Marion Military Institute, the Military College of Alabama, (MMI, sometimes Marion Institute, Marion Military, or simply Marion) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

military junior college A military junior college (MJC) is a military-style junior college in the United States and one of the three major categories of the Army ROTC schools that allows cadets to become commissioned officers in the U.S. Army reserve components in two y ...

in Marion, Alabama. Founded in 1842, it is the official state

military college A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned. ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

and the nation's oldest military junior college. Marion Military Institute is one of only four military junior colleges in the United States. These programs include the Army's two-year

Early Commissioning Program Early Commissioning Program (ECP) is a U.S. Army ROTC program that allows graduates of one of the nation's four Military Junior Colleges (MJC) to become commissioned officers in the reserve components (National Guard or Reserve) in two years, ...

(ECP), an Army

Reserve Officers Training Corps The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...

program through which qualified cadets can earn a commission as a

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army unt ...

after only two years of college. MMI's ECP is one of the country's leading

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

commissioning programs. The Service Academy Program (SAP) is a freshman year of academic and physical preparation for students who wish to attend one of the Service Academies in the United States. It is designated, endorsed, and selected by all five Service Academies. MMI also offers Marine Corps Platoon Leaders Course (PLC) and the first two years of

Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps The Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) is one of the three primary commissioning sources for officers in the United States Air Force and United States Space Force, the other two being the United States Air Force Academy (USAF ...

. Over the years, MMI has produced more than 200 generals and admirals in the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...

. MMI is accredited by the

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is an educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. This agency accredits over 13,000 public and priva ...

to award

Associate of Arts An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

and

Associate of Science An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. Th ...

degrees. It has association memberships in the Association of Military Colleges and Schools of the United States and the Alabama College Conference. The accreditation by the

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is an educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. This agency accredits over 13,000 public and priv ...

and the

Commission on International and Trans-Regional Accreditation The Commission on International and Trans-Regional Accreditation (CITA) was an international educational accreditation agency. CITA was formed in 1994 by regional accrediting organizations in the United States The United States of Ameri ...

entitles all the services and privileges of regional, national and international professional recognition. Marion Military Institute is an Alabama Historical Marker. It is the home of two

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

- The MMI Chapel and Lovelace Hall, and the President's House. The Alabama Military Hall of Honor (the Old Marion City Hall), created by executive order of Gov.

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for his staunch segregationist a ...

in 1975, is also on campus.

History

Marion Military Institute traces its origins back to 1842 with the creation of Howard College in Marion, Alabama by the Alabama Baptist Convention. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

, South Barracks (later known as Lovelace Hall), built in 1854, and the chapel, built in 1857, served the Confederacy as Breckenridge Military Hospital from 1863 to 1865. Along with the President's House (built 1912), these buildings are listed on the

. In 1887, the decision was made to move Howard College (now

Samford University Samford University is a private Christian university in Homewood, Alabama. In 1841, the university was founded as Howard College by Baptists. Samford University describes itself as the 87th oldest institution of higher learning in the United St ...

) to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

. The then President of Howard College, Colonel J. T. Murfee, LL.D., and a handful of faculty and students decided to remain in Marion, Alabama and immediately reorganized and founded Marion Military Institute, a military preparatory high school and college. It was modeled after Murfee's alma mater -

Virginia Military Institute la, Consilio et Animis (on seal) , mottoeng = "In peace a glorious asset, In war a tower of strength""By courage and wisdom" (on seal) , established = , type = Public senior military college , accreditation = SACS , endowment = $696.8 mill ...

. Although built as a military college, H. O. Murfee, MMI's second president, believed that Marion was destined to become the "American Eton." Under his leadership, MMI achieved national recognition.

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

served as President of the board of trustees. Then president of

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

was the guest speaker at the convocation for the class of 1905. However, the plan to pattern the school after Eton College was interrupted by World War I. The military nature of MMI was again emphasized due to the outbreak of the war. In 1916,

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

ROTC The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in al ...

program was first offered at MMI, when the institute was designated as an "Honor Military School with Distinction" by the

United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, ...

