10/19/2006 - Jackson, Miss.

During its regular monthly meeting, the Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) voted unanimously to name the new student cafeteria at Alcorn State University in honor of its beloved President, the late Dr. Clinton Bristow, Jr. The new student cafeteria is currently under construction and is expected to be completed in late 2007.

“President Bristow was an extraordinary individual who was deeply committed to Alcorn State, and especially to the lives of his students,” said Commissioner of Higher Education Dr. Thomas C. Meredith. “I am pleased Dr. Bristow’s legacy will be honored on campus."

Dr. Clinton Bristow, Jr., 57, was named President of Alcorn State University on August 24, 1995. During his nearly eleven years as university president, Dr. Bristow was committed to increasing the percentage of minority students attending graduate and professional school, as well as increasing the public’s awareness and appreciation of the value of land-grant institutions. Under Dr. Bristow’s leadership, Alcorn State was the first and only of Mississippi’s historically black institutions to receive Ayers endowment dollars for its success in the area of diversity enrollment. Founded in 1871, Alcorn State University is the nation’s oldest public land-grant institution.

In other news, the Board heard presentations by Dr. David S. Spence, President of the Southern Regional Education Board, and Dr. Daniel Jones, Vice Chancellor of the University of Mississippi Medical Center. The Board also attended the dedication of the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s new University Hospital, the fourth and final hospital in the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s replacement of the original teaching hospital that opened in 1955.

“The University of Mississippi Medical Center has a unique mission in Mississippi’s system of higher education,” said Dr. D.E. Magee, Jr., President of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning. “Its primary charge—to train health professionals for Mississippi—demands that it provide what it teaches, and that is exemplary health care."

The next regular meeting of the Board of Trustees will be held Wednesday, November 15, 2006.

Under the leadership of the Board of Trustees, IHL governs the public universities in Mississippi, including Alcorn State University; Delta State University; Jackson State University; Mississippi State University including the Mississippi State University Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine; Mississippi University for Women; Mississippi Valley State University; the University of Mississippi including the University of Mississippi Medical Center; and the University of Southern Mississippi.

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