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Shannon Rickey

United States

(Research Program Coordinator)

Lovemarks:
Mississippi University for Women.

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• A member of the historic Long Blue Line

  Mississippi University for Women

  16 May 2008

  After a seven-year career in the U.S. Navy, I entered Mississippi University for Women. As one of the very few women on the U.S.S. Dwight D. Eisenhower, a nuclear powered aircraft carrier, I worked on the flight deck and survived more life threatening events than I can count on both my fingers and toes. I could have gone anywhere to college thanks to a combination of academic scholarships, GI Bill and U.S. Navy College Fund grants. Despite offers from universities across the nation - including some of the elite ones - I chose to pursue my degree at The W and become a member of the historic Long Blue Line. My military experience showed me a world where the glass ceiling is a very real presence, where there remains inequality, sexual harassment and where men in a position of power remain a constant threat for women. Forced to forfeit a lot of my self-assurance and power as a female in the military, I had to fight for every scrap of empowerment and knowledge I could get my hands on. I love my country and was happy to serve it, but once out, I needed and wanted a place like The W with its original and traditional mission focused on educating and empowering women. Now that I have graduated and become an alumna, it has not failed me. The Long Blue Line is very real, and I have formed instant bonds with other "W" alums. These bonds are not just with my classmates, but transcend years between classes. An example are two W girls who serve as friends and mentors to me, Cheryl Jackson Cooper, Class of '82 and L. Kim Kimbrough, Class of '80. I've never met Kim or Cheryl face to face, but I feel as if I have known them my entire life. Ask any Long Blue Line member and you'll get a similar story. I understand a consulting firm will be on campus next week presenting its suggestions and meeting with faculty, alums and stakeholders on a name change for The W. This appears to be much more serious than in 2002 when the name change movement was scuttled by the alums. I am saddened by this action, saddened and disgusted, frustrated and disenfranchised in that no one in the university administration appears to be taking into consideration the history of the university, the original intent of its mission, the very same mission that has remained in place for 124-plus years since the establishment of the II&C. It would also seem as though the university administration is insistent on taking MUW down the path of becoming something along the lines of an extension campus for Mississippi State. I find it odd and coincidental that first the original alumnae association was disaffiliated by Dr. Limbert, Mr. Sansing and the IHL, who also fought in court to prevent re-affiliation. Why? Because the original alumnae group is a very powerful and effective group, proving to be a thorn in the side of their quests for a name change and a new course for The W, making it just another university in Mississippi. With a name change it will cease to be the historic university I graduated from. It will cease to be the university with the rich history and mission to educate and empower women. Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, two women who among many fought for women's rights during the suffrage movement at the turn of the 19th century, should be examples to us members of the Long Blue Line. When I think of them, I think of those women who fought the Mississippi legislature to establish the II&C and those first women who attended II&C and then MSCW. I think about what they were doing for us during that period in history and the path they paved and I think about what they would be doing now about a name change that will surely destroy this precious jewel in Mississippi's crown. If we Long Blue Line members do not unite and defeat her again, Dr. Limbert will change the name and the mission of the university, a slap in the face and a setback to every graduate of Mississippi University for Women. I beg you, let us fight her at every turn.