Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt from the upcoming book “The Dean: Memoirs & Missives” by Sparky Reardon, the longtime dean of students at the University of Mississippi. This excerpt, which Reardon wrote in 2023 on the anniversary of the 2008 presidential debate hosted at Ole Miss, recalls a rare moment of relative political harmony.
Fifteen years ago yesterday, I was thinking, “What the hell have I gotten myself into?”
It had started months earlier when Chancellor (Robert) Khayat, Vice Chancellor Gloria Kellum and Provost Carolyn Staton assigned me to work with student leaders to plan student activities to go along with the 2008 presidential debate between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain. My friend, Dr. Andy Mullins, had worked arduously to make sure that Ole Miss would put on a first-class affair. I recruited Jennifer Taylor, director of student programming, and her assistant, Bradley Baker, to assist with the students. We were lucky to have Dave Brooks, a production consultant from Cleveland, Ohio, advise and assist us. We couldn’t have done it without him.
I remember distinctly our first meeting with the students when all kinds of ideas were being tossed around. Our student group represented a cross section of the Ole Miss campus, and they were lively and creative. Eventually, they decided to host a week-long series of events and cap it off with a “festival” in The Grove on the day of the debate.
I also remember sitting in a meeting in the Lyceum boardroom around what has to be the longest table in north Mississippi with administrators, PR folks, maintenance and landscape crews, communication and tech folks, law enforcement leaders and others responsible for assuring that Ole Miss put on a first-class event. When it came my time to give a report on the student events, I said, “Well, the students are planning a festival in The Grove with music and food and speakers.” After Dr. Kellum and Provost Staton looked at me with a “Have you lost your mind?” gaze, I went on to report what the students were planning. I’m sure that most around the table were envisioning a football Saturday with copious amounts of alcohol, blue blazers, chandeliers, fried chicken and fisticuffs. I wish that I could remember all the outstanding students who worked so hard to make the festival happen. Students like Caleb Herod, Anna Rogers, Sarah Rogers, Jake McGraw, Tyler Craft, Tyler Rose Clemons, Kent Ford and others put together a great plan. The event would be an effort to draw attention to the importance of voting and the importance of having free and open dialogue about the election. The students planned for music, food, high-tech displays, voter registration, and providing a forum for dialogue. And, having fun on a day without classes.
We ended up with a strong line-up of music with the North Mississippi All Stars, Josh Kelley, Paul Thorn, Saving Abel, the Mayhem String Band, the Kudzu Kings and the Ole Miss Gospel Choir. I recruited my former student Ben Campbell, award-winning radio disc jockey from KNIX in Phoenix, to emcee. He was funny as always and even revived his imitation of me doing Tone Loc. We started at noon with an amazing acapella solo rendition of the national anthem by a member of the Ole Miss Gospel Choir, and when they finished their set with “O, Happy Day,” I was feeling pretty good about things and thinking, “Wow. This is gonna be good.”
Sparky Reardon Credit: Courtesy photoMy friend and food expert extraordinaire John T Edge helped us bring to The Grove some of the South’s all-star foodies. We had Newk’s with pimento cheese and caramel cake and sweet tea, Taylor Grocery with fried catfish plates, Jim and Nick’s of Birmingham with barbecue, Taqueria del Sol of Atlanta with tacos and Chef John Folse and Company out of New Orleans with a variety of Cajun dishes. The food was outstanding, but we ran into one little problem. The state of Mississippi Tax Commission showed up about 20 minutes before serving was to begin and demanded that all these businesses provide tax IDs or they wouldn’t be able to serve. Evidently, some uninvited entity had their feelings hurt and reported us to the tax commission. I was riding around in a golf cart with Mississippi’s treasured cartoonist Marshall Ramsey when I got a call about the situation. John T and I tried everything we could think of to get the tax deputies to allow us to go on with the event. I ended up reaching out to Gloria Kellum, asking for her help in getting in touch with “someone in charge.” As it turned out, she was right beside Gov. Haley Barbour at the time. After a quick chat with him, she told me to hold on — help was on the way.
About 10 minutes later the governor’s chief of staff showed up, and I watched from a distance as he had a quick conversation with the tax deputies. Only he spoke as they listened and soon walked away. He looked at us, gave us a thumbs up and lunch was served. We had permission to proceed. It helps to know someone who knows someone. Catfish, tacos, pimento cheese, sweet tea, caramel cake, barbecue, gumbo and jambalaya for all!
I was unsure how the tech displays would be received. Boy, was I surprised when there were long lines all day for the mobile buses and booths from Dell, FedEx, Apple, Cellular South (C Spire) and Microsoft. There were virtual reality displays, new technology, video games and lots of other neat stuff that was well beyond this digital immigrant’s understanding.
The Rock the Vote tent for voter registration was busy all day. They had become a great, valued partner in sponsoring the festival and were excited about the number of students who registered to vote that day.
There were also speakers, most who were stumping for a candidate or for themselves. There were personalities everywhere. Harry Smith did CBS’s The Early Show from the union early that morning. Chris Matthews set up Hardball on the Union Plaza. Katie Couric was everywhere and dropped by the Tri Delt house to visit her sorority. Sean Hannity set up in the union. It was a big day for Ole Miss to be seen by the nation and the world.
What gave the whole affair legitimacy was a concept that the students came up with called “Issue Alley.” Along the sidewalk that leads into The Grove from Farley Hall were designated spaces where groups with agendas could set up. This turned out to be a huge success. The lion lay down with the lamb. The NRA set up next to pro-choice groups. We had the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians setting up next to Rednecks for Obama. We had windmills promoting clean energy. All in all, we had about 30 organizations and associations represented. No one hit anyone or called each other names.
Around 5:30, I got a call to let me know that there was a ticket to the debate available for me if I wanted it. I chose to pass. I was where I wanted to be.
As The Grove darkened and the North Mississippi All Stars rocked their last song, two large screens on either side of The Grove came to life with the logo of the presidential debate. I’m no Sean Spicer, but I’m estimating that there were approximately eight to ten thousand in The Grove that night watching the debate. I pulled my golf cart well behind the crowd and watched from afar. There was a diverse crowd mixed with town folks, families, students and visitors. I don’t remember any booing or arguing or demonstrating.
That day in The Grove there were no fights; there was no shouting. No one called anyone names. There were those on the Left and those on the Right, but they were sitting next to and across from one another eating fried catfish or gumbo and drinking sweet tea. We provided news outlets a beautiful, positive Ole Miss backdrop for their reporting. There were White folks and Black folks and folks from far away. There were young folks and old folks. There were no arrests. And, as the debate wound down and as PBS NewsHour host and debate moderator Jim Lehrer said, “And good night from Ole Miss,” I thought to myself that this is the way it is supposed to be.
It’s hard to believe that just 10 years ago might be considered “the good old days,” but they were.
And that was the best day that I ever had at Ole Miss.
Sparky Reardon was dean of students at Ole Miss from 2000-2014. During Reardon’s 36-year tenure at the University of Mississippi, he handled everything from organizing student events to enforcing discipline and managing campus crises. Reardon’s love for writing and reminiscing (along with encouragement from friends) led to The Dean: Memoirs & Missives. He lives in Taylor, where he cherishes his solitude, his porch and the occasional poker game.
“The Dean: Memoirs and Missives” by Sparky Reardon is out Aug. 10, 2025. Preorder at Lemuria Books or at Square Books.
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