Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU, The Valley or Valley) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

historically black university in Mississippi Valley State, Mississippi, adjacent to

Itta Bena, Mississippi Itta Bena is a city in Leflore County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 2,049 at the 2010 census. The town's name is derived from the Choctaw phrase ''iti bina'', meaning "forest camp". Itta Bena is part of the Greenwood, Mississipp ...

.Location
, Mississippi Valley State University. Retrieved on April 5, 2012. MVSU is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

History

The institution, which opened in 1950, was created by the

Mississippi Legislature The Mississippi Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The bicameral Legislature is composed of the lower Mississippi House of Representatives, with 122 members, and the upper Mississippi State Senate, with 52 m ...

as Mississippi Vocational College. The legislation to form the institution was signed into law by Governor Thomas L. Bailey on April 5, 1946. On February 10, 1950, Governor Fielding L. Wright served as the main speaker at the opening ceremony. The legislature anticipated that legal segregation of public education was in danger because there were increasing challenges to it through legal suits (in 1954 it was declared unconstitutional in the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

's decision in '' Brown v. Board of Education''). It created this institution in the hopes that it would attract

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

applicants who might otherwise apply to Mississippi's premier whites-only institutions: the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi ( byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment ...

, Mississippi State University, and the

University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to a ...

. State leaders hoped that founding separate institutions of higher learning for Mississippi's black population would reduce the pressure to integrate the state's premier universities. To attract the support of those who opposed any government action to provide higher education to black people, those proposing creation of M.V.C. used the term "vocational" to imply that the institution's main purpose would be to train black people to take on blue-collar jobs. The site selection committee appointed by the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning had originally selected as a site the former Greenwood Army Air Base, which had many facilities ready for use and thus would have been a very cost-effective choice. The '' Greenwood Commonwealth'' celebrated the choice. However, residents of

Carroll County, Mississippi Carroll County is a county in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,998. Its county seats are Carrollton and Vaiden. The county is named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last surviving signatory of ...

objected to having the institution located near their properties. After further study, the committee selected a site in Itta Bena. Whites of that town also objected to having a black institution nearby, so the final site chosen was away from the downtown area, and on land that was not good for cultivation. In 1964, Mississippi Vocational College was renamed Mississippi Valley State College. In February 1969, a nonviolent student boycott, which included eight hundred students, male and female, was organized to protest President James Herbert White's administration. The students demanded required courses in black history, more library purchases of works by black writers, remedial courses in English and Math, scheduling of prominent black speakers, and fewer curfew restrictions. In the early 1970s,

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life ...

leaders continued to protest the inequalities in higher education opportunities offered to whites and blacks in Mississippi. In an effort to defuse some of the criticism, Gov.

Bill Waller William Lowe Waller Sr. (October 21, 1926 – November 30, 2011) was an American politician and attorney. A Democrat, Waller served as the Governor of Mississippi from 1972 to 1976. Born near Oxford, Mississippi to a farming family, Walle ...

proposed changing the names of three black institutions from "colleges" to "universities". Thus, in 1974, the institution was renamed again, as Mississippi Valley State University. Following President White, Dr. Ernest A. Boykins, Jr. took office in July 1971. Dr. Joe L. Boyer became MVSU's third president in January 1982 and was followed by Dr. William W. Sutton in July 1988. Dr. Lester C. Newman became the fifth president of MVSU on July 1, 1998. Dr. Donna H. Oliver became MVSU's sixth president and first female president on January 1, 2009. On November 6, 2013, Dr. William Bynum took office as MVSU's seventh president. In May 2017, Bynum departed MVSU to become president of Jackson State University. Dr. Jerryl Briggs, who served as executive vice president and chief operating officer in Bynum's administration, was named interim president of the university shortly afterwards. On October 19, 2017, Briggs was officially named as the university's eighth president. In a 1997 article in ''Innovative Higher Education'', the journalist

Dale Thorn Dale or dales may refer to: Locations * Dale (landform), an open valley * Dale (place name element) Geography ;Australia * The Dales (Christmas Island), in the Indian Ocean ;Canada * Dale, Ontario ;Ethiopia * Dale (woreda), district ;Norway * ...

describes MVSU's successful attempt to avoid a merger with another institution and to remain a separate entity. In 1998, the university renamed many of the buildings on campus, except for those named for white supremacist politicians Walter Sillers, Jr.,

Fielding Wright Fielding Lewis Wright (May 16, 1895May 4, 1956) was an American politician who served as the 19th Lieutenant Governor and 49th and 50th Governor of Mississippi. During the 1948 presidential election he served as the vice presidential nominee ...

, and J. H. White.

Campus

Mississippi_Valley_State_University_Sign_64MP

The campus is on a tract of land adjacent to U.S. Highway 82. It is in Mississippi Valley State

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, suc ...

, in unincorporated

Leflore County Leflore County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 32,317. The county seat is Greenwood. The county is named for Choctaw leader Greenwood LeFlore, who signed a treaty to cede his ...

, in the

Mississippi Delta The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yaz ...

region. It is northwest of Itta Bena. The university is about from Greenwood, about from Greenville, about north of Jackson, and about south of Memphis,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

. MVSU includes faculty and staff apartments and other residential apartments. Dependent children living in these units are within the

Greenwood-Leflore School District Greenwood-Leflore Consolidated School District (GLCSD) is a school district serves Greenwood, Mississippi and the rest of Leflore County. It was established on July 1, 2019, as a merger of the Greenwood Public School District and the Leflore Co ...

