Sean Higgins raises his hand as he was the only person to vote “yea” for the resolution Tuesday night.
BY ADAM GANUCHEAU
The Associated Student Body Senate Student Affairs Committee shot down a resolution that would ban the playing of the song “Dixie” at all University of Mississippi events. The resolution was rejected by a 12-1 vote. The only “yea” vote was by the resolution’s author, ASB Senator and sophomore public policy and sociology double major Sean Higgins.
“I drafted the resolution because I don’t think it’s appropriate as the flagship institution in the state of Mississippi to play Dixie at any university events,” Higgins said. “I think it’s offensive not only to minorities but to other people that are from the South. It was the anthem of the southern Confederacy, it was used in the Jim Crow era, it was used to justify segregation and it was used by segregationists. I just don’t think it sends a good message about our university.”
One main contributing reason for the majority “no” vote was because committee members felt that not enough student, administrative or alumni input had been garnered.
On March 25, the ASB Judicial Council ruled that the title “Colonel Reb,” the title traditionally given to the male counterpart of Miss Ole Miss, was unconstitutional, garnering major disapproval of many students, alumni and fans of Ole Miss. Two weeks before the Judicial Council’s ruling, a resolution about the “Colonel Reb” title was rejected in the same Student Affairs Committee for the same reason. ASB Attorney General Rob Pillow launched an investigation into the process by which the Judicial Council’s ruling was made.
One of the twelve committee members to vote the resolution down last night was ASB Senator Courtney Taylor, a junior international studies and liberal studies double major.
“Right now is a very tumultuous time within the ASB structure system dealing with the fallout from the ‘Colonel Reb’ situation as well as the very unpopular smoking ban last year,” Taylor said. “As a result, I think it’s very important to compromise between an increasingly alienated student population and an ASB that wants certain things accomplished and an administration that wants certain things accomplished. At this present time, we don’t have enough input from either the constituents themselves or the administration to really form a compromise.”
Higgins said he believed that the committee made the wrong decision.
“For the band to be playing Dixie at university events, the university is basically giving a rubber stamp of approval to the song,” he said. “I’m not thrilled with the outcome, but I also can’t say I’m surprised. As much as our Senate is supposed to represent the student body, I don’t think we see very many minorities at all on the Senate much less in ASB.”
Ole Miss Pride of the South Marching Band Director David Willson declined comment on the ASB’s resolution itself.
“That is a decision that does not involve the band,” Willson said. “Any questions about it should be forwarded to the chancellor. I have no other comment than that.”
The committee meeting became heated at times, with committee members arguing with Higgins. ASB Vice President Morgan Gregory ordered the conversation to remain relevant to the resolution multiple times.
“I think the senators are showing a really big concern about making too many changes without consulting their constituents,” Gregory said. “There’s been a lot going on recently and I think it’s smart of the senators to be careful about putting certain issues through Senate.”
Higgins says that he is not done pursuing the issue, but he is not considering taking the issue to the ASB Judicial Council.
“I hope that the university administration will take the lead on this issue since the students seemed to have really dropped the ball,” he said. “I’m definitely going to look to other avenues to try to get this moving.”
