Millsaps College
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| Motto | "Ad Excellentiam” |
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| Established | 1890 |
| Type | Private |
| Endowment | USD $86,102,000 [1] |
| President | Frances Lucas |
| Faculty | 92 full-time |
| Students | 1,146 |
| Undergraduates | 1,086 |
| Postgraduates | 60 |
| Location | Jackson, Mississippi, United States |
| Campus | Urban, 103 acres (417,000 m²) |
| Mascot | The Millsaps Major |
| Affiliations | Methodist |
| Website | http://www.millsaps.edu/ |
Millsaps College is a private liberal arts college in Jackson, Mississippi, supported by the United Methodist Church. The college was founded by a Confederate veteran, Major Reuben Webster Millsaps in 1889-90 by the donation of the college's land and $50,000. Dr. William Belton Murrah was the college's first president, and Bishop Charles Betts Galloway of the United Methodist Church organized the college's early fundraising efforts. Both men now have halls named in their honor. Major Millsaps and his wife are both interred in a tomb on campus. Dr. Frances Lucas, Millsaps' current President, was named to her position in 2000 and is the 10th person to hold the Millsaps position of President. She is the first female President of Millsaps in the college's history.
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[edit] Academics
Despite its religious affiliation, the curriculum is secular. This has been a source of criticism among Mississippians, who see Millsaps as politically and socially liberal despite the state's conservative tendencies. The writing-intensive core curriculum requires each student to compile an acceptable portfolio of written work before completion of the sophomore 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 course work has been completed. "Comps" are usually associated with graduate degree requirements, so their inclusion at the undergraduate level is a source of pride (and possibly pressure) for Millsaps students.
Millsaps offers B.S., B.A., B.B.A., and M.B.A. degrees and corresponding programs. Millsaps sends large numbers of graduates to graduate schools, law school, and medical school.
The current undergraduate population is around 1100 students on a 103 acre (417,000 m²) campus near downtown Jackson, Mississippi. The student to faculty ratio is 12:1 with an average class size around 15 students. Millsaps offers 28 academic majors from 19 academic departments. Approximately 99% of 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 45% of their student body comes from outside Mississippi; a large portion of out-of-state students are from neighboring Louisiana. The college also offers a Continuing Education program and the Community Enrichment Series for adults in the Jackson area.
[edit] 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.
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.
[edit] Statistics (as of 2005)
Enrollment: 1,064
Average GPA: 3.52
Average SAT: 1183
Average ACT: 26
Student to Faculty Ratio: 12:1
[edit] Rankings and Distinctions
Millsaps was ranked as number 81 on U.S. News & World Report's list of "Best Liberal Arts Colleges". The magazine featured Millsaps, Harvard, Amherst, and Duke among 17 schools that stress writing in all aspects of academics.
Princeton Review ranked Millsaps as number 14 in Class Discussions Encouraged, and number 3 in Administration Under "Best Bargains". They ranked the professors of Millsaps' Else School of Business as the eighth strongest staff in the nation.
Millsaps was one of 40 schools in Loren Pope's Colleges that Change Lives.
[edit] Athletics
The school's sports teams are known as the Majors, and their colors are purple and white. They participate in the NCAA's Division III and the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.
Men may participate in baseball, basketball, cheerleading, football, soccer, tennis, golf, and cross country. Women's sports include basketball, cheerleading, dance team, softball, soccer, tennis, golf, cross country, and volleyball.
The Majors had a fierce football and basketball rivalry with Mississippi College in nearby Clinton through the 1950s before 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 will resume in 2006.
The New Orleans Saints have conducted summer training camps here.
Millsaps won the 2006 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference football championship and claimed their first SCAC football title since 1996. The conference title earned them an automatic bid to the Division III playoffs, an achievement that the Majors had not accomplished since 1975. The Majors are led by former Alabama head coach, Mike DuBose.
[edit] Organizations
The school is home to six different fraternities: Alpha Phi Alpha, Kappa Alpha Order, Kappa Sigma, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Pi Kappa Alpha, and Lambda Chi Alpha; as well as six sororities: Delta Delta Delta, Kappa Delta, Phi Mu, Chi Omega, Alpha Kappa Alpha, and Delta Sigma Theta.
[edit] Notable Alumni
- Claude Passeau, an All-Star pitcher in Major League Baseball during the 1940s
- actor Michael Beck
- Bishop Roy Clyde Clark (1941) of the United Methodist Church
- author Ellen Gilchrist
- noted historian David Herbert Donald
- Clay Foster Lee Jr (B.A., 1951) - a Bishop of the United Methodist Church
- General Louis H. Wilson, a decorated war veteran who served as commandant of the Marine Corps.
- Author Lewis Nordan
[edit] Important Dates in Millsaps History
- 1902 - Mary Letitia Holloman becomes the first female graduate of Millsaps.
- 1908 - Sing-Ung Zung of Soochow, 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 buried 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).
- 1943 - Johnny Carson attends Millsaps for V-12 naval officer training, entertaining his comrades with a magic and humor act.
- 1953 - Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis judge a Millsaps beauty contest.
- 1965 - Millsaps becomes the first college in the South to voluntarily desegregate[1].
- 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 Phi Beta Kappa honorary.
[edit] List of Presidents of Millsaps
- William Belton Murrah - 1890-1910
- David Carlisle Hull - 1910-1912
- Dr. Alexander Farrar Watkins - 1912-1923
- Dr. David Martin Key - 1923-1938
- Dr. Marion Lofton Smith - 1938-1952
- Dr. Homer Ellis Finger, Jr. - 1952-1964
- Dr. Benjamin Barnes Graves - 1965-1970
- Dr. Edward McDaniel Collins, Jr. - 1970-1978
- Dr. George Marion Harmon - 1978-2000
- Dr. Frances Lucas - 2000-current
[edit] References
- ^ Millsaps College. Millsaps timeline. Retrieved on 28 August 2006.
[edit] External links
| Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference |
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| Austin • Birmingham-Southern (2007) • Centre • Colorado College • DePauw • Hendrix • Millsaps • Oglethorpe • Rhodes • Sewanee • Southwestern • Trinity (Texas) |
