A rose to Mississippi University for Women, for its choice of a new logo, which was unveiled Wednesday along with the return of its long-time mascot, “Ody Owl.” The new logo, designed to help market the university’s return to collegiate athletics, was chosen from among five options. The logo is colored in the traditional W Blue and Welty Blue and depicts the eyes of an owl staring intensely. The word “OWLS” is arched above the eyes. As for Ody Owl, he has been a fixture at The W since 1885, where he watched over campus from the top of Orr Chapel. Ody Owl was officially made the university mascot in 1982 after an emergency meeting of editors from the student newspaper following a campus-wide poll to determine a new mascot. The new logo is bold and attractive and is a great link to The W’s proud history. We predict you’ll soon be seeing the logo on shirts and merchandise throughout town.
A rose to the Columbus Exchange Club for bringing together all four of the candidates on the Supreme Court Justice ballot together during Thursday’s meeting at the Lion Hills Center. While the presidential election has commanded the vast majority of the attention this year, the race for this Supreme Court Justice, which represents 33 counties in north Mississippi, is of no small importance. To have all four candidates speak and answer questions at the same meeting provided voters with a chance to form their view on the race based on hearing them speak. We thank the Exchange Club for helping members make an informed choice in this race.
A rose to Molly May of Houston, who is using her platform as Miss Mississippi to promote breast cancer awareness. For May, a communications major at Mississippi State, breast cancer is a deeply personal issue. After her mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, May learned at age 19 that she was almost guaranteed to develop it as well after testing positive for the BRCA1 gene that is a sure indicator of high-risk of breast cancer. She made the decision to have a double-mastectomy and during her campaign for the Miss Mississippi title and now during her reign, she has made breast cancer awareness a focal point as she represents Mississippi both here at home and throughout the country. With one-in-eight women likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their lifetime, early detection and preventive measures are essential to beating cancer. We applaud her devotion to this important cause as Breast Cancer Awareness Month comes to a close.
A rose to Caledonia’s Bradford Freeman, who will travel to Nashville on Friday where he will be honored with The Legion of Honor by the French government. The Legion of Honor is France’s highest military honor. For almost 50 years, Freeman’s exploits as a World War II paratrooper and infantryman was known mainly by his family and close friends. That changed when Stephen Ambrose’s book “Band of Brothers” (1992) and the subsequent Emmy-winning HBO miniseries of the same name (2001) told the story of Freeman’s unit, “Easy Company” of the 101st Airborne. Now known as one of the most famous fighting units of World War II, Freeman and his company fought in many of the major battles in WWII history, including D-Day, Operation Market Square and The Battle of the Bulge. We are proud of our hometown war hero and proud to see that, all these years later, he is receiving the well-deserved honors that his service merits.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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