Colonel Reb - Colonel Reb On Campus

Colonel Reb On Campus

In 1940, Ole Miss students began voting for "Colonel Reb" as the highest honorary position for campus males. He had previously been called "The Mardi Gras King" but this name was changed by the Associated Student Body's Executive Council in the fall of 1939. This was in addition to the female equivalent of "Miss Ole Miss" which had been bestowed on campus females for over a decade. These two positions are still voted on every fall by the student population, the winners nearly always being members of historically white fraternities and sororities. Several distinguished Ole Miss alumni have been elected to one of these two positions, including recently retired Ole Miss Chancellor Robert Khayat. In 1975, former National Football League standout Ben Williams became the first black student to be elected "Colonel Reb." "Gentle Ben", as he has been lovingly known by many in the Ole Miss community, was also the first black football player at Ole Miss. In 1989, star Ole Miss women's basketball player Kimsey O'Neal became the first black student to gain the title "Miss Ole Miss."

Joining a national trend at many colleges and universities, the university adopted a costumed mascot filled by a trained male cheerleader in the form of the longtime Ole Miss mascot and known as "Johnny Rebel." Colonel Reb as first known thus advanced from his 40 year paper history to a living caricature on the field in 1979. However, as Ole Miss school yearbooks and game programs from 1981 onward show, a human cheerleader was retained wearing an elaborately-lined coat as well as sash and dress pants and the string-tie often associated with planters from antebellum days. His dress later changed into a more tuxedo-like outfit. This figure, according to Ole Miss annuals and programs from the era, was known as "Colonel Rebel" for some years before being known simply as "mike man" and finally disappearing from the sidelines altogether in the early 1990s.

In 2003, the administration removed Colonel Reb from the sidelines at Ole Miss athletic events as the on-the-field mascot, though he was allowed at tailgating and other unofficial university functions. A contest was held in which fans were invited to design a replacement. The athletic department chose two finalists, Rebel Bruiser and Rowdy Rebel, and invited fans to vote on their favorite. The limited fan response as well as ridicule from fans of rival schools prompted the administration to cancel the poll. However, Colonel Reb remains very much alive in the public consciousness; he still wanders The Grove on game day, and he was featured in "Colonel Reb Is Crying", a song produced by Memphis, Tennessee sports talk radio host Chris Vernon, about the Rebels' on-field woes in 2006. The Colonel Reb Foundation is a group founded to preserve the Colonel Reb image and sponsors the unofficial appearances of the mascot in The Grove.