features columns and
Jesse Hall.
Early years In 1839, the Missouri Legislature passed the
Geyer Act to establish funds for a state university. It was the first public university west of the
Mississippi River. To secure the university, the citizens of Columbia and
Boone County pledged $117,921 in cash and land to beat out five other central Missouri counties for the location of the state university. As the first public university in the
Louisiana Purchase, the school was shaped by
Thomas Jefferson's ideas about public education. The school initially admitted only white male students. In 1862, the
American Civil War forced the university to close for much of the year. Residents of Columbia formed a Union "home guard"
militia that became known as the "Fighting Tigers of Columbia". They were given the name for their readiness to protect the city and university. In 1890, the university's newly formed football team took the name the
"Tigers" after the Civil War militia. In 1870, the institution was granted
land-grant college status under the
Morrill Act of 1862. Under the administration of
Missouri Governor David R. Francis, the university was rebuilt, with additions that shaped the modern institution. After the fire, some state residents tried to have the university moved farther west to
Sedalia; but Columbia rallied support to keep it. The columns were retained as a symbol of the historic campus. They are surrounded by the
Francis Quadrangle, the oldest part of campus. At the quad's southern end is
Academic Hall's replacement,
Jesse Hall, named for
Richard Jesse (the president of the university at the time of the fire). Built in 1895, Jesse Hall holds many administrative offices and Jesse Auditorium. The buildings surrounding the quad were constructed of red brick, leading to this area becoming known as
Red Campus. The area was tied together in planned landscaping and walks in 1910 by
George Kessler in a
City Beautiful design of the grounds. visited the campus in 1910 and sketched these two fashionable students. To the east of the quadrangle, later buildings constructed of white limestone in 1913 and 1914 to accommodate the new academic programs became known as the White Campus. In 1908 the journalism school opened at MU, claiming to be the world's first. In April 1923, a black janitor was accused of the rape of the daughter of a University of Missouri professor. James T. Scott was abducted from the Boone County Jail by a
lynch mob of townsfolk and students and was hanged from a bridge near the campus. In late 1935, four graduates of
Lincoln University—a
traditionally black school about away in
Jefferson City—were denied admission to MU's graduate school. One of the students,
Lloyd L. Gaines, brought his case to the
United States Supreme Court. On December 12, 1938, in a landmark 6–2 decision, the court ordered the State of Missouri to admit Gaines to MU's law school or provide a facility of equal stature. Gaines disappeared in Chicago on March 19, 1939, under suspicious circumstances. The university granted Gaines a posthumous honorary law degree in May 2006. Undergraduate divisions were integrated by court order in 1950 when the university was compelled to admit
African Americans to courses that were not offered at Lincoln University. On June 5, 1935, the university erected a memorial to the Confederate soldiers of Missouri; it was popularly known as Confederate Rock. The monument was removed in 1974. Following the
2015–16 University of Missouri protests, the chancellor and
system president resigned amid racial complaints by students. In addition, the university was
censured by the
American Association of University Professors for the third time. Due to the emerging
COVID-19 pandemic, the university canceled classes on March 11, 2020, and resumed teaching in person in August. ==Campus==