The headline on this story is that the three campuses would merge and operate under the Jackson State name and administrative oversight. Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour says that the potential merger will allow the campuses to remain open while helping to stave off a $300 million budget shortfall.
So, you’re wondering why this news appears on the HBCU Sports Blog? Because it means the athletic teams at Alcorn and the Valley would be eliminated.
The governor’s office said it’s to early to say if the schools names will change, but they will all be run by Jackson State’s president. Also the sports teams at Alcorn and Mississippi Valley would be disbanded with JSU’s athletic program remaining.
Depressing to say the least. But even more depressing is the swift and vehement response from the alumni associations of these schools.
“The Alcorn State University National Alumni Association will vehemently oppose any proposal that will include the merger of our beloved Alcorn State University,” said ASU National Alumni Association president James McDonald.”We will fight against merger and closure and will work to secure the funding and support necessary to keep it independent and healthy while honoring its mission,” said Friends of the W….
State Sen. David Jordan, D-Greenwood, who graduated from Valley, said he was appalled that the governor would recommend any sort of consolidation involving that university.
“No way. I’m against it,” Jordan said. “I will fight the governor tooth and nail on this issue. It’s the only full four-year university in the Delta….”
It begs the question: why is it not important to aggressively pursue funding and support until the school is on the brink of non-existence? Maybe the alumni and supporters have worked to sustain the budgets of these institution over the years, but from an athletic perspective, they obviously haven’t worked hard enough. Alcorn State should be the last program to stir for action; the Braves were prominently featured on ESPN as an example of what happens to collegiate athletics without the love and money of alumni and community supporters.
Valley and Alcorn combined last year made about $3 million more than Jackson State alone in athletic revenues. When it comes to recruitment and enrollment, no vehicle is more powerful for any institution than sports. In this sense, Valley and Alcorn have been the proverbial Cadillacs sitting in the front yard for quite some time.
No one with any sense of history and allegiance to higher education for African-Americans wants this to happen. Each of these schools has earned the right to exist freely and to create opportunities for those who step in their corridors of culture and learning. But in lean economic times, right or wrong, any business has to justify earnings and losses to support its right to operate.
And of these three schools, Alcorn and Valley have not been wise stewards of their biggest money-making ventures of collegiate athletics.
