Living a Healthy Life with Herbalife

“Sometimes there would be occasions in my house where there was more Herbalife than actual food… and that’s when I knew I had to learn to love it whether I liked it or not,” said Madison Palmer, Ole Miss senior and now, current store owner of Herbalife in Texas.

Palmer admits she didn’t take Herbalife and her family’s involvement in it as seriously in the beginning, but once she got the hang of things, she enjoyed it more and more.

Palmer started Herbalife when she was 14 years old, and has since grown her small self-promoting business into 6 shops around the country. Her parents also contribute and have their own stores as well.

Living a healthy life can often be challenging, and some people might not really know where to start. However, Palmer proclaims that living a healthy life isn’t all that hard and can even be less work than some may think.

“I obviously still exercise a good amount but drinking my teas and taking my vitamins every day is what really has helped me lead a healthy life,” she says.

Being a full-time student as well as having a full-time job seems extremely overwhelming, but Palmer is both a dedicated student and boss.

“Yes sometimes it does get hard trying to balance everything with school and work but I really do love what I do and I’m getting ready to move back to Austin so I will get to be working with my team full time,” she says.

Herbalife offers other products aside from teas and shakes, they also offer skin and sleep-aide products that often attract other clients who may not be as interested in the diet. The company is also heavily involved in charity work around the world.

Madison enjoys sharing her products with friends who are eager to start their health journey as well. She says she loves having her friends over to try new shake and tea flavors and continues to encourage them to incorporate Herbalife into their every day lives to help them look and feel their best.

OLE MISS AKA’S HOPING FOR POSITIVE POLITICAL ACTION FROM VP-ELECT

University of Mississippi’s Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority graduates are hoping that their sorority sister sparks a change in American society. Alpha Kappa Alpha was the first African-American sorority founded in 1908. Since then, the sorority has completed tons of community service and taken in more than 300,000 members in counting. It is home to many famous African Americans such as Maya Angelou, Ava DuVernay, Alicia Keys, and recently most notable, VP-elect Kamala Harris.

Brittney Jackson and Deandria Turner of the University of Mississippi’s Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated both have mixed emotions about VP-elect Kamala Harris properly fulfilling her new position after coming off her old position as a defense attorney.  

“I understand that you can hold a position of that capacity and be completely detached as a person. At the same time, it would be interesting to see what her true intentions are, because that was something that hurt the African American community,” Jackson said. 

VP-elect Kamala Harris was sworn in as the second African-American woman and first South Asian-American as a senator in 2017.

Despite her works as DA, studies show that the black community still put an effort in helping her win the election. African Americans have the largest turnout rates in the past presidential election.

“I think a lot of soros went to the polls and voted. Kamala Harris being an AKA gave her a little bit of more leverage. It was definitely a big movement with “scroll to the polls”, and I feel like black people and black women did just that,” Turner said.

Harris has already promised to combat more social issues that the country is currently facing and to make it a better place for minority groups.

“Marginalized communities are so overlooked, so it’s kind of hard to be hopeful, because you don’t know if their changes have you in mind,” Jackson said. 

Hope is something that marginalized communities tend to be continuously led on with. People are seeming to not give all the way in to the promises that she has made in her campaign with President-elect Joe Biden.

“I think honestly her actions have shown that she has a negative impact on our community. So many black men have been affected by her decision to pass the three strike rule.”

This three strike rule is responsible for incarcerating over hundreds of African Americans for petty crimes and also making them receive harsh and prolonged sentences, that they wouldn’t have normally received before. Although this law seemed to affect more of the male population for African Americans, it does not seem to go unnoticed to women in the community. 

“I think that black women know it is one thing to gain the trust of women, but you have to have the trust of black women. We not only have the struggles of women but what it means to be black as well,” Jackson said.

Since her campaign,Harris has promised to reverse some of the harm that has been done by the government implementing laws to target minorities specifically. Kamala Harris also attended Howard University for her undergrad years, which is a prestigious HBCU. A lot of African American graduates often refer to the HBCU experience, as one of the best times in their career. Many people feel that this experience could help her relate a lot more to the black community.

They also feel that Harris having to face the same type of discrimination that other minorities groups have faced may better suit her for the position.

“Having a woman in office will give us much diversity. She has a very different perspective on things and also a different insight. She has a different background that gives her a different mindset than Joe Biden has, which could be good,” Turner said.

Jackson feels that these types of achievements are nothing new for black women, but it does reinforce the point that they typically overcome their hardships. 

“I hate that black women need some type of spark or inspiration, when we already are the spark and inspiration. I think black women have been kicking down the doors and shattering glass ceilings. We know our obstacles are against us, and we actively find ways to fight against them.”

 One way that they were able to fight against these barriers was by electing someone who they feel had their best interest in mind and made them feel safe as an American citizen. 

