Marion Military Institute

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Marion Military Institute, the Military College of Alabama, (MMI, sometimes Marion Institute, Marion Military, or simply Marion) is a public military junior college in Marion, Alabama. Founded in 1842, it is the official state military college of Alabama and the nation's oldest military junior college.[1]

Marion Military Institute is one of only four military junior colleges in the United States.[2] These programs include the Army's two-year Early Commissioning Program (ECP), an Army Reserve Officers Training Corps program through which qualified cadets can earn a commission as a Second Lieutenant after only two years of college.[3] MMI's ECP is one of the country's leading U.S. Army commissioning programs.[1] 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.[4] MMI also offers Marine Corps Platoon Leaders Course (PLC) and the first two years of Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps.[5][6] Over the years, MMI has produced more than 200 generals and admirals in the United States Armed Forces.[7][8]

MMI is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees.[9] It has association memberships in the Association of Military Colleges and Schools of the United States and the Alabama College Conference.[10] The accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the Commission on International and Trans-Regional Accreditation entitles all the services and privileges of regional, national and international professional recognition.

Marion Military Institute is an Alabama Historical Marker.[11] It is the home of two National Register of Historic Places - The MMI Chapel and Lovelace Hall, and the President's House.[12][13] The Alabama Military Hall of Honor (the Old Marion City Hall), created by executive order of Gov. George Wallace in 1975, is also on campus.[1]

History

File:Co. B, Howard Cadet Corps.png
Believed to be J.T. Murfee (middle of the back row) with cadets of B company

Marion Military Institute traces its origins back to 1842 with the creation of Howard College in Marion, Alabama by the Alabama Baptist Convention.[1] During the American Civil War, 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.[1] Along with the President's House (built 1912), these buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[12][13]

In 1887, the decision was made to move Howard College (now Samford University) to Birmingham. The then President of Howard College, Colonel J. T. Murfee, LL.D.,[14] 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.[1] It was modeled after Murfee's alma mater - Virginia Military Institute.[1] Although built as a military college, H. O. Murfee, MMI's second president, believed that Marion was destined to become the "American Eton".[15] Under his leadership, MMI achieved national recognition. President William Howard Taft served as President of the board of trustees. Then president of Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson was the guest speaker at the convocation for the class of 1905.[16] 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.[16] In 1916, United States Army ROTC 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.[17]

The U.S. Army Early Commissioning Program was established at MMI in 1968 by Park Place.[1] In 1971, MMI became coeducational.[1] In March 2006, the Alabama state legislature passed a resolution placing MMI under the auspices of the Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education. MMI became "the State Military College of Alabama".[1] 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.[18] The United States District Court Southern District of Alabama ruled in the school's favor.[19] 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.[20]

Cadet structure

File:MMI Chapel.jpg
MMI Chapel
File:MMI Presidents House.JPG
President's House, Marion Institute, built 1912
File:MMI BC and Staff.jpg
The HQ of the Corps of Cadets after Alumni Weekend parade 2016
File:Seniors at Marion Military Institute help juniors prepare for their Leadership Assessment and Development Course (LDAC).jpg
Senior cadets help juniors prepare for their LDAC in 2013.

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.[16] A cadet lieutenant colonel command and control of headquarters and five companies of cadets as the battalion commander.[16] 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.[16] 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.[16]

Class A uniform rank insignia Class B, C and ACU rank insignia Cadet rank Position
File:USMA BDE XO.png File:Cdt ltc.png Lieutenant Colonel Battalion Commander
File:USMA BN CDR.png File:Cdt maj.png Major Battalion XO, S3
Honor Council Chair
File:USMA BN XO.png File:Cdt cpt.png Captain Company Commanders
Battalion S1, S2, S4, S5, and S3 Assistant
File:USMA LT.png File:Cdt 1lt.png First Lieutenant Company XO
Battalion Chaplain
Organizational Commanders (White Knight, Swamp Fox, and Honor Guard)
File:USMA LT.png File:Cdt 2lt.PNG Second Lieutenant Platoon Leader
File:Chevrons - Artillery Quartermaster Sergeant 1847-1851 (black & white).png File:Army JROTC Cadet Command Sergeant Major.svg Command Sergeant Major Battalion Sergeant Major
File:Chevrons - Infantry First Sergeant - CW (black and white).png File:Army JROTC Cadet First Sergeant.svg First Sergeant Company First Sergeant
File:Chevrons - Infantry Sergeant Major - CW (black and white).png File:Army JROTC Cadet Sergeant First Class.svg Sergeant First Class Platoon Sergeant
N/A File:Army JROTC Cadet Staff Sergeant.svg Staff Sergeant Squad Leader
Assistant S5
N/A File:Army JROTC Cadet Sergeant.svg Sergeant Team Leader
N/A File:Army JROTC Cadet Corporal.svg Corporal Team Leader
N/A File:Army JROTC Cadet Private First Class.svg Private First Class
N/A File:Army JROTC Cadet Private.svg Private
N/A N/A Private New Recruits

