The referendum on a new mascot for the University of Mississippi will now take place over a four-day period running Tuesday through Friday.

The matter was expected to be decided during student balloting taking place Tuesday  in conjunction with voting for homecoming queen and other campus personalities.

However, in a letter Monday evening, Associated Student Body President Dion Kevin III said the decision was made to extend mascot voting until 7 p.m. Friday. He said the decision was made to allow for more input.

"This will facilitate a larger student input and subsequently give ASB a better gauge of student opinion," Kevin said.




The Oxford-based university's current mascot is Rebel the Black Bear, narrowly chosen in a 2010 student referendum to replace the long-standing Colonel Reb mascot that university administrators earlier retired from official use. The push now is choose the Landshark as a mascot, popularized by the hand-to-helmet shark hand gesture used by Ole Miss football players. 

Colonel Reb, which many still favor, was banished as part of efforts to distance the university from the Old South ties considered offensive to many.

Kevin's Monday letter also put to rest any speculation that Colonel Reb would be added to balloting as a choice to return as mascot.


"That issue was decided a long time ago," Kevin said. "Colonel Reb was taken off the field and retired in 2003."

Kevin said the Black Bear mascot, a reference to the William Faulkner short story The Bear, was an "unfortunate placeholder for a much needed mascot."

The Colonel Reb Foundation, an organization not affiliated with the university that supports retaining the Colonel Reb mascot, said most students still want Colonel Reb.

In a release issued after the Landshark referendum was announced Sept. 18, the Foundation claimed the 2010 referendum came after the university refused to recognize a vote showing 94 percent of students wanted to keep Colonel Reb.

"Even a recent 2016 School of Journalism research project of almost 4000 (sic) students revealed that 86% of Ole Miss students want Colonel Reb as their mascot, with 72% of students proclaiming they 'love' Colonel Reb," the Foundation said.

The university, which is not bound by results of the student referendum, has not taken a position on the outcome of the Landshark vote.