Name-a-Day Calendar, August 7: Southern Miss Golden Eagles

Page 274 of 365

Chosen in: 1972

Chosen by: A committee appointed by the Alumni Association

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Perhaps no institution in all of Division I has a more varied branding history than the University of Southern Mississippi. That goes for both the athletics nicknames and the school itself, as a change in the latter usually begot a change in the former.

Founded in 1910 as Mississippi Normal College, the school originally began intercollegiate athletics in 1912. These first teams were known somewhat interchangeably as the Tigers or the Normalites.

A school name change to Mississippi State Teachers College in 1924 brought about an athletic identity swap. Beginning that year, the teams were known as the Yellow Jackets. This fit the yellow/black color scheme that had already been firmly established at the school.

If this is all sounding normal to you, that’s good! It should. Unfortunately, that ends here. In 1940, the school—which is located in Hattiesburg, in the southern third of the state—expanded its curriculum beyond teacher education and rebranded again, this time as Mississippi Southern College. Following this shift, the school had its student body vote on what the new athletics branding should be. Wanting to lean into the Southern brand perhaps too hard, they voted to be the Confederates.

The Mississippi Southern Confederates played for just one academic year (1940-41) before some part of the community ostensibly realized that to be in very poor taste. Their next nickname, while keeping the same general vibe, would be somewhat softer: they’d be the Southerners. This good grace was almost entirely undone in 1953, when Mississippi Southern introduced their new mascot General Nat, named for Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, who went on to be the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan after the traitors lost.¹

This somehow lasted almost 20 years before the school put a stop to it. It survived the school’s third and final name change, to the current University of Southern Mississippi in 1962. It wasn’t until 1972 that the school administration finally sought to move away from the Southerners branding. They solicited suggestions from students, faculty, staff, and alumni, while the Alumni Association appointed a committee to vote on them.

Five suggestions made it to the final vote, one of which was the incumbent “Southerners” for some reason.² The four new nicknames were Golden Eagles, Raiders, Timber Wolves, and War Lords. Thankfully for everyone involved, the Southerners lost again; Southern Miss’ teams would be known as the Golden Eagles from that point forward.

Today, Southern Miss’ mascot is far less contentious. Say hello to costumed “golden” eagle Seymour d’Campus.

Previous page: Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles

Next page: Southern Utah Thunderbirds

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1. Southern Miss’ official website matter-of-factly and uncritically states that the 1953 mascot was named for General Forrest. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think they’re still proud of him. Obviously that’s both an oversimplification and a generalization, but you couldn’t waterboard that information out of me.

2. Longtime readers might remember when Eastern Washington was trying to escape the “Savages” identity and still allowed their students to include “Savages” on the ballot for replacement nicknames. It won by a landslide. (Spoilers: that thankfully doesn’t happen here.)