“I know a lot of people say they voted for the lesser of two evils. But because she is the first African American VP, I think that we have to trust and see what comes,” said Turner.

After this election, many could see the power that they held in their vote, now it is up to Harris to be able to properly serve the people who rooted for her to break the barriers that she did. 

Rowan Oak: Faulkner’s Legacy

Oxford, Mississippi is anything but short of charm. One of the many locations that attracts visitors from all over the world is William Faulkner’s home, called Rowan Oak. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the home has been closed to the public. However, anyone is welcome to walk the grounds or wander through the surrounding Bailey’s Woods.

William Faulkner was a highly-awarded Southern writer. He received the Nobel Prize and the Pulitzer Prize, and he also got a few Hollywood deals. However, he never really left his Mississippi roots. He was born, lived and died in the magnolia state.

Jacob Ferguson was a Docent at Rowan Oak from the summer of 2018 to the spring of 2019. Part of his job was to work the front door, welcome people, accept donations and answer any questions that visitors may have about the history of the house or Faulkner himself. Ferguson said that he still revisits Rowan Oak sometimes.

“There’s this a weird presence in the house, and don’t mean that in like a spooky, ghostly type way,” Ferguson said. “But it is strangely serene, and a little bit surreal to be in there and to think about what was said and done there; and the lives that were lived there, the stories that were written there. And just the impact that William Faulkner had and has left behind at Roanoke. So, it is a strangely magical place. Again, I don’t want to over romanticize it. But when you think about who Faulkner was as a person, and how he did his work, and how he created his art, and the legacy that that art and literature has left, it is a really cool place to be and the grounds themselves are really interesting.”

Before Faulkner owned and renamed Rowan Oak in 1931, the property built in the 1840s was called The Bailey Place, named after the family that lived there before the world-famous writer. He chose the name Rowan Oak after the rowan tree. He and his wife, Estelle, moved in with Estelle’s two children from a previous marriage, and they had their daughter, Jill, a few years later. Rowan Oak housed their family until Faulkner’s death in 1962. Jill sold the house to the University of Mississippi in 1972 in hopes of preserving her father’s memory and allowing others to do the same.

Faulkner made many changes to the home. He renovated the back screen porch into a hallway with another bathroom and room inside. He also turned the second floor sleeper porch into a hallway so he could connect all of the upstairs bedrooms. Prior to the renovations, one could only reach Estelle’s and Faulkner’s bedrooms through Jill’s room. Afterwards, they all had doors that opened into the new hallway. The front stairway was also reconfigured in order to make the house more accessible. In the office and writing room, Faulkner wrote the outline of his novel A Fable on the walls in graphite pencil and red grease pencil.

“What’s really funny about [Faulkner’s renovations] is that a lot of these renovations and changes were made while his wife is still was abroad,” Ferguson said. “So, he didn’t consult her or anything. If you go into the house today, some of those areas are just plain plaster, they don’t have any wallpaper or any decorations on the walls because Estelle was angry that she wasn’t consulted about the renovation. She didn’t want to take any kind of effort to make it fancy, to put some wallpaper up. So that’s an interesting story about, you know, some of the renovations and changes that Faulkner made to the house.”

In addition to the main house, the grounds also contain servant’s quarters, a post oak barn, a stable, a scuppernong arbor, a smokehouse, an English knot garden, an East wall, a sunken patio, a cedar walkway and a concentric circle garden. Faulkner built the servant’s quarters, stable, arbor and East wall himself. He also renovated what used to be a detached kitchen into the smokehouse. The indoor kitchen was added to the main house in the early 1900s.

Ferguson believes that Rowan Oak adds a lot to the culture of this town. Faulkner was a Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize winner, and he resided in Oxford for a very long time. His presence in this town and in Mississippi created a literature hotspot that draws people from all over to this little corner of the world.

“You could talk a lot about the legacies and the significance of that man and that place, to our home or to people who live in Oxford,” Ferguson said. “But, one thing that not a lot of people know, or don’t always think about, is how many people come from all over the world just to go to Roanoke. The guestbook at Roanoke, if you go flip through the pages, you’re absolutely certain to see, pre-pandemic, at least, people from different countries and from different continents who’ve come from all over, a lot of them, specifically, to see Roanoke or that was one of their highlights on their list of things that they were going to see.”

The grounds of Rowan Oak are often used for engagement photos and other types of commercial photography. Commercial photography is not allowed during normal business hours in order to allow other visitors an uninterrupted and peaceful visit. Ferguson believes that Faulkner probably would not have liked this occurring on his property. Faulkner was a quiet, brooding type of man who liked to keep to himself.

