Oxford Rules

On October 1, 1962, James Meredith became the first African-American to enroll at the University of Mississippi. In spite of being subjected to what anyone else might have considered intolerably, overt racism, Mr. Meredith graduated from Ole Miss on August 18, 1963, with a degree in Political Science.    

The days immediately preceding his enrollment were marked by violence and riots on the campus in Oxford. Two people were killed. On September 30, 1962, President John F. Kennedy addressed the nation from the White House to discuss the "Situation at the University of Mississippi".  As we the people of these United States prepare for a Presidential election, twelve days away, in which one of the two major-party candidates (spoiler alert:  it is the incumbent) has repeatedly tried to cast doubt on the election's integrity and has steadfastly refused to state that he would accept its result, it might be time well spent to consider President Kennedy's words to the nation that evening:

Our Nation is founded on the principle that observance of the law

is the eternal safeguard of liberty and defiance of the law is the 

surest road to tyranny. The law which we obey includes the final 

rulings of the court, as well as enactments of our legislative bodies.

Even among law-abiding men few laws are universally loved,

but they are uniformly respected and not resisted. 

Americans are free, in short, to disagree with the law

but not to disobey it. 

For in a government of laws and not of men, 

no man, however prominent or powerful, 

and no mob, however unruly or boisterous, 

is entitled to defy a court of law. 

If this country should ever reach the point where any man 

or group of men by force or threat of force could long defy

the commands of our court and our Constitution, 

then no law would stand free from doubt, 

no judge would be sure of his writ, 

and no citizen would be safe from his neighbors...

I close therefore with this appeal to the students of the University, 

the people who are most concerned. 

You have a great tradition to uphold, a tradition of honor and courage

won on the field of battle and on the gridiron 

as well as the University campus. You have a new opportunity 

to show that you are men of patriotism and integrity. 

For the most effective means of upholding the law is not the 

State policeman or the marshals or the National Guard. 

It is you. 

It lies in your courage to accept those laws with which you disagree

as well as those with which you agree. 

The eyes of the Nation and of all the world are upon you and upon

all of us, and the honor of your University and State are in the balance. 

I am certain that the great majority of the students 

will uphold that honor.

-President John F. Kennedy (September 30, 1962)

Address on the Situation at the University of Mississippi

-AK