Commissioner of Higher Education for the State of
Mississippi Visits Alcorn State University
During his visit to Alcorn Dr. Meredith, Alcorn’s president,
Dr. Clinton Bristow, Jr., and Mr. Robert D. Gage, IV,
Chairman, Board of Directors ASU Foundation, Inc., discussed
and viewed ongoing efforts at Alcorn designed to transform
the institution into the educational epicenter of southwest
Mississippi and northeast Louisiana.
F
ollowing
the discussion and short question-and-answer session with
Vicksburg Post representatives,
Dr. Meredith toured new construction and renovation sites on
campus.
“I was amazed with the development. The campus is alive and
beautiful. Good things are happening here,” said Dr.
Meredith.

Dr. Clinton Bristow Jr., president of Alcorn, left, shows
the site for a new dining facility to Dr. Thomas C.
Meredith, commissioner of Higher Education, Thursday.
(Brian Loden • The Vicksburg Post)
Alcorn Changes ‘Amaze' College Board Boss
By
Elizabeth Grey, Vicksburg Post
http://www.vicksburgpost.com/articles/2006/08/11/news/news04.txt
[8/11/06]
LORMAN - The state commissioner of higher education was at Alcorn
State University Thursday to inspect several construction projects
under way at the main campus.
Dr. Thomas C. Meredith, who has been in the position since October
2005, visited with Dr. Clinton Bristow Jr., president of Alcorn, about
the progress of the institution and plans for the future.
“I'm amazed at what is going on here at Alcorn, beginning with the
four-lane road that leads to the campus on Mississippi 552,” Meredith
said.
“This campus is growing and good things are happening here,” he said.
Meredith is a former University of Mississippi vice chancellor. He was
hired from his job as director of the university system in Georgia.
He said his purpose in visiting the 1,700-acre campus was to get
reacquainted with Alcorn and this part of the state in a more detailed
fashion and to talk one-on-one with Bristow about the $25 million in
funds from the $517 million Ayers desegregation settlement.
Alcorn enrolls about 3,400 students and was the only one of the
state's three historically black institutions to have maintained
other-race enrollment of at least 10 percent for three consecutive
years. That benchmark was set in the settlement in order for any of
the state's historically black universities to receive a share of
settlement money from the litigation.
State-funded projects in progress at Alcorn include a state-of-the-art
Dining Commons, which will replace a 50-year-old dining facility; a
3-mile bicycle path that winds through campus and connects with the
bike path along Highway 552 and onto the Natchez Trace; and
construction of an ecology building, baseball complex, biotechnology
building and research center with the USDA's Agricultural Research
Service.
Other federally funded projects include the renovation of historic
buildings on campus such as the original president's home to house
different subject area offices and the Center for Multi-cultural
Education and International Affairs.
The first project scheduled for completion is the $12 million dining
hall, which is planned to be ready by August 2007.
“We
are working on becoming the educational epicenter of southwest
Mississippi and northeast Louisiana,” said Bristow, who is celebrating
his 10th year as president.
“We are transforming into a new university that focuses on science,
technology, engineering and mathematics. The growth is substantial,”
Bristow said.
It was Meredith's first trip to Alcorn since he took the post as
commissioner. “It's clear that anyone should be proud to be a student
here or a graduate of Alcorn State University,” Meredith said.