Facts about the Decade of 1880s
 

1881 – Julia Augustus Allard was the first woman student.

1884 – Colonel James Lufkin McCaskill was elected president of the Alumni Association.

1885 – Sarah McGehee was appointed first woman faculty member. Oxford was selected as the name for the city over Mississippi City by one vote from the Legislature. Sallie Vick Hill became first woman graduate from the University and first woman elected to a position of responsibility (essayist) in the Alumni Association.

1886 – First alumni banquet held. Professor Edward Mayes, former treasurer and first vice president of the Alumni Association, elected chairman of the faculty and chancellor of the University.

1887 – Bishop Charles Betts Galloway was elected president of the Alumni Association.

1888 – Dr. Fredrick A.P. Barnard wrote John W. Johnson a lengthy letter recalling his memorable experiences at the University before the Civil War. The old library (now Ventress Hall) built. 

1889 – Oxford Delta Gamma alumnae and the Alumni Association agreed to unite to raise funds for a memorial window to be placed in the new library under construction. Cornerstone for library laid.