| Resilience |
| Hurricane Katrina |
 |
| On August 29, 2005, the most powerful natural disaster in the history of the United States, Hurricane Katrina, devastated the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and The University of Southern Mississippi was not spared. |
| With Southern Miss facilities washed away on some sites, and damage to other Gulf Coast sites and the Hattiesburg campus, the historic Friendship Oak on the Gulf Park campus survived to overlook the devastation of the three historic buildings on the gulf front campus. The Gulf Coast faculty and staff were led by Associate Provost Dr. Pat Joachim and reopened classes in only six weeks. Miraculously, a renovated former hospital facility took shape to open as the Southern Miss Gulf Coast Student Service Center. In all, the University suffered an estimated $290 million in losses and damages from the storm. |
| More than 120 faculty and staff had completely lost their homes, and yet, the Southern Miss family came together to begin repair and rebuild classrooms and function. Nothing became more important. Lives were devastated, and The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast was determined to rebound and restore for the betterment of the coastal communities. |
| Southern Miss students, faculty, staff and alumni have emerged from Katrina's wrath with their resolve intact. At the beginning of the spring 2006 semester, the University began offering classes on the reopened Gulf Park campus in Long Beach. In 2011 historic restoration for damage caused by Hurricane Katrina began on Hardy Hall and Lloyd Hall, and a new construction project began for the Science Building. Repairs and renovations began in 2012 to Elizabeth Hall, and the Gulf Coast celebrated the completion of the historic restoration of Hardy Hall and Lloyd Hall with a ribbon-cutting ceremony March 30, 2013. |
| As plans emerge for the institution's future on the Gulf Coast, the Southern Miss community remembers that Monday in August 2005 when Katrina hit. The University of Southern Mississippi remains firmly committed to the people of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. |
| Â |
| February 10, 2013 Tornado |
 |
| On Sunday, February 10, 2013, an EF-4 tornado ripped through Hattiesburg, devastating more than 700 homes in Forrest and Lamar counties and causing significant damage to the southern edge of the Southern Miss campus. |
| One music building, the Jazz Station, was completely destroyed, while seven other structures received significant damage. One of the buildings that received heavy destruction was the Ogletree Alumni House, an iconic landmark at the front of campus that was built in 1912 to serve as the president's home. Most of the devastation to the facility occurred on its southeast side, where the roof and walls were blown away, and the front columns, bricks and windows at the front of the building were also severely damaged. The Mannoni Performing Arts Center and Fine Arts Building had several broken windows, water damage in classrooms and roof destruction, while the newly renovated Marsh Hall experienced some damage to its wood flooring. |
| Just three hours after the tornado ripped through the Pine Belt, a group of nearly 1,000 students came together on Facebook to discuss how they could help get Southern Miss back up and running. Because of a previously scheduled, two-day Mardi Gras holiday, many students were not on campus when the storm hit, but that didn't stop hundreds of them from planning their recovery efforts from afar and returning to help. |
| The tornado presented Southern Miss with some difficult challenges, but the campus community stepped up to overcome each obstacle, proving that those associated with the University are resilient. |
| April 15, 2013, the USM Foundation announced a comprehensive landscaping plan to restore the southern edge of the University's Hattiesburg campus and a Campus Beautification Campaign to generate private funds to help address the cost of the plan. To kick-start the Campus Beautification Campaign, the Southern Miss Alumni Association provided a $100,000 contribution, and on May 7, 2013, five mature oak trees, measuring 40-feet high by 40-feet wide, were planted to kick off the first phase of the landscaping plan. |
