The University of Memphis was founded as a small state teachers'college 90 years ago. Today, the school is a large universityoffering 50 majors.
What was then known as the West Tennessee Normal School has comea long way on the path to becoming The University of Memphis.
The Tennessee Legislature passed the General Education Bill in1909, founding the Normal School in Memphis. The two-year,tuition-free institution opened its doors Sept. 10, 1912, underPresident Seymour A. Mynders. The school had three buildings on 80acres of land.
The first classes of students selected the school colors.According to tradition, the students chose blue and gray, thecolors of the opposing sides of the Civil War, to commemorate thereuniting of the country. The school played its first football gameOct. 15, 1912, against Mississippi State University.
The school grew over the next decade with construction of thefirst dining hall and the first men's dorm, Scates Hall. It becamea three-year college in 1919, when the first library opened in theAdministration Building and the yearbook, The Desoto, wascreated.
During the 1923 football season, each pre-game prayer ended withthe phrase "Every man fights like a tiger." A nickname was created,and the Tigers have been fighting in every sport from basketball totrack and field ever since.
The school became a four-year institution in 1925 and had a namechange in 1929 when it was dubbed West Tennessee State Teacher'sCollege. More construction expanded the school with the BristerLibrary, named after two-term president John W. Brister, and thefirst gym, Memorial Gymnasium.
The campus's first newspaper, The Tiger Rag, was published in1931.
In 1938, the football team went undefeated and untied, withenrollment at 775.
The school name was changed yet again in 1941, when it becameMemphis State College. Enrollment dropped to only 216 during WorldWar II.
Memphis State College student Barbara Jo Walker was crowned MissAmerica in 1947, the first of three Memphis students to attain thecrown. Graduate studies expanded the academic roster in 1950, andconstruction of the field house, student center and cafeteriaincreased the physical area of the school in 1951.
The semester system replaced the quarter system in 1954, andthree years later, the college gained full university status.
Memphis State University, as the school was known, admitted itsfirst African-American students in 1959, and Cecil C. Humphreysbecame the school's seventh president the following year.
Humphreys's presidency lasted 12 years, a time of fast growththat included construction of the University Center and a newlibrary.
In 1964, MSU's first basketball game took place at the Mid-SouthColiseum, and in 1965 the Liberty Bowl became the home of thefootball team.
In 1967, the General Services Administration in Washington gaveMSU 129 acres at Park and Getwell that became South Campus.
The campus newspaper became The Helmsman in 1971. The same fall,Nancy Humphreys (no relation to the former president) moved tocampus and began her college career.
College at MSU included a little bit of everything, Humphreyssaid.
"We went to the strip off Highland, open air concerts in themall and Overton Square," she said.
A streaking fad also hit campus around this time. One incidentoccurred outside Humphreys's dorm, West Hall. When authoritiescame, the student tried to put a newspaper in front of him andpretend nothing was wrong, Humphreys said.
Students had access to the dorm roofs where they would lay inthe sun instead of going to class.
Roads curved through campus, and there was no access to SouthCampus for non-athletes. Humphreys ate on campus for $20-25 aweek.
"The UC cafeteria was a lot bigger then," she said. "We eitherate out or on campus every meal."
Now a foreign language teacher for Shelby County Schools,Humphreys graduated in 1975, the same year the University Collegewas established.
Claire Ford was named Miss Black America in 1977, and in 1983,MSU became the first public university in Tennessee to gainaccreditation of its entire curriculum. The same year, the Tigerbasketball team made it to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen, finishing with a23-8 record. Two years later, the team made it to the FinalFour.
In 1991, the Tigers played their first game at The Pyramid.
On July 1, 1994, Memphis State University officially became TheUniversity of Memphis, and the Ned R. McWherter Library opened.
Chris Powers came to campus two weeks before that Fall semesterbegan to start football practice as part of the first freshmanclass of The U of M. The campus was changing again, with theconstruction of the pedestrian mall in front of the library and onthe Clock Tower.
"They had big plans," Powers said. "They just hadn't startedyet."
With football practices, Powers arrived at the first day of hiscollege career with a group of friends already intact. All thefreshmen athletes lived in South Hall, with the freshmen footballplayers on the third floor.
Powers's athletic group was the last to be segregated from therest of the student body before the NCAA banned athletic dorms.
"I loved it," Powers said. "It was a lot of fun to get to bereally close to the group of guys you came in with."
The students at that time had a hangout for every day of theweek, most of which are now closed, Powers said. Wednesdays, theyhit the Sports Caf? on Park, Thursdays was Neon Moon off of I-40and American Way, and Saturdays and Sundays the group could befound at 616, now The Spot. Newby's and Fat's were also popularplaces.
In 1996, Powers caught an important touchdown against anotherteam from Tennessee, the University of Tennessee Volunteers. TheTigers went into the game having never beaten the Vols, who wereranked fifth in the nation.
"We were destined to win," Powers said. "Nobody expectedit."
Powers caught the final touchdown giving Coach Rip Scherer'steam the 21-17 win.
"I heard the students carried one of the goal posts all the waydown Central to campus," Powers said. "It was great because therewas so much pride, not just in the football team but in thefaculty, students and even the city."
Powers graduated in 1999 and is now a pilot for ContinentalExpress Airlines.
Expansion continued for The U of M with the 2001 completion ofthe Michael D. Rose Theatre Lecture Hall and the University ClockTower.
In Spring 2002, The U of M basketball team won the Owens CorningNIT championship, the first post-season title in any sport for theUniversity, and this year, they made it to the NCAA tournament.
The new bookstore opened in Fall 2002, and the Student Plazawith water fountain, mall and flag courts opened Sept. 11, 2002,with a remembrance ceremony for those who died in the World TradeCenter Sept. 11, 2001.
Today The University includes 200 buildings on over 1,160 acresat four sites. The school offers 50 majors with 70 concentrations,46 master's degree programs and 21 doctoral programs.