“I don’t think that people taking photos there’s, you know, any kind of disrespect to the place itself,” Ferguson said. “But, William Faulkner would probably have hated the fact that there were random strangers on his lawn in front of his house, taking photos. I don’t know if he was much of a romantic, I don’t know, he would have enjoyed, love birds, people who’ve just been engaged, being really happy and taking pictures in front of his lawn, I don’t know… He also probably wouldn’t have liked people walking through his house and looking at his things. And the reason that this project is going on is because that place exists and we do get to walk through his house and look at his things.”

Caroline Barr, or “Mammie Callie,” was the family’s caretaker. She lived on the grounds in the servant’s quarters that Faulkner built on a foundation from an 1840s structure. Barr was there from 1930 to 1940 when she died at the age of 100. Her funeral was held in the parlor room in Rowan Oak.

“So, [Barr] really helped to raise William Faulkner,” Ferguson said. “And everything that is in the house, all the information that is kind of readily available about Caroline Barr, shows that she had a loving and friendly relationship with the Faulkners or with William Faulkner… Faulkner spoke [at her funeral], and I’m paraphrasing when I say this, but he said something along the lines of ‘If there’s anyone on Earth, who made it to heaven, it was Caroline Barr.’ So, there was obviously love and admiration there.”

Ferguson also cautioned against assuming anything about the relationship between the Faulkners and Caroline Barr.

“It can be problematic to romanticize those things and to kind of take away the voices of those black domestic workers that we don’t directly get to hear from,” Ferguson said. “There may have been levels of genuine love and trust and affection. William Faulkner obviously, mourned the loss of Caroline Barr at her passing and her funeral, but it’s a very nuanced and complex situation that you need to remember all of those nuances and all of those complexities of those types of relationships.”

After Barr passed away, Andrew and Chrissy Price moved into the servant’s quarters. Andrew was Faulkner’s groom, and Chrissy was Estelle’s housekeeper. Their son, John, lived there until the mid-1980s.

Bailey’s Woods contains a trail that connects Rowan Oak to the University Museum. It is about 30,000 feet long, and it takes roughly twenty minutes to walk from one end to the other. Everyone is encouraged to go out and see the woods that Faulkner often walked through.

Stepping Stone

2020 has been a year, and if that’s not the truth. If you don’t remember…Kobe died in January, we bombed someplace in the Middle East, there were fires that destroyed the forests of Australia, and the West coast of the USA.

Then I ask myself what did we do to deserve a pandemic? A pandemic that shuts down the world, creates chaos, political divide…and for what? Who knows at this point.

From Covid-19 to mandated masks, to protests, to riots, to canceled in-person classes, to online zoom classes, to headaches constantly. It’s honestly overwhelming. Stuff like this makes me feel hopeless. I know I’m not the only one and I have facts to prove it.

According to the CDC, “During late June, 40% of U.S. adults reported struggling with mental health or substance abuse.” (Pictured Below)

The statistics don’t end there…A Kaiser Family Foundation poll showed that “Nearly half of Americans report the coronavirus crisis is harming their mental health.”

Another poll from Pew Research Center showed that nearly one-in-five Americans say they have had a physical reaction when thinking about the outbreak. These reactions include: Had a physical reaction when thinking about the outbreak, felt lonely, had trouble sleeping, felt nervous, anxious, or on edge.

(Pictured Above) The mental health crisis due to the pandemic is not just happening in America, it is important to note that the whole world is feeling down during this time. In the United Kingdom (UK) as of March 2020 has reported that 32% of poll takers have said their mental health has been much worse since the start of Covid-19.

(Pictured Above) There is a light when looking at the same poll above by Pew Research. “22% of people saying they have felt hopeful about the future in the last 5-7 days of the time the poll was taken.”

To say that life will get better even though times are tough, stressful, and driven by the craziness that sprouts something new every month is unheard of. Let me tell you, it will get better.

We will have a vaccine for the virus, we will have a president, we will be able to get a job. We need to get the idea that nothing is going our way out of our heads. Life is tough. Yes, these are times and things where one couldn’t even think of happening in their whole lifetime let alone one year. But, we will get through this together, we will undermine this year. Using this year as a stepping stone to the much more important things in life.

I don’t know when everything will get better, but it will. I know it will because I have hope, and you should too.

Yes, I might be stressed due to an overload of online work, and you might feel that way too. Missing an assignment is not the end of the world. I know that I probably shouldn’t have given up when I felt the pressure of the world on my shoulders. I did exactly what professor Fagans said not to: I panicked.

Ultimately I am glad my drive told me I needed to make this video. It started out like I was planning to record my day-in-a-life as a student during a pandemic…and how to be “happy.” This idea flunked when I realized my footage was horrible, and I hated every aspect of it, I also cooked way too much I might’ve well just called it a cooking show. I knew I needed to spice things up. I decided to make this into an inspirational/mental health importance video on ‘Understanding that 2020 is just a year’ and ‘Let’s get over it.’

