How far have we Mississippians really progressed since the 1960s civil rights struggle?  Do we have a genuine appreciation and respect for the plight of all Mississippians in the struggle for equality?  

If so, why does Mississippi University for Women president Claudia Limbert refuse to adhere to the notion that renaming the nation’s first state supported college for women after a slave plantation  (Waverly), or after an unrepentant supporter for the institution of slavery (Sallie Reneau), would be a show of ultimate disrespect for the progress we have made as a state?    Although Limbert has added “Welty” to the list of names to be retested by a marketing firm, she failed in her duty to address the deeper historical issue even after receiving letters from the NAACP and faculty members opposing the names.  The arguments are strong.

Sallie Reneau belonged to a family of slave owners with slaves waiting on her hand-and-foot in 1858 when she proposed the establishment of a state college for women.  She also offered to raise a confederate company of female soldiers to be armed, paid, and uninformed to fight union troops.   MUW today is 36 percent black and 15 percent men.  It is a total antithesis to all things Sallie Reneau stood for.

Members of the Naming Committee disguised their support for Waverley by suggesting that it stems from the novel written by Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott with no connection to nearby Waverly Plantation.   Waverley, regardless of its spelling, conjures up thoughts of the Old South and the degradation of African Americans through the institution of slavery.  Slaves were used to construct the buildings on the plantation, without compensation, and afterwards were forced to work its land.  It is clear that some white southerners still have a romantic fondness for relics of the Old South.  However, such fondness should always be balanced with the rights and privileges of all citizens.  

University of North Mississippi and Magnolia State University were rejected because they suggested too much of a public, co-educational institution.  Unfortunately, that’s what MUW is.



James D. Ward

Professor of Political Science

Mississippi University for Women