Ole Miss to officially change its mascot
Rebel the Bear is no more.
Ole Miss announced on Friday that the bear mascot would be retired and the school would move forward with a Landshark mascot.
According to MagnoliaStateLive.com, Ole Miss Chancellor Dr. Jeff Vitter said there are no plans to change the school’s nickname, but there would be a new mascot moving forward:
“…I want to state unequivocally that we are — and always will be — the Ole Miss Rebels. And I am asking all Rebels to unite around our new Landshark mascot,” Dr. Vitter said in the letter.
The Landshark mascot will be designed over the coming months and should be unveiled before the 2018 season.
The Rebels have undergone several mascot changes over the past few years, according to MagnoliaStateLive.com’s Alex McDaniel:
Third mascot change in 14 years for UM, removing Colonel Reb in 2003, adopting Rebel Black Bear in 2010 and embracing the Landshark in 2017.
— Alex McDaniel (@AlexMcDaniel) October 6, 2017
What the Landshark will look like remains to be seen, but it should be an interesting next few months, to say the least.