Together, with friends and family, we can get over this year…because remember “This year is only a stepping stone. So, don’t slip.”

I am very proud of this video, and the effort it took to make it. This video has received the best response to any video I have ever posted on YouTube. I love it. And I hope y’all do too.

If you are struggling with issues due to the pandemic, I know I’m not the best person to talk to but, I’m free! Y’all can email me anytime at Maddienolan97@yahoo.com

Have faith guys! We will get through this!

Turning A Passion Into A Payment

The Coronavirus pandemic has been hard for everyone physically, mentally, emotionally, academically and very prominently, financially. Many people have started their own businesses as a new source of income or have put a new spin on the ways that they make money. That can certainly be said for a sports loving, marketing major individual like Andrew Roupas.

Andrew Roupas has always had a passion and interest in sports betting. Legally, that is, of course. Over the last 3-4 years, Roupas has spent hours learning the ropes of sports betting, sports advising and tips to help others do the same.

In his own personal experiences, Roupas admits that he used to not be the smartest when it game to betting money on various games and matches. Now, with his growing following on an anonymous twitter, he offers advice and picks to those who are also fond of sports betting but may not know where to begin or how to start.

“I started my own personal account which I share my own free picks about 3 years ago.” Roupas said. “I started off as kind of an idiot, recklessly throwing bets, I had to learn the hard way, but I thankfully learned some things on the way and had some people help me out a lot.”

Roupas now has his own public and VIP Twitter account where he safely and legally attracts consumers to purchase his game picks every week. His subscribers consist of betters that are over the age of 21 and that are located in states where sports betting is legal. He provides different payment plans based on what each individual wants and also makes sure to ask some background information on their spending, so he can promote safe and smart betting.

“I’m all about risk management,” Roupas says, “I never encourage reckless or bad sports betting behavior because I’ve seen so many people go off the rails.”

Sports betting and gambling has often had a bad rep, Roupas is intending on being part of that change. “You can see that over the years things like this are becoming wildly more popular, if you turn on any sports channel, you’ll see picks and spreads listed at the bottom of the TV for just about every sport.” Andrew also added that he has done his research and since his business is about offering a service to sports lovers, he happily pays his dues where they’re necessary.

Because Roupas is providing his service to paying customers, each payment he receives is taxed a specific percentage by the IRS, which protects him legally and also assures the safety of his patrons. “I typically charge ten dollars a week for four to eight picks, this averages out to less than two dollars a pick which is very reasonable on a bigger scale, Hall of Fame sports advisors can charge hundreds for a single pick sometimes.”

Although it may seem like a small, mindless hobby, learning the data and understanding what all goes into sports betting choosing your “picks” each week is incredibly time consuming and complex.

“The database I use uses machine learning and python, which is a type of coding in which you can get statistical quantitative data about games to get an edge.” These numbers and stats are put in manually by sports and number experts each game, every day, every week and every year.

Every week, Roupas bounces back and forth on his computers looking at and comparing data to his own knowledge and understanding. “I spend probably 12 to 16 hours a week plugging in various data into this website, and I have Google docs where I save a bunch of my drafts and queries for the different games and picks” he said.

While numbers play a big role in sports advising and betting, having prior background knowledge of sports alone makes all the difference. “You have to be able to combine it with your qualitative understanding of sports too, because numbers alone will never tell you the full picture, and that’s the hardest part.”

Roupas has been a sports fan for as long as he can remember, and he credits much of his up-and-coming business venture to all of the nights he spent watching games with his twin brother and father as a kid.

Understanding sports betting is definitely not easy on the eyes numerically, but also not made for the weak emotionally. In Roupas’s position, he has often received hate in his twitter dms.

There’s no denying that people want to win, it’s natural for humans to want to win in everything they do. However, how you handle your losses is what separates us from one another.

“Obviously I’m not a fortune teller, so at the end of the day people are paying for MY picks and MY opinions of what I believe will happen after all of my research. If a subscriber gets mad that they don’t win, it all comes back to me,” Andrew said. Knowing that Roupas is on a smaller scale of sports advising, one can only imagine the hate that professionals get.

While there are downfalls to Roupas’ business, he also has experienced many positives while being involved in the sports betting world.

“I’ve met some really cool people in the small Twitter community I’m in right now. There’s a lot of people that have way more knowledge than I do and it’s really awesome that I can interact with them and that they’re willing to kind of mentor me and teach me or show me different ways to run my business or different data websites to use,” Roupas said.

Andrew hopes to continue growing his following and profile and one day have a business of his own- legally, of course. But for now, he calls this his “side hustle” in between working towards his marketing degree here at Ole Miss.

