The University of Mississippi Athletics
STAFF BLOG: Northcutt Joins Others Against Chant
11/4/2009 | Athletics
The Ole Miss athletics department's senior staff and leadership publish blogs on OleMissSports.com to offer fans added insight into the overall operation of the department. Jamil Northcutt returned to his alma mater in January 2008 and serves as the Assistant Athletics Director for Internal Operations.
November 4, 2009
As I thought about what to write in this blog, I pondered many things. I could write about our new Gameday Recycling Program (Crunch Time) and the progress we have made with our campus sustainability efforts. I could write about the success of our soccer team and their strong finish to the regular season. I could even write about our most recent Southeastern Conference Champion, Barnabus Kirui, and his triumph at the SEC Cross Country Championship. However, there is an issue that continues to outshine all of the great athletic and academic achievements at the university. As a former Ole Miss minority student-athlete and current administrator, I feel that I am in a unique position to speak on the divisive subject of some of our fans chanting "The South Will Rise Again" (TSWRA) at our athletics events.
As I have progressed in my professional career, I have had many opportunities to visit with other colleagues and professionals about the great experiences that I have had at Ole Miss. Nonetheless, it always seems that the more people I encounter and speak with about the great things of the school I love, the past and present negative issues concerning race and symbols are always pointed out to me. I would love to say that these things are not true and do not exist, but the reality is that some of these things are true and do exist. Even when I was recruited to come to Ole Miss 10 years ago (1999), one of the things I had to evaluate was the issue of race. Needless to say, I am not the only one. While there are some past and present students and student-athletes that have decided to come to this institution of higher learning despite some of these issues, there have been many that did not. I recall hosting a University President last year and listening to his perception of racial issues in Mississippi and on our campus. He told me that he expected to see Rebel flags flying and other offensive behaviors as we drove through the city of Oxford. We even discussed the playing of the song "Dixie" and the mascot issue. The fact is that some of his perceptions and expectations are reality on this campus.
So the question is, should we or should we not do away with these symbols based on a few students' intent to offend? In reading many articles concerning this issue, it seems that the discussion is that the students do not intend to offend anyone. The bottom line is that people are offended. We often chant that "We are Ole Miss" at athletics events. Are all of us Ole Miss? What is Ole Miss? To me, Ole Miss is a great school that is on the cusp of achieving greater things than before, but we are held back by present issues such as the TSWRA chant. It's similar to a beautiful white wedding dress that has a spot on it. Out of all of the clean areas of the dress, the eyes of the beholder always go to the spot. Let's go to the cleaners and get rid of the spot TSWRA so that our academic and athletic accomplishments can shine. In closing, I commend and fully support our students and administration in their efforts to do away with the TSWRA chant.
October 28, 2008
It is an honor and a privilege to be back at Ole Miss and serve the University, the athletics administration, the community and most importantly the student-athletes. Every since I came back to Ole Miss in January, I have been asked if I miss being in the NFL. The honest answer would be yes and no. The yes would refer to the close friends and colleagues that I miss and do not get to see on a regular basis. The no would mean that I am really enjoying my new job, new coworkers and where the Lord has placed me at this moment.
What's been great about my experiences in athletics is that I have been blessed with the opportunity to see athletics from different vantage points such as an athlete, a conference office employee (SEC), an NFL employee (Kansas City Chiefs) and now as a University athletics administrator. There have been a lot of commonalities and differences at each place that I have worked. However, out of all of the differences and similarities, one thing remains the same: the student-athletes are the life blood of any university athletics program, sports conference or professional sports organization or league. Without student-athletes, athletics programs or sports would not exist.
Since student-athletes are the life blood, it is important to me to be a constructive example to them in all of my job responsibilities here at Ole Miss. What brings me joy next to my relationship with God and my lovely wife is the opportunity that I have to make a positive impact on student-athletes' lives by the work I do. I guess what I'm saying is that all of us that work in athletics or around children, teenagers, or young adults have to always remember to keep the "Main Thing The Main Thing". It is not about us, our titles, our job responsibilities or wins and losses. The main thing is that our student-athletes learn how to be people of impeccable character. If we focus our attention on helping them become the best people they can become by the work we do, our university, athletics program and community will prosper and have great success.