Rate this HBCU Day 21: Mississippi Valley State University

[DrBanneker]

Yesterday we covered the small but mighty Paul Quinn College which received an average score of 7.

We head down to the Delta for our next HBCU, we visit Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU) the second newest in the country following the University of the Virgin Islands that we previously covered. It was proposed in 1946 by White Mississippi legislators (particularly state senator SH Kyle, a Delta landowner) as a vocational college to train tradesmen and teachers to make the relationship between races in the Delta more 'harmonious'. It had to change proposed locations several times due to local White NIMBY hostility. Also, probably unique as HBCU founding stories go, by 1950 when it was founded, the Mississippi legislature had another aim--creating a school that would attract Black students so they would not apply to White schools that were increasingly concerned about a threat to legal segregation in schooling (which happened with Brown v. Board in 1954). A testament to these origins are buildings on campus that stay named after racist, arch-segregationst politicians--most notoriously Walter Sillers, Jr., an open White nationalist regarded as one of the most racist politicians in the state's history.

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Basic data (all data 2021 unless otherwise noted)

Founded: 1950

City, State: Itta Bena, MS

Type: 4-year, Public

Nickname: Delta Devils

Enrollment and percent Black enrollment: 2,064 (1,714 undergraduate), 87% Black

Out of State Percentage: 37%

Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 12:1

Admissions Acceptance Rate: 79%

4-yr/6-yr/8-yr graduation rates: 19% / 32% / 53%

Transfer out rate: 21%

Male/Female percentages (Female:Male Ratio): 42% male / 58% female (1.4:1)

Tuition: In-State and Out-of-State: $7.1k ("No fee at the V" for out of state students)

Median Debt After Graduation: $30,131
Median Earning 10-Years after 10 years from freshman year: $29,502

Median Earnings for specific majors after 3 years after graduation:
Business Administration: $27k, Education: $27k, Criminal Justice: $25k

Top Majors by Degrees:
Education, Business Administration, Sport and Fitness Administration/Management, Biology, Liberal Arts, Criminal Justice

Endowment: $2-4M

Alumni Engagement:

Athletic Conference: Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) (NCAA Div 1)

Mascot: Delta Devil

Notable Alumni:

Jerry Rice: Hall of Fame wide receiver, spent most of his career with the 49ers

Katie Hall: former US Congresswoman from Indiana

Brigadier General Ronald Kirklin: Former Quartermaster General and Commandant of the Quartermaster School at Fort Lee, Virginia

Main Campus

Department of Business Administration

Rice-Totten Stadium

MVSU Mean Green Marching Machine

Satin Dolls

Miss MVSU

@Tenchi Ryu @Motife43

@SupaVillain @Tug life @Idaeo @get these nets @Smokee Robinson @MostReal @Tee @Bryan Danielson @Rollie Forbes @Willie Lump Lump @staticshock @Charlie Hustle @Karume @BigAggieLean. @Optimus Prime @How Sway? @DropTopDoc @TheKongoEmpire @Son_Of_God @Theolodius_Black @mson @xoxodede @Anerdyblackguy @EndDomination @ab.aspectus

 

[GoAggieGo.]

Always get them and the Delta State fighting okra mixed up lol, even though DSU is a PWI.

Don’t know much about this school, except they helped produce one of the greatest NFL players of all time, and they’re in the Mississippi Delta. Grew up in the Sipp, but never went on that side of the state. In the middle of nowhere. Closest city has to be Jackson or Memphis.

Takes a little longer, but they graduate students at a decent clip. No out of state fees is a good thing, and the 7.1k isn’t bad at all.

I remember during the celebration bowl 3 years ago, I ran into a couple that went there here in Atlanta. Husband had a nice Valley jacket on.

 

[Charlie Hustle]

A alumni of mine is currently the head band director there helping them rebuild.

 

[Memorial Stadium Piru]

My cousin played football there. It's country as fukk but they had some BADDIES there, according to him.

Idk about the academics. My cousin has a trucking business now.

 

[Black Hans]

The GOAT WR Jerry Rice played here. That's all I got

 

[get these nets]

. Also, probably unique as HBCU founding stories go, by 1950 when it was founded, the Mississippi legislature had another aim--creating a school that would attract Black students so they would not apply to White schools that were increasingly concerned about a threat to legal segregation in schooling (which happened with Brown v. Board in 1954). A testament to these origins are buildings on campus that stay named after racist, arch-segregationst politicians--most notoriously Walter Sillers, Jr., an open White nationalist regarded as one of the most racist politicians in the state's history.