New organization promotes mental health

D’vonte Myers talks about his reasons for starting Covered-N-Wellness.

By Austin Parker

As a sophomore in college, D’vonte Myers began toying with an idea for an organization. One thing he has always cared for is helping those battling with mental illness, so when the idea came to start an organization that promoted mental health, he began working on it. In January, Myers started his own organization called Covered-N-Wellness.

The organization currently sells t-shirts and keychains that highlight mental health awareness. For Myers, a junior at the University of Mississippi, his motivation came at the intersection of his passion for teaching others the importance of mental health and his faith. As a Christian, Myers believes that God cares about people’s mental health, and he wants to better help those struggling with mental disorders both on a mental and spiritual level.

“For me, it was like God was telling me that I had to do something, I had to go out here and make a change – make the change that no one else wants to do,” said Myers.

Initially, the idea for the organization first came to Myers in August of 2019. After five months of questioning how to start it, he began printing t-shirts and keychains. The merchandise have been ways for Myers to start conversations with people about the importance of mental health and promote that among his peers.

“Behind Covered-N-Wellness, there’ve been so many people that have told me that by me doing this how it has impacted their life,” said Myers. “It motivates them by what I’m doing to see what it really stands for. It really is important.”

Myers spent time in January working at a mental facility in Newton, Mississippi. After working there and seeing those who were suffering from serious mental illnesses, he saw the need for people who would help those struggling with mental illnesses. Myers decided then that it was time to start Covered-N-Wellness.

The t-shirts and keychains are just the beginning. As a psychology major, Myers wants to work with people struggling with mental health. He plans to eventually open up a mental clinic under the name Covered-N-Wellness. Alongside counseling people through mental illness, Myers wants the clinic to be a place where people can receive Christian counseling and guidance.

“Covered-N-Well is going to be like a ministry,” said Myers. “It’s going to be a place where people come in, and when they leave, they feel like a new person.”

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, there were around 51.5 million adults in the US who struggled with any sort of mental illness in 2019, representing 20.6% of all US adults. African Americans represent 17.3% of adults in the US with a mental illness.

As an African American, Myers wants to create a deeper awareness of the mental health struggles many African Americans deal with. In a culture that often tells men to be hard and unemotional, Myers wants African American men to know that struggling with mental illness is okay.

“No one actually acts like it’s okay to not be okay,” said Myers. “For me, it felt like nobody cares. People actually do battle with mental health.”

For Myers, he realized just how prevalent mental illnesses are after a conversation with a friend who had schizophrenia. He saw how no one among his friend’s family or community showed they cared about his friend’s struggles, and that helped to open up Myers’ eyes to see the lack of openness to mental health among the African American community.

 “He needed people in that moment, and his family didn’t really care,” said Myers. “They didn’t really see it as something major to ask how he was doing. He really battled with that by himself.”

For Myers, the motivation behind Covered-N-Wellness is his faith. He believes that no matter what someone may be struggling with, they can find comfort through a relationship with Jesus. Even though someone may be struggling with mental illness, Myers believes that that doesn’t take away from a person’s relationship with God.

“For me, it means that for any type of mental health stigma or circumstance someone is going through – whether it’s depression, suicidal thoughts or anything of that nature – they’re covered by the blood of Jesus Christ,” said Myers.

When Jouy Ford, a relative of Myers, first heard about him starting Covered-N-Wellness, she felt that it perfectly encapsulated his interests and values. For Ford, it felt natural that he would combine his passion for mental health and his devotion to God.

“With his interest in mental health and his focus on God, it spoke volumes to me,” said Ford. “It just summed him up and the things he loves to share and the things I’ve seen him do as he’s grown.”

On top of being a full-time student and having a part-time job, Myers spends around 15 hours every week promoting the brand and selling t-shirts. Jeshaiah Stephens, a friend of Myers, says that since starting Covered-N-Wellness, his motivation to grow the organization and bring awareness to mental health has only increased.

“His drive is continuously increasing, and it’s evident in Covered-N-Wellness,” says Stephens. “He’s giving out more. He’s posting YouTube videos. He’s all on social media advertising it. You just see people walking around with these shirts, and it’s just pretty cool because it’s drawing awareness to mental health.”

While Myers hopes to one day start a clinic, Covered-N-Wellness is more than a means to make money. For Stephens, she has seen from the beginning that this organization was started because of Myers’ care for mental health. She says that he genuinely wants to help to break down common misconceptions and stigmas around mental health.

“He’s not just talking or doing this for any other reason except passion,” said Stephens. “He means what he’s doing. Even if it’s no benefit to him, he really wants to bring awareness to mental health.”

Ford is very proud of the work Myers has been able to do, and she believes that the organization will continue to grow. She says Myers sees the lack of focus on mental health and has worked to break the stigmas surrounding it.

