Millsaps College is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

liberal arts college in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, along with Raymond. The city had a population of 153,701 at t ...

. It was founded in 1890 and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church.

History

The college was founded in 1889–90 by a Confederate veteran, Major

Reuben Webster Millsaps Reuben Webster Millsaps (May 30, 1833 - June 28, 1916) was an American businessman, financier and philanthropist. Early years Reuben Webster Millsaps was born on May 30, 1833 in Pleasant Valley, Copiah County, Mississippi.William Belton Murrah was the college's first president, and Bishop Charles Betts Galloway of the Methodist Episcopal Church South organized the college's early fund-raising efforts. Both men were honored with halls named in their honor. Major Millsaps and his wife are interred in a tomb near the center of campus. The current United Methodist Church continues to affiliate with the college.

Navy V-12 program

Millsaps was chosen as one of 131 sites for the training of Navy and

Marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military ...

officers in the V-12 Navy College Training Program. In April 1943, 380 students arrived for the Navy V-12 program offering engineering, pre-medical and pre- dental training. Thereafter Millsaps began accepting students year-round for the program. A total of 873 officer candidates went through Millsaps between 1943 and 1945. Traces of the Navy V-12 unit appear in the ''Bobashela'' (school yearbook) in 1944. That year, the ''Bobashela'' staff dedicated the yearbook to the unit and "Dr. Sanders," one of the unit's advisers. One section memorialized students who had been killed in action during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Civil rights era

Millsaps College students protested the shooting of Jackson State University student and civil rights worker Benjamin Brown, who was killed by police at a protest. The Mississippi Sovereignty Commission photographed the Millsaps protesters and identified them. The Sovereignty Commission spied on and conspired against civil rights activists and organized pressure and economic oppression of those who supported the civil rights movement in Mississippi.

Important dates in Millsaps history

* 1890: Major Reuben Webster Millsaps founds the college with a personal gift of $50,000. * 1901: Millsaps builds the first

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

course in Mississippi. * 1902: Mary Letitia Holloman becomes the first female graduate of Millsaps. * 1908: Sing-Ung Zung of

Soochow Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...

, China, becomes the first international student to graduate from Millsaps. * 1914: Old Main, one of the first buildings on campus, burns and is replaced by Murrah Hall. * 1916: Major Millsaps dies and is interred on campus. * 1931: The first night football game in Mississippi is played on the Millsaps campus between the Majors and Mississippi A&M (now Mississippi State University). * 1936: Millsaps College absorbs bankrupt Grenada College during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. * 1943: Johnny Carson attends Millsaps for V-12 naval officer training, entertaining his comrades with a magic and humor act. * 1944: Louis H. Wilson, who graduated from the college in 1941, received the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of val ...

for his actions at the Battle of Guam during

. Wilson became a General and the 26th Commandant of the Marine Corps in 1975. He was the first Marine Corps Commandant to serve full-time on the

Joint Chiefs of Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, that advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the ...

. * 1953: Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis judge a Millsaps beauty contest. * 1965: Millsaps becomes the first all-white college in Mississippi to voluntarily desegregate. * 1967: Robert F. Kennedy during his presidential campaign speaks at the college about the obligations of young Americans to give back to their country. * 1975: Presidential candidate

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

speaks to Millsaps students about the crisis in the Middle East. * 1988: Millsaps initiates the first campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity in Mississippi. * 1989: Millsaps becomes the first school in Mississippi to have a chapter of the

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

honor society.

Presidents

* William Belton Murrah, 1890–1910 * David Carlisle Hull, 1910–1912 * Alexander Farrar Watkins, 1912–1923 * David Martin Key, 1923–1938 * Marion Lofton Smith, 1938–1952 * Homer Ellis Finger, Jr., 1952–1964 * Benjamin Barnes Graves, 1965–1970 * Edward McDaniel Collins, Jr., 1970–1978 * George Marion Harmon (1978–2000) – After 22 years of leading Millsaps College, Harmon announced his resignation in the spring of 1999. His last day as president of Millsaps College was June 30, 2000.The Magnolia Gazette: Southern ties launch a new era for Millsaps
* Frances Lucas (2000–2010) – Lucas was the first woman to hold the post at Millsaps.The Clarion-Ledger: Millsaps installs 1st female leader
Lucas resigned on April 23, 2009. Lucas cited disagreements with faculty as the reason for her resignation. * Howard McMillan, Dean of Millsaps' Else School of Management took over as Interim President in August 2009. * Robert Pearigen, Vice President of University Relations at

The University of the South The University of the South, familiarly known as Sewanee (), is a private Episcopal liberal arts college in Sewanee, Tennessee. It is owned by 28 southern dioceses of the Episcopal Church, and its School of Theology is an official seminary o ...

