The University of Southern Mississippi

ABOUT UNIVERSITY

The University of Southern Mississippi (USM), founded in 1910 as Mississippi Normal College, is a public research university located mainly in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, with another major campus at Gulf Park in Long Beach. Originally established to train teachers and standardize education in Mississippi, the institution gradually expanded its academic programs and changed names several times, becoming Mississippi State Teachers College in 1924, Mississippi Southern College in 1940, and finally The University of Southern Mississippi in 1962 after Governor Ross Barnett granted it university status. Today, USM is classified as an “R1: Doctoral University – Very High Research Activity” and offers bachelor’s, master’s, specialist, and doctoral degrees. The university also operates several teaching and research centers, including the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory and the John C. Stennis Space Center. USM’s athletic teams, known as the Golden Eagles since 1972, compete in NCAA Division I sports within the Sun Belt Conference, and the school colors are black and gold. The university’s history also includes important civil rights struggles. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, Black veteran Clyde Kennard was repeatedly denied admission due to racial segregation and faced false criminal charges, becoming a symbol of injustice in Mississippi’s education system. In 1965, under growing national pressure, USM peacefully integrated when Gwendolyn Armstrong and Raylawni Branch became the first Black students enrolled at the university. Over the following decades, the university expanded diversity, hired more Black faculty, introduced Black student organizations, and modernized campus life. After President William David McCain retired in 1975, enrollment continued to grow, while the university expanded its colleges, online education, nursing programs, and research facilities, becoming one of Mississippi’s leading higher education institutions.