“Mental health is widespread, but the non-acceptance of it is widespread as well,” said Ford. “Whether talking about the existence of it or admitting that it’s real, that acknowledgement is needed. He’s always looking for somewhere where he can be used.”

After opening up a clinic, Myers wants to help with outreach to the homeless population. According to a 2015 assessment by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, on any given night, there were over 560,000 homeless people in the US. Around 25% of them suffered from a serious mental illness, and another 45% struggled with any sort of mental illness.

In addition to providing care to those who are homeless, Myers also wants to eventually open up a homeless shelter. He believes these people are in the greatest needs of support but often lack the resources to get the help they need.

“That’s a big aspect of society that people don’t look into – people out here actually needing things,” said Myers. “Some of them die because of the lack they have. That’s something vital that I want to push that I believe is going to branch out, helping these people who are in desperate need of counseling, money and food.”

While Covered-N-Wellness is just a keychain and t-shirt right now, Myers is working to grow the organization. Even if people are not able to buy one of those, he encourages people to continue to tell others about the organization.

“The main thing is sharing and getting the word out and promoting it,” said Myers. “I don’t ask for money. I know God will supply all the needs for it.”

CICCE Finals Prep

Ole Miss finals week approaching quicker than we expected meaning the end of the semester is coming to an end. The Center for Inclusion and Cross Cultural Engagement held a Semester Round Up where students could stop by and catch their breath before finals. They encouraged students to drop by in the Student Union to pick up sweet treats and learn helpful final exam study tips.

The Center for Inclusion and Cross Cultural Engagement is dedicated to creating programs and services that promote the core principle of diversity and inclusion of the University of Mississippi. The Center seeks to promote an atmosphere driven by accessible and continuous communication that deepens students’ awareness of their own and others’ identity, culture and heritage. It seeks to create a welcoming and inclusive campus atmosphere that complements the learning experience. It also connects and engages students with the campus community, and offers opportunities for success in a multicultural society.

 The University now recognizes its unique responsibility to educate and lead the state with unquestionable and unchanging dedication. As a college university with a history of racism, the need for diversity and inclusion is undeniable. In the real world today, workplaces, schools, and businesses have accepted minorities and now practice inclusiveness.

The Center for Inclusion and Cross Cultural Engagement hosted a semester round up for students to come by the student union and pick up sweet treats and also learn about final exam preparation. There was food, music, and more.

Any student who decided to show up was asked to sign in by writing their name and email address. From there, the students could grab a snack and hangout or just leave. Soft music played in the background while visitors and staff came in and out.

The semester RoundUp gave students a chance to come pick up lunch from Chick-fil-A, a small candy bag, and also exam tips. Students were welcomed and encouraged to stay and mingle to get to know each other. By getting to connect with other minority students, they were able to network and create lifelong connections.

The event was to give students a chance to just be in the moment and interact with other people. Many students have mostly virtual class, so a lot of their time is spent on a computer screen. Also, with it being the end of the semester, lots of students are preparing for finals.

The event was a drop in session so that students can take a moment away from the academics. The center says that they understand how stressful finals week can be, so they decided to hand out tips and treats. Even though the purpose of the event was to relax, mingle, and eat, social distancing and face coverings were required.

With finals week approaching quickly, the center for inclusion wanted to give students a small break right before it’s time to start tackling those last exams of the semester. Je’Von Franklin, one of the student assistants for CICCE says that this event is an opportunity for students to feel the calm before the storm.

Franklin says, “Today, we are hosting our Semester Roundup which is an event put on by our office to help get off zoom and out their thinking space, just have a little fun. You know, debrief and little bit”.

The CICCE wants everyone to pass their final exams. The drop in was just to show support for students and also wish students the best of luck while studying for and taking exams. Several students stopped by, and Cameron Evans believes that this is just what he needed before being overwhelmed with exams next week.

“What this means to me is, just giving me a break from the computer by coming in getting some snacks before finals, and getting some tips on how to prepare for finals week”, said Evans.

Due to the pandemic, Ole Miss decided to shorten the fall semester, so students could travel and not return right back to campus. Finals week begins on November 18 and ends on November 24. Once school is released for the winter break, students will not return to campus until next year.

Some tips for taking final exams would be to get rest because sometimes students become so caught up in studying that they don’t sleep. Being tired while taking an exam could affect the outcome. Also, study in sessions so that the brain can stop and process the new information. And finally, just take things one day at a time.

yoU Me Music Hour

The University of Mississippi Department of Music began searching for new opportunities to communicate with listeners through music at a time when performing arts groups have cancelled their seasons because of the coronavirus. Their goal is to engage listeners, but it is also a fundraiser to afford new and improved equipment. The advanced performances need sophisticated equipment, and unfortunately , their current technology does not yet meet the level of their talent.

