Students meet Jimmy Buffett

"I was really just in the right place at the right time," said senior Jill Duckworth of her happenstance meeting with famous singer and songwriter Jimmy Buffett on Thursday. "I grew up listening to him, so I recognized him," said the communications major from Clinton, Miss.

Whether by word of mouth or the Internet, Buffett's quiet visit soon made itself known to the campus.

"I actually heard that Jimmy Buffett was on campus via Twitter," said Kyle Nixon." I immediately sent a text message to one of my best friends, Brett Haro, who is a huge parrothead." (As any parrothead knows, Buffett's fans call themselves parrotheads.)

The Internet, however informative, isn't something Buffett seems so be embracing, though.

"I went in with my phone and [Buffett] was immediately like, ‘No camera phones! I don't want you uploading these pictures to Facebook,'" said Brett Haro, a senior from New Orleans. Haro said Buffett told him no one seemed to want "old-fashioned" autographs anymore. "So I said, ‘Well, actually...' and asked him to sign a beach ball and a T-shirt," Haro said.

Nixon said he didn't get an autograph, but he was able to take a picture, which he hopes will be printed in The Printz or the yearbook.

Duckworth, who hurried to finish a quiz so she could meet Buffett, also got a picture for proof.

"I told him that my dad wasn't going to believe I met him, so we took a picture," Duckworth said. "Then I called my dad and pretty much my whole family."

Many of the students who met Buffett were fans.

"I didn't know exactly what to say," said Denver Taylor, a senior history major from Hattiesburg and self-proclaimed parrothead. Taylor was lunching at the Fresh Food Company when he heard of Buffett's visit and immediately called President Saunders's office to confirm.

"I said, ‘Is Jimmy Buffett on campus right now?'" said Taylor.  "She [Saunders's secretary] said, ‘I'll put it to you like this: I can't say yes, but I can't say no.'  So I took that as a yes."

"I'd only ever seen him before in concert," said Haro, who waited for Buffett in Vice President of Student Affairs Joe Paul's office.  "My sister is an even bigger fan than I am, so I immediately called to rub it in her face," Haro said.

After searching the campus for Buffet, Taylor finally found him surrounded by a group of students.

 "It's like your life has just become complete," Taylor said.  "It's like meeting one of your heroes, someone you've always admired since you were a little kid. That was really one of the high points of my life."

"We didn't really talk much about his visit, just that he was having lunch with Dr. Saunders and that their relationship has evolved since the oil spill recovery partnership that Southern Miss has with him," Nixon said. "I'm still not sure why he was here. I'm waiting for Martha Saunders to make an announcement or something," Nixon said.