University of Mississippi

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The University of Mississippi (also known as Ole Miss) is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1848, the school is composed of the main campus, with three branch campuses located in Booneville, Tupelo, and Southaven. UM maintains a field station in Bay Springs as well as the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. Additionally, it is a sea-grant institute, as well as a space-grant institute.

Total enrollment on The University of Mississippi’s four campuses and The University of Mississippi Medical Center is almost 16,900, making the flagship university the largest in the state. Sixty-seven percent of undergraduates are from Mississippi, and 18 % of all students are minorities. International students come from 66 nations.

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Academic divisions

The degree-granting divisions located at the Main Campus:

  • School of Accountancy
  • School of Applied Sciences
  • School of Business Administration
  • School of Education
  • School of Engineering
  • College of Liberal Arts
  • School of Nursing (added 2006)
  • Graduate School
  • School of Law
  • School of Pharmacy

The colleges in the University Medical Center in Jackson:

  • School of Dentistry
  • School of Health Related Professions
  • School of Nursing
  • School of Medicine
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History

The Lyceum, built in 1848, is the oldest building on campus. It housed most of the classrooms and faculty offices of the University. It was used as a hospital during the Civil War for both Union and Confederate soldiers. The Lyceum is now the home of the university's administration offices.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, the classes were interrupted when the entire student body and many faculty from Ole Miss enlisted in the Confederate Army. Their company was nicknamed the University Greys, and suffered a 100% casualty rate during The War Between the States. A great number of those casualties occurred during Pickett's Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863, when the University Greys made the deepest encroachment into Union territory when some of them actually crossed the Union defensive fortification wall, only to be killed, wounded or captured. On the very next day, July 4, 1863, Confederate forces surrendered at Vicksburg, Mississippi; the two battles together are commonly viewed as the turning point in the war. When Ole Miss re-opened, only one member of The University Greys was even able to visit the University to address the student body.

The University of Mississippi was also the site of rioting during desegregation, when James Meredith of Kosciusko, Mississippi, attempted to enroll in the school to become the university's first African-American student. Thousands of students and citizens from the surrounding area, a number of whom were armed, swarmed the campus on September 30, 1962 in an effort to prevent Meredith's enrollment. Meredith, thanks to the protection afforded by federal marshals, was able to enroll and attend his first class on October 2, 1962. Two people died during the race riots on campus. Following the riot, an entire U.S. Army division was stationed in Oxford to preserve the peace.

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The Name "Ole Miss"

The nickname "Ole Miss" was conceived in 1896 by Miss Elma Meek of Oxford, Mississippi. She won a contest to name the school's student yearbook and the Ole Miss moniker gradually became synonymous with the university. The nickname has been a subject of controversy, as the term "Ole Miss" was also allegedly used by plantation slaves to refer to the wife of the plantation owner. Former Ole Miss Associated Student Body president Frank Everett Jr. once said of the school, "There is a valid distinction between The University and Ole Miss even though the separate threads are closely interwoven. The University is buildings, trees and people. Ole Miss is mood, emotion and personality. One is physical, and the other is spiritual. One is tangible, and the other intangible. The University is respected, but Ole Miss is loved. The university gives a diploma and regretfully terminates tenure, but one never graduates from Ole Miss."

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Accolades

  • Ole Miss is among the top 30 public institutions with largest endowments per student.
  • Ole Miss is notable for its production of Rhodes Scholars (24) and has also produced one Marshall, five Truman, and seven Goldwater scholars since 1998.
  • Ole Miss is ranked by the Carnegie Foundation as one of the top 100 Research Extensive institutions in the nation.
  • The School of Pharmacy ranks 20th in the nation among schools of pharmacy for funding from the prestigious National Institutes of Health and 2nd among pharmacy schools for total federal funding.
  • Ole Miss was recently listed at the number 7 party school by the Princeton Review, 2005. It was also listed as one of the schools most nostalgic for president Ronald Reagan.
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Interesting facts

  • The University houses the largest blues music archive in the United States. Some of the contrubutions to the collection were donated by BB King.
  • The school grows US government endorsed cannabis. The National Institute on Drug Abuse [1] (NIDA) contracts to the University the production of cannabis for the use in the few approved research studies on the plant as well as for distribution to the seven surviving medical cannabis patients grandfathered into the Compassionate Investigational New Drug program (established in 1978 and cancelled in 1991).
  • University of Mississippi Medical Center surgeons performed the world's first lung transplant in man and transplanted the heart of a chimpanzee - man's closest genetic relation - into the chest of a dying man.
  • William Faulkner's estate, Rowan Oak, is owned by the University. Faulkner's Nobel Prize for Literature is kept in the Ole Miss Library. The town of Oxford surrounds the campus which is located in Lafayette County and inspired Faulkner and his imaginary town of Jefferson, the county seat of Yoknapatawpha County
  • The fictional Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy of Star Trek attended this university.
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Athletics

Image:ColReb.jpg

Ole Miss' sports teams, nicknamed the Rebels, compete in the competetive twelve-member Southeastern Conference (West Division) of the NCAA's Division I. The school's colors are crimson and blue, purposely chosen to mirror the school colors of Harvard and Yale, respectively.

Since 1983, the administration has distanced itself from the negative connotations associated with its Confederate symbolism, including barring faculty from displaying any Confederate imagery in their offices. In 1997, sticks were banned, under the guise of fan safety, to discourage fans from displaying the Confederate battle flag at football games. This controversy began when coach Tommy Tuberville complained that the battle flag was undermining his efforts to recruit black athletes.

In 2003, the administration eliminated Colonel Reb , the on the field mascot since 1979. 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, so Ole Miss currently has no mascot. However, the school's students have created "Colonel Too". Supposedly he is the Colonel Reb's cousin, and can be found cheering in the stands.

With a long history in intercollegiate athletics, the University competes in 18 men’s and women’s sports. Student-athletes, 630 in all, received all-conference academic honors from 1995-2004. On the field, Ole Miss has gone through some lean years since the 1960s, but has enjoyed more success recently. Nine of the eighteen teams advanced to post-season play in 2002-2003 and 2003-2004. The 2003 football team won the West division co-championship, although they did not represent the SEC West in the SEC Championship Game, the women's basketball team appeared in the 2005 NCAA Tournament, and the 2005 baseball team made it to the Super Regionals.

Ole Miss' athletic rivals are Louisiana State University (the Tigers) and Mississippi State University (the Bulldogs).

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Noteworthy alumni

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See also

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External links

Template:Southeastern Conference

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