. The

Early Commissioning Program was established at MMI in 1968 by Park Place. In 1971, MMI became coeducational. In March 2006, the Alabama

state legislature A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

passed a resolution placing MMI under the auspices of the Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education. MMI became "the State Military College of Alabama". As part of the transition to a public institution, Marion phased out its high school program. In May 2009, the last high school class graduated from Marion Military Institute's Preparatory School Program, a program that traced its origins back to 1887. In 2011, an MMI counselor Reginald Marable filed a lawsuit against the school after not being retained. Marable claimed he was harassed and fired for bringing up allegations that the school was discriminating against black students, including the idea that race mixing was forbidden. The United States District Court Southern District of Alabama ruled in the school's favor. In 2014, the plaintiff lost again on appeal, the court noting that racial animus was not a sufficient reason for ruling in the plaintiff's favor.

Cadet structure

Seniors at Marion Military Institute help juniors prepare for their Leadership Assessment and Development Course (LDAC)

The Corps of Cadets is organized into a battalion consisting of the Headquarters staff and six companies including Band, A, B, C, D, and E. A cadet lieutenant colonel command and control of headquarters and five companies of cadets as the battalion commander. Each company has a cadet captain commanding, a cadet first lieutenant executive officer, two cadet second lieutenant platoon leaders, a cadet first sergeant, and two cadet sergeant first class platoon sergeants. Each platoon normally has three to four squads and each squad is led by a cadet staff sergeant. Each squad leader has a team leader serving with the rank of cadet sergeant or corporal, depending on experience and ability.

Athletics

Football team at Marion Military Institute in Marion Alabama the state champions of 1912

Marion Military Institute athletics is nicknamed "Tigers". It is a member of

Alabama Community College Conference The Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC) is a collegiate athletic conference and is a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) and NJCAA Region 22. Sports *Baseball *Basketball *Golf *Softball *Tennis *Volleyball ...

(ACCC/Region XXII), which is a part of

National Junior College Athletic Association The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

(NJCAA) Division I. Currently, MMI has varsity teams for

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

, men's basketball,

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

, cross country, and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

. The school colors were originally

pink Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

and

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

when established, but they were changed to orange and black following Woodraw Wilson's appearance at the MMI convocation. Marion adopted the tiger as the mascot in tribute to Princeton University. After 15 consecutive winning games, MMI men's basketball team made history to capture school's first ACCC Basketball Championships in 2015–2016 season. They also represented Region XXII at the NJCAA Men's National Basketball Championships, but lost to

McLennan Community College McLennan Community College (MCC) is a public community college in McLennan County, Texas. Located in Waco, Texas, it opened in 1965. MCC now serves about 9,000 students and has more than 700 employees. It is governed by a Board of Trustees ele ...

(70-78) in the first round. Marion Military Institute men's tennis team showed its dominance in the state of Alabama by holding the NJCAA Region XXII Championship five years in a row from 2011 to 2016. In 2013, the school hired former MLB player

Matt Downs Matthew Russell Downs Sr. (born March 19, 1984) is an American former Major League Baseball infielder. He stands tall and weighs . Previously, he had played for the San Francisco Giants and the Houston Astros. He bats and throws right-handed ...

as the head coach of the baseball team. In 2016, Christopher Lawrence, former personal trainer of Javier Arenas and

Kirani James Kirani James (born 1 September 1992) is a Grenadian professional sprinter who specializes in the 200 and 400 metres. He won the 400 m at the World Championships in 2011 and the 2012 London Olympics. In the 400 metres James also won the sil ...

, became the Marion's cross country coach. Marion Military Institute also had a football team, which captured the state championship in 1912. On November 28, 1918, MMI earned a 101–0 victory over Howard College Football Team at home. This is MMI Football's largest margin of victory and the second largest margins of defeat in the history of Samford University Football Team. In 1922 season, MMI cadets were defeated 0-110 by the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publ ...

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population o ...

in what still stands as the school record for largest margin of victory and as the Crimson Tide's only 100 point game.

List of presidents

16 individuals have served as the president of Marion Military Institute:

Notable alumni

Early Commissioning Program

* Robert W. Bennett, U.S. Army brigadier general, 61st

Adjutant General An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer. France In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...

of the Army *

Jeff Brandes Jeffrey P. Brandes (born February 12, 1976) is an American politician serving as the Florida State Senator from the 24th district since 2016. A member of the Republican Party, he has been elected from the Pinellas County area to the Florida Sena ...

