{"id":151284,"date":"2025-08-19T14:10:28","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T19:10:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=151284"},"modified":"2025-08-19T14:10:31","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T19:10:31","slug":"the-dean-to-share-his-ole-miss-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/the-dean-to-share-his-ole-miss-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The Dean’ to Share His Ole Miss Stories"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sparky Reardon, legendary student affairs leader, brings 36 years of campus tales to Khayat Lecture Series<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For 36 years, he was a steady hand guiding University of Mississippi<\/strong> students through triumphs and crises, celebrations and challenges. Now Sparky Reardon<\/strong>, the university’s beloved former dean of students, will pull back the curtain on decades of campus history that shaped generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reardon headlines the Ole Miss Women’s Council for Philanthropy<\/strong>‘s\u00a0Robert C. Khayat Lecture Series<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0at 6:30 pm August 28, 2025, at The Inn at Ole Miss<\/strong>. He will share stories from his new memoir “The Dean: Memoirs & Missives” (Nautilus Publishing<\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The free, ticketed event includes a question-and-answer session and book signing. Get tickets online here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oscar-winning director and Ole Miss alumnus Bill Courtney<\/strong>, host of the podcast “An Army of Normal Folks,” will interview Reardon about\u00a0his extraordinary career<\/a>, managing everything from student celebrations to campus crises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I’m so happy to be participating in this series named for a man for whom I have the utmost admiration, hosted by one of my favorite former students and sponsored by a group of women who are unmatched in their dedication to Ole Miss,” Reardon said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reardon’s memoir, released August 10, chronicles his most challenging and rewarding moments during nearly four decades of shaping student life. Perhaps none are more memorable than the 2008 presidential debate that brought then-U.S. Sen. Barack Obama<\/strong> and Sen. John McCain<\/strong> to campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students created “Issues Alley” along the Grove’s entrance, where 30 diverse organizations \u2013 from the NRA <\/strong>and pro-choice groups to the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians<\/strong> and Rednecks for Obama<\/strong> \u2013 stood side by side in peaceful coexistence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The lion lay down with the lamb,” Reardon recalled, calling the event “the best day I ever had at Ole Miss.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reardon’s impact beautifully embodies the lecture series’ core tenets of leadership, philanthropy and culture said Liz Randall<\/strong>, chair of the series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Sparky is gifted at the art of making deep human connections, building long-standing relationships and curating opportunities that promote and demand the best from students,” Randall said. “His impact has produced generations of successfully engaged alumni, and Bill Courtney is a prime example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Sparky’s profoundly authentic book reads as though he’s sitting next to you narrating it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Randall called Courtney the perfect “cultural guide” to lead audiences through Reardon’s stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Robert C. Khayat Lecture Series, launched in fall 2021, brings renowned speakers to campus to share inspirational ideas and unique insights. Previous speakers include Courtney, Ole Miss football greats Dexter McCluster<\/strong> and A.J. Brown<\/strong>, supermodel Kathy Ireland<\/strong>, and author David Magee<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event benefits the Women’s Council’s Global Leadership Circle<\/strong>, which provides study abroad and internship opportunities for students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Women’s Council<\/a> has built an endowment of nearly $22 million and awarded scholarships to 205 students. This fall, 41 scholars are receiving $40,000 scholarships \u2013 $10,000 per year for four years \u2013 while being mentored by council members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year’s event will include a host and sponsor reception at 5:30 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information, or to join as a host or event sponsor and attend the reception, email\u00a0omwclectureseries@gmail.com<\/a>\u00a0or contact Suzanne Helveston<\/strong> at\u00a0shelveston@olemiss.edu<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0662-915-2956.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Michael Newsom<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sparky Reardon, who served in University of Mississippi’s Division of Student Affairs for 36 years, will discuss his time on campus as this year’s speaker in the Robert C. Khayat Lecture Series on Aug. 28. Reardon also recounts many of his campus memories in “The Dean: Memoirs & Missives,” published recently by Nautilus Publishing. Photo by Bill Dabney\/UM Foundation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Bill Courtney. Submitted photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sparky Reardon, legendary student affairs leader, brings 36 years of campus tales to Khayat Lecture Series For 36<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":238,"featured_media":151285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17687],"tags":[7749,1013,27088,15239,19615,22854,24663,18812,5,25989,5317,32449,7067,18810,4,32450,18808,6826,10387,11467,655,27836],"class_list":["post-151284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-university-of-mississippi","tag-a-j-brown","tag-barack-obama","tag-bill-courtney","tag-david-magee","tag-dexter-mccluster","tag-john-mccain","tag-kathy-ireland","tag-liz-randall","tag-mississippi","tag-mississippi-band-of-choctaw-indians","tag-nautilus-publishing","tag-nra","tag-ole-miss","tag-ole-miss-womens-council-for-philanthropy","tag-oxford","tag-rednecks-for-obama","tag-robert-c-khayat-lecture-series","tag-sparky-reardon","tag-suzanne-helveston","tag-the-inn-at-ole-miss","tag-university-of-mississippi","tag-womens-councils-global-leadership-circle"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Sparky-Reardon-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1703&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/238"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151284"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":151289,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151284\/revisions\/151289"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}