Ole Miss graduation speaker Wright Thompson: 'Don't wear the seductive coats of nostalgia'

OXFORD — As thousands of University of Mississippi students left the school's famous Grove following its annual graduation ceremony, they were left with key pieces of advice from commencement speaker and famous author Wright Thompson.

Most notably, Thompson urged Ole Miss's graduating students who were choosing to stay in Mississippi to shed the yoke of the state's politically questionable past and forge a path toward a progressive future.

"To exist means you must hope," Thompson said at Convocation. "Throughout the history of our state, and if you went to Ole Miss, it's your state too, there have been brave men and women, some of them famous, like Governor William Winter, Fannie Lou Hamer, others anonymous like Willie Reed or Moses Wright, who didn't let the math or cynicism deter them from reaching for a future that still awaits us all. Be one of those people."

On Saturday, many of the 5,000 Ole Miss 2024 graduating class gathered in the Grove to listen to the seldom heard campus Lyceum bells ringing in celebration and for final words from campus leadership, as well as a speech from Thompson.

A Clarksdale native, Thomspon said that among his 10 key pieces of advice for students, he urged them to enjoy the day that could very well dictate the rest of their lives, learn more about the people around them as they grow, and most notably, that Mississippi needs people to be here.

"Mississippi needs you," he said. "We need writers. We need accountants and lawyers and school teachers and financial advisors. We need musicians and producers and filmmakers. We need public servants. There's probably a future governor of Mississippi sitting in his crowd somewhere."

Thompson also addressed the state's politically charged past, although in a way more akin to the "winds" many alumni say call them back to Ole Miss, softly calling onto gradates to forge a more enlightened future for Mississippi.

"Don't be part of the problem. Be part of the solution," Thompson said. "Don't wear the seductive coats of nostalgia, and don't let anyone make you feel like there's no hope for a different tomorrow."

While neither Thompson, Chancellor Glenn Boyce, nor any other speaker directly addressed it, those words came right on the heels of a campus pro-Palestine protest that occurred May 2, which quickly turned aggressive and is now under investigation by the school and the Ole Miss NAACP chapter.

On that day, what began as a pro-Palestine protest with a few students quickly grew to include more than 40 people by about 1:30 p.m. At the same time, about 200 counter protesters, passersby and others had gathered around the group of students, faculty and at least one Oxford resident. Counter protesters were shown yelling, waiving conservative and pro-Israel symbols as flags, throwing garbage and some hurling racist insults.

Protest marred by counter-protest insult Ole Miss students evacuated off campus after pro-Palestine protest escalated

At one point, University Police Department officers had to move students inside the Applied Sciences building to avoid further confrontations and eventually bussed protesters off campus. During the protest, one student, James Staples, was videotaped by student journalist Stacey Spiehler doing a monkey dance toward another student, Jaylin Smith.

That incident, as well as several other reports of inappropriate conduct, has spurred the campus investigation into the protest. Staples was also removed from his fraternity, Phi Delta Theta for what the organization called "racist actions".

Campus investigation: NAACP leaders at Ole Miss call for expulsion of 3 counter protestors after racist taunts

Following the incident, students walking into graduation ceremonies, caps and gowns on, had to move past signs posted around the various commencement venues that state the following:

"Hand-held signs, banners and flags are not permitted at commencement ceremonies," the sign read.

Ole Miss Media Relations Director Jacob Batte did not say if the signs were used in previous years, but he said they were put in place to make sure the graduation ceremony went as smoothly as possible.

When asked if the move was even constitutional for a public university to potentially limit free expression during commencement ceremony, constitutional attorney Leonard Van Slyke told the Clarion Ledger the school had every right to do so.

"I think it would pass muster as a time, manner and place restriction," Van Slyke said.

Chancellor congratulates students on hard won day

During the convocation ceremony, Boyce told students he had much appreciation for their hard work and dedication through what he and several others described as an unusual four-year term.

"To be here celebrating this class is especially rewarding because you experienced an unprecedented global pandemic that impacted your personalized and educational journey toward this day," Boyce said. "I know we are also grateful that things look and feel different now than they did four years ago. I thank you for your role in that. You responded to those trying times with the resilience, energy and passion. It will go down in history that the class of 2024 is characterized by your grit, by your determination, and by your perseverance. You not only weathered a tremendous storm, you thrived, and you have shaped who we are as a university."

Boyce also noted the historical implications for graduating 5,000 students this year as compared to in 1851, when the then three-year-old school had graduated its first class of just 15 students.

"It is humbling to think about the generations of Ole Miss graduates making their way into the world, and leaving their impact and those around them," Boyce said. "During today's ceremony, we're recognizing more than achievement. We are celebrating a journey of discovery and personal growth."

Before coming off the stage, Thompson also told students to soak in what many called a momentous occasion and gave students a quote from a box his parents gave him upon his own graduation at the University of Missouri.

"I remember raising pints of Guinness with my friends and feeling like something impossible had been completed," Thompson said. "That something mysterious was about to begin. I remember my father's handshake, and his look of pride. You know, he's been gone for almost 20 years now, and I remember in that moment, I remember so clearly, feeling like I've somehow changed in his eyes, a treasure that feeling the unspoken volumes that passed between us in that moment."

"Step now into the waiting world, but never forget the way back home," Thompson said of the note in the box.

Grant McLaughlin covers state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Ole Miss, speaker Wright Thompson celebrate graduates of Class of 2024