Jackson Free Press

When you scrape your knee or elbow, you put a bandage on the cut to allow it to heal. When the time comes to remove that bandage, you can either slowly pull it off, or you can just take a couple of deep breaths and rip it off. Currently, the University of Mississippi is slowly pulling off its bandage as the university begins to change its image and distance itself from its past.

On Aug. 1, Jackson Free Press News Editor R.L. Nave posted the university's Sensitivity and Respect Committee's action plan (jfp.ms/umactionplan). The long and short are that the university wants to show more diversity and commitment to its ideals through avenues such as changing street names and adding historical context to certain places.

As the university has slowly pulled off its bandage of change, it banned Confederate flags, certain songs played by the school's band and ousted Colonel Reb.

Now, the university needs to go all in and rip off that metaphorical bandage. The terms "Ole Miss" and "Rebels" need to be changed and discontinued by the university. Even the academic side wants the university to distance itself from both names. "Ole Miss" (the name slaves called the plantation owner's wife) is a term from the Old South, and "Rebels" certainly doesn't refer to a 1970s sci-fi movie but is instead rooted in the Civil War. If the academic side of the university doesn't want to use either name, then the athletic side of the university should follow suit. Being a part of one of the best sports conferences in America means that the public may know the athletic side of the university even better than the academic side.

A change like this isn't unprecedented. Many universities changed names and mascots that were associated with Native Americans when the NCAA forced them to. Those universities didn't dry up and die, and neither will the University of Mississippi.

Some people will disagree with changing more of UM's traditions. Those same people, I'm sure, were against other changes made by the university. If this is the only reason the university doesn't do away with "Ole Miss" or "Rebels," it means that the university isn't try dedicated to dealing with its past and changing its dated image.