The University of MS, affectionately known as Ole Miss, made the decision to abandon the song this year as it seeks to create a more welcoming environment for all of its students.
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But the University of MS, whose athletic traditions were once overlaid with Confederate symbolism, is ready to forget the song.
The Athletics Department at The University of MS has asked the band drop “Dixie” from its pregame show. Mississippi Today first reported the story.
In a brief statement from the athletic department, Ole Miss said the tune that is near and dear to the hearts of many will be replaced by something “more inclusive for all fans” as part of the debut of an expanded Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Although written by Daniel Decatur Emmett, a Northerner, the song was immediately very popular in the South and served as an unofficial anthem for the Confederate States America.
And that’s just the problem, according to officials at Ole Miss, who say the song’s historical context mean it’s no longer welcome at games. The university has been working to remove Confederate symbols for years – “Dixie” has been on the chopping block for at least a year, but the decision to finally remove had been postponed due to logistics.
In 1997, then-Chancellor Robert Khayat banned hand-held flagpoles from the stadium, effectively ending the waiving of battle flags.
In 2009, Ole Miss altered its fight song to discourage a controversial chant “the South will rise again”. Ole Miss fans had once yelled the same at the end of the original version of Dixie.
Ole Miss Athletics Department issued a statement saying it was time for the university to create new traditions. “We felt we needed to move forward and do the right things”.
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None of these changes were without controversy.
