OXFORD &045; TaSheitha Butler started her senior year at Ole Miss with a goal of changing the mindset of half the world.

Though it’s no small goal, the 2001 Natchez High grad was in a pretty good position to at least get the ball rolling.

Butler shared her college time this year as director of Minority Affairs for the Associated Student Body government and as a member of the student leadership council of the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation.

&uot;I wanted to change attitudes in terms of looking at the situation as accommodating minorities and in turn promoting diversity,&uot; Butler said. &uot;I think the assumption is that we have to accommodate minorities, when really the real meaning should be that we should promote diversity.&uot;

Her work with Minority Affairs, which recently changed its name to Diversity Affairs, the William Winter Institute, Habitat for Humanity, other campus organizations and in the classroom earned Butler an honor shared by only nine other Ole Miss students this year.

In January, Butler was surprised with an induction into the Ole Miss Hall of Fame. Each year a secret committee selects 10 students for the Hall of Fame from around 100 Who’s Who honorees. A committee comprised of administrators, professors and students chooses Who’s Who earlier in the year.

From the 12,000-plus student body, students are nominated by secret ballot for Who’s Who. Once selected for Who’s Who, applications are reviewed further and the Top 10 is chosen.

Hall of Fame selections are based on scholarship, leadership, community service and potential success.

The Hall of Fame is kept secret from the students until a banquet honoring Who’s Who inductees. The university does contact parents of the inductees on a promise of secrecy.

&uot;I even saw friends from high school coming in the back door,&uot; Butler said. &uot;I was like, ‘What are you doing here?’ I never expect anything.&uot;

Butler, the daughter of Gloria J. Wesley, is entirely worthy of the honor though, said Susan Glisson, director of the William Winter Institute.

&uot;She’s so great,&uot; Glisson said. &uot;She’s just the quiet, steady young woman that works hard.&uot;

Through the institute, Butler has worked with the community of Rome, a rural Mississippi town, on everything from sewer problems to education, even brining some of the town’s children to Ole Miss for the day.

In a collaborative effort with the institute and the ASB, Butler organized a tailgating tent in the Grove to welcome minorities. Butler said she saw a large need for a welcoming environment on football game days, since much of the crowd is white. For one game the tent, stocked with plenty of food, saw about 300 visitors.

&uot;We really don’t want her to graduate,&uot; Glisson said. &uot;But she’s going to go on and be a great resource for the state. She’s a bright light.&uot;

The 3.95 grade point average student plans to go to graduate school next year and study public policy or administration. She will graduate from Ole Miss in May with a biochemistry degree.

She said medical school may be in the future, but for now she wants to focus on learning other things. Though she doesn’t yet know where she will attend graduate school, any hiatus from Mississippi will only be temporary.

&uot;I like it here,&uot; Butler said. &uot;It’s not a big, big place, it’s rural. I’m not a big city type girl.&uot;

She’s not sure about a return to Natchez, but Mississippi is definitely in her sights.