Miami University was first provided for under the Northwest Ordinance, which would regulate the free states of the Midwest. On May 5, 1792, "the President of the United States was authorized to grant letters patent to John Cleves Symmes and his associates . . . provided that the land grant should include one complete township . . . for the purpose of establishing an academy and other public schools and seminaries of learning. After Ohio became a state in 1803, the State legislature assumed responsibility for making sure that John Cleves Symmes would set aside a township of land for the support of an academy. Such a law was passed by the State legislature April 15, 1803. . . . Finally, on February 17, 1809, the State legislature created Miami University and provided that one complete township in the State of Ohio in the district of Cincinnati was to be vested in Miami University for its use, benefit, and support."* This was known as the "College Township".



Miami was chartered by the government, but was considered a private college engaged in classical training. Antebellum Miami University took students from all over the West, and was known as the "Yale of the Early West". It was at one point the 4th largest university in the United States after Harvard, Yale, and Dartmouth. As the East-West rivalries subsided, but the North-South rivalries surged, Miami University split apart at the time of the Civil War. Most graduates volunteered for the Union, more than any other school except the military academies. The majority of those that didn't, primarily from Southern states (such as Jefferson Davis' nephew) volunteered in the Confederate armies. Because its students had left for war, because many alumni and professors died in the War, because the West opened up to other universities, and because Southern families no longer sent their sons to the North for an education, "Old Miami" passed on and Miami University nearly died. The university, unable to pay its huge debts, closed in 1873 and did not reopen until 1885.

With the help of alumni and Ohio legislators, "New Miami" was restarted as a coeducational school of education and liberal arts. Although Ohio State University had been launched in the interim, Miami University gained a fair share of Ohio students by the 1890s, and by the 1950s had massively grown. The rural Oxford campus with Georgian architecture is considered to be similar to Thomas Jefferson's University of Virginia campus and one of the most beautiful in the U.S; Robert Frost once called it "the prettiest campus there ever was." *


Several women's colleges in Oxford were associated with or effectively merged with Miami University including Oxford College and the Western College for Women (now the Western College Program), a daughter school of Mount Holyoke. Miami University was coeducational long before most schools in the Ivy League. Miami has been a non-sectarian school as were other pioneer universities in the Midwest, though its early leaders were often Presbyterians. Miami University's current enrollment is approximately 15,000 undergraduates and 1,400 graduate students. In addition to its Oxford campus, Miami has additional campuses in Hamilton and Middletown, Ohio, and a European Center in Luxembourg.

Miami University is known around the Greek World for the Miami Triad, three fraternities founded in the 19th century that spread throughout the United States, and is called "Mother of Fraternities." These were Beta Theta Pi (1839), Sigma Chi (1855), and Phi Delta Theta (1848). The Delta Zeta sorority was also founded at Miami University in 1902 as was the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity in 1906. Alpha Delta Phi was the first fraternity to arrive on campus in 1833.

In 2004, the Oxford campus theoretically abolished tuition differentials between state residents and nonresidents (all Ohio residents receive an automatic scholarship). This effort was undertaken to make Miami more affordable to moderate-income families in Ohio by giving the university more flexibility in the disbursement of state funds. As of the 2004–05 academic year, all students pay tuition of over $19,000 per year; Ohio resident scholarships are $10,000 or more depending upon financial need, extraordinary ability, talent in mathematics or science, or declared interest in teaching. *

Miami Glee Club singing the Miami Alma Mater

Old Miami from thy hillcrest,

Thou hast watched the decades roll,

While thy sons have quested from thee,

Sturdy hearted, pure of soul.

Old Miami! New Miami!

Days of old and days to be;

Weave the story of thy glory,

Our Miami, here's to thee!

Miami University has a rich history of intercollegiate athletics and today fields a Division I (I-A for football) athletic program in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) East Division. There are men's sports teams for baseball, basketball, cross country, football, ice hockey, swimming and diving, and track and field. For women, Miami offers basketball, cross country, field hockey, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, volleyball, synchronized ice skating, track and field, and tennis. Though not the proper way to refer to the school, Miami is sometimes referred to as Miami of Ohio or Miami (OH) to distinguish it from the University of Miami in Florida*. Miami is well known among the sports world for its reputation as the Cradle of Coaches and is one of only 13 schools in the nation to have a Division 1-A football team as well as Divsion 1 basketball and hockey team.

Miami historically has had some of the highest graduation rates of student-athletes in the NCAA, second only to Navy. Football and Ice Hockey are the most popular according to the student body. Miami is a member of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA). Fred C. Yager Stadium is the main football facility on the Oxford campus.

Miami has two college sports rivalries; one with the University of Cincinnati called the 'Battle for the Victory Bell' and another with Ohio Bobcats called the 'Battle of the Bricks'.

Miami and the University of Cincinnati square off each fall for the famed Victory Bell. The original bell hung in Miami's Harrison Hall (Old Main) near the site of the first football game in 1888 and was used to ring in Miami victories. The traveling trophy tradition began in the 1890's when some Cincinnati fans "borrowed" the bell. The bell went to the winner of the annual game for the next 40 years until it mysteriously disappeared in the 1930's. The original bell reappeared in 1946 and is on display in the lobby of the Murstein Alumni Center in Oxford. The current trophy is a replica of the original bell and is kept in the possession of the winning team each year. One side of the bell is painted red and black and shows Cincinnati's victories while the other side is red and white and shows Miami's victories. Miami leads the series 59-44-7 and has won three of the last four games.

The Miami-Cincinnati series ranks fifth on the list of the most played rivalries in college football and the oldest rivalry west of the Allegheny Mountains. Of the more than 30 rivalries that include at least 89 games, none are older than Miami vs. Cincinnati.

The Battle of the Bricks is an annual all-sports rivalry competition between the Ohio Bobcats and the Miami RedHawks athletic programs. The name "Battle of the Bricks" evolved from each school's reputation of a pristine campus of red brick buildings. Each varsity athletic competition in which the Bobcats and RedHawks meet including tournament play is counted as part of the years series record. At the conclusion of each academic year, the school with the most varsity wins takes the trophy back to their campus for the following year.

On October 2006, Miami's NCAA Hockey team christened the Steve "Coach" Cady Arena at the Goggin Ice Center, a sparkling $34 Million Hockey arena seating 4,000 spectators. The old arena was opened in 1976, and closed in mid-2006, giving way to the new arena.

The 1991 film Little Man Tate with Jodie Foster was largely filmed on the Oxford campus.

The replacement value of just the buildings alone on the Oxford campus is valued at $1.3 billion (2005)

Miami's first two residence halls, Elliott and Stoddard Halls, are modelled after Yale University's Connecticut Hall built in 1750. They were originally named North and South Halls. Phi Delta Theta was founded in Elliot Hall

Over the years, Miami has absorbed two women's colleges located in Oxford: Oxford College and Western College for Women. During the 19th Century there were as many as five colleges in Oxford.

Miami University owns and operates a regional airport just west of Oxford to accommodate visitors, prospective families, and usage of the university airplane.

The Miami Student claims to be the oldest university newspaper being established in 1826 although Dartmouth College's student newspaper contests this claim as being the oldest college newspaper.