Frat Fails and Admiral Ackbar - The Progression of Ole Miss

It could have all been so sweet.  The nerd in me was HYPE!  In 2010, there was a petition at the University of Mississippi (more commonly known as Ole Miss)  to choose a new, more PC mascot.  Why?  Because the team name is the Rebels.  Mississippi Rebels.  In Mississippi.  Rebelling against what you ask.  That would be that overbearing greedy as Abraham Lincoln and his forces in the North, naturally.  Now, there's a time and a place for everything, and well, Mississippi in 1936 was probably ideal in chooses such a, decisive mascot as "Colonel Reb" for your school.  But in 2010, it seemed to have worn out it's welcome.  A campaign was started to update the schools mascot to something, well, more awesome and less racist.  The said "forget a Colonel, let's get an Admiral!"  What Admiral?  Only the MOST IMPORTANT ADMIRAL OF ALL TIME!

He'd still wear the hat. Compromise.

This would have been the coolest thing to happen in the history of forever!   But I'm a card carrying geek like that.  But truthfully, is it any more ridiculous to have the Mon Calamari (lazy naming, Lucas!) leader of the Alliance as the school mascot than a heavily stylized Col. Sanders???  Probably not, but I'm not from Mississippi, and don't make the rules out there.

They get it.

But this notion being dismissed immediately lends credence to an incident that recently took place.  On campus, there is a statue of James Meredith, the first Black student admitted to Ole Miss.  Three members of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity had the bright idea to hang a noose on the statue, and leave behind a confederate flag, just in case you didn't get the picture.  This particular chapter of the frat was shut down, and the reasoning given was that this was the final straw in a long series of mistakes.  That makes perfect sense, given that racially influences defamation of property typically isn't your first offense.

He's no Space Amphibian, but a clearly better choice than "Col"

Now, to give credit where it's due, they got Colonel Reb the hell up outta here, and replaced him with Rebel Black Bear, (who may be from Louisiana) a much better choice.  While not the leader of the most significant military fleet in a galaxy far ,far away, he's still pretty cool.  Things that we feel are CLEARLY outdated and wrong can take a long time to die depending on who's in charge.  But it is comforting to see that there are limits on wrongdoing, where even if crimes are committed against a single person, even certain gestures can carry harsh, necessary penalties.  Here's hoping that more and more organizations take firm stands on this type of behavior.  And that we get an awesome fictional character as a mascot for a major university soon (Looking at you, Maryland Teenage Mutant Ninja Terrapins!)