A young 41 himself, Dr. Joe Boyer is the new President of the nation's youngest Black college. Dr. ]oe L. Boyer
Brother Joe L. Boyer has been elected President of Mississippi Valley State University, the nation's youngest historically Black institution of higher learning. Located in Itta Bena, Mississippi, MVSU was created by an act of the Mississippi legislature in 1946, opening for service to students in the summer of 1950. In 1964, the school was renamed Mississippi Valley State College; and was elevated to university status ten years later, in 1974. 1 oe Boyer is the 41 year old son of Reverend and Mrs. C. L. Boyer, Sr. of Eatonville, Florida. He is the sixth of eight children who graduated from the - J Robert Hungerford High School. He attended the Tennessee A & I State University in Nashville and was graduated, with honors, in 1962. He, along with each of his four brothers and two sisters, is a first generation college graduate of the Boyer-Williams family.
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Upon graduation from Tennessee State, Joe joined the faculty of Stillman College at Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where he remained for seven years. He had the responsibility of developing the instrumental music program and assisting with the establishment of a music education major. During his tenure at Stillman, Joe was promoted to Assistant Professor and, during his last year, served as music department chairperson. During the summers of 1964-67, he acquired a Master's degree from the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign, Illinois. It was during this time that he began formulating his philosophy of education while studying with B. O. Smith, Foster McMurray, Charles Leonhard and other educational philosophers of the John Dewey school of thought. In 1969, Joe attended the Ohio State University at Colum-
Mississippi Valley State University draws most of its students from the Mississippi Delta region, which has a large Black population.
The Sphinx / Spring 1982
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