We, the undersigned faculty, staff and graduate students, commend the faculty decision at the Meek School of Journalism and New Media to call for donor Ed Meek to remove his name from the school immediately. We thank Dr. Meek for making the right decision to voluntarily withdraw his name from the school after his racist and sexist Facebook post. We must not simply condemn acts and symbols of hate on our campus but also build institutions which affirm our students and raise up historical struggles for justice.
Meek’s comments expressed nostalgia for institutional racism and policies of racial exclusion, both of which are represented by the buildings and monuments on our campus. In the listening session on Sept. 20, students emphasized how monuments and buildings named after slave owners and segregationists act as a constant reminder of exclusion and source of harm.
Removing Ed Meek’s name from the School is a necessary, but basic, step in a much longer process of reparative justice. Our university must firmly stand for its stated values of intellectual excellence, non-discrimination and inclusion and support for all its students.
Thus, we ask that the administration immediately take the following steps:
First, in consultation with the Ida B. Wells Memorial Foundation and other stakeholders, explore renaming the School of Journalism and New Media after Ida B. Wells-Barnett, the pioneering investigative journalist, anti-lynching crusader, feminist suffragist and co-founder of the NAACP, who was born into slavery in nearby Holly Springs, Mississippi.
Second, establish resources and scholarships for black women who are pursuing journalism degrees at the University.
Finally, establish a Reparative Justice Committee led by students and faculty in consultation with the office of Diversity and Inclusion and the University of Mississippi Slavery Research Group to begin the process of removing the Confederate monument. We acknowledge the important efforts of the contextualization committee. But based on the listening session with students and our classroom discussions, we conclude that more must be done to change the hostile climate on our campus. Accordingly, the committee will work toward other concrete changes to foster an inclusive community. This committee should be led by those most harmed and should promote reconciliation and constructive responses to the historical wrongs of slavery and segregation.
Mikaela Adams, Associate Professor, History
Alan Arrivee, Associate Professor, Theatre and Film
Sarah Baechle, Assistant Professor, English
Elias J. Baker, Graduate Student, History
Frances Barrett, Graduate Student, Southern Studies
Tony Boudreaux, Associate Professor, Sociology and Anthropology
William Boyle, Instructor, Department of Writing and Rhetoric
Lindy Brady, Assistant Professor, History
Michelle Bright, Adjunct Instructor, Writing and Rhetoric
Jaz Brisack, Opinion Writer, The Daily Mississippian
Cullen Brown, English
Luanne Buchanan, Instructional Associate Professor, Modern Languages
Anne Cafer, Assistant Professor, Sociology and Anthropology
Ellie Campbell, Reference and Instruction Law Librarian, Khayat Law Center
Jeff Carter, Associate Professor, Political Science
Miguel Centellas, Instructional Assistant Professor, Sociology and Anthropology
Keerthi Chandrashekar, Graduate Student, Southern Studies
Jesse Cromwell, Associate Professor, History
Carlynn Crosby, Graduate Student, Southern Studies
Carey Bernini Dowling, Instructional Assistant Professor, Psychology
Conor M. Dowling, Associate Professor, Political Science
Erin Drew, Assistant Professor, English
Leigh Anne Duck, Associate Professor, English
Kari Lynn Edwards, Graduate Student, History
Beth Ann Fennelly, Professor, English
Tom Franklin, Associate Professor, English
Shennette Garrett-Scott, Assistant Professor, History and African American Studies
Sarah Heying, Graduate Instructor, History
Vivian Blair Hobbs, Senior Lecturer, English
Antonia Eliason, Assistant Professor, Law
Cristin Ellis, Associate Professor, English
Chiarella Esposito, Associate Professor, History
Brian Foster, Assistant Professor, Sociology and Southern Studies
Fiona Foster, Graduate Student, History
Angela Green, Lecturer, Writing and Rhetoric
Darren Grem, Associate Professor, History and Southern Studies
Garrett Felber, Assistant Professor, History
Lester L. Field, Professor, History
Mark Frezzo, Associate Professor, Sociology and Anthropology
April Holm, Associate Professor, History
Sherra Jones, Administrative Coordinator, School of Engineering
Zachary Kagan Guthrie, Assistant Professor, History
Bryan Kessler, Graduate Instructor, History
Spencer Walker King, Graduate Student, History
Frances Kneupper, Associate Professor, History
Kiese Laymon, Professor, English
Marc H. Lerner, Associate Professor, History
Jennie Lightweis-Goff, Instructor, English/Outreach
Alexandra Lindgren-Gibson, Assistant Professor, History
Rebecca Marchiel, Assistant Professor, History
Andrew Marion, Graduate Student, History
Amy McDowell, Assistant Professor, Sociology and Anthropology
Kathryn McKee, Associate Professor, English and Southern Studies
Marcos Mendoza, Assistant Professor, Sociology and Anthropology
Maureen Meyers, Assistant Professor, Sociology and Anthropology
Matthew L. Murray, Instructional Associate Professor, Sociology and Anthropology
John R. Neff, Professor, Associate Professor, History
Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Professor, English
Joshua Nguyen, Graduate Students, English
Minjoo Oh, Associate Professor, Sociology and Anthropology
Cecelia Parks, Research & Instruction Librarian and Assistant Professor, University Libraries
Catarina Passidomo, Assistant Professor, Sociology and Anthropology, Southern Studies
Elizabeth Payne, Professor Emeritus, History
Eva Payne, Assistant Professor, History
Thomas Porter, Graduate Student, History
McKenna Raney-Gray, Law School
John Rash, Instructional Assistant Professor, Southern Studies
Peter Reed, Associate Professor, English
Christine Rizzi, Graduate Instructor, History
Thomas Robinson, Graduate Student, History
Justin I. Rogers, Graduate Student, History
Jarod Roll, Associate Professor, History
Charles K. Ross, Professor, History and African American Studies
Je’Monda S. Roy, Graduate Student, Southern Studies
Mohammed Salau, Associate Professor, History
John Paul Samonds, Associate Dean, Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College
Dinorah Sapp, Lecturer, Intensive English Program
David Hooper Schultz, Graduate Assistant, Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies
John Sonnett, Associate Professor, Sociology and Anthropology
Deborah Smith, Senior Accountant, Bursar
Kelly Smith, Graduate Student, Higher Education
Jasmine P. Stansberry, Graduate Student, History
Ashley Lauren Steenson, Graduate Student, History
Elizabeth Young Sweeney, Research Associate, Center for Population Studies, Sociology and Anthropology
Peter Thilly, Assistant Professor, History
Afton Thomas, Project Coordinator, Southern Foodways Alliance
James M. Thomas (JT), Assistant Professor, Sociology and Anthropology
Colleen Thorndike, Instructor, Writing and Rhetoric
Jemar Tisby, Graduate Student, History
Nicolas Trepanier, Associate Professor, History
Anne Twitty, Associate Professor, History
Jay Watson, Professor, English
Jeffrey R. Watt, Professor, History
David Wharton, Assistant Professor, Southern Studies
Ian Whittington, Assistant Professor, English
Nancy L. Wicker, Professor, Art and Art History
Jessica Wilkerson, Assistant Professor, History and Southern Studies
Sarah Bartlett Wilson, Instructor, Writing and Rhetoric
Harrison Clay Witt, Assistant Professor, Theatre and Film
Timothy Yenter, Associate Professor, Philosophy and Religion