Interim Chair and Professor Nancy Maria Balach is behind The Show Must Go On  campaign. She wants to be able to upgrade their recording equipment to continue the podcast. With the donations received, they will be able to afford the purchase of  microphones, podcast recording equipment, livestream software and computers to air the shows. So far they have reached 81% of their goal of six thousand dollars.

In an average year, the Music Department holds an average of 126 programs showcasing the students and faculty, delivering excitement and liveliness to the campus, to the Oxford community and to any visiting alumni and friends.

Since the pandemic, the Nutt Auditorium has been able to not hold a concert. Without hosting events, these student musicians and artists have to find new ways to share their talent and hard work with an audience.

The “yoU Me Music Hour” is their new monthly podcast series that presents music from the department and celebrates the way we are both linked to and through music. The first episode of three is set to be published on Oct. 21.

“Our first episode is a collaboration between the University of Mississippi Music Department, Living Music Resource™, and the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies. We examine trouser roles – a fascinating tradition in opera – as a way to explore feminism and the empowerment of women in music and beyond. Enjoy excerpts from the books Lover and Confessions of Cherubino by Bertha Harris and opera selections by Engelbert Humperdinck, W. A. Mozart, Johann Strauss, Jacques Offenbach, and Richard Strauss that feature trouser roles.” – UM Music Department

On November 18th and December 16th, there will be new episodes from the “yoU me Music Hour.”  The podcasts will highlight Ole Miss music faculty and students with special guests on occasion.

The Department of Music at the University of Mississippi debuted their first podcast this year. Due to COVID-19, they are unable to host performances with audiences to showcase their work. This new podcast allows the world to hear how hard their performers have been working.

Interim Chair and Professor Nancy Maria Balach brought this idea to life.  Her and everyone else that worked to put the show together began working on the vision months  prior.  The streaming of their new music didn’t happen immediately. Students, faculty and alumni have been working on this project since May.

The UM Music Dept has a mission statement that states:

The mission of the Department of Music at the University of Mississippi is to provide the highest quality music education at the undergraduate and graduate level for music majors embarking on careers as teachers, scholars, performers or composers. It is also the mission of the department to teach non-majors and members of the community about music as a part of human culture and experience. Their overall mission as a school at the university and their mission within the fundraiser aligns and is somewhat similar. The faculty and staff in the music department are dedicated to providing their students with the best opportunities. With the podcast, their mission will be reached in a way. The new technology for the podcast will also educate the students on modern music recording. Everything being done in the music department is for the betterment of everyone, a part of the show that must go on.

Camp Hopewell

Camp Hopewell is a ministry of the St. Andrew Presbytery, PC (USA) throughout the year. We are an ACA accredited facility and a member site of PCCCA, situated in the middle of the Holly Springs National Forest, about 5 miles east of Oxford, Miss.

Hopewell holds retreats and seminars throughout the year for all ages and all types of groups in addition to a full summer camp schedule. With the foundation of the original Hopewell chapel, all started in 1839. The present church building was erected in 1866, after the previous structure burned down, and for well over 100 years it housed the members of the Hopewell Church congregation. North MS Presbytery voted in 1947 to start a youth camp.

‘The time is ripe for the next move forward in our work with young people: the establishment of a meeting ground for our young people and those organisations wanting to use it,’ the report from the Committee on Religious Education said. Camp Hopewell started with 10 acres of land, the Dining Hall, and Cabins 1 and 2 in 1949. In 65 years, camps have evolved from 3 camp sessions in July on 10 acres of land to 7 weeks of summer camps and retreats for visitors occupying 280 acres of land in 12 buildings over the other 45 weeks of the year.

Robert Hall is the program director for Camp Hopewell. Hall started off as just a camper when he was only a young boy. Now, he has worked his way up to being the program director. He is in charge of coming up with programs and activities for the children to participate in. As program coordinator, his duties include day-to-day activities, events, and trips.

Hall is also a recent graduate of Ole Miss. He just finished his degree requirements back in May. He works year round with the children, and is in charge of the Opt-Outside program.

Camp Hopewell has begun their new Opt Outside program, a day-long curriculum for online learners in kindergarten through Grade 6. Since several schools in our region have decided to go online or with families preferring virtual or hybrid school alternatives, they’re excited to be able to take what they learned from their two week of summer camp and imply it to this newly added program.

Opt Outside only received 4-5 participants, therefore; they were able to slow the spread

of the virus easier since there were not many people. With the number of students they had, it also allowed them to have more personal connections with mentors. Staff are able to give each child the attention they need.

During the summer camp, they had to learn how to function with children, while following CDC guidelines. The campsite was forced to operate directly than previous years by enforcing masks, social distancing, and excessive sanitation. The first summer camp during a global pandemic showed them how to still be interactive while staying safe.

