School History
In 1909, the Tennessee Legislature enacted the General Education Bill. This bill stated that three colleges be established within each grand division of the state and one additional school for African-American students. After much bidding and campaigning, the state had to choose between two sites to build the new college for West Tennessee: Jackson, Tennessee and Memphis, Tennessee. Memphis was chosen, one of the main reasons being the proximity of the rail line to the site proposed to build the new college for West Tennessee. This would allow professors and students to go home and visit their relatives. The other three schools established through the General Education Act are modern-day East Tennessee State University, Middle Tennessee State University and Tennessee State University.
On September 10, 1912, West Tennessee Normal School opened in Memphis; its first president was Seymour A. Mynders. After Mynders’ death in 1913, John Willard Brister was chosen to take his place. After Brister’s resignation in 1918, Andrew A. Kincannon became president. In 1924, Brister returned to his post as president of the school.
The name changed in 1925 to West Tennessee State Teachers College. In 1931, the campus’ first newspaper, The Tiger Rag, was established. In 1939, Richard C. Jones became president of WTSTC. In 1941, the school was changed to Memphis State College, when the college expanded its liberal arts curriculum. In 1943, Dr. Jennings B. Sanders succeeded Jones as president. Three years later, the first alumnus to become president, J. Millard (Jack) Smith, was appointed. In 1951 MSC awarded its first B.A. degrees. In 1957 the school received full University status, and changed its name accordingly.
1959 marked the university’s admitting its first group of black students, five years after Brown v. Board of Education. Among the restrictions faced by black students at the time were that they had to leave campus by noon each day and that they were not allowed to eat in the cafeteria. Dr. Cecil C. Humphreys became president of MSU, succeeding Smith, in 1960. In 1966, the school began awarding doctoral degrees. Humphreys resigned as MSU president to become the first chancellor of the newly formed State University and Community College System, later renamed the Tennessee Board of Regents. John Richardson was appointed interim president.
In 1973, Dr. Billy Mac Jones became president. Also that year, the Memphis State Tiger men’s basketball team reached the finals of the NCAA tournament, only to fall at the hands of a UCLA team led by future NBA star Bill Walton in the championship game in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1980, Dr. Thomas Carpenter became president of MSU; he was succeeded by Dr. V. Lane Rawlins in 1991. On July 1, 1994, after years of research and surveys, Memphis State University changed its name again, to the University of Memphis - a name change inspired by Ms. Christina Trinh, wife of former president Carpenter.
Dr. Rawlins served for slightly over a decade; Dr. Ralph Faudree filled in as interim president for one year after Rawlins’ retirement. In 2002, U of M installed its first female president, Dr. Shirley C. Raines, who serves to this day.
Content: Wikipedia
TOM II - Official U of M Mascot
For over 30 years, the sideline mascot for The University of Memphis has been the Bengal Tiger. TOM II, the current Tiger mascot, attends all Tiger Football home games, and he can also be found at many other University events throughout the year as a powerful and majestic symbol of Tigers Athletics. TOM II travels in style in a custom-designed, climate-controlled trailer, always with police escort.
The first Tiger, TOM, was procured by the Highland Hundred Football Boosters in 1972 and served the UofM faithfully for nearly 20 years until passing away in February of 1992. TOM came to the University on November 9, 1972, when the Tiger Cub was placed in a dog kennel in Michigan City, Indiana, and put on a Memphis-bound flight via Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. He arrived in Memphis at 3:00 AM, and C. Cleveland Drennon, President of the Highland Hundred, approved a check for $1,500 to purchase the animal. That morning, TOM was taken to Athletic Director Billy ‘Spook’ Murphy’s office for a press conference. The Highland Hundred officially presented TOM to the University in a ceremony at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium on November 11, 1972, during a Football game against the University of Cincinnati.
TOM had initially been named ‘Shane’ at the suggestion of the breeder’s daughter. Once in Memphis, though, a contest was held to name the mascot. More than 2,500 entries were submitted to a committee chaired by Judge Harry Pierotti, including colorful monikers like Spook, Sampson, Goliath, Bengo, Sultan, Sahib, Big Cat, Ptah, Touchdown, Sonny Shiloh, and even Bengie Wougie Bengal Boy from Tennessee. The list was ultimately reduced to two choices, Shane, and TOM, which stands for Tigers Of Memphis. TOM won.