, was selected to serve as the eleventh president of the college. He began his term in office on July 1, 2010.

Academics

Despite its religious affiliation, the curriculum is secular. The writing-intensive core curriculum requires each student to compile an acceptable portfolio of written work before the completion of the second year. Candidates for an undergraduate degree must also pass oral and written comprehensive exams in their major field of study. These exams last up to three hours and may cover any required or elective course offered by the major department. Unacceptable performance on comprehensive exams will prevent a candidate from receiving a degree, even if all coursework has been completed. Millsaps offers B.S., B.A., B.B.A., MBA and

MAcc The Master of Accountancy (MAcc, MAcy, or MAccy), alternatively Master of Science in Accounting (MSA or MSAcy) or Master of Professional Accountancy (MPAcy, MPAcc or MPAc), is a graduate professional degree designed to prepare students for public ...

degrees and corresponding programs. The current undergraduate population is 910 students on a 103-acre (417,000 m²) campus near downtown

. The student-to-faculty ratio is 1:9 with an average class size of around 15 students. Millsaps offers 32 majors and 41 minors, including the option of a self-designed major, along with a multitude of study abroad and internship opportunities. Millsaps employs 97 full-time faculty members. Of those, 94 percent of tenure-track faculty hold a Ph.D. or a terminal degree in their field. The professors on the tenure track have the highest degree in their field. The college offers research partnerships for undergraduate students and a variety of study abroad programs. Millsaps reports that 57% of their student body comes from outside Mississippi; a large portion of out-of-state students are from neighboring

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...

. Millsaps is home to 910 undergraduate, 75 graduate students from 26 states and territories plus 23 countries. The college also offers a Continuing Education program and the Community Enrichment Series for adults in the Jackson area.

Campus

The Millsaps campus is close to downtown Jackson. It is bordered by Woodrow Wilson Avenue to the north, North State Street to the east, West Street to the west, and Marshall Street to the south. The center of campus is dominated by "The Bowl," where many events occur, including Homecoming activities, concerts, the Multicultural Festival, and Commencement. Adjacent to the Bowl is the Campbell College Center, renovated in 2000, which contains the campus bookstore, post office, cafeteria, and Student Life offices. This central section of campus also holds the Gertrude C. Ford Academic Complex, Olin Science Hall, Sullivan-Harrell Hall, and the Millsaps-Wilson Library. The north part of campus includes the Hall Activities Center (commonly called "the HAC"), the sports fields, and the freshman dormitories. On the far northwestern corner is James Observatory, the oldest building on campus. Operational since 1901, the observatory underwent major renovations in 1980. It is open for celestial gazing. Upperclassmen dormitories are located on the south side of campus, with Fraternity Row and the Christian Center. Originally constructed as a memorial to students and graduates who died in service during World War II, the Christian Center houses an auditorium and the departments of Performing Arts, History, and Religious Studies. Between the Christian Center and Murrah Hall, which houses the Else School of Management, is the tomb of Major Millsaps and the "M" Bench, erected by the classes of 1926, 1927, and 1928. The Nicholson Garden was added to improve the aesthetics of this area.

Rankings and distinctions

Millsaps College professors are ranked among the best in the nation, according to The

Princeton Review The Princeton Review is an education services company providing tutoring, test preparation and admission resources for students. It was founded in 1981. and since that time has worked with over 400 million students. Services are delivered by 4,0 ...

