University of Southern Mississippi - Southerner Yearbook (Hattiesburg, MS)

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Al! - . xg vw 1 ..-fr I 2 ,N 'M 1 gx l'! ' 91 5 W ' nw ff' s x The 1963 fediticm of the SUIHHEWTICI' oihor czmxntmrs, As students. ww Uwff new cifvfzmie this still holds trmf. L3 H ulntlmxc My strivv im iwihz states USM builds it adds to ki wp- our Suzhou! Q1 sfmss- of illUX'ifcISiY12 fmt haisarui wi 1' ' , I 5 Vicpnl zsfmstmztumm ami mix ri2pLx!e1tim1Q1rxaiwxxzmiuybf'x,un'u 1 utaticm. Once only Sprsead in Mifssis- Kmly YN Hfljfv sippi. but mnw u rfrputatiun that is uw- Llfflwih but .1 QTUKYYH of VhiH'iif,UiI' Ami must siisfirsggxmi-me-ci uniwrsiiy, In ' ' Ruud ming the South, lhgg Hamm, gud g-man harm' as we-li. As Suuthvm mmfrs .1 hcm' ilu' xxww .amwimv L.:

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Growing in Character and Fame Over the Years General Nat, the Southerners, Pie Vann , MSC, and the rock may not ring a bell at first in the minds of all Southern students but they should be- cause they are just as important as the Colden Eagles, Bobby Collins, USM and M.M. Roberts Stadium, They are all pages out of the University of Southern Mississippi's colorful history book. We haven't always been USM. Estab- lished by an act of the legislature in 1910, Mississippi Normal College was founded with the intent to train teach- ers for the rural schools of Mississippi. Then, the school consisted of five buildings, College Hall, Forrest County Hall, Hattiesburg Hall, The President's Home fnow the Alumni House, and Mississippi Hall. No, the administra- tion building has not always been here. At one time the Hub, as we know it today, was the dining hall, Hattiesburg Hall was a girls dormitory, the Honors House was a hospital, the business of- fice was a dorm and the student ser- vices building was a library. Not only have changes taken place in the physical aspects of the university but in all others as well. It was in 1924 that the name was changed to State Teachers College. In 1940 it became Mississippi Southern College and the University of Southern Mississippi in 1962. Prior to then, the football team was refered to as the Southerners and our mascot was not the Colden Eagles but General Nat. Often refered to as the Son of Dixie , the name comes from General Nathan Bedford Forrest, for which Forrest County gets it name. The stadium at the time was called the rock and Pie Vann was the suc- cessful head football coach, With a faculty of 13 and a student body of 200 in 1910, USM has contin- ued to grow to a student enrollment of 10,000 in the fall of 1979. The faculty members number over 600 today with over half of those holding doctorates. In 1910 only one faculty member had a masters degree. The university is fairly young in terms of presidents. Dr. Aubrey Keith Lucas became the sixth president of the Uni- versity of Southern Mississippi when he was inaugurated on july 1, 1975. Students, with their attitudes, fashions and activities have changed drastically over the years. Observers of the late seventies may compare them with the carefree students of the 50's and the controversial students of the 60's. But at USM, the sock hops and jalopies of the 50's are gone with the protests and peace demonstrations of the riotous 60's.

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65 fortunate young athletes from Mississippi were par- ticipants in the 1979 International Summer Special Olymics due to the hard work and dedication from vol- unteers of the USM student body and community. Un- der the guidance of state director, Nick Crutcher, the youngsters brought home several medals from the com- petition in Brockport, New York in August. 42 gold medals 18 silver medals, 20 bronze medals, and 43 fourth through sixth place medals were brought home after ollnching top honors in the 50 meter run, the 400 meter run the mile run, softball throw, bowling and swimming Larry Campbell of Oxford won the gold medal for his impressive display of sportsmanship in the pencathalon event. Comparable to the decathalon event won by Bruce Ienner, the pencathalon is a series of five events including the 50 meter run, the 400 meter run the softball throw, the high jump and the standing long lump The USM student support is unreal , said Crutcher. Not only the students, but the faculty, staff, adminis- trators and even President Lucas are involved. Volun- teering is what makes the program. Over 500 students -1 1 1 y .. M C '1 ' ' . I 1, Q- , J ,X ' 9 . Q.. ,Jax S tr' 20 Special Olympics ,Nm