My first day back this fall, I could hear the controversy surrounding me concerning the administration’s decision to remove ‘Dixie’ from the marching band’s repertoire. It immediately brought me back to last October, when I received an email from the university about the removal of the state flag from campus grounds. It was the most complex feeling of hope that...
On a symbolically cold and rainy October morning in northern Mississippi, the beautiful and stubborn state flag was torn down from its post in the Circle. In a direct insult to the state of Mississippi, its people and tens of thousands of students and alumni, the university’s senior “leadership” chose to capitulate to the racist, extremist forces of the “Black...
While sitting among strangers, one overhears many conversations and stories. In some cases, the stories are the everyday type with no origins or messages of extreme importance. However, I recently overheard one that was all but ordinary. The conversation went a little something like this: “This Black Lives Matter thing will not last,” one person in the group said....
In the past few days, vloggers (video bloggers) have been upset with YouTube because it has a new policy about which videos can host advertisements and make money and which cannot. YouTube is essentially more strictly enforcing where ads go, bypassing videos that have controversial content. The complaints range from the company depriving creators of their rightful ad...
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has caused controversy the past week, beginning with his intentional sit-down protest through the playing of the National Anthem before a preseason NFL game. The American public has been branding him either disrespectful and pompous or a champion of revitalized civil rights sentiments, depending on their political views....
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick sent the nation into a media frenzy after he refused to stand for the playing of the national anthem last Sunday. Kaepernick told NFL media, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my...
I believe that our university is succeeding in regards to sexual, relationship, and/or intimate partner violence prevention. The Violence Prevention Office (VPO) in specific has made great strides in education and prevention of violence on campus. Due to new marketing techniques, the VPO has reached more students than ever before. As a result, reports of sexual assault...
The Syrian refugee crisis has been an important topic for the last couple years. When we first heard of the refugee crisis, our heartstrings were torn at with pictures of young children and new widows. The “we are all human, have a heart” narrative is understandable, but in cases such as this, the people of our country, especially young Americans, must weigh the benefit...
