Tradition, Confederate Battle Flag, And Nonsense

Hotty Totty, goshamighty, who in the hell are we?
Hey! flim flam, bim bam, Ole Miss, by damn!

Does this make any sense?

It's tradition.

When I arrived at the University of Mississippi as a (barely) seventeen year old freshman in 1954, we had to learn many traditions.Hotty Totty was one of them.

Another was at half time in football games when a group of students carried an enormous Confederate battle flag held horizontally like a tent over the heads of the marching band. Somewhere in my memorabilia is a photograph of the scene. Students, alumni and cheerleaders all waved the Confederate battle flag.

Until Robert Khayat, a former star placekicker for Ole Miss and for the Washington Redskins became Chancellor of the University. (He had previously served for many years as Dean of the Law School).

Bob Khayat was handsome, athletic and smart. He sometimes attended our Methodist Church in company with a young woman who was attractive, intelligent and talented - Mary Ann Mobley, who eventually became Miss America and a professional actress.

By the time Bob Khayat became Chancellor, enrollment was falling, and coaches were having trouble recruiting athletes.

Bob decided to find out why. Here's the story.

Before long, the University discarded its mascot, "Col Rebel" and the Confederate Battle Flag.

Probably only a historic football hero could have pulled it off.

Now the Republican governor of South Carolina has called for the battle flag to be removed from the grounds of the state capitol.

I wish her well.