University of Mississippi

The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole
Miss, is a
public, coeducational research university located in
Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1848, the school is
composed of the main campus in Oxford and three branch
campuses located in Booneville, Tupelo, and
Southaven. UM
maintains a field station in Bay Springs as well as the
University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.
Additionally, it is both a sea-grant and space-grant
institute. Sixty-nine percent of undergraduates are from
Mississippi, and nineteen percent of all students are
minorities. International students come from sixty-six
nations. The University got its nickname "Ole Miss"
via a
contest in 1897. That same year, the student yearbook
was
being published for the first time. As a way to find
a name
for the book, a contest was held to solicit suggestions
from the student body. Elma Meek, a student at the time,
submitted the winning entry of Ole Miss.
Interestingly, the
term "Ole Miss" is not derived from Mississippi, but
was a
term of respect used by slaves for the wife of a
plantation
owner