Mississippi University for Women

Mississippi University for Women (MUW or "The W") is a coeducational public university in Columbus, Mississippi. It was formerly named the Industrial Institute and College for the Education of White Girls and later the Mississippi State College for Women. Men have been admitted to MUW since 1982 and today make up about 20 percent of the student body. As a public liberal arts college, MUW is one of just 30 universities in the United States and Canada to be selected for membership in the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. History The institution, initially named the Mississippi Industrial Institute and College for the Education of White Girls, was created by an act of the Mississippi Legislature on March 12, 1884, for the dual purposes of providing a liberal arts education for white women and preparing them for employment. Upon its establishment, the Industrial Institute and College, or II&C (as it was often shortened), was the first public women's college in the United States. The II&C was located in Columbus on a campus formerly occupied by the Columbus Female Institute, a private college founded in 1847. The II&C's first session began on October 22, 1885, with an enrollment of approximately 250 students. Dr. Richard Watson Jones was selected by the State Institutions of Higher Learning board of trustees as the university's first president. President Jones also taught physics and chemistry at the institute, and he was joined that first year by 17 additional faculty members. The name of the institution changed to Mississippi State College for Women in 1920 to reflect an emphasis on collegiate, rather than vocational, education. In 1966, three local women from Hunt High School became the first black undergraduates at MSCW. They lived off campus, as the dormitories remained segregated until 1968. At the same time, three teachers from Hunt became the first graduate students at the school. The students were known collectively as The Fabulous Six.