So "Ole Miss" is what slaves used to be forced to call the plantation mistress

[link=(via npr: 'Ole Miss' Debates Campus Traditions With Confederate Roots https://n.pr/1xozlLY)]Ole Miss struggles with traditions[/link]

And that is where the nickname comes from.
Crazy, I always thought it meant Old Mississippi. Learn something new everyday

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Some students, too, are uncomfortable with the changes. "I'm all about tradition and I think that it should remain Confederate Drive. It's just part of the history of the South," says W.T. Bailey, an accounting and finance student. One tradition that's not changing is the university's nickname, "Ole Miss." The phrase was how slaves once addressed the mistress of the plantation. It's ubiquitous on campus, on signs, sweatshirts and in the football cheer. "Ole Miss has been here since I can remember, it needs to stay," says Tommy Lee, a 1982 Ole Miss grad. "That is our slogan: We are Ole Miss." University chancellor Dan Jones also defends the "Ole Miss" name against its critics, saying that the "vast majority of people associated with the university — that includes our faculty, our staff, our students, our alumni — think that the term 'Ole Miss' is a term of endearment." And even many black students here say they like the name, and see it as just a name. "If we are going to be in the football stadium, and the announcer says first down, the first things out of my mouth are going to be 'Ole Miss,' " says Courtney Pearson.

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