LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

Alcorn State University is truly a special place. It is a place that can be easily characterized as embodying rich traditions, a storied legacy, and a continued commitment to serving as a beacon of opportunity to the underserved and underrepresented members of its community. On July 1, 2019, I became the 20th and first female President in the University’s nearly 150-year history. As a 1996 alumnus and legacy graduate of Alcorn, I understand, first-hand, the impact and the personal transformation that is the Alcorn experience. It made me whom I am today. In as much, I enthusiastically assumed the helm of this great university filled with a keen sense of pride and purpose, while also understanding my role in charting a path for the future. What I also recognized is that the glass ceiling was shattered for the 67 percent of our students and countless alumni, who until this moment had never experienced a representative in this seat. For this, I commend Commissioner Alfred Rankins, the 19th President, and the IHL Board for having the foresight, recognizing that Alcorn State University was prepared and ready to step into the future with boldness and ready to lead in the higher education landscape. Thus far, my tenure has been unconventional. What began as a typical academic year, abruptly changed in Spring of 2020 from in-person classroom instruction and traditional campus life to online learning and extraordinary measures to keep COVID-19 at bay. Although COVID-19 has continued to impact campus operations, I am pleased to report that few schools rose to the occasion as successfully as Alcorn State University. Even as we faced down the challenges that COVID-19 brought, we never stopped moving forward, thanks to the extraordinary efforts and resiliency of our students, faculty, and staff while keeping our community safe.

With support from the Woodward Hines Foundation, we began the development of this strategic plan in December 2020. The process was designed to capture the collective voices of students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community partners in an intentional effort to anticipate Alcorn’s unique contributions to the higher education landscape now and into the future. That effort assessed what we have accomplished since the 2009–2019 strategic plan, refined areas of strategic focus based on changing trends and needs in Mississippi and in higher education broadly, and inventoried and evaluated opportunities and challenges. The result is a set of distinctive strengths we aspire to have achieved by the year 2026. This strategic plan identifies five goals and thirty-four strategies that will drive us closer to achieving those distinctions. A lot has changed over the University’s 150 years as the nation’s oldest public historically black land-grant institution. However, our commitment to excellence in teaching and engaging in research, discovery, and innovation to deliver a high-quality, globally relevant, and affordable education for the people of our state and beyond—remains resolute. As we embark on the next 150 years, it is vitally important that our collective vision and our bold goals for the future set the framework for how we will continue to serve the 21st-century needs of our community, our state, our nation, and our world. Alcorn has been transforming the way the world lives, thinks, and learns since 1871. This plan positions us to do that for the next 150 years. It is our legacy. And it is our destiny. I look forward to sharing this journey with you. Because the Alcorn State University 2021–2026 Strategic Plan is our collective vision for excellence, I implore you to do your part in learning more, teaching more, doing more, and giving more—because “We Are Alcorn!”

Sincerely,

20th President