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Vaught-Hemingway Stadium

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

Built in 1915, Vaught-Hemingway Stadium has been the home of the University of Mississippi’s football team for over a century. The stadium was named after Judge William Hemingway, a law professor and longtime chairman of the university’s Committee on Athletics in 1947, and later Johnny Vaught, the winningest coach in Ole Miss history who led the football team to three national championships.[1] While the stadium is regarded as a “place for the Ole Miss family to come together as one,” the stadium has been, and in many ways continues to be, a physical representation of the racist ideology and symbols that have been supported throughout the university’s history.

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Vaught-Hemingway Stadium

Vaught-Hemingway Stadium

Vaught-Hemingway Stadium

Vaught-Hemingway Stadium

Vaught-Hemingway Stadium

Vaught-Hemingway Stadium

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

The tension that exists between the stadium as a space to celebrate the university and a reminder of the university’s history of racism begins with the name. In 1966, Coach Johnny Vaught was interviewed regarding Ole Miss recruiting Black football players. On September 7, 1966, Vaught told a reporter from the Associated Press that he was only recruiting Black players “because we have to comply with some sort of act to get federal funds.” He went on to say “We fill out a form to show that we have looked at one. We have not found one good enough yet. None have been invited to campus. By the time we find someone good enough, I'll be gone. Let someone else do that.”[2]

In the late 1970’s, “Colonel Reb” was created and adopted by the university as the official mascot. “Colonel Reb,” a cartoon older-aged white male dressed in Confederate clothing, was the university’s mascot until 2003 when then-Chancellor Robert Khayat chose to retire the mascot but to continue to use the “Ole Miss Rebels” name. [3] Today, the university’s official mascot is “Tony the Landshark,” an anthropomorphic shark.

 

Vaught-Hemingway stadium has also been a backdrop for controversy surrounding the Confederate flag. In 1983, the university banned official use of the Confederate flag as a school symbol in response to John Hawkins’, the first Black cheerleader for the university, refusal to carry the flag.[4] Although the university disassociated itself from the flag, many students continued to fly the flag and display it at football games. In 1997, Chancellor Khayat ordered a ban on all sticks at athletic events. Although the ban was couched to be for safety reasons, it was clearly an attempt to keep Confederate flags out of the stadium.[5] Today, poles, sticks, and unauthorized banners and signs larger than 8 1/2″ x 11, are prohibited according to the stadium’s policies. [6]

This entry was written by Reagan Stone

Sources

  1. Ole Miss Athletics. “Vaught-Hemingway Stadium: 100 Years.” Ole Miss Athletics. Ole Miss Athletics, July 7, 2018. https://olemisssports.com/news/2015/9/9/Vaught_Hemingway_Stadium_100_Years.
  2. “8 Sep 1966, 21 - Tampa Bay Times at Newspapers.com.” Newspapers.com. Accessed October 30, 2020. https://www.newspapers.com/image/316328692/.
  3. Holman, Jordan. “The Changing Face of Ole Miss: A Look Back at the University's Mascots.” The Daily Mississippian, August 16, 2019. https://thedmonline.com/mascot-history/.
  4. Ballou, Howard. “Former Ole Miss Cheerleader Who Refused to Carry Confederate Flag Reacts to New Law.” https://www.wlbt.com, July 1, 2020. https://www.wlbt.com/2020/07/01/former-ole-miss-cheerleader-who-refused-carry-confederate-flag-reacts-new-law/.
  5. Sack, Kevin. “The Final Refrains of 'Dixie'.” The New York Times. The New York Times, November 1, 1998. https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/01/education/the-final-refrains-of-dixie.html?searchResultPosition=1.
  6. “Stadium Policies.” Ole Miss Gamedays. Accessed October 30, 2020. http://olemissgameday.com/football__trashed/stadium-policies/. 

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