. These apartments were formerly served by the

Leflore County School District The Leflore County School District (LCSD) was a public school district headquartered in Greenwood, Mississippi, United States. The district served areas in Leflore County outside of the City of Greenwood, including the city of Itta Bena, the tow ...

. Effective July 1, 2019 this district consolidated into the Greenwood-Leflore School District.

Academics

Mississippi Valley State University offers undergraduate and graduate degrees through the following entities: *College of Art & Sciences *College of Professional Studies *College of Education *Graduate School MVSU offers an

honors program Honors colleges and honors programs are special accommodation constituent programs at public and private universities – and also public two-year institutions of higher learning – that include, among other things, supplemental or alternati ...

to better cater to high-achieving undergraduate students on campus. MVSU was accredited in 1968 by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award bachelor's and master's degrees.

Student activities

Activities include theater, orchestra, and band. Students may work on the ''Delvian'' (yearbook) or the ''Delta Devil Gazette'' (student-run newspaper). Leadership opportunities are found in the Student Government Association (SGA) or other organizations such as English Club, Future Teachers of America, and Trades and Industries Club. NPHC Greek-letter organizations *

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen s ...

sorority, Epsilon Pi chapter *

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved in ...

fraternity, Zeta Phi chapter *

Delta Sigma Theta Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emph ...

sorority, Eta Alpha chapter *

Iota Phi Theta Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. It was founded on September 19, 1963, at Morgan State University (then Morgan State College) in Baltimore, Maryland, and is currently the 5th largest Black Greek ...

fraternity, Eta Kappa chapter *

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never restricted membership on the basis of color, cree ...

fraternity, Zeta Zeta chapter *

Omega Psi Phi Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African-American fraternity. The fraternity was founded on November 17, 1911, by three Howard University juniors Edgar Amos Love, Oscar James Cooper and Frank Coleman, and their faculty a ...

fraternity, Beta Theta chapter *

Phi Beta Sigma Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. on January 9, 1914, by three young Afr ...

fraternity, Delta Phi chapter *

Sigma Gamma Rho Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority, international collegiate, and non-profit community service organization that was founded on November 12, 1922, by seven educators on the Irvington campus (1875– ...

sorority, Kappa Chi chapter *

Zeta Phi Beta Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. In 1920, five women from Howard University envisioned a sorority that would raise the consciousness of their people, encourage the highest standards of scholastic ach ...

sorority, Psi Gamma chapter Non-NPHC Greek-letter organizations *

Alpha Phi Omega Alpha Phi Omega (), commonly known as APO, but also A-Phi-O and A-Phi-Q, is a coeducational service fraternity. It is the largest collegiate fraternity in the United States, with chapters at over 350 campuses, an active membership of over 25, ...

service fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Phi chapter * Gamma Sigma Sigma service sorority, Zeta Psi chapter * Alpha Phi Sigma national criminal justice honor society, Zeta Tau chapter. * Kappa Kappa Psi national honorary band fraternity, Delta Pi chapter * Tau Beta Sigma national honorary band sorority, Gamma Eta chapter

Mean Green Marching Machine

Mississippi Valley State University's marching band is known as the "Mean Green Marching Machine" (also goes by the moniker of "The Mack Of The SWAC") and the "Satin Dolls" are the featured dance squad. The band holds the distinction of being the first African-American band to participate in the Tournament of Roses parade, which it achieved in 1965.

Athletics

MVSU's colors are

forest green At right is displayed the color forest green. ''Forest green'' refers to a green color said to resemble the color of the trees and other plants in a forest. This web color, when written as computer code in HTML for website color display ...

and

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

. Their nickname is the Delta Devils for men's teams and Devilettes for women's teams. MVSU sports teams participate in NCAA Division I (I-AA for football) in the

Southwestern Athletic Conference The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a collegiate athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southern United States. It participates in ...

(SWAC). Famous alumni include NFL wide receiver

Jerry Rice Jerry Lee Rice (born October 13, 1962) is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. Known primarily as a member of the San Francisco 49ers, winning three champion ...

of the 1984 football team. The Mississippi Valley State University Department of Athletics currently sponsors intercollegiate: Women's *Basketball *Cross country *Golf *Track *Soccer *Volleyball *Softball *Bowling Men's *Basketball *Cross country *Golf *Track *Baseball *Football *Tennis In

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal en ...

, the men's basketball team received a 16 seed in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. There, they faced #1 ranked

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are r ...

on national television in the first round. The Delta Devils almost became the first 16 seed to beat a 1 seed in NCAA Tournament history. They forced 23 turnovers and led 40–37 at the half before falling 85–78. In 2016, MVSU completed $17.5 million worth of renovations to the Harrison HPER Complex. The 87,042 square foot multi-purpose arena is home to MVSU men's basketball, women's basketball, volleyball, and commencement ceremonies. The facility includes features such as fitness centers, an indoor walking track, and three technology HPER classrooms.

WVSD 91.7 FM

MVSU's on-campus public radio station is WVSD 91.7 FM. The station offers a variety of programming involving MVSU, current events, and music.

Notable alumni

References

External links

* {{coord, 33.51256, -90.342422, display=inline, title, type:edu Public universities and colleges in Mississippi Historically black universities and colleges in the United States Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Education in Leflore County, Mississippi Buildings and structures in Leflore County, Mississippi Educational institutions established in 1950 1950 establishments in Mississippi