Formerly “Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College”
At the beginning of the first Mississippi A&M football season in November 1895, students voted to allow the captain of the team, W.M. Matthews, to select the colors of the team uniforms. Matthews immediately chose maroon and white. This combination proved to be a popular one, so maroon and white became the college’s colors.
Citations in the World Almanac (listed by cover date; color information is from the previous year): maroon/white (1897-1935)
To avoid duplicating the hood assigned to Lafayette College (maroon with a white chevron), the Intercollegiate Bureau of Academic Costume (IBAC) assigned Mississippi A&M College a white hood lining with a maroon chevron, probably in the late 1890s. This description first appeared in a 1927 Intercollegiate Bureau list, and did not change in subsequent lists from the IBAC.