During his first few months in Memphis, TOM was housed by Highland Hundred member Bill Proctor in his garage, which the Club had redecorated, and was closely guarded by Proctor’s hound dog. TOM would ultimately reside at the Memphis Zoo under the care of trainer Louie Bell, where he was known as one of the Zoo’s most popular attractions. TOM grew to be the largest Bengal Tiger ever documented in captivity, weighing over 600 pounds.
As TOM grew older, the decision was made by the Highland Hundred to keep the Tiger Tradition alive by securing a new Tiger to be raised as TOM II. In the fall of 1991, Highland Hundred President Ray Daniels and President-Elect Bobby Wharton received TOM II as a gift from Tom and Carolyn Atchison of Florence, Alabama. The little Tiger had been born on July 11 of that year, and, as TOM had been, he was presented by the Highland Hundred to the University in a ceremony at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium on November 16, 1991, during a Football game against the University of Alabama.
TOM II has spent his life housed and cared for in private facilities provided and maintained by the Highland Hundred Tiger Guard. After a few months spent living in the home of William ‘Nickie’ Nixon, TOM moved to a custom-designed Tiger House constructed by the Highland Hundred at St. Nick’s Farm and Zoological Park in the Memphis suburb of Collierville. With a price tag of over $300,000, raised entirely by the Tiger Guard, the habitat was widely regarded as the finest private facility in the nation, surpassing that of many zoos. In this comfortable home, TOM II matured into a magnificent animal weighing more than 500 pounds.
TOM II occupied the Collierville facility happily for nearly 14 years, but growth and development in the Collierville area eventually reached St. Nick’s Farm, and a move to a new Tiger House became necessary. In the summer of 2005, the Tiger Guard, led by Bobby Wharton, began construction of a new habitat in a rural area just south of Memphis on land offered by long-time Tiger Fans Jeff and Mary Kuntz. The new facility was designed as a virtual copy of the original facility but includes many upgrades that improve TOM’s comfort and safety. With two swimming pools, a dedicated water well, a climate controlled den box, a veterinary facility, and multiple redundant security features, the new Tiger House mimics the original Collierville facility as one of the nation’s finest. Built with the future in mind, this habitat will house not only TOM II, but future Tiger mascots as well.As one of only two Universities in America with a live Tiger mascot, The University of Memphis is unique in its Tiger Tradition. As a project of the Highland Hundred, no public or University funds are used to provide for TOM’s needs, and no University resources are required in his care. TOM is a powerful symbol of The University of Memphis, and the Tiger Guard is committed to keeping the Tiger Tradition alive for generations to come.
Content from: gotigersgo.cstv.com
Tiger Songs
U of M ALMA MATER
Stand Firm, O Alma Mater
Through All The Years To Come;
In Days Of Youth And Beauty
Thy Halls Have Been Our Home.
In Time Of Preparation
Great Lessons Didst Thou Teach
Till Now O Alma Mater,
The Stars We’ll Strive To Reach.
Lead On, O Alma Mater
They Sons To Highways,
Give Light And Truth Unto Them
For All Their Coming Days.
To Thee We’ll Give All Honor,
Our Hopes Abide In Thee,
For Thou, O Alma Mater,
Hast Made Us Ever Free.
U of M FIGHT SONG
Go Tigers Go, Go On To Victory,
Be A Winner Thru And Thru;
Fight Tigers, Fight Cause We’re
Going All The Way –
Fight, Fight
For The Blue And Gray And Say –Let’s Go Tigers Go,
Go On To Victory.
See Our Colors Bright And True;
It’s Fight Now Without A Fear,
Fight Now Let’s Shout A Cheer,
Shout For Dear Memphis U.
(Yell)
Go Tigers Go
Go Tigers Go
Yea — Tiger Go!
Lyrics from: gotigersgo.cstv.com
