Alcorn to honor outstanding individuals and scholarship organization during annual Heritage Convocation
Alcorn to honor outstanding individuals and scholarship organization during annual Heritage Convocation
Alcorn State University’s 2013 Heritage Convocation honorees demonstrate the university’s commitment to its four pillars of excellence – academic, agricultural, athletic and access.
Set for Feb. 7, the convocation will also honor Alcorn’s Sounds of Dyn-O-Mite marching band.
“Heritage Convocation presents an opportunity to honor and recognize individuals and organizations whose extraordinary contributions strengthen and insure Alcorn’s legacy,” says President M. Christopher Brown II.
Marian Wright Edelman, the program’s keynote speaker, will receive the university’s Academic Heritage Award. The first African-American woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar and lifelong civil rights activist, Wright founded the Children’s Defense Fund in 1973 and serves as its CEO. Through the Children’s Defense Fund, Alcorn has operated a Freedom School, an academic program that serves children in Southwestern Mississippi.
Pearlie S. Reed, former assistant secretary for administration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will receive the Agricultural Heritage Award. During his nearly 40-year career with the USDA, Reed served in four states and Washington, D.C., and worked with the agency’s Conservation Service. An Arkansas native, Reed worked with Alcorn over the years and served as its keynote speaker at the Small Farmer’s Conference in 2010.
Alcorn’s legendary basketball coach Davey L. Whitney will be honored with the Athletic Heritage Award. During his tenure with the university, Whitney worked passionately with students, repeatedly demonstrating his commitment to producing and developing scholarly athletes with intellectual acuity, kinesthetic acumen and civic gravitas while exemplifying the university’s tradition of athletic excellence.
Over the years, the Tom Joyner Foundation has helped Alcorn students. Founded in 1998 and named for the famed, nationally syndicated radio host, the foundation has supported more than 25,000 students attending historically black colleges and universities across the country.
The 2013 Heritage Convocation will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Feb. 7 at the historic Oakland Memorial Chapel. Webcast live, the free event is open to the public. For more information, call 601-877-6130 or visit www.alcorn.edu .
