re: ASB trying to get rid of Dixie Update: no vote Dixie to stay

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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.”

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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.

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“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.”

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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.”

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