Everything about Mississippi State University totally explained
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's the largest university in the state.
History
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.
Presidents
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).
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. The University is also home to the Thad Cochran Research Park, which host many of the universities research centers, such as the Center for Advanced Vehicular Studies (CAVS) and the nationally-recongized Social Science Research Center.
Student life
Housing
Residence halls at Mississippi State University:
Aiken Village - Family and Graduate Student
Arbour Acres Apts. - Graduate/Upperclass Co-residential
Building 3 - Freshman/Upperclass Co-Residential
Cresswell Hall - Freshman/Upperclass Co-residential
Critz Hall - Freshman/Upperclass Co-residential
Evans Hall - Freshman/Upperclass Men
Griffis Hall - Freshman/Upperclass Co-residential [Honors]
Hathorn Hall - Freshman/Upperclass Men
Hull Hall - Freshman/Upperclass Co-residential
Hurst Hall - Freshman/Upperclass Co-residential
McKee Hall - Freshman/Upperclass Men
Rice Hall - Freshman/Upperclass Women
Ruby Hall - Freshman/Upperclass Co-residential
Sessums Hall - Freshman/Upperclass Women
Suttle Hall - Freshman/Upperclass Men (currently vacant)
Student organizations
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.
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.
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
Beta Upsilon Chi
Kappa Kappa Psi
Theta Tau
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
Panhellenic Sororities
Other Sororities
Sigma Phi Lambda
Sigma Alpha Iota
National Pan - Hellenic Organizations
Athletics
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.
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)
Notable alumni
Further Information
Get more info on 'Mississippi State University'.
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