hodown wrote:

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"Five streets on the campus of The University of Southern Mississippi have been renamed to honor the traditions of the university.

The changes are as follows: Service Dr. has been changed to Championship Lane; University Blvd. to Black and Gold Blvd.; Sunset Dr. to Golden Eagle Ave.; Southern Dr. to Southern Miss Dr.; and Coliseum Dr. to Kay James Dr."

My word! They all pertain to athletics. Is our campus being converted into a football field or basketball court? First there was Nitchampburg, and now there is this. And what is meant by the phrase "to honor the traditions of the university?" Outrageous. (I have no problem with naming a street for Kay James. She was a great lady who was treated shabily).

I'm looking forward to the day when I can pull out of WhoremembersShelby Alley onto Glamser-Stringer Boulevard. 

I predict that a couple of campus buildings will be named or renamed in the next year or two. I further predict that we won't like the new names.

stephen judd wrote:

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Beelzebubba wrote:
I'm looking forward to the day when I can pull out of WhoremembersShelby Alley onto Glamser-Stringer Boulevard. 
It would be interesting -- since there was a "process" -- to know how these names were arrived at. Were these the top vote getters? Without knowing that, we actually have no idea of knowing if the "process" was really a sham and all these names were already decided beforehand anyhow. Can't say that any of these names reflect the kinds of names I think a faculty might suggest . . . .

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I do not know exactly what the process was, but because on the original list of streets names to change was included East Memorial and West Memorial Drives, I contacted Bob Pierce to protest. These two streets are the only remaining honor to the USM graduates that died during WWI. There used to be a memorial at the very front of campus dedicated to these brave South Mississippi Dough Boys that was destroyed by a car running into it in the 1950s. The two streets that I mentioned above are named what they are because they went down the east and west sides of the memorial. I felt that changing these street names was a slap in the face of the memory of those who had died during "The War To End All Wars". When Pierce responded to my protest, he said that there was a committee that was in charge of the process and would forward my information to them. He also indicated that he did not know this information and was going to get the University Archives to get information on the memorial so that he could learn about it. So, long story ending, there was some committee that made these decisions. Because it went through Bob Pierce and since the announcement has his name on it, I am assuming that this was a committee that was organized out of the Alumni Association. Both my husband and I are life members of the Association, so I found it interesting after I submitted information that they were obviously not aware of, that they did not seek to include someone who knew something about the history of the place. I learned all of this by taking courses from Dr. John Gonzales who always took one day in every history class that he taught to cover the history of USM. You want to talk about loss of institutional memory, start with this kind of action. I am glad to see that they did not change East Memorial Drive and West Memorial Drive. Who really cares about the rest of them? You guys have more important battles to wage - let the small potatoes go!

I agree with Eagle Gator. I frequently peruse this board and share many of the same feelings of dismay at the ridiculous decisions that are made by the administration. But complaining about street names? You have more important worries. Stop sweating the small stuff.

Polymer Science, which is a continuation of Charles Lane, has been renamed to Research Drive.  I also hear that the other end of Charles Lane, between JST and the Tech building, will be bricked.  This will then be renamed "The Science Quad".

Remember me wrote:

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ImpeachTheLeech wrote:
Polymer Science, which is a continuation of Charles Lane, has been renamed to Research Drive.  I also hear that the other end of Charles Lane, between JST and the Tech building, will be bricked.  This will then be renamed "The Science Quad"
Rename one street at a time, please. Don't hog it all. Leave something for the next president to do. What will be next. The buildings?

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Actually, I have a friend who works for TC & TL who says that the LAB may soon become a named building.

LVN wrote:

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It's already a named building. It's the Glamser-Stringer Liberal Arts Building.

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That will be a difficult sell.

My friend mentioned another name that will definitely not be as popular to the LA crowd. There is, however, supposedly a large monetary gift associated with the naming.

Can you say "Thad Cochrane School of Arts and Letters"??

Eagle Gator wrote:

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I do not know exactly what the process was, but because on the original list of streets names to change was included East Memorial and West Memorial Drives, I contacted Bob Pierce to protest. These two streets are the only remaining honor to the USM graduates that died during WWI. There used to be a memorial at the very front of campus dedicated to these brave South Mississippi Dough Boys that was destroyed by a car running into it in the 1950s. The two streets that I mentioned above are named what they are because they went down the east and west sides of the memorial. I felt that changing these street names was a slap in the face of the memory of those who had died during "The War To End All Wars". When Pierce responded to my protest, he said that there was a committee that was in charge of the process and would forward my information to them. He also indicated that he did not know this information and was going to get the University Archives to get information on the memorial so that he could learn about it. So, long story ending, there was some committee that made these decisions. Because it went through Bob Pierce and since the announcement has his name on it, I am assuming that this was a committee that was organized out of the Alumni Association. Both my husband and I are life members of the Association, so I found it interesting after I submitted information that they were obviously not aware of, that they did not seek to include someone who knew something about the history of the place. I learned all of this by taking courses from Dr. John Gonzales who always took one day in every history class that he taught to cover the history of USM. You want to talk about loss of institutional memory, start with this kind of action. I am glad to see that they did not change East Memorial Drive and West Memorial Drive. Who really cares about the rest of them? You guys have more important battles to wage - let the small potatoes go!

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Now that West Memorial Drive is being transformed into "pedestrian traffic only," I recommend it be renamed Memorial Plaza and a new memorial to the USM graduates who served in WWI be erected as a focal point of the plaza. East Memorial Drive could be renamed Memorial Drive.

In fact, there could be memorials erected in honor of USM students who served in each war since WWI.

http://www.usm.edu/crdp/html/cd/kennard.htm

Worth viewing.

At the east end of Hardy Street is a little memorial with an obelisk. Old-timers will remember that as the site of the infamous Homestead Lounge. In fact, the obelisk stands approximately where the Pabst draft tap was located.

A few years ago, a buddy of mine & I were driving through H'burg (en route to a drag strip in Alabama). As we passed the "Homestead Memorial," we saw a rough-looking guy kneeling at the obelisk, his Harley parked at the curb. I commented, "Must be a Vietnam vet mourning his fallen comrades." My buddy replied, "Naw. He come inta town fer a col' beer & discovered that the Homestead was gone."

I think a general military memorial would be nice. But not a bunch of 'em.

Why do we have to have memorials to every group who participated in every conflict? There are already national and state memorials for every imaginable group.

I think it's more than a bit ridiculous to have memorials on the USM campus now that the presence of the corps of cadets is long gone.

How about a memorial to Kinnard in its place?

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Maybe the reason to have those types of memorials is because "people who forget their history are doomed to repeat it". Until we all understand the terrible price of wars, we will continue to arrogantly pursue a foreign policy where old men make wars that young men (and now women) have to die in.

Kinnard is rightly honored with a building named for him, so there is a memorial to him. It is the building where he was denied entrance to the University and that is fitting.

I like Googler's idea of Memorial Plaza. The memorial need not be rebuilt, but a nice inlaid sidewalk plaque where the memorial orginally stood might not be a bad way to remember this piece of USM history.

Dissenter wrote:

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Nice sentiment, but we have memorials to major wars on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The fascination with memorializing servicemen and women amazes me, given that Hattiesburg doesn't have a decent park that children can play in without fear of exposure to dangerous elements of our society. Let's continue to spend money in ways that make us feel good in a P.C. way but that produce no real good to the public at large.

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Are you suggesting that USM be converted into a playground for children? Hmmm... I thought it already was...