Mississippi State University

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Mississippi State University
Image:Miss state univ seal.jpg
Motto:Learning, Service, Research
Established1878
Type:Public University
Endowment:US $237,533,795 [1]
President:General Robert H. "Doc" Foglesong
Staff:1,220
Undergraduates:12,630[2]
Postgraduates:3,576
LocationStarkville, Mississippi, USA
Campus:Rural
Colors:maroon and white            
Mascot:Bulldogs
Website:http://www.msstate.edu

Mississippi State University is a land-grant university located in north east-central Mississippi, United States, in the town of Starkville and is situated 125 miles (200 km) northeast of Jackson and 23 miles (37 km) west of Columbus. In attendance, it is the largest university in the state.[3]

Contents

[edit] History

Image:MSU drill field.jpg
Lee Hall at Mississippi State University

The University began as The Agricultural and Mechanical College of the State of Mississippi (or Mississippi A&M), one of the national land-grant colleges established after Congress passed the Morrill Act in 1862. It was created by the Mississippi Legislature on February 28, 1878, to fulfill the mission of offering training in "agriculture, horticulture and the mechanical arts . . . without excluding other scientific and classical studies, including military tactics." The university received its first students in the fall of 1880 in the presidency of General Stephen D. Lee.

In 1887 Congress passed the Hatch Act, which provided for the establishment of the Agricultural Experiment Station in 1888. The Cooperative Extension Service was established in 1914 by the Smith-Lever Act. The university has since had its mission expanded and redefined by the Legislature. In 1932, the Legislature renamed the university as Mississippi State College.

By 1958, when the Legislature again renamed the university as Mississippi State University, the Graduate School had been organized (1936), doctoral degree programs had begun (1951), the School of Forest Resources had been established (1954), and the College of Arts and Sciences had replaced the General Science School (1956).

In July 1965, Richard Holmes became the first African-American student to enroll at Mississippi State University.

The School of Architecture admitted its first students in 1973, the College of Veterinary Medicine admitted its first class in 1977. The MSU Vet school (commonly referred to as the CVM) is the largest veterinary school in the nation under one roof.

The School of Accountancy was established in 1979.

The University Honors Program was founded in 1968 in order to provide more rigorous course curricula for academically talented students, as well as to facilitate guest lecture series, forums, and distinguished external scholarships. The program has been vastly expanded to form its own college after Bobby Shackouls, an MSU alumnus and retired CEO, donated US$10 million to found the Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College in April 2006.[1]

[edit] Presidents

Main article: List of Presidents of Mississippi State University

[edit] University campus

Mississippi State University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate, master's, specialist, and doctoral degrees.

Today, the university has the following colleges and schools:

As of Fall 2007, the current total enrollment of Mississippi State is 17,039. The university contains 160 buildings, and the grounds of the university comprise about 4,200 acres (17 km²), including farms, pastures, and woodlands of the Experiment Station. The university also owns an additional 80,000 acres (320 km²) across the state.

Mississippi State University also operates an off-campus, degree-granting center in Meridian where both undergraduate and graduate programs are offered. In cooperation with the U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, the College of Engineering offers the Master of Science degree to students in Vicksburg.

Mississippi State's campus is centered on the main quadrangle, called the Drill Field (pictured) due to its heavy use by the Corps of Cadets prior to the end of World War II. The Drill Field is defined at its north and south ends by the mirror-image buildings, Lee Hall (the original University building, now the division of languages building, far left in picture below) and Swalm Hall (home to the Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering, far right in picture below). Old Main was the original dormitory, west of Lee Hall; it burned in a tragic fire, and was replaced by the Colvard Student Union. The largest building fronting the Drill Field is Mitchell Memorial Library (immediately to right of flagpole in picture below).

Image:DrillFieldPanorama.jpg
The Drill Field and surrounding buildings

From the Drill Field, the campus radiates in all directions. The College of Engineering can be found mostly to the east side of the Drill Field; to the north are the Arts and Sciences, including Computer Science, and the College of Architecture, Art, and Design (CAAD). Humanities are found to the south, while Agriculture dominates the west section. To the west and northwest are also found the athletic facilities, including Scott Field and the Humphrey Coliseum, or The Hump.

Beyond the main campus (and the series of commuter parking lots ringing the main campus) are the North and South Farms. While still used for their original purpose of agricultural research, the Farms are also host to newer facilities, such as the astronomical observatory and Veterinary College (South Farm) and the High Performance Computing Collaboratory (North Farm). At the far west of campus, one finds first the fraternity and sorority houses, and beyond them the Cotton District and downtown Starkville, Mississippi.

[edit] Student life

[edit] Housing

Residence halls at Mississippi State University:

[edit] Student organizations

The most prominent student organization is the Student Association, the governing body for MSU's 16,000 student body. Other prominent organizations include 18 fraternities and 11 sororities, the Residence Hall Association, the Black Student Alliance, the Campus Activities Board, Music Makers, the Engineering Student Council, Arnold Air Society, the Stennis-Montgomery Association.

[edit] Student Media

Mississippi State's local radio station is WMSV. Prior to WMSV, Mississippi State had a student-run radio station, WMSB which went off the air permanently at the end of the spring semester of 1986. WMSB was a low-power FM station with studios on the top floor of Lee Hall. The student newspaper is the Reflector, published twice per week on Tuesday and Friday. The publication was named the #1 college newspaper in the South in 2007 by the Southeast Journalism Conference. In previous years, The Reflector has consistently ranked in the top 10 among college newspapers in the southern United States.

