Remove M.M. Roberts’s Name from USM’s Football Stadium
Remove M.M. Roberts’s Name from USM’s Football Stadium
The Issue
The University of Southern Mississippi should be a place that reflects values of opportunity, and respect. Honoring M.M. Roberts with one of the most prominent symbols on campus runs directly counter to those values.
Roberts used his influence as president of Mississippi’s Board of Trustees of Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) to uphold segregation and block progress in higher education. Among his actions and words:
Admitting His Racism: Roberts openly stated, “As I’ve gone along through the years and looked back, I’ve said to myself really that I am a racist. Every time I read a definition I say, ‘Well, that’s me.’ I have no apology for it, though. It’s me.”
Attempted to fire a professor: Roberts worked with the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, an agency established to preserve segregation, in an attempt to have University of Mississippi Professor James Silver fired for speaking out against the state's "closed society".
Implemented illegal "speaker bans": Roberts pushed for and implemented a policy banning speakers who "might incite riots." This was a tactic to prevent prominent civil rights activists, including Martin Luther King Jr. and Charles Evers, from speaking at state universities. A federal court eventually ruled the ban unconstitutional.
Voted to withhold James Meredith’s diploma: M.M. Roberts, as president of the Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) Board of Trustees, voted in 1963 to withhold James Meredith's degree from the University of Mississippi.
Our Call:
The name on our stadium should honor someone whose legacy reflects the very best of Southern Miss. one that exemplifies excellence, integrity, leadership, and respect. Not an individual who worked to deny those very principles to generations of students.
We call on the University of Southern Mississippi and the Board of Trustees of Institutions of Higher Learning to Remove M.M. Roberts’s name from the football stadium.
It is time to ensure that our most visible campus symbols reflect who we are now.
Southern Miss To The Top.
16
The Issue
The University of Southern Mississippi should be a place that reflects values of opportunity, and respect. Honoring M.M. Roberts with one of the most prominent symbols on campus runs directly counter to those values.
Roberts used his influence as president of Mississippi’s Board of Trustees of Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) to uphold segregation and block progress in higher education. Among his actions and words:
Admitting His Racism: Roberts openly stated, “As I’ve gone along through the years and looked back, I’ve said to myself really that I am a racist. Every time I read a definition I say, ‘Well, that’s me.’ I have no apology for it, though. It’s me.”
Attempted to fire a professor: Roberts worked with the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, an agency established to preserve segregation, in an attempt to have University of Mississippi Professor James Silver fired for speaking out against the state's "closed society".
Implemented illegal "speaker bans": Roberts pushed for and implemented a policy banning speakers who "might incite riots." This was a tactic to prevent prominent civil rights activists, including Martin Luther King Jr. and Charles Evers, from speaking at state universities. A federal court eventually ruled the ban unconstitutional.
Voted to withhold James Meredith’s diploma: M.M. Roberts, as president of the Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) Board of Trustees, voted in 1963 to withhold James Meredith's degree from the University of Mississippi.
Our Call:
The name on our stadium should honor someone whose legacy reflects the very best of Southern Miss. one that exemplifies excellence, integrity, leadership, and respect. Not an individual who worked to deny those very principles to generations of students.
We call on the University of Southern Mississippi and the Board of Trustees of Institutions of Higher Learning to Remove M.M. Roberts’s name from the football stadium.
It is time to ensure that our most visible campus symbols reflect who we are now.
Southern Miss To The Top.
16
The Decision Makers
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Petition created on September 28, 2025