Marion Military Institute

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.[2] 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.[2] Along with the President's House (built 1912), these buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[13][14]

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.,[15] 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.[2] It was modeled after Murfee's alma mater - Virginia Military Institute.[2] Although built as a military college, H. O. Murfee, MMI's second president, believed that Marion was destined to become the "American Eton."[16] 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.[17] 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.[17] 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.[18]

The U.S. Army Early Commissioning Program was established at MMI in 1968 by Park Place.[2] In 1971, MMI became coeducational.[2] 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".[2] 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.[19] The United States District Court Southern District of Alabama ruled in the school's favor.[20] 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.[21]

MMI Chapel

President's House, Marion Institute, built 1912

The HQ of the Corps of Cadets after Alumni Weekend parade 2016

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.[17] A cadet lieutenant colonel command and control of headquarters and five companies of cadets as the battalion commander.[17] 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.[17] 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.[17]

Class A uniform rank insignia	Class B, C and ACU rank insignia	Cadet rank	Position
		Lieutenant Colonel	Battalion Commander
		Major	Battalion XO, S3 Honor Council Chair
		Captain	Company Commanders Battalion S1, S2, S4, S5
		First Lieutenant	Company XO Battalion Chaplain Organizational Commanders (White Knight, Swamp Fox, and Honor Guard, HQ Staff Assistant)
		Second Lieutenant	Platoon Leader
		Command Sergeant Major	Battalion Sergeant Major
		First Sergeant	Company First Sergeant
		Sergeant First Class	Platoon Sergeant
N/A		Staff Sergeant	Squad Leader Assistant S5
N/A		Sergeant	Team Leader
N/A		Corporal	Team Leader
N/A		Private First Class
N/A		Private
N/A	N/A	Private	New Recruits

MMI football team, the state champion of 1912

Marion Military Institute athletics is nicknamed "Tigers".[22] 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.[22] Currently, MMI has varsity teams for baseball, men's basketball, softball, tennis, cross country, and golf.[22] The school colors were originally pink and green when established, but they were changed to orange and black following Woodraw Wilson's appearance at the MMI convocation.[17] Marion adopted the tiger as the mascot in tribute to Princeton University.[17]

After 15 consecutive winning games, MMI men's basketball team made history to capture school's first ACCC Basketball Championships in 2015–2016 season.[23][24] 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.[25] 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.[26] In 2013, the school hired former MLB player Matt Downs as the head coach of the baseball team.[27] In 2016, Christopher Lawrence, former personal trainer of Javier Arenas and Kirani James, became the Marion's cross country coach.[28]

Marion Military Institute also had a football team, which captured the state championship in 1912.[29] 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.[30] In 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.[31]

Alabama Military Hall of Honor

16 individuals have been president of Marion Military Institute:[32]

No.	Portrait	Name	Term	Notes
1		J.T. Murfee	1887–1906	Former lieutenant colonel, CSA[33] First captain and standing 1st in VMI Class of 1853[34][33]
2		H.O. Murfee	1906–1919
3		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		Cato D. Glover	1958–1959	Admiral, USN (Ret.)
8	–	Paul B. Robinson	1959–1973
9		Draper Kauffman	1974–1976	Rear admiral, USN (Ret.)
10	–	Thomas H. Barfield	1976–1983	Major general, USA (Ret.) Class of 1935[8]
11	–	Clyde W. Spence	1983–1990	Major general, USA (Ret.) Class of 1946[8]
12	–	Joseph L. Fant III	1990–1994	Major general, USA (Ret.) Class of 1947[8]
13		Wayne T. Adams	1994–1998	Brigadier general, USMC (Ret.) Class of 1960[8]
		vacancy	1998–2000
14		Robert F. Foley	2000–2004	Lieutenant general, USA (Ret.) Medal of Honor recipient
15	–	James H. Benson	2004–2009	Colonel, USMC (Ret.)
16		David J. Mollahan	2009–present	Colonel, USMC (Ret.)

• Judson College

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Marion Military Institute.

• Official website
• Official athletics website