Athletics

File:Football team at Marion Military Institute in Marion Alabama the state champions of 1912.jpg
MMI football team, the state champion of 1912

Marion Military Institute athletics is nicknamed "Tigers".[21] It is a member of Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC/Region XXII), which is a part of National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I.[21] Currently, MMI has varsity teams for baseball, men's basketball, softball, tennis, cross country, and golf.[21] The school colors were originally pink and green when established, but they were changed to orange and black following Woodrow Wilson's appearance at the MMI convocation.[16] Marion adopted the tiger as the mascot in tribute to Princeton University.[16]

After 15 consecutive winning games, MMI men's basketball team made history to capture school's first ACCC Basketball Championships in 2015–2016 season.[22][23] They also represented Region XXII at the NJCAA Men's National Basketball Championships, but lost to McLennan Community College (70-78) in the first round.[24] 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.[25] In 2013, the school hired former MLB player Matt Downs as the head coach of the baseball team.[26] In 2016, Christopher Lawrence, former personal trainer of Javier Arenas and Kirani James, became the Marion's cross country coach.[27]

Marion Military Institute also had a football team, which captured the state championship in 1912.[28] 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.[29] In the 1922 season, MMI cadets were defeated 0-110 by the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, Alabama in what still stands as the school record for largest margin of victory and as the Crimson Tide's only 100 point game.[30]


List of presidents

File:Old Marion City Hall.jpg
Alabama Military Hall of Honor

16 individuals have been president of Marion Military Institute:[31]

No. Portrait Name Term Notes
1 File:COL James Thomas Murfee.jpg J.T. Murfee 1887–1906 Former lieutenant colonel, CSA[32]
First captain and standing 1st in VMI Class of 1853[33][32]
2 File:H.O. Murfee in 1905.jpg H.O. Murfee 1906–1919
3 File:Walter Lee Murfee.png W.L. Murfee 1919–1944
4 – J.T. Murfee II 1944–1953
5 – Linton H. Baer 1953–1954
6 – Robert Calhoun Provine 1954–1958
7 File:Admiral Cato D. Glover.jpg Cato D. Glover 1958–1959 Admiral, USN (Ret.)
8 – Paul B. Robinson 1959–1973
9 File:Rear Admiral Draper L. Kauffman.jpg Draper Kauffman 1974–1976 Rear admiral, USN (Ret.)
10 – Thomas H. Barfield 1976–1983 Major general, USA (Ret.)
Class of 1935[7]
11 – Clyde W. Spence 1983–1990 Major general, USA (Ret.)
Class of 1946[7]
12 – Joseph L. Fant III 1990–1994 Major general, USA (Ret.)
Class of 1947[7]
13 File:Brigadier General Wayne T. Adams.jpg Wayne T. Adams 1994–1998 Brigadier general, USMC (Ret.)
Class of 1960[7]
vacancy 1998–2000
14 File:Robert F Foley portrait 1996.JPEG Robert F. Foley 2000–2004 Lieutenant general, USA (Ret.)
Medal of Honor recipient
15 – James H. Benson 2004–2009 Colonel, USMC (Ret.)
16 File:Colonel David J. Mollahan.jpg David J. Mollahan 2009–present Colonel, USMC (Ret.)

Notable alumni

Early Commissioning Program

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Service Academy Program

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Others

See also

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References

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External links

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