Winter 2017 | @OleMiss

Best Tailgating, Most Beautiful Campus

The University of Mississippi and Oxford often rank at the top of annual lists of beautiful campuses and best college towns, and this past fall brought a new set of national accolades upon the area. USA Today’s Reader’s Choice travel awards contest named UM the nation’s most beautiful campus, while Thrillist named the university on its unranked list of the 20 most beautiful public college campuses. The NCAA recognized Ole Miss’ tailgating environment as the nation’s best. FanSided, which is run by Sports Illustrated and owned by Time Inc., named Oxford the second-best college town in the nation.

METP Extended

A new commitment of $28 million from the Robert M. Hearin Support Foundation marks a total investment of $42.1 million over 10 years into the Mississippi Excellence in Teaching Program, a collaborative teacher-preparation program at the University of Mississippi and Mississippi State University that provides both scholarships and an honors college-type experience for top students. The new funding, which the universities will split, will sustain the program until 2021 and comes as METP leaders prepare for the program’s fifth class of new freshmen.

New Biomedical Degree

After years of development, the University of Mississippi School of Engineering has launched its new biomedical degree program. The Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees approved the curriculum for the new major during its November meeting. Students interested in pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering are encouraged to apply now for admission for the fall 2017 semester.

UM Launches LiveSafe App

The University of Mississippi has partnered with the mobile safety communications platform LiveSafe to offer Ole Miss students, faculty and staff a tool for real-time security communication. The app, available for free download for iOS in the App Store and for Android on Google Play, will allow the campus community to report nonemergency tips including threats, disturbances, assaults, theft, stalking, suspicious activity, drug and alcohol abuse, and traffic and parking issues.

Inaugural VC for Diversity

After a national search, the University of Mississippi has selected Katrina Caldwell as its first vice chancellor for diversity and community engagement. Former assistant vice president for diversity and equity at Northern Illinois University, Caldwell has a track record of more than 20 years of successful strategic planning and implementation of diversity and engagement programs at Chicago-area higher education institutions.

Big Apple-D.C. Internships

Learning more about personal strengths and weaknesses is a big part of the college experience. The University of Mississippi‘s Washington, D.C., and New York Internship Experience programs in the Division of Outreach are helping more students have those learning experiences.

Engineering Raises the Bar

To give its students better chances to graduate and launch successful careers, the University of Mississippi School of Engineering has raised admission standards for most of its degree programs. To enroll in the Bachelor of Science programs in chemical engineering, civil engineering, computer and information science, electrical engineering, geological engineering, geology, and mechanical engineering, students must have a minimum ACT math subscore of 25 and high school core GPA of 3.0.

Student Pens Memoir

Michael Deauville grew up with two siblings, both with disabilities. As the youngest of the three, the University of Mississippi sophomore experienced both hardships and benefits, which he highlights in his new book A Brother’s Love.

Local History of Slavery

A group of University of Mississippi faculty members is working across disciplines to learn more about the history of slavery in Oxford and on the UM campus. The UM Slavery Research Group, co-chaired by Chuck Ross, director of African-American studies and a professor of history, and Jeff Jackson, associate professor of sociology, includes 58 faculty members across 17 academic departments. The collaboration began as a reading group to discuss Craig Steven Wilder’s 2013 book Ebony and Ivy: Race, Slavery, and the Troubled History of America’s Universities.

Student Union Progress

The Ole Miss Student Union expansion will open in August 2017 before students arrive for the fall semester. The expansion will feature a transit center, food court, McAllister’s Deli and the Union Ballroom. Read more. See our latest Kudos