's The Best 377 Colleges – 2013 Edition. The Millsaps faculty won praise in The Princeton Review's special Top 20 category: Professors Get High Marks, where Millsaps was ranked twelfth in the country. Millsaps is one of 40 schools in Loren Pope's ''

Colleges That Change Lives ''Colleges That Change Lives'' began as a college educational guide first published in 1996 by Loren Pope. Colleges That Change Lives (CTCL) was founded in 1998 is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) based on Pope's book. The book ''Colleges That Change Lives ...

''. Millsaps is among 21 private universities and colleges nationwide named a "best buy" in the ''

Fiske Guide to Colleges The Fiske Guide to Colleges is an American media company that publishes, ''inter alia'', descriptions, ratings, and analysis for more than 320 U.S. colleges and universities. It is the best-selling college guide in the United States, although it r ...

2013''. Millsaps is the only institution in Mississippi to earn the "best buy" honor from the annual guide. The guide names Millsaps as "the strongest liberal arts college in the deep, Deep South and by far the most progressive" and notes that what differentiates the school is "its focus on scholarly inquiry, spiritual growth, and community service, along with its Heritage Program, an interdisciplinary approach to world culture."

Athletics

The school's sports teams are known as the Majors and their colors are purple and white. They participate in the

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their ...

and the Southern Athletic Association. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cheerleading, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, and track and field, and the addition of a 2019–2020 swim team. Women's sports include basketball, cheerleading, cross country, dance team, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field, and volleyball, and the addition of a 2019–2020 swim team. The Majors had a fierce football and basketball rivalry with Mississippi College in nearby Clinton through the 1950s before the competition was suspended after an infamous student brawl at a basketball game. Campus legend says the brawl was sparked by the alleged theft of the body of Millsaps founder Major Millsaps by Mississippi College students. The rivalry was considered by many as the best in Mississippi, featuring a prank by Mississippi College students who painted "TO HELL WITH MILSAPS" (sic) on the Millsaps Observatory. The football rivalry resumed in 2000 as the "Backyard Brawl", with games at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium. The rivalry took a one-year hiatus in 2005 but resumed in 2006. Millsaps was the summer training camp home for the NFL's

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

in 2006, 2007, and 2008. Millsaps was also home to the famous game-ending play in the 2007 Trinity vs. Millsaps football game, in which Trinity University executed 15 laterals on the way to a touchdown, defeating Millsaps by a score of 28–24. The play later won the Pontiac Game-Changing Performance of the Year award, which had never before been bestowed upon a play outside of the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). ...

. In 2008, Millsaps quarterback Juan Joseph was awarded the

Conerly Trophy The C Spire Conerly Trophy is an award given annually to the best college football player in the state of Mississippi by the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. Voting Sixty media representatives from across Mississippi determine the Trophy recipien ...

, which goes to the best football player in the state of

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

Greek organizations

The school is home to six different fraternities: Kappa Alpha Order, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Pi Kappa Alpha, Lambda Chi Alpha, Kappa Sigma, and Alpha Phi Alpha; as well as six sororities: Delta Delta Delta, Kappa Delta, Phi Mu,

Chi Omega Chi Omega (, also known as ChiO) is a women's fraternity and a member of the National Panhellenic Conference, the umbrella organization of 26 women's fraternities. Chi Omega has 181 active collegiate chapters and approximately 240 alumnae chap ...

, Alpha Kappa Alpha, and Zeta Phi Beta.

Notable faculty and alumni

* Bidwell Adam (Class of 1913), Democratic politician; Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi from 1928 to 1932, lawyer in Gulfport * Rodney J. Bartlett, quantum

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

and Guggenheim Fellowship winner *

Michael Beck John Michael Beck Taylor (born February 4, 1949), commonly known as Michael Beck, is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Swan in '' The Warriors'' (1979) and Sonny Malone in '' Xanadu'' (1980). Early life Beck was born in Memphis, T ...

, actor * Jim C. Barnett, physician and surgeon from Brookhaven; member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1992 to 2008. * Gary Burghoff, actor who played Radar O'Reilly on the TV series ''

M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker. T ...

'' * Johnny Carson, longtime host of '' The Tonight Show'', V12 Alumnus *

Turner Cassity Allen Turner Cassity (January 12, 1929 in Jackson, Mississippi – July 26, 2009 in Atlanta) was an American poet, playwright, and short story writer. Life He was the son of Dorothy and Allen Cassity, and grew up in Jackson and Forest, Mississi ...

