Pictured are Lander alumni, “fixin’ to” learn more about the complexities of Southern English during a special presentation by Professor of English Dr. Sean Barnette, as part of Lander’s 2022 Homecoming festivities. While it’s often portrayed poorly in popular culture, Barnette shared that the mechanics behind Southern English actually have more rules than Standard English. “If we step back a little… Southern English has these regular, nuanced ways of encoding information that Standard English doesn’t,” Barnette said. “In a lot of ways, it’s more graceful than Standard English.”