It has just been brought to my attention that the new chancellor at Ole Miss, Dan Jones, actually wants to change the Ole Miss song, "From Dixie With Love," to remove that last part where people chant, "The South will rise again." From the AP story:"Dan Jones, who became Ole Miss chancellor in July, said he asked the school's band director, David Wilson, to modify the song to support the efforts of the Associated Student Body. He said he has received complaints from alumni that the slogan is offensive.
'The fact is, the phrase 'The South Will Rise Again' is not part of our tradition or spirit, and it is inconsistent with the university's values and what Ole Miss stands for — a great public university with a focus on the future,' Jones said in a phone interview Thursday from the campus in Oxford.
The modified version of the song ends abruptly before the chanting phase starts. It was first played Saturday at Ole Miss's homecoming game against the University of Alabama at Birmingham, but that didn't stop some fans from chanting.
OK, "Dan" - if that's even your real name - I don't know you, but I already don't like you. Here's the thing about being offended: You don't have a right not to be. When I was a student, From Dixie With Love was always one of my favorite parts of the games, and I'm a flaming liberal. For Christ's sake, my best friend is gay, my other best friend is queer (you can ask her yourself - it's an actual gender classification), I listen to the most politically incorrect music that exists and I spend most of my time swimming in a sea of artists, writers and other mushy artsy types. And I always loved hearing the Dixie song at the games, even though I always abstained from the chant because I thought it was ridiculous. Yeah, I guess I was offended, but it's interesting how a nice helping of whiskey helps to soften the sharp edge of the chant's offensiveness. Am I right, y'all? Let's not pretend to be something we're not.
But this is what really struck me, from the same AP story: Earlier this month, the Ole Miss student government passed a resolution suggesting the chant be replaced by the phrase, "To hell with LSU."
Lolz. I mean that is LOLX. Anyone who read my Hautey Toddy column knows how I feel about LSU. It's just so delightfully Ole Miss that they want to officially change the Dixie song to diss LSU at every single game. In the spirit of things, I feel inspired to come up with a few suggested chant replacements to represent what Ole Miss stands for, in Dan Jones' words. Here's a brief list.
We are so drunk right now!
Let's try to win this game!
We'll never win this game!
The Harvard of the South!
I wish I had more Scotch!
At least we'll party soon!
We love black people now!
And now, I want ideas from y'all. Let's celebrate the traditions and the spirit of Ole Miss. Go.
