Diversity at Ole Miss: Still Some Boundaries

The University of Mississippi may appear to be a diverse campus but it is easy to see that there are still some boundaries between races.

Ole Miss was a non-segregated school until October 1, 1962 when James Meredith became the first African-American student. Meredith’s admission to the University of Mississippi marked a new way of life at Ole Miss and has since inspired an expansion in racial diversity among students.

Although Ole Miss is not the most racially diverse campus in the nation with only 24 percent non-white students, it is the host of a wide range of ethnic backgrounds and out of state students.

Many of those out of state students that live in very distant states have noticed an invisible boundary between Ole Miss students. Sherif Ahmed, a freshman Ole Miss student from California, realized the separation almost immediately.

“Once I got to Ole Miss I noticed that different races don’t interact with each other as much as they do back home.” Ahmed said.

Whether the feelings towards different races are good or bad, the void that has formed between their interaction has become apparent on campus. The University of Mississippi campus is noticeably diverse but it is the interaction between those diverse groups that seems to be missing. Christian Costanza, a white Ole Miss freshman from Texas, described that issue in detail.

“We have a diverse campus here with not a lot of meshing between any two races. I think people mainly keep to themselves ... White people hang out with white people and other colored people hang out with their same color people.” Costanza said.

The diversity amongst students at the University of Mississippi is not the issue but rather it is the interaction between them. Students who travel from across the country to attend Ole Miss have noticed the boundaries between different racial groups. Many students do not see these boundaries as a reason for concern considering that there is no tension or hostility between the two races. Danielle Bonsignore, a white Ole Miss freshman from Connecticut, felt that as long as these different groups are with the people they want to be then there is no cause for change.

“No one is stopping a black kid from hanging out with a group of white guys or vice versa. Different races hang out with people of the same race because they choose to. No one is forcing them to.” Bonsignore said.

The University of Mississippi has come a very long way in diversifying its student body since James Meredith was admitted in 1962. However the boundaries between students of different is still very much apparent around the Ole Miss campus.

By: Connor Kelly