, poet * Roy Clyde Clark, Bishop of the United Methodist Church *

Lisa D'Amour Lisa D'Amour is a playwright, performer, and former Carnival Queen from New Orleans. D'Amour is an alumna of New Dramatists. Her play '' Detroit'' was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Biography Education D'Amour received a B.A. i ...

, Obie Award winning playwright * David Herbert Donald, historian *

Nancy Plummer Faxon Nancy Plummer Faxon (November 19, 1914 – February 1, 2005) was an American soprano, music educator, and composer of organ music. Early life and education Nancy Blanton Plummer was born in Jackson, Mississippi, the daughter of Walter George Plu ...

, organist and composer *

Ellen Gilchrist Ellen Gilchrist (born February 20, 1935) is an American novelist, short story writer, and poet. She won a National Book Award for her 1984 collection of short stories, ''Victory Over Japan''. Life Gilchrist was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, a ...

, author * James E. Graves Jr., judge, Supreme Court of Mississippi * Winifred Green, American activist from

during the

civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

Jackson, MS
Winifred Green , Jackson Free Press , Jackson, MS
access-date: February 21, 2016 * Scott Tracy Griffin, author *

Ben M. Hall Ben M. Hall (1921-1970) was an American author and theater historian. His 1961 book, ''The Best Remaining Seats'', was a seminal work in the history of theaters. It was the first to survey the origins and architecture of America's movie palaces, ...

, author, historian * William Hester (1933), president of the United States Tennis Association from 1977 to 1978. * Alan Hunter,

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

VJ * James Kimbrell, poet and Guggenheim Fellowship winner * Clay Foster Lee Jr., Bishop of the United Methodist Church *

Ray Marshall Freddie Ray Marshall (born August 22, 1928) is an American economist who is the professor emeritus and Audre and Bernard Rapoport Centennial Chair in Economics and Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. Early life and education ...

, Secretary of Labor during the Carter administration * Robert S. McElvaine history professor, author, and political commentator * Greg Miller, poet *

Lewis Nordan Lewis Nordan (August 23, 1939 – April 13, 2012) was an American writer. Nordan was born to Lemuel and Sara Bayles in Forest, Mississippi and grew up in Itta Bena, Mississippi. He received his B.A. at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississ ...

, author * Kiese Laymon, writer and professor * Christopher Lee Nutter, author * Claude Passeau, All-Star pitcher in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

during the 1930s and 1940s * Rubel Phillips, Republican gubernatorial nominee in 1963 and 1967 * Paul Ramsey, ethicist * Tate Reeves, Governor of Mississippi *Chelsea Rick, Miss Mississippi 2013 * Robert C. Robbins, 22nd and current President of The

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first ...

and former CEO of the Texas Medical Center * Stokes Robertson Jr., Justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi from 1966 to 1982Fall-Winter 2006 Millsaps Magazine
(December 6, 2010), p. 53. * Vic Roby, former NBC staff announcer * Myron S. McNeil, Mississippi state legislator * Kevin Sessums, journalist and author *

Donald Triplett Donald Gray Triplett (born September 8, 1933) is an American man known for being the first person diagnosed with autism. He was first diagnosed by Leo Kanner, and was labeled as "Case 1". Triplett was noted for his savant abilities, particularl ...

, first person to be diagnosed with autism * Eudora Welty, author * Cassandra Wilson, jazz vocalist and musician * General

Louis H. Wilson Jr. Louis Hugh Wilson Jr. (February 11, 1920 – June 21, 2005) was United States Marine Corps four-star general and a World War II recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Guam. He served as the 26th commandant of the Ma ...

, Medal of Honor recipient and 26th Commandant of the Marine Corps (1975—1979)

References

External links

*
Millsaps Athletics website
{{authority control Buildings and structures in Jackson, Mississippi Education in Hinds County, Mississippi Education in Jackson, Mississippi Educational institutions established in 1890 1890 establishments in Mississippi Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Liberal arts colleges in Mississippi Universities and colleges in the Jackson metropolitan area, Mississippi Private universities and colleges in Mississippi