USM's 17 sport programs participate in NCAA Division I athletics, mainly as members of the Sun Belt Conference.

He oversaw the construction of 17 new structures on campus and convinced Governor Ross Barnett to upgrade the school to university status in recognition of its graduate programs.

In 1954 the United States Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that segregation of public schools was unconstitutional.

After he wrote letters about educational integration to the local paper, he was twice arrested on trumped-up criminal charges; he was eventually convicted and sentenced to seven years in the state prison.

[12][13][14][15] Speaking to businessmen in Chicago on a trip sponsored by the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, McCain said: "We insist that educationally and socially, we maintain a segregated society.

Student athletic, fraternity, and political leaders were recruited to keep the peace and protect the university from the kind of negative publicity Ole Miss had suffered during rioting against Meredith's enrollment.

[18][19] A student in Kennard's Sunday School class at Mary Magdalene Baptist Church in Eatonville, Mississippi, accepted the honor on his behalf.

Changes included replacement of the quarter system by semesters, creation of the Polymer Science Institute, reorganization of the university's 10 schools into six colleges including the College of Nursing, affiliation with Conference USA, the implementation of online classes; and an expansion of the Gulf Coast campus.

Thames did not lay off any university employees after the storm, although the Gulf Park campus alone sustained over $100 million in damage (By contrast, Tulane University in New Orleans released approximately 25% of its staff and dropped significant athletic and academic programs, including the computer science major and most engineering programs, in retrenchment after closure and damage to the campus.

)[citation needed] The Thames administration gained financing and supervised several campus construction projects, often in partnership with private-sector entities.

[26] On February 10, 2013, an EF4 wedge tornado tore through the Southern Miss campus, causing tens of millions of dollars in damage.

In June 2015 Southern Miss released a statement on the removal of the Mississippi state flag from all USM campuses.

[38] In October 2013, the U.S. Army announced that, due to financial constraints and the low production rate of commissioned officers, 13 ROTC programs at various universities would be shut down, including the Golden Eagle Battalion of Southern Miss.

[40] On October 12, a press conference was held at USM to protest the closure; speakers included Governor Phil Bryant and Major General Augustus Collins.

In addition, it obtained classroom facilities for night classes from the Jefferson Davis campus of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Junior College.

The center was constructed with the intention of enabling students in Jackson County to complete four-year degrees in several fields through combined programs at MGCCC and USM.

In 2009, however, the university decided to close its Jackson County Center and consolidate course offerings at other teaching sites on the Gulf Coast.

The earliest available reference to the moniker Friendship Oak is found in an article written by Bob Davis, correspondent for the New York Sun.

In July 1972, the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning established the USM Gulf Park and Keesler Air Force Base Center as an upper-level degree completion regional campus of the university.

University development has continued and on August 19, 2002, Southern Miss admitted its first class of freshmen on its Gulf Park Campus.

In addition, the school participates in the NCAA's Division I-FBS, and Sun Belt Conference featuring year-round athletics in 16 sports.

2018 marked the 13th annual Richard McCarthy Lecture Series, wherein students and the community at large could participate in a broad range of events and programming from panel discussions to roundtables focusing on war and the effects it has on the societies surrounding it.

The Thad Cochran Center now houses a 2-story Barnes & Noble bookstore, three ballrooms, a stadium-style theater, student organization offices, and Southern Miss Dining and Fresh Food Company.

In the 2014–15 school year, the university opened Century Park South, another gated living community with three residence halls and the campus's new student health center.

At nearly 300, Southern Miss's student organizations appeal to a wide spectrum of interests: Business, Education and Psychology, the Arts, Games and Athletics, Graduate Studies, Greek Life, Health and Human Sciences, Honors Societies, Liberal Arts, the Military, Religious Life, Residence Halls, Community Service, and Science and Technology.

While many USM students attend Mardi Gras celebrations, most use the four-day weekend to prepare for midterm exams or visit family and friends.

[74] On November 13, 1982, the Golden Eagle football team upset Alabama's Crimson Tide in famed coach Bear Bryant's last home game in Tuscaloosa.

[76] The Golden Eagle baseball team are two-time Conference USA champions and have been invited to twelve regional NCAA tournaments and also a trip to the College World Series.

[citation needed] It operates the Southern Miss Wind Ensemble and the USM Symphony Orchestra,[77][citation needed] which has enjoyed soloists such as singers Renee Fleming and Ray Charles, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Itzhak Perlman, violinist Joshua Bell, flautist James Galway, clarinetist Anthony McGill, trumpet player Doc Severinsen, and tenor Plácido Domingo.

The Southern Miss Pride of Mississippi Marching Band has performed at such events as the inauguration of President Jimmy Carter and Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York in November 2010.