The University of Mississippi is the state’s flagship university. It’s the first, the oldest and the standard for higher education in Mississippi.
The Lyceum is the sole remaining original building on campus.
The university was chartered in 1844 and opened its doors four years later to a mere 80 students.
For 23 years, Ole Miss was the state’s only institution of higher education. In fact, for 110 years, it was the state’s only comprehensive university.
In 1854, the fourth state-supported law school in the nation was established right here at Ole Miss.
In 1963 and 1964, surgeons at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson performed the world’s first lung and heart transplants, respectively.
Our university was also one of the first in the South to admit women, in 1882, and the first to hire a female faculty member, in 1885. In 1962, Ole Miss admitted its first African-American student, James Meredith and has worked diligently since then to promote inclusiveness and diversity.
That class of 80 students at the time the university opened has grown to more than 23,000 as of the 2014 fall semester. And now, Ole Miss has evolved into a doctoral-degree granting university with 15 academic divisions.
We’ve come a long way since 1848. We are thankful for our history, for being leaders with our “first” accomplishments and we’re thankful we are the flagship university for the state of Mississippi.