McMurry University McMurry University , founded in 1923 , is a private co - educational university in Abilene , Texas . It is a liberal arts school offering forty - one majors in the fields of fine arts , humanities , social and natural sciences , education , business , and religion , and nine pre - professional programs , including pre - engineering , nursing , dentistry , medicine , pharmacy , veterinary , and law . McMurry is affiliated with the United Methodist church . McMurry has roughly 1 , 430 students . Methodist students comprise 27 percent of the student population . Ninety five percent of students are Texan . Minority groups make up approximately one - fourth of the student body . In the freshman class , 98 percent of students receive some financial aid . Fifty - three percent of students live on campus , and 75 percent of students are involved in at least one extracurricular activity . More than 80 percent of the faculty have earned a doctorate or other terminal degree in their field . McMurry is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools , the Texas Education Agency , the University Senate of the United Methodist Church , the National League for Nursing , and the Texas State Board of Nurse Examiners . McMurry has been recognized annually since 1996 by U . S . News & World Report for quality and value in the Southwest division of third tier schools . Recent graduates have gained admission to graduate and professional schools at nationally prominent institutions , including Harvard , Yale , Princeton , Duke , Vanderbilt , SMU , Baylor , and the University of Texas . McMurry ' s honors program offers academic scholarships ranging up to full - tuition for four years to outstanding students . Indians mascot controversy . In late August 2005 , the National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) handed down a decision calling for the eighteen universities with Native American mascot s to change their names or obtain a waiver from their representative tribe for the use of the mascot name . The McMurry Indians were part of this list . The Indians nickname was chosen as a tribute to the University ' s first president , J . W . Hunt , who grew up on an Indian Reservation in the Indian Territory . On May 18 , 2006 , the NCAA rejected McMurry ' s appeal to keep their nickname . The school has chosen to appeal the ruling , and indicated their intention to do so by the June 18 , 2006 deadline . According to a press release , " the University ’ s appeal will be based on the arbitrariness of the NCAA ’ s decision - making process and the inconsistent results and messages that have come from the process . " Other schools , such as Florida State University , have made successful appeals by garnering the endorsement of Indian tribes . Although McMurry has not actively sought an endorsement , representatives from the Kaw , Kiowa , and Comanche tribes have voiced their approval of McMurry ' s mascot . In October 2006 , McMurry ' s Board of Trustees decided that the university would no longer use any names for its athletic teams . Citing the school ' s 83 - year history of honoring Native Americans , the school announced that in spite of no longer using names to designate athletic teams , the school traditions created to honor Native Americans will continue . The school ' s stadium has now been changed from Indian Stadium to Wilford Moore Stadium , as of Sunday May 13 , 2007 . Wilford Moore was the highest winning coach in McMurry football history . on March 11 , 2011 it was announced that McMurry University ' s athletic teams would be known as the War Hawks . The new mascot was chosen after a nearly year - long search to find a new mascot to replace the former Indian mascot , which had been taken away by the NCAA in 2006 . The war hawk is meant to represent pride , courage and fierce competition for McMurry ' s athletic teams . Athletics . McMurry ' s school colors are maroon and white . All teams play in the NCAA Division III American Southwest Conference . McMurry fields teams in 19 different intercollegiate sports . For the men , McMurry competes in baseball , basketball , cross country , football , golf , soccer , swimming , tennis and indoor and outdoor track and field . For the women , McMurry competes in basketball , cross country , golf , soccer , swimming , tennis , indoor and outdoor track and field and volleyball . McMurry University is transitioning to play in NCAA Division II . In July 2011 , McMurry announced that it had been accepted as candidate for D - II membership and would join the Heartland Conference in the fall of 2012 . This move will strengthen McMurry ' s cross - town rivalry with Abilene Christian University , a member of the D - II Lone Star Conference , while at the same time abandoning the cross - town rivalry with Hardin - Simmons University of the D - III American Southwest Conference . McMurry ' s first game of the 2012 football season is against the Abilene Christian Wildcats in Shotwell Stadium . Shotwell was also the venue 41 years earlier ( 1971 ) for the previous game between the two teams . That game , which Abilene Christian won 53 - 20 , was the last in an old rivalry which Abilene Christian leads 24 - 15 .