Candidates' loyalty should be to their state and not their schools

Editor's Note: Since over 1,500 copies of The DM mysteriously disappeared from their stands Monday morning, we've decided to reprint Monday's editorial. We want to make sure that our readers know the editorial board's thoughts about today's election. Our intent was to have readers view the editorial on the eve of the election and allow time for candidates Gray Tollison and Quentin Whitwell to submit response letters. Neither candidate wrote us a letter today. Perhaps they didn't see the editorial because of its absence from the stands, but Whitwell was aware of the content of the editorial before it went to press Sunday night.

Election day can't come soon enough. That day will bring an end to the endless campaigning: the pseudo-smiles and handshakes, the photo ops and media plugs, and most importantly, the mudslinging.

While the days leading up to the election are fast falling away, the negative campaigning by candidates has increased. Claims and counter-claims have been hatched by candidates, each seemingly willing to go to unimaginable lengths to secure their place in the Mississippi Legislature.

Two of these candidates are some of our own: Ninth District, incumbent Senator Democrat Gray Tollison, and his Republican challenger Quentin Whitwell.

These guys have pulled some elaborate stunts in their quest for the senate seat. Both have banked on the reputations of popular Ole Miss alums to sweeten their images. Tollison's ad in The DM features a letter by John Grisham endorsing Tollison's "integrity and experience." Whitwell capitalized on a testimonial from Ole Miss football icon John Vaught -- one of the namesakes of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium -- and enlisted his reputation in his "Vaught-Whitwell Golf Classic." It goes on and on.

One of the main hot spots in the race between Tollison and Whitwell stems from an incident in 1996, during Tollison's first year on the job as a senator. In ads, newspaper articles and speeches, wily Whitwell has blasted Tollison for voting against Governor Kirk Fordice's four nominations to the College Board, two of whom were Ole Miss alumni.

According to Whitwell, Tollison's rejection of Fordice's nominations placed Ole Miss in danger of not having representation on the College Board.

Tollison's rebuttal was not an issue of school loyalty, but rather dedication to diversity. The Tollision camp says that he voted to kill Fordice's nominations because all four of the nominees were white males.

Whitwell's response to Tollison's explanation went as follows: "Women and minorities were not about to be extinct on the College Board. Ole Miss was."

A quick trip to the College Board's Web site will show you just how diverse it is. Seven of the 13 members are white males. Five of the white males were nominated by Fordice. Three African-American men sit on the College Board; only one was appointed by Fordice. The other three College Board members are white women.

If Tollison hadn't voted to kill Fordice's nominations in 1996, the white majority of the College Board would have increased even more.

Whitwell has banked on his love and dedication to the Ole Miss community to entice the voters of the 9th District. But Whitwell should remember that as an elected official, he has a greater duty to humanity -- to be a champion of all his constituents, regardless of race or socioeconomic background, whether they be Ole Miss graduates or not.

The whole drama ended up OK. Two College Board members have Ole Miss ties, and one of the new nominees was an African American. Yet, Whitwell dragged the situation up from legislature history to chip away at Tollison's supposed dedication to Ole Miss.

Mindless devotion to any institution is an enemy to diversity. Tollison's reasoning behind his controversial College Board decisions suggests that diversity is a priority. What does Whitwell's mudslinging say?