School Chiefs Oppose Merging Black Universities
As the presidents of Mississippi’s eight public universities gathered for the monthly college board meeting Wednesday, the heads of the three historically black schools expressed unanimous opposition to merging the institutions into one.
“Mississippi needs historically black universities because we serve the traditionally underserved,” said Dr. Ronald Mason, Jackson State University president.
Mississippi Valley State’s Dr. Donna Oliver, on the job as president of that school for just 11 months, says, “I’m focused on making Mississippi Valley State the best university it can be for the students who choose to come there.”
“There are lots of questions that have to be answered,” says Alcorn State President Dr. George Ross.
He wants to know how much money a merger would really save.
“We have to examine costs, we have to have an explanation for the costs, I’m willing to have the conversation,” Ross said.
At the end of the conversation, Ross wants Alcorn State to remain independent.
“Alcorn is a proud university, the second oldest in the state, we serve citizens of southwest Mississippi as we’ve done for the past 138 years.”
JSU’s Mason doesn’t believe the proposed merger will get very far in the legislature.
“There’s a lot of reaction to it, but in the final analysis I think we’ll have eight universities in Mississippi.”
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Reader Reactions
Stan,
You are very misinformed. I am from Holmes County where the public schools are still segregated. White parents send their kids to the the private school in the area while black children attend the public schools.
They are referred to as Black Universities because they were established to educate African-Americans during a time when they were not permitted to attend schools like Ole Miss (gags) Also, the majority of the students that attend them are Black, as well as various ethnic groups. If you do not like what your tax dollars are used for, stop paying taxes or move to Antartica (I don’t think that there are Black people there).
It’s irrelevant because no one is talking about merging Delta State and Valley anymore. That’s not the merger that has people upset or that was proposed by the mayor. And that is bull about the two so called white schools. I ,among many people I know are extremely upset about merging MUW and MSU my best friend goes to MUW and my sister goes to MSU, and guess what we are all Black, and I go to Mississippi College. I’m not saying that you were bringing race into this. I was referring to everyone in general. I don’t want any of the school to merge, black or white. And about referring to the schools as black school, duh, that’s what they are. The schools were built with the intent to help give African Americans a higher education. But they aren’t saying that the schools are just for black people. I’m not trying to make a big fuss because I agree things shouldn’t be seen as black or white, and they should be just considered universities. And l feel that the UNIVERSITIES should not be merged.
It’s irrelevant because no one is talking about merging Delta State and Valley anymore. That’s not the merger that has people upset or that was proposed by the mayor. And that is bull about the two so called white schools. I ,among many people I know are extremely upset about merging MUW and MSU my best friend goes to MUW and my sister goes to MSU, and guess what we are all Black, and I go to Mississippi College. I’m not saying that you were bringing race into this. I was referring to everyone in general. I don’t want any of the school to merge, black or white. And about referring to the schools as black school, duh, that’s what they are. The schools were built to help with the intent to help give African Americans a higher education. But they aren’t saying that the schools are just for black people. I’m not trying to make a big fuss because I agree things shouldn’t be seen as black or white, and they should be just considered universities. I fill that the UNIVERSITIES should not be merged.
Why is the proposal from Flaggs irrelevant, He did propose mergers. As long as two predominantly white schools are asked to merge, no one cares, but let someone, (I guess other than Flaggs)propose predominantly black schools merge, it becomes racial.
As yes JSU , Alcorn and Valley want to be known as Black Universities. Every time one of their leaders speaks, they refers to their school as a predominantly black university. Why is it not just a University. Listen to one of your own spokesmen. (Charles Chiplin, adviser of JSU’s NAACP, “We resent the notion of our (Black Schools being asked to merge when the cuts aren’t affecting the major white universities. Do you ever hear a leader from State, Ole Miss or USM refer to their schools as white Universities, NO, just Universities. Now who do you think is bringing race into this issue.
I just had to say something. I am so tired of everyone turning everything into a racial situation. Did everyone forget that they are talking about merging MSU and MUW, which are predominantly white schools. And Stan, OMG, you are getting on my last nerve. The whole thing about Rep. Flaggs is irrelevant because he might have proposed the merging of Delta State and Valley, but that is no longer the case.
Rep. George Flaggs( who is black) was the first to propose the merger. He wanted Valley to merge with Delta State,Why don’t you get on him, or is easier to get on the white guy.
Wow, Tripout, You said a mouthful of nothing. I hope wherever you are from, noone knows who you are. Education is no joke. Whether it comes from the SWAC or the sec. Apparently you missed out on the education you once deserved. I will pray for you and those who think like you. God Bless You.
Wow! What a great idea! Haley Barbour is a great Governor and if he ever runs for President of the United States of America, he’s got my vote. I don’t really see what the big stink is all about anyway. They are all not really “real” universities anyway. These kids should go to good schools like the ones in the SEC. Jackson State and the rest of the SWAC schools are a joke.
This is at Stan. I’m sorry you feel this way and you are so infomationally incorrect. Do some research to see if MS has segregated schools. You will find the answer is no. Just like there are African American Students at Ole Miss, Miss State, and USM, there are Caucasian, Chinese, Japanese, Australian, etc. students at Alcorn, Jackson State, and Miss Valley State. In my opinion, if Gov. Barbour gave a flip about education, he would not have cut the education budget. Yes, times are hard; but if Barbour gets his way, times will get worse. Stan, if you don’t want your tax dollars going to help African Americans, you need to move somewhere where there are no African Americans. Oh guess what, there’s nowhere for you to go. We are even in Alaska and Iowa. We need to get a grip and focus on what’s really at hand (THE FUTURE OF EDUCATION IN MISSISSIPPI-NOT JUST BLACK EDUCATION OR WHITE EDUCATION; BUT ALL EDUCATION). BARBOUR, YOU GOTTA GO ANOTHER WAY TO SAVE MONEY. YOU ARE STEPPING IN THE WRONG PILE.
Stan, you are so false Between Jackson State and Alcorn their are a lot of white people that attend these schools. So these schools are not segregated at all. White people get FULL scholarship to attend historically black universities and black students do not get full scholarships to attend USM, MSU, or Ole Miss. I can guarantee that USM, MSU, and Ole Miss football programs are filled with black players. This is not right nor is it fair, that our schools get merged.
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