“I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.”
Nearly 200 new citizens said these words on Tuesday, Sept. 2, at a naturalization ceremony in Oxford, Mississippi. This was their oath, their sign of allegiance, to the United States of America. As they responded to the oath, I saw one girl crying; another smiling. It was one of the most emotional and moving events I’ve ever attended.
The naturalization ceremony was held on the University of Mississippi campus. It was part of a series of presidential debate related activities leading up to the first debate of 2008 to be held on the Ole Miss campus on Sept. 26. The ceremony took place in Fulton Chapel, an old chapel on campus now used for classes and events. My first memory of the chapel was at orientation as a freshman 3 years ago, listening to presentations on financial aid and attending classes. Now here I was again, watching 198 new citizens carefully holding their certificates of citizenship, like they would break at any moment.
What was so important about this particular naturalization ceremony, though, was merely that it was held on the Ole Miss campus. This may not mean much to those who don’t know the campus’ history, so let me enlighten you.
On Oct. 1, 1962, James Meredith became the first black student at Ole Miss. With the civil rights movement in the nation coming to an end, this event was a major accomplishment for civil rights activists in the South. But things weren’t going to be that easy if the people of the university and of Oxford, Miss. had anything to do with it. That day the National Guard was called to help break up the riots on campus – the riots which left bullet holes in the columns of the campus’ Lyceum that can still be seen today. The riots of James Meredith became widely known by historians and civilians alike as “the last battle for the civil rights.”
It’s hard to imagine that a campus with such a dark history just 46 years ago can be the campus to welcome almost 200 new citizens in our nation. It’s even harder to imagine that this campus, which rebelled so heavily against admitting a black student, will host the first presidential debate with a black candidate.
For the next three weeks the university and the town of Oxford will have a chance to show the nation and the world how far it has come in the last 50 years, and young people will be a big part of this. There will be events ranging from voting drives to College Democrat vs. College Republican laser tag; but more than that, young people will be able to show the world how far our university has come by being themselves. This is their chance to show the rest of the nation how they’ve broken the stereotypes set before them, and how they are responding to political and social issues in their area, as well as in their nation.
To read more about or see a video of the naturalization ceremony, go to: http://news.olemiss.edu/index.php/Ole-Miss-News/News-Releases/naturalization.html
To find out more about the presidential debate on Sept. 26 at Ole Miss, go to: http://www.olemiss.edu/debate/