2008 Presidential Debate | The University of Mississippi

August 11, 2008

African-American Families Reflect on the Opportunities, Challenges and Joys of Joining the UM Family

OXFORD, Miss. - One was expelled from the university, then returned to become a top administrator. Another blazed a path of firsts for the next generation, including her daughter and civil rights activist Medgar Evers' twin great-nieces.

Their stories reflect struggles and successes, victories and defeats, disappointments and pride. These five people illustrate the road toward racial reconciliation that the University of Mississippi family has been traveling for more than four decades.

Though apprehensive when they enrolled at UM in 2003, twins Courtney and Corrie Cockrell found it diverse and open. Corrie graduated from the School of Law in 2006, more than 50 years after Evers, her great-uncle, was denied entry there because of his race. Courtney, who received a bachelor's degree from UM in 2005, expects to complete her law degree next spring.

Expelled by the university in 1970 for protesting its treatment of blacks, Donald Cole returned to the campus as a professor in 1993. Now the university's chief diversity officer, he has the clout to create programs and practices that promote diversity, and his entire family is an integral part of the Ole Miss family.

Although she graduated from UM with a bachelor's degree in 1979, Rose Flenorl is still blazing new trails. Flenorl, FedEx's manager of social responsibility, becomes the first black president of the university's national Alumni Association this fall.

Along with thousands of others, the Cockrells, Coles and Flenorls are reshaping the university community, its image and its future. That's what Cole hopes people will see as the national spotlight shines on Oxford Sept. 26 during the first 2008 presidential debate.

"I think that the University of Mississippi of the '60s defined itself with race, and I want people to see how the University of Mississippi has redefined itself," he said. "We are proactive in this area, and I would like to be able to throw off the shackles that say that we are the worst of the worst in race relations.

"I would like people to see how we have mended our ways to the point that we are now a national leader in that area. I would like for people to walk away and say, 'Wow, if Mississippi can, then we can.' Those are my desires, my hopes."

A testament to that change was the enrollment of the Cockrell sisters at UM in 2003, following their graduation from Tennessee State University.

Corrie and Courtney, 27, are the granddaughters of Evers' brother Charles, who moved back to Mississippi following his brother's murder in 1963 to continue the fight for equality. The sisters believe their family has come full circle at UM since their great-uncle was denied entry to law school in 1954. In 1962, Medgar helped enroll James Meredith as the university's first black student. The following year, Medgar was assassinated.

The Evers clan hosts an annual family homecoming celebration commemorating Medgar's life. It was through these celebrations that the Cockrell twins first realized the significance of their family's role in the civil rights struggle.

"Our parents always stressed to us the importance of education," Courtney said. "We know that our great-uncle died for us to be able to have the education we have been blessed with, so we appreciate the significance of the opportunities we've been afforded."

In 2006, the family gathered in the Grove for Corrie's graduation and visited the Medgar Evers Memorial in the Lamar Law Center after the ceremony. Charles voiced great pride throughout the day, Corrie said. "All he could say was, 'Medgar would be so proud.'"

Before arriving at the university, she and her twin agreed they were anxious about the experience they would have but soon felt welcomed.

"I've never had any regrets about coming to school here," Corrie said. "It is such a prestigious school, and I have felt at home and comfortable since the first day. The people here - the students and the professors - are so open and helpful and encouraging. When you have that type of environment, it makes it easy to excel and to have the frame of mind to succeed."

That has not always been the case. Cole was 18 when he enrolled at UM in 1968, six years after integration.

"My feeling before getting here was that I was not going to have any problems in the social arenas because the school was integrated," Cole said. But white students bumped him off sidewalks. The chair of the math department denied him an appointment, and he wasn't allowed to major in math.

So, Cole joined other black students in a 1970 protest during a concert by Up With People, a multi-racial group. Cole and more than 90 other students were arrested and sent to the local jail. Then the university expelled him and seven others for their actions. Others might have left Oxford, started a new life and never looked back, but not Cole.

After earning a bachelor's degree and two master's degrees elsewhere, he returned to the university in 1977 to pursue his doctorate in mathematics.

"I don't know if I've ever fully answered what made me return," he said. "Nearest I can tell, I wasn't a failure, and leaving here without a degree represented failure."

