Editing University of Mississippi (section)

===Greek life===
[[File:St. Anthony Hall Phi Chapter House, University of Mississippi, 1906.jpg|thumb|left|upright|alt=A black and white photograph of a Victorian-style fraternity house|St. Anthony Hall Phi Chapter House, University of Mississippi, 1906]]

[[Fraternities and sororities|Greek life]] at the University of Mississippi comprises 33 organizations and around 8,700 affiliated students.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://greeks.olemiss.edu |title=Fraternity & Sorority Life |website=Fraternity & Sorority Life |publisher=University of Mississippi |access-date=July 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210426080828/https://greeks.olemiss.edu/ |archive-date=April 26, 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref> Greek societies at the University of Mississippi are housed along Fraternity Row and Sorority Row, which were constructed in the 1930s with federal funds.<ref>[[#Sansing|Sansing (1999)]], p. 253.</ref>

The [[Rainbow Fraternity]], which was founded at the University of Mississippi in 1848, was the first fraternity to be founded in the South.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sigmachiku.com/history-of-fraternities/ |title=History of Fraternities |publisher=Sigma Chi Fraternity |access-date=September 8, 2021 |archive-date=September 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908205318/https://sigmachiku.com/history-of-fraternities/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="rainbow">{{cite news |date=March 28, 1885 |title=Two Secret Societies United—Delta Tau Delta and the Rainbow Society Join Hands. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1885/03/28/102965283.pdf |work=The New York Times |access-date=April 30, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307215016/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1885/03/28/102965283.pdf |archive-date=March 7, 2021 |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{efn|group=note|The Rainbow Fraternity merged with [[Delta Tau Delta]] in 1886.<ref name="rainbow"/>}} Other early fraternities established at the university include [[Delta Kappa Epsilon]] (1850), Delta Kappa (1853), [[Delta Psi]] (1854), and Epsilon Alpha (1855).<ref name="sansing63"/> By 1900, a majority of University of Mississippi students were members of a fraternity or a sorority. Non-member students felt excluded on campus and tensions between members and non-members escalated. ''The University Magazine'' denounced the Greek societies as "the most vicious institution that has grown up in any college".<ref name="sansing177">[[#Sansing|Sansing (1999)]], p. 177.</ref> In 1902, [[Lee M. Russell|Lee Russell]], a poor student who was rejected by the fraternities, appeared before the board of trustees to criticize the Greek societies.<ref>[[#Sansing|Sansing (1999)]], pp. 177–178.</ref>{{efn|group=note|Russell was elected Governor of Mississippi in 1919.<ref name="sansing177"/>}} In response, the board threatened to abolish Greek life if non-member students continued to be ostracized. In 1903, rumors Greek-life members and non-member students were preparing to "meet in combat" appeared.<ref>[[#Sansing|Sansing (1999)]], p. 178.</ref> Multiple state-legislative investigations were held to address the issue.<ref>[[#Sansing|Sansing (1999)]], pp. 178–179.</ref> All Greek life at the university was suspended from 1912 to 1926 due to statewide anti-fraternity legislation.<ref name="mshistory">{{cite web |last=Sansing |first=David G. |url=http://mshistorynow.mdah.state.ms.us/articles/265/index.php?s=extra&id=141 |title=Lee Maurice Russell: Fortieth Governor of Mississippi: 1920-1924 |website=Mississippi History Now |publisher=Mississippi Historical Society |access-date=May 29, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210424204153/http://mshistorynow.mdah.state.ms.us/articles/265/index.php?s=extra&id=141 |archive-date=April 24, 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[[#Sansing|Sansing (1999)]], p. 204.</ref>

As part of a larger crackdown on embarrassing fraternity incidents, Chancellor [[R. Gerald Turner|Gerald Turner]] ended the traditional Shrimp and Beer Festival in 1984.<ref>[[#Sansing|Sansing (1999)]], pp. 334–335.</ref> In 1988, [[Phi Beta Sigma]], a black fraternity, was preparing to move into a house on the all-white Fraternity Row when arsonists burned their house. An alumnus helped purchase another house and Fraternity Row was integrated two months later.<ref>[[#Sansing|Sansing (1999)]], pp. 335–336.</ref> In a 1989 incident, fraternity members dropped naked students painted with racist slurs at the historically black [[Rust College]].<ref>[[#Sansing|Sansing (1999)]], p. 336.</ref> In 2014, three fraternity members placed a noose and a Confederate symbol on the Meredith statue,<ref>{{cite news |last=Blinder |first=Alan |date=February 18, 2014 |title=F.B.I. Joins Ole Miss Inquiry After Noose Is Left on Statue |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/19/us/fbi-joins-ole-miss-inquiry-after-noose-is-left-on-statue.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 30, 2021 |archive-date=January 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125022344/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/19/us/fbi-joins-ole-miss-inquiry-after-noose-is-left-on-statue.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Blinder |first=Alan |date=September 17, 2015 |title=Man Sentenced to Six Months for Role in Placing Noose on Ole Miss Statue |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/18/us/man-sentenced-to-six-months-for-role-in-placing-noose-on-ole-miss-statue.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 30, 2021 |archive-date=January 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114055209/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/18/us/man-sentenced-to-six-months-for-role-in-placing-noose-on-ole-miss-statue.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and in 2019, fraternity members posed with guns in front of an [[Emmett Till]] historical marker.<ref>{{cite news |last=Farzan |first=Antonia Noori |date=July 26, 2019 |title=Ole Miss frat brothers brought guns to an Emmett Till memorial. They're not the first. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/07/26/ole-miss-emmitt-till-guns-kappa-alpha-fraternity/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=June 30, 2021 |archive-date=February 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210216044831/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/07/26/ole-miss-emmitt-till-guns-kappa-alpha-fraternity/ |url-status=live }}</ref>