[edit] Greek life

Mississippi State's Greek system comprises 18 fraternities and 11 sororities. Fraternities and sororities take part in a number of philanthropic programs and provide social opportunities for students. Formal rush takes place at the start of every fall semester.

IFC Fraternities

Other Fraternities

Panhellenic Sororities

Other Sororities

National Pan - Hellenic Organizations

[edit] Athletics

Main article: Mississippi State Bulldogs

The Bulldogs participate in NCAA Division I in the competitive 12-member Southeastern Conference (West Division) under the mascot the Bulldog and colors maroon and white.

The university made history on December 1, 2003 when it hired Sylvester Croom as its head football coach. Croom was the first African-American named to such a position in the history of the SEC.

“ I want to make sure everybody understands, I am the first African-American coach in the SEC, but there isn't but one color that matters here — and that color is Maroon. ”

On June 8-9, 2007, the Mississippi State Diamond Dogs hosted the Clemson Tigers in the Starkville Super Regional baseball series. This was the first Super Regional ever held in Starkville. Attendance to Saturday's game was 13,715, the highest attendance ever at any Super Regional game. It was MSU's fourth best-attended baseball game.

On December 29, 2007, the Mississippi State Bulldogs football team played in their first bowl game since 2000. The Bulldogs won the AutoZone Liberty Bowl in Memphis, TN against the University of Central Florida with a score of 10-3 and set a new attendance record of 63,816 at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.[4]

[edit] Accolades

  • The university has produced 16 Truman Scholars and is one of 38 universities recognized by the Truman Foundation as an honor institution. The competitive Truman Scholarships are awarded to those who plan a career in public service. (2003)
  • Mississippi State has had eight Barry M. Goldwater Scholars since 1999. The national scholarship recognizes academic excellence in the sciences, mathematics and engineering. (2003)
  • Mississippi State has also produced George Mitchell, Ronald Reagan, and Morris Udall Scholars.
  • Mississippi State ranks among the top 15 in the nation in awarding bachelor's degrees in both engineering and education to African-Americans, according to Diverse Issues in Higher Education.
  • Mississippi State is among the nation's 100 "Baccalaureate Bargains" for 2002, according to Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine. (2003)

[edit] Interesting facts

  • MSU was once home to the world's largest dormitory, Old Main. It burned to the ground on the night of January 22, 1959. Of the nearly 1,100 students in the dorm that night, all except for one, Henry Allen Williamson, were able to escape the flames. Bricks from the ruins of Old Main were used to construct the campus' famous Chapel of Memories
  • About one-fourth of the teachers and administrators in Mississippi public schools hold at least one degree from Mississippi State. (2003)
  • Clemson University founder Thomas Green Clemson directed in his will in 1888 that the University be modeled after Mississippi A&M.
  • Machine Gun Kelly sought to enroll at MSU after finishing at the campus prep-school.
  • MSU is currently the holder of the Golden lamp of knowledge, which is awarded to the winner of Quiz Bowl games between MSU and the University of Mississippi. MSU recently won it in competition at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, winning 240-100.

[edit] Notable Alumni

It has been suggested that this section be split into a new article entitled List of Mississippi State University alumni. (Discuss)
Image:Grisham.jpg
John Grisham
Image:Marsha Blackburn.jpg
Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn
Public service and activism
Academia
Literary
Business
  • George Bryan, Sara Lee Corporation Vice - President and Organizer for the 54th U.S. Women's Open Golf Championship
  • Fred Carl, Jr., Founder and CEO of Viking Range
  • Toxey Haas, Founder and CEO, Mossy Oak Outdoors
  • Ronnie Parker, Founder of Pizza Inn
  • Hartley Peavey, Founder of Peavey Electronics
  • James L. Flanagan, (1948), technical pioneer in speech transmission and acoustics
  • Joe Frank Sanderson, co-founder of Sanderson Farms
  • Leo Seal, CEO Hancock Holding Company (Hancock Bank)
  • Adrian Blocker, General Manager U.S. operations, West Fraser Timberland Inc.
  • Arthur L. Williams, Jr. Insurance Magnate, #583 on the Forbes list of the World's Billionaires
  • Richard C. Adkerson, CEO of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.
Sports
Other

[edit] References

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Southeastern Conference
Eastern Division
Western Division
v • d • e
Public Colleges and Universities in Mississippi
Four-year colleges and universities: Alcorn State University • Delta State University • Jackson State University • Mississippi State University • Mississippi University for Women • Mississippi Valley State University • University of Mississippi • University of Southern Mississippi
Two-year colleges and universities: Coahoma Community College • Copiah-Lincoln Community College • East Central Community College • East Mississippi Community College • Hinds Community College • Holmes Community College • Itawamba Community College • Jones County Junior College • Meridian Community College • Mississippi Delta Community College • Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College • Northeast Mississippi Community College • Northwest Mississippi Community College • Pearl River Community College • Southwest Mississippi Community College
de:Mississippi State University

pt:Universidade Estadual do Mississippi zh:密西西比州立大学

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