opinion. Both of us can tell a tale OR express an opinion, but the stats don’t lie! You ever looked at who is murdering who? Comparing a few drunk college kids who may not like the liberal agenda and pointing them out when other “communities” have mayhem on a daily basis ain’t solvin’ the problem!