Editing University of Mississippi (section)

===Post-Civil War===
[[File:SarahMcGeheeIsom.tif|thumb|upright|alt=A woman in collegiate garb|The University of Mississippi was the first college in the Southeast to hire a female faculty member: [[Sarah McGehee Isom]] in 1885.]]

The University of Mississippi reopened in October 1865.<ref name="cohodas11"/> To avoid rejecting veterans, the university lowered admission standards and decreased costs by eliminating tuition and allowing students to live off-campus.<ref name="history"/> The student body remained entirely white: in 1870 the chancellor declared that he and the entire faculty would resign rather than admit "negro" students.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Roland |first1=Dunbar |title=The Official and Statistical Register of the State of Mississippi, Volume 4 |date=December 11, 2023 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pLC0kgvJJG4C&dq=jess+stockstill+picayune&pg=PA912 |access-date=August 4, 2023 |archive-date=November 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231110200610/https://books.google.com/books?id=pLC0kgvJJG4C&dq=jess%20stockstill%20picayune&pg=PA912 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1882, the university began admitting women<ref>[[#Cohodas|Cohodas (1997)]], p. 18.</ref> but they were not permitted to live on campus or attend law school.<ref name="history"/> In 1885, the University of Mississippi hired [[Sarah McGehee Isom]], becoming the first [[Southeastern United States|southeastern US]] college to hire a female faculty member.<ref name="history"/><ref name="isom">{{cite web |url=https://sarahisomcenter.org/about-1 |title=History |website=Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies |publisher=University of Mississippi |access-date=July 24, 2021 |archive-date=July 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724182727/https://sarahisomcenter.org/history |url-status=live }}</ref> Nearly 100 years later, in 1981, the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies was established in her honor.<ref name="history"/><ref name="isom"/>

The university's byname "Ole Miss" was first used in 1897, when it won a contest of suggestions for a yearbook title.<ref name="cnn">{{cite news |last=McLaughlin |first=Elliott C. |date=July 27, 2021 |title=The Battle over Ole Miss: Why a flagship university has stood behind a nickname with a racist past |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/27/us/ole-miss-university-mississippi-name-controversy/index.html |publisher=CNN |access-date=May 13, 2021 |archive-date=December 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204060212/https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/27/us/ole-miss-university-mississippi-name-controversy/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The term originated as a title domestic slaves used to distinguish the mistress of a plantation from "young misses".<ref>[[#Sansing|Sansing (1999)]], pp. 168–169.</ref> Fringe origin theories include it coming from a diminutive of "Old Mississippi",<ref>[[#Cabaniss|Cabaniss (1949)]], p. 129.</ref><ref>[[#Eagles|Eagles (2009)]], p. 17.</ref><ref name="sansing168"/> or from the name of the "Ole Miss" train that ran from [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]] to [[New Orleans]].<ref name="cnn"/><ref>{{cite news |last=Elmore |first=Albert Earl |date=October 24, 2014 |title=Scholar Finds Evidence 'Ole Miss' Train Key in Establishing University Nickname |url=https://www.hottytoddy.com/2014/10/24/scholar-finds-evidence-ole-miss-train-key-in-establishing-university-nickname/ |work=Hotty Toddy |access-date=May 13, 2021 |archive-date=October 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030185645/https://www.hottytoddy.com/2014/10/24/scholar-finds-evidence-ole-miss-train-key-in-establishing-university-nickname/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Within two years, students and alumni were using "Ole Miss" to refer to the university.<ref>[[#Sansing|Sansing (1999)]], p. 169.</ref>

Between 1900 and 1930, the Mississippi Legislature introduced bills aiming to relocate, close, or merge the university with [[Mississippi State University]]. All such legislation failed.<ref>[[#Sansing|Sansing (1999)]], Ch. 8.</ref> During the 1930s, the governor of Mississippi [[Theodore G. Bilbo]] was politically hostile toward the University of Mississippi, firing administrators and faculty, and replacing them with his friends<ref name="barrett23" /> in the "Bilbo purge".<ref>[[#Sansing|Sansing (1999)]], p. 240.</ref> Bilbo's actions severely damaged the university's reputation, leading to the temporary loss of its accreditation. Consequently, in 1944, the [[Constitution of Mississippi]] was amended to protect the university's board of trustees from political pressure.<ref name="barrett23">[[#Barrett|Barrett (1965)]], p. 23.</ref> During [[World War II]], the University of Mississippi was one of 131 colleges and universities that participated in the national [[V-12 Navy College Training Program]], which offered students a path to a Navy commission.<ref name="list-of-v-12">{{cite web |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/Admin-Hist/115-8thND/115-8ND-23.html |title=U.S. Naval Administration in World War II |publisher=HyperWar Foundation |access-date=September 29, 2011 |archive-date=January 12, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112105122/http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/Admin-Hist/115-8thND/115-8ND-23.html |url-status=live }}</ref>