Every once in a while a figure comes along that is the epitome of what it means to be an Ole Miss Rebel. Some are athletes, some are academics, some are faculty or staff, while yet others are band members, or cheerleaders, or simply average joe’s giving their time or money to the school they love. They are leaders, promoting and defending the University of Mississippi to all that will listen, and they are what makes Ole Miss what it is. They are people like Marcus Guinn.

Marcus is the lead bass drummer for the Ole Miss marching band, the “Pride of the South”. Marcus is a senior this year and he just recently played at his last Ole Miss football game, against the Bulldogs in the Egg Bowl. He will be sorely missed, but it will be a long time before he is forgotten. A telling story about what Marcus is made of came from the trip to Auburn for last year’s football game between the Rebels and the Tigers.

The band was warming up and playing outside of the Jordan-Hare Stadium. Prior to the football season the adminstration at Ole Miss had taken Colonel Rebel off of the sidelines at Rebel football games while searching for a new mascot. A few Auburn fans had begun gathering around the band as they played, and a few began heckling the members of the band about the lack of the Colonel Rebel mascot, and about the situation surrounding the choosing of a new mascot in general. As the band wound down on what must have been a stirring rendition of “Dixie” or “I Saw the Light”, and as the Auburn fans continued to heckle the members of the Pride of the South, Marcus stepped to the forefront and made his feelings known to the obnoxious Tiger fans. “I’m the mascot!”, shouted Marcus, “Anybody got a problem with it?” The Auburn fans quickly shut their mouths and the band continued their pregame warmups without any other incidents, as Marcus proudly beamed his trademark smile for all to see.

Frank Everett once said, in what has become quite a famous quote in Ole Miss history,

“There is a valid distinction between The University and Ole Miss even though the separate threads are closely interwoven. The University is buildings, trees and people. Ole Miss is mood, emotion and personality. One is physical, and the other is spiritual. One is tangible and the other intangible. The University is respected, but Ole Miss is loved. The University gives a diploma and regretfully terminates tenure, but one never graduates from Ole Miss.”

Here’s to hoping that even though Marcus Guinn is terminating his tenure at the University of Mississippi shortly, that he never graduates from Ole Miss, and continues to be the epitome of everything an Ole Miss Rebel should be. I for one, wish him the best.