Two bills proposed in the state Senate last week could deeply impact Mississippi University for Women.
One calls for moving the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science to Mississippi State University. The other proposes closing three of the state’s public universities by 2028.
Under SB 2715, sponsored by District 43 Sen. Dennis DeBar, R-Leakesville, the State Board of Education would develop a plan to relocate the school by the 2026-2027 school year. The bill has been referred to the Senate Education Committee, which DeBar chairs.
The bill also would require the residential high school for gifted juniors and seniors to collaborate with Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District “as needed.”
Sen. Chuck Younger, R-Lowndes County who represents District 17, said he does not support relocating MSMS to MSU and is hopeful the bill will die in committee.
“We’re going to try to get our community behind this, and get this squashed as soon as possible,” Younger said.
Though he does not support the bill, he hopes it will open the conversation to providing more support to MSMS in the future.
“In my opinion, our community has not been a champion enough for MSMS,” Younger said. “We tend to forget about them, and shame on us. I think this will get our attention where we will not neglect them in the future.”
District 41 Rep. Kabir Karriem, D-Columbus, District 37 Rep. Andy Boyd and District 39 Rep. Dana McLean, both R-Columbus, all told The Dispatch they would also not support moving MSMS from the W campus.
Boyd said that as a father, he did not think relocating MSMS to a campus of nearly 20,000 students would be a good move.
“I would not be for that,” he said. “Think about a 15- or 16-year-old child on the Mississippi State University campus. As a parent, I would certainly be opposed to that.”
McLean, whose daughter graduated from MSMS in 2017, said she is “vehemently opposed to a proposed move to MSU.”
What environment is best?
MUW President Nora Miller said keeping MSMS on the W campus, which has housed the school since its opening in 1988, is very important to the university. With The W having a much smaller campus and student population, Miller said the school is well-equipped to keep MSMS students safe.
“We recognize which students are MSMS students, and we’re able to help keep them corralled and safe,” she told The Dispatch. “I think this is a really good environment for those students. When you think about SEC football Saturdays, I’d be very concerned if I were a parent having a 17-year-old dropped into that.”
MSU Vice President for Strategic Communications and Director of Public Affairs Sid Salter told The Dispatch the university has not influenced the relocation of MSMS. However, as the state’s highest-rated research university — as well as its science, technology, engineering and math resources — he believes MSU would make a suitable home for the residential high school if the legislature sees fit.
“We feel we have a great deal to offer both the students and the state of Mississippi were we to be tasked with operating that school,” he said. “But again, we have not done anything actively or quietly to precipitate that conversation.”
Salter said he is unsure about the viability of the bill, and called it an “attention-getting filing” that could be indicative of some legislative concern about the future of MUW.
He also pointed to a strong relationship between MSU and MUW.
“We are frequent and active partners with them,” Salter said. “President Miller has an excellent relationship with the MSU administration.”
Miller said the relationship between MUW and MSMS is strong, and the university is working closely with MSMS to determine how to address students’ needs while also supporting efforts to increase state funding to the school.
“We are very proud to have them on our campus,” she said. “We are in the early stages of our campus facilities master plan, doing a comprehensive look at it. That is also including facilities that MSMS currently uses and addressing their needs.”
SOCSD Director of Communications Haley Montgomery said that in the case of relocation, the district would value the opportunity to support MSMS.
“Although we can’t really make specific comments on a bill that is in the legislative process, the (SOCSD) regularly collaborates with other schools that are in close proximity to Oktibbeha County, including MSMS,” she said. “When schools pull from the same pool of students or resources, we value the opportunity to work with each other to serve our community.”
Closing universities?
Potentially losing MSMS may not be The W’s only problem in the legislature.
SB 2726, introduced by District 44 Sen. John Polk, R-Hattiesburg, and referred to the Universities and Colleges committee, proposes the Board of Trustees of the Institutions of Higher Learning select three state universities under its management to close by June 2028.
If passed, the IHL board will consider factors like enrollment data, federal aid and tuition rates, among others, to determine which schools will close. Upon closing the schools’ property and assets would be transferred to another state agency, political subdivision or sold to a nonprofit entity, the bill said.
MUW’s reported fall 2023 enrollment of 2,227 is in the bottom three among the state’s eight public universities, behind Delta State in Cleveland’s 2,716 and ahead Mississippi Valley State in Itta Bena’s 2,196 students.
Miller told The Dispatch the university has implemented several measures in an effort to increase enrollment numbers, including using a customer relation management system to strengthen communication between its office of admissions and potential students. MUW also acquires nearly 10,000 names from the ACT each year with a focus on counties and schools in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. She said the university has recently been organizing training for alumni volunteers interested in aiding recruitment.
A failed effort to change the co-ed university’s name to be more inclusive also sought to draw more students.
“We’re doing a lot of things,” she said. “We’re working with IHL and our sister institutions to try and find ways that we can provide efficiencies and cost savings. I think that may be the focus of the bill, to make sure that we’re all addressing that enrollment cliff, and that we’re trying to work together to help the state.”
Rep. Karriem told The Dispatch he had not had the chance to go through the bill yet, but his hope is that the state’s historically Black colleges and universities, of which Mississippi Valley State is one, would not be affected.
“Every time a conversation comes up like this, our HBCUs are always targeted,” he said. “I hope that won’t be the three that IHL would suggest. They already have a tough time getting equitable funding.”
Younger said he is displeased with the bill.
“(Sen. Polk) is another good friend of mine, and I think he’s catching a bunch of phone calls, texts and emails,” he said. “I hope neither (bill) gains traction, so we’re trying to make sure that they do not come out of committee. Hopefully we can make that happen.”
Managing Editor Zack Plair contributed to this report.
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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