University of Mississippi

The University of Mississippi

Motto	Pro scientia et sapientia (Latin)
Motto in English	On behalf of knowledge and wisdom
Type	Public Flagship Sea-grant Space-grant
Established	1848
Academic affiliations	ORAU APLU SURA
Endowment	$593,921,946 (2014)
Chancellor	Jeffrey Vitter
Academic staff	871
Students	24,250 (fall 2016)
Location	Oxford, Mississippi, U.S. 34°21′54″N 89°32′17″W / 34.365°N 89.538°W / 34.365; -89.538Coordinates: 34°21′54″N 89°32′17″W / 34.365°N 89.538°W / 34.365; -89.538
Campus	Rural 2,000+ acres
Colors	Harvard Crimson, Yale blue
Nickname	Rebels
Sporting affiliations	NCAA Division I – SEC
Website	www.olemiss.edu

The University of Mississippi (colloquially known as Ole Miss) is an American public research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. The University of Mississippi is Mississippi's flagship and largest university with a total enrollment of 24,250 in fall 2016. It is both a sea-grant and space-grant institution and is classified as an "R1: Doctoral University — Highest Research Activity". Across all its campuses, it comprises approximately 2,200 faculty members, 10,600 staff members, and 24,000 students, and has a total budget of roughly $2 billion. About 55 percent of its undergraduates and 60 percent overall come from Mississippi, and 23 percent are minorities; international students come from 90 nations.

The Mississippi Legislature chartered the University of Mississippi on February 24, 1844. The university opened its doors to its first class of 80 students four years later in 1848. For 23 years, the university was Mississippi's only public institution of higher learning, and for 110 years it was the state's only comprehensive university.

When the university opened, the campus consisted of six buildings: two dormitories, two faculty houses, a steward's hall, and the Lyceum at the center. Constructed from 1846 to 1848, the Lyceum is the oldest building on campus. Originally, the Lyceum housed all of the classrooms and faculty offices of the university. The building's north and south wings were added in 1903, and the Class of 1927 donated the clock above the eastern portico. The Lyceum is now the home of the university's administration offices. The columned facade of the Lyceum is represented on the official crest of the university, along with the date of establishment.

In 1854, the university established the fourth state-supported, public law school in the United States, and also began offering engineering education.

With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, classes were interrupted when almost the entire student body (135 out of 139 students) from the University of Mississippi enlisted in the Confederate army.