 By using small groups to practice social distances, they strive to provide a space for students to participate at school, engage with other children, and spend a lot of time outside, while at the same time minimizing the risk of COVID 19.

The students will have to bring their own lunch boxes, snacks, and all the materials needed for virtual school. Camp Hopewell will have workers to oversee their activities and assist with basic homework, but they will not be available for tutoring or teaching. During the program, students have the opportunity to engage in pool time, canoeing / kayaking (while weather is warm), arts and crafts, archery, and plenty of nature study.

In the mornings, children are dropped off and then they have down time where everyone has breakfast and conversation. Then when it is time for class, students will head over to the chapel where they will log onto virtual school and complete their assignments. Laptops and computers will not be provided; therefore, if a child has virtual school parents are responsible for sending the appropriate equipment. Afterwards, lunch is served and the remainder of the day is filled with fun indoor and outdoor activities.

Camp Hopewell has many amenities to offer to the campers. The camp is home to many nature trails, a pool, a basketball court, cabins, and more. They hope to be able to bring more students in for their after school program. Even though summer just passed, faculty and staff are anxious for what another year will look like.

Social Media and the 2020 Election

Story and Video by Jillian McGann

Ole Miss junior Lila Salley talks about the 2020 election and social media.

Social media played a big role in the 2020 election. There were more social media posts made about the election this year than ever before. 

Everyone flocked to social media to share their views, comment on what was happening, and tell people to vote. Celebrities, politicians, and average people shared and made more posts than in previous years. 

On Instagram, #election2020 has 1.3million posts while in 2016 #election2016 had 1.1million posts. #Vote2020 had 1.4million posts while #vote2016 had 78,900 posts. 

Millennials and much of Generation Z use Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or Tik Tok as their main source of news and college students are no different.

Ole Miss junior computer science major, Gavin Wolfe consumes much of his news through Instagram. He said he found a lot of information through social media but always made sure to fact check what he saw since social media has been branded as “misleading” and circulating “fake news.”

Many social media platforms have taken steps to limit the impact of misleading information. Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook all added labels to posts that may contain misleading facts or information. They added a warning for when people are about to repost or share information that may be misleading.

Twitter said that it had labeled 300,000 tweets related to the election as misleading. Twitter prevented 456 tweets from being shared, getting likes, or getting replies.

Twitter reported a 29 percent decrease in “quote-tweeting” posts with warning messages. 

Just because platforms have began screening and fact checking posts doesn’t mean those posts go unseen. There is still misleading information on social media. 

“I learned a lot about the candidates through social media, but I had to be careful,” Wolfe said. “Fake news runs rampant on social media and sometimes certain claims seemed untrue so I would have to do research outside of social media.”


Social media posts were a good starting spot for researching ideas, platforms, and candidates. Many people first learned of issues on social media before going on to research it on their own.

Junior accounting major Calla Taylor social media helped her understand why her vote was important and provided resources she wouldn’t have known about. 

“[Social media] is a great place to start thoughts, but not to firm them in your mind,” Taylor said. “You have to do outside research to really form your own ideas.”

Taylor thinks the most important thing to come from social media is awareness and hype around the election. 

“It made people care about voting, made people actually vote, and gave people a voice,” Taylor said. 

Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, and Tik Tok all added easy to access resources about registering to vote on their home pages and pushed for users to complete their voter registration. 

Along with the vast resources and information though, there is a harsher side to the election taking over social media. 

Some people reported losing followers or even friends after posting their political views on social media. 

Ole Miss journalism graduate student Emily Cochran blocked an Instagram follower because they had attacked her after she posted a political story. 

“I respect people’s beliefs and I choose to stay in my lane so I feel I deserve the same respect,” Cochran said. “I think I need to be exposed to a wide range of people and beliefs but if a person attacks me for my beliefs then I will unfollow, block, or whatever I feel that I need to do.”

This hostile side of social media scares Cochran. 

“Social media has such a deep, vast, and extensive influence on its users all over the world,” Cochran said. “It preys on people’s emotions and hate is a strong emotion.”

Senior general business major, John Salvemini said that he lost several followers based on what he posted on Instagram. 

“I have never unfollowed someone based on their political beliefs,” Salvemini said, “but when I posted one Instagram story from Fox News I lost a few followers.”

Lila Salley, a chemical engineering major unfollowed several accounts because of the content they posted.

“I want to surround myself and see content that is similar to my viewpoints,” Salley said. “I make my Instagram feed for myself so of course I want to see content that I agree with.”

Salley said that even though she will unfollow or block people because of their posts, she still considers herself informed about both sides. 

“Though I want my Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok, and other social medias to show me things I want to see, I do spend time researching both Democratic and Republican platforms on other news outlets,” Salley said.