Colonel Reb Colonel Reb is the former mascot of Ole Miss Rebels , the collegiate athletic teams of ( " Ole Miss " ) . Designed in the 1930s , the figure served as the teams ' official or near - official mascot from 1979 until 2003 . He was replaced in 2010 with a new on - field mascot , the Rebel Black Bear . Origin . Noted Ole Miss historian David Sansing has stated that " Blind Jim [ Ivy ] may have been the model for Colonel Rebel . " Sansing cites " the late Frank Everett " as the sole basis for this conclusion . Ivy was very much a part of the Ole Miss scene in 1936 when the editor of the school newspaper proposed a contest to produce a new nickname for Ole Miss teams , then known as The Flood . " The Rebels " was the choice of 18 out of 21 sports writers . Rebels also won the contest sponsored by the " Mississippian " , with Ole Massas — a term used by slaves to refer to their masters — finishing a close second , and the university ' s sports teams have since been known as the Rebels . Two years later , Colonel Rebel appeared for the first time as an illustration in the university yearbook . This illustration was perhaps drawn by the art editor for the yearbook that year , Billy Hix . Hix often drew his depictions of the Colonel as a planter in an antebellum plantation setting . It is also possible that Colonel Rebel was originally created by the Rebel Club a student group founded in 1937 shortly after the University had adopted the " Rebels " name and was responsible for the publication of " The Rebel " magazine which featured an image of the Colonel on its masthead that is identical to the one appearing on the 1937 Ole Miss yearbook . Others may have also had a hand in revising and modifying the image of Colonel Rebel in those early years , such as campus bookstore owner Carl Coers and famous New Orleans cartoonist John Churchill Chase . Colonel Reb on campus . In 1940 , Ole Miss students began voting for " Colonel Reb " as the highest honorary position for campus males . He had previously been called " The Mardi Gras King " but this name was changed by the Associated Student Body ' s Executive Council in the fall of 1939 . This was in addition to the female equivalent of " Miss Ole Miss " which had been bestowed on campus females for over a decade . These two positions are still voted on every fall by the student population , the winners nearly always being members of historically white fraternities and sororities . Several distinguished Ole Miss alumni have been elected to one of these two positions , including recently retired Ole Miss Chancellor Robert Khayat . In 1975 , former National Football League standout Ben Williams became the first black student to be elected " Colonel Reb . " " Gentle Ben " , as he has been lovingly known by many in the Ole Miss community , was also the first black football player at Ole Miss . In 1989 , star Ole Miss women ' s basketball player Kimsey O ' Neal became the first black student to gain the title " Miss Ole Miss . " Joining a national trend at many colleges and universities , the university adopted a costumed mascot filled by a trained male cheerleader in the form of the longtime Ole Miss mascot and known as " Johnny Rebel . " Colonel Reb as first known thus advanced from his 40 year paper history to a living caricature on the field in 1979 . However , as Ole Miss school yearbooks and game programs from 1981 onward show , a human cheerleader was retained wearing an elaborately - lined coat as well as sash and dress pants and the string - tie often associated with planters from antebellum days . His dress later changed into a more tuxedo - like outfit . This figure , according to Ole Miss annuals and programs from the era , was known as " Colonel Rebel " for some years before being known simply as " mike man " and finally disappearing from the sidelines altogether in the early 1990s . In 2003 , the administration removed Colonel Reb from the sidelines at Ole Miss athletic events as the on - the - field mascot , though he was allowed at tailgating and other unofficial university functions . A contest was held in which fans were invited to design a replacement . The athletic department chose two finalists , Rebel Bruiser and Rowdy Rebel , and invited fans to vote on their favorite . The limited fan response as well as ridicule from fans of rival schools prompted the administration to cancel the poll . However , Colonel Reb remains very much alive in the public consciousness ; he still wanders The Grove on game day , and he was featured in " Colonel Reb Is Crying " , a song produced by Memphis , Tennessee sports talk radio host Chris Vernon , about the Rebels ' on - field woes in 2006 . The Colonel Reb Foundation is a group founded to preserve the Colonel Reb image and sponsors the unofficial appearances of the mascot in The Grove . Mascot search . In 2010 Ole Miss students voted to choose a new mascot for the school . Once the desire for a new mascot was confirmed , a website was established by the committee to help ensure transparency throughout the entire process . Based on its support throughout the process , including the final poll , the committee selected the Rebel Black Bear as the new on - field mascot . The University reclassified the Colonel Reb trademark as historical and still retains ownership of the trademark .