Murray State College was established in 1908, in
Tishomingo, Oklahoma, as the
Murray State School of Agriculture in accordance with a law passed by the first
Oklahoma Legislature. It was named after
William H. Murray (known as "Alfalfa Bill") who had served as legal advisor to Governor
Douglas H. Johnston of the
Chickasaw Nation, was his delegate to the 1905 convention to draft a constitution for the proposed
State of Sequoyah, and was the president of the constitutional convention to draft a document to create the state of Oklahoma, admitted to the union in 1907. The college's first students, numbering about 100, were primarily
Chickasaw and
Choctaw. At first they had to board with families in town, but Murray, then a US Representative, in 1916 gained approval for Federal funding to construct two dormitories for
Native American students. On March 17, 1924, the Oklahoma Legislature approved a measure to authorize the institution to expand its curriculum to college-level course: it became a community college, granting its first associate degrees in 1924. "Alfalfa Bill" Murray was elected as the ninth governor of the state in 1930. His nephew,
Clive Murray, was appointed as president of the school in 1931 and served until 1961. The school was renamed in 1955 as
Murray State Agricultural College. It was renamed again in 1967, as
Murray State College of Agriculture and Applied Science, reflecting its expanded programs. In 1972, the school was removed from the authority of the
Board of Regents for Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges and a separate board of regents was appointed to manage it. At the time, the institution was renamed Murray State College. (It is not to be confused with
Murray State University in
Murray, Kentucky). ==Academics==