tDecline at Ole Miss is real.

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Ole Miss has abandoned what made it attractive to many folks throughout the South: its unapologetic Southern identity. There were a number of kids from Columbia and Charleston who were friends with my fraternity brothers who went to Ole Miss when I was at USC. A lot of them went there because of its Southern identity. I doubt they'd make the same decision now.

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A lot go to party, the grove, etc. I would imagine no grove for a year or two would kill the school

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I would imagine no grove for a year or two would kill the school

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The last two years Mississippi State undergrads have outnumbered Miss undergrads at the School of Medicine and School of Dentistry. The Dean of the SOM and Vice Chancellor of the U of M is also a State grad although she doesn't take sides

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This is not something I dreamed about growing up in Starkville, certainly not something I could see down the road,” he says. “The whole thing is surreal.” In March, the 52-year-old Sills was named the first full-time chief medical officer of the NFL.

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A neurosurgeon and a 1986 graduate of Mississippi State, Sills will work closely with teams’ medical staffs throughout the league and lead the NFL’s commitment to health and research, especially regarding concussions.

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For the past 20 years, Sills has worked as a consulting neurosurgeon with Mississippi State’s football team. He also has worked with Vanderbilt’s sports’ programs, the NHL’s Nashville Predators, the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies and the U.S. Equestrian Foundation.

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The name Sills has long been associated with Mississippi State athletics. I can still hear the late Jack Cristil, who never missed a chance to describe the pageantry of college football, saying: “And now the famous Maroon band, under the direction of Dr. Kent Sills … ”

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Stills was Allen’s dad, and for more than 20 years he worked as the university’s band director. “I went to nearly every home and away football game when I was growing up,” Sills says. “My mom (Nora) and I would ride the bus with my dad and the band. I can still remember that trip to El Paso (in 1980) for the Sun Bowl. “And I watched the other sports, too. I remember watching ‘Pistol Pete’ Maravich (in 1970). The old gymnasium on campus was packed. People were hanging on to beams to get a look at ‘Pistol Pete.’ ”

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Though he and his wife, Shawne, reside in Nashville, Sills keeps in close contact with friends at MSU and across Mississippi. His mother “still plays the organ for several churches in the area,” he says. “So we get down there as much as possible to see her.” He chuckles.”She still plays at MSU’s graduations. So everybody who has gotten a diploma from State … she’s played ‘Pomp and Circumstance’ for you.”

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