Cole attained his long-eluded goal to "amicably depart the university with a degree in hand" upon completing his doctorate in 1985, then spent eight years in industry and academia. In 1993, he was sought out by UM officials to see if he was willing to return as a faculty member and administrator. The one-time protestor is assistant provost, assistant to the chancellor for multicultural affairs and associate professor of mathematics. He takes pride in having seen his wife, sister-in-law, nephew and daughter Mariah obtain degrees from the university. His son Will should graduate in 2009.

Surprisingly, Cole rarely talked about being arrested and expelled. His children learned about it after he was featured in Nadine Cohodas' book "The Band Played Dixie."

"My dad didn't talk about it," Mariah said. "Even now, I think more people outside the family ask about it than we do."

When Will and Mariah enrolled at UM, Cole was elated.

"I certainly much prefer that they attend here; I like for them to be close," he said, a paternal grin stretching across his face. "But I also know the institution, and I know that they can go on from here and do anything they want."

Cole admits that although he returned to UM in part to prove he could, he's stayed for very different reasons - family bonds and the type of university it has become.

"The university is the common bond that grounds us together as a family," he said. "I hope my children's children will come here ... I'm not unique in that respect. I have a lot of friends who are beginning to send their children back, and they are sending them back without hesitation. They have gone out into the world and done well with their degrees, and they want their children to do well."

Flenorl is one of those parents, and she is proud of the success her daughter Lillie has achieved as a UM student.

Rose grew up hearing about the challenges faced by James Meredith, Evers and other champions of freedom and equality. She was proud of their efforts to open doors for minorities, but initially she was headed to historically black Jackson State University, not Ole Miss.

"My mother, father, godmother and godfather all were proud Jackson State graduates," she said. "My grandmother attended Jackson State. My mother was valedictorian and a former Miss Jackson State."

Despite the family connections to JSU, all it took to get Rose and one of her best friends to enroll at Ole Miss was a UM conference recruiting African-American students. As a student, Rose was UM's first African-American to be elected a Campus Favorite, the first African-American president of the Association for Women Students, and the first African-American female named to the Student Hall of Fame. Later, she was the first African-American female to be inducted into UM's Alumni Hall of Fame, and this fall, she becomes the first African-American president of the Ole Miss Alumni Association.

"My parents were concerned about my decision," Flenorl said. "While they knew I would get a great education, they also wanted me to have a good social experience. They wanted me to be in an environment where I would learn to be a leader and develop self-confidence."

All those hopes were fulfilled when Rose graduated from Ole Miss in 1979. Because the university has undergone even more changes since then, she hopes people see the university that she and her daughter Lillie have come to love.

"Look at our present and future, not just our past," she said. "We are like many college campuses. Many have struggled with managing diversity. Our African-American graduates speak to our success: Otis Sanford, Commercial Appeal editorial editor; Ronnie Agnew, Jackson Clarion-Ledger editor; Edith Kelly Green, retired FedEx vice president; Rueben Anderson, the first African-American state Supreme Court justice; Judge Pat Wise; and many more. Look at Patrick Willis, Deuce McAllister and Armintie Price.

"Those alums are not the exception but the rule of what a great education in a thriving environment produces."

Like her mother, Lillie found UM to be a nurturing university with much to offer.

"I would want the world to know that Ole Miss is full of opportunities," Lillie said. "I always felt that if there was anything that I ever desired to do here, the resources were available and the people were supportive. Choosing to attend Ole Miss ... was the best decision of my life."

When Lillie met Tom Brokaw of NBC News at the Ole Miss-LSU football game last fall, Brokaw asked Lillie why she chose to attend UM.

"Lillie said, 'Because this is my family,'" her mother said with pride. "She understands that she benefits from the fruits of the civil rights movement. But at the same time, she has never faced the things that those before her faced, and that speaks to what the university has become."

Following in her mother's footsteps, Lillie was named to the UM Student Hall of Fame this past year. She earned a bachelor's degree in journalism this summer and returns this fall to complete a bachelor's in English. She also was selected by Order of Omega as Greek Woman of the Year.

"Ole Miss was a good fit for me," Lillie said. "I learned a lot in the classroom and even more outside the classroom.

"My Ole Miss education is a great value and will be of even greater value moving forward."

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