Mississippi University for Women announced plans Monday to establish a new Women’s College in continuing support of the university’s historic mission to empower women through education.

The university will seek approval for the new college from the Board of Trustees of Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) in February 2024, according to the university’s press release.

University President Nora Miller said her hope for the new college is to involve more students in the university’s commitment to academic development for women.

“I think this kind of broadens the whole idea across every college,” Miller told The Dispatch on Monday.

The college will offer students personalized experiences that highlight women’s excellence and leadership while also providing professional experience to launch their careers. The curriculum will focus on women’s leadership through specialized programming, research and mentor relationships, the press release said.

“The Women’s College really just kind of packages together courses that are already in our curriculum of each college,” Miller said. “There are courses within the College of Arts and Sciences, within the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, within the College of Business, then the School of Education that are focused on women’s leadership in those roles, or how gender impacts anything in those areas.”

While it is not a degree-granting college, students who take a certain number of hours within the Women’s College curriculum will be recognized as graduates of the college, similarly to an honor’s college program. Students of the Women’s College will also receive a cord to be worn at graduation.

The college will offer scholarship opportunities to students though qualifications will not be determined until the concept is approved by the IHL.

“Anyone who wants to commit to taking that many hours in those courses is fine. It’s open to male students too,” Miller said. “As soon as we get approval in February, we’ll come up with an application and start accepting applications this spring for entry into the college in fall.”

Establishing the new college will also ensure the university’s historic commitment to empowering women remains in focus with the university planning a potential name change in 2024, Miller said.

Opened as the Columbus Female Institute in 1874, MUW was the first state-supported college for women in America. The university was renamed the Industrial Institute and College in 1884 and then again as the Mississippi State College for Women. In 1974, it was renamed again to the current Mississippi University for Women though the university began accepting men in 1982.

In search of a more inclusive name reflective of the fully integrated student body, the university sent out thousands of surveys to students, staff, alumni and community members in October 2022 with potential name change options.

A task force of MUW current students, staff, faculty and alumni was created to consider a shortlist of name change options. In September, Miller said the new name would take effect July 2024 if approved by the legislature.

“When we first started talking about name change, some of our alumni were concerned that perhaps we were abandoning our historic mission … as being the first state-funded university for women,” Miller said. “We find that very important in our history and wanted to really show that we are strengthening our commitment to that through the development of the women’s college.”

McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.