, Republican member of the

Florida Senate The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted in ...

* Emerson Brooks,

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

NAACP Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...

winner * Scott L. Efflandt, U.S. Army major general, former

Fort Hood Fort Hood is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. Named after Confederate General John Bell Hood, it is located halfway between Austin and Waco, about from each, within the U.S. state of Texas. The post is the headquarter ...

Commander * Clark W. LeMasters, Jr., U.S. Army major general, 36th Chief of Ordnance and 35th TACOM LCMC Commanding General * Terry F. Moorer, judge of the

United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama The United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama (in case citations, S.D. Ala.) is a federal court in the Eleventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appe ...

* Shawn Morelli, Paralympic gold medalist in cycling *Raymond F. Shields Jr., U.S. Army major general, commander of New York Army National Guard

Service Academy Program

* Paul D. Adams,

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

* John Bahnsen, U.S. Army

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointe ...

and decorated veteran of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

* José M. Cabanillas,

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star " admiral" rank. It is often rega ...

Robert E. Hogaboom Robert Edward Hogaboom (November 13, 1902 – November 11, 1993) was a decorated United States Marine Corps four-star general who served as chief of staff, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps between 1957 and 1959. Hogaboom was promoted to four-sta ...

, Chief of Staff of

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through c ...

Bruce K. Holloway General Bruce Keener Holloway (September 1, 1912 – September 30, 1999) was a United States Air Force general. A West Point graduate, he was a fighter ace with the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and later served as Vice Chief of ...

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

general, Vice Chief of Staff US Air Force, CinC Strategic Air Command *

Harold Houser Harold Alexander Houser (March 31, 1897 – September 3, 1981) was a United States Navy Rear admiral, and the governor of American Samoa from September 10, 1945, to April 22, 1947. Biography Houser was born in Fort Valley, Georgia to Emmett a ...

, U.S. Navy rear admiral and the 35th

governor of American Samoa This is a list of governors, etc. of the part of the Samoan Islands (now comprising American Samoa) under United States administration since 1900. From 1900 to 1978 governors were appointed by the Federal government of the United States. Sinc ...

* Clayton C. Jerome,

USMC The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through co ...

naval aviator Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. Naval aviation is typically projected to a position nearer the target by way of an aircraft carrier. Carrier-bas ...

* Alexander Kreiser, USMC

, China Marine, and

Halley G. Maddox Halley Grey Maddox (January 29, 1899 – May 26, 1977) was a career officer in the United States Army. A 1920 graduate of the United States Military Academy, he was originally assigned to the Infantry branch and later transferred to Cavalry. A ...

, U.S. Army major general * Merlin O'Neill, 10th commandant of the Coast Guard * William W. Outerbridge, U.S. Navy rear admiral who fired the first shots in defense of the United States during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

* Jacob E. Smart, USAF general * Thomas Walker, U.S. Navy vice admiral, first commanding officer of the USS ''Constellation'' (CV-64)

Others

* Mike Carey, member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

* Bernard Ford, former NFL player * Miller Reese Hutchison, electrical engineer. Inventor of Klaxton Horn and hearing aids. Associate of

Thomas Alva Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventi ...

* Maston E. O'Neal, Jr., member of the

Eugene Sledge Eugene Bondurant Sledge (November 4, 1923 – March 3, 2001) was a United States Marine, university professor, and author. His 1981 memoir ''With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa'' chronicled his combat experiences during World War I ...

, United States Marine, professor, and author * Tom Stagg, judge for the

United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana The United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana (in case citations, W.D. La.) is a United States federal court with jurisdiction over approximately two thirds of the state of Louisiana, with courts in Alexandria, Lafayett ...

* Dwight Stone, former NFL player *Jonah Todd, MLB player, drafted by

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

in 2017

References

External links

Official website

Official athletics website
{{authority control 1842 establishments in Alabama Buildings and structures in Perry County, Alabama Community colleges in Alabama Education in Perry County, Alabama Educational institutions established in 1842 United States military junior colleges National Register of Historic Places in Perry County, Alabama NJCAA athletics Residential buildings completed in 1854 Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Marion, Alabama