Very interesting. Did not know this.
In reading about that era, I came across stories of white Southern business interests funding scholarships for Black students to attend Northern colleges for this reason. Wasn't aware that in this instance, they constructed a school in-state for that purpose.
As was pointed out by the front line Civil Rights Movement activists, separate but equal was only separate and never equal. Tennessee State U. is just settling their case against their state govt. for shortchanging them for decades. So I'm sure that Miss. wasn't allocating the correct amount of resources to MVSU.

 

[staticshock]

I’ve never been on their campus but MVSU is one of my favorite colleges simply because they are located in the blackest area of the country.

But sadly the Mississippi Delta region is also the poorest part of the country. I remember hearing them having financial difficulties a few years back idk what the status is now. When I was in the band at Bama State & we played them, they never came to our stadium because they only could afford to travel to Alcorn and maybe Jackson.

Their sports teams were good in the 80s with Rice & Totten, but they’ve been the Vanderbilt of the SWAC since the 90s. If they win 3 games a season it’s considered a success smh. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Valley drops from the SWAC & becomes a D2 school because of their financial problems and not being able to compete.


Instead of celebrities always donating to the usual Howard, Morehouse, Hampton, Spelman & other well off schools, MVSU needs to be getting some of those huge donations.


They have a very proud alumni base but it seems like they had more success attracting kids back in the day. Hopefully they can turn things around

 

[get these nets]

Mascot: Delta Devil

A nod to Robert Johnson?

Or biting off Duke?

*just jokes

 

[DrBanneker]

I’ve never been on their campus but MVSU is one of my favorite colleges simply because they are located in the blackest area of the country.

But sadly the Mississippi Delta region is also the poorest part of the country. I remember hearing them having financial difficulties a few years back idk what the status is now. When I was in the band at Bama State & we played them, they never came to our stadium because they only could afford to travel to Alcorn and maybe Jackson.

Their sports teams were good in the 80s with Rice & Totten, but they’ve been the Vanderbilt of the SWAC since the 90s. If they win 3 games a season it’s considered a success smh. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Valley drops from the SWAC & becomes a D2 school because of their financial problems and not being able to compete.


Instead of celebrities always donating to the usual Howard, Morehouse, Hampton, Spelman & other well off schools, MVSU needs to be getting some of those huge donations.


They have a very proud alumni base but it seems like they had more success attracting kids back in the day. Hopefully they can turn things around

Yeah I was reading that the 90s and whatever president they had back then was considered their peak. I am not sure all of the financial issues since then but the state government undoubtedly has their part in the issue since it is a public school.

 

[MostReal]

A nod to Robert Johnson?

Or biting off Duke?

*just jokes

MVSU is in the MS blues area, it's a legit part of the areas culture so it's only right

 

[Originalman]

Always get them and the Delta State fighting okra mixed up lol, even though DSU is a PWI.

Don’t know much about this school, except they helped produce one of the greatest NFL players of all time, and they’re in the Mississippi Delta. Grew up in the Sipp, but never went on that side of the state. In the middle of nowhere. Closest city has to be Jackson or Memphis.

Takes a little longer, but they graduate students at a decent clip. No out of state fees is a good thing, and the 7.1k isn’t bad at all.

I remember during the celebration bowl 3 years ago, I ran into a couple that went there here in Atlanta. Husband had a nice Valley jacket on.

Been to the campus many times over the years. My dad folks from Greenwood MS which is basically down the road from the University in Itta Bena. My great aunt lived like 5 miles from the stadium where you could literally hear the football games being played (she stayed in the country outskirts of greenwood so her home was basically in the woods).

My great Aunt was a maid in Greenwood (which the story of the help was based on a lot of the black maids in greenwood Mississippi) and help send all 3 of her kids (my older cousins) to JSU and Valley who all graduated from both Universities. And I had 2 other older cousins who played football at Valley.

Every summer when I was a kid my dad would take me down to greenwood, one of my older cousins who attended Valley during the time would take me to campus with him while he would hang out with some of his Valley classmates (realize ain't nothing to do in the delta of Mississippi, I mean literally nothing). So I always had good memories of the University. Not to mention when I left Chicago to go to college in Mississippi, I would always travel to Greenwood to see my dad's side of the family to hang out with cousins and to go to games at Valley. So it was like a sort of coming full circle event for me as a young adult.

 

[get these nets]

MVSU is in the MS blues area, it's a legit part of the areas culture so it's only right

 

[Theolodius_Black]

It's an unfortunate 4. There's just far better options for just about everything valley offers in the state.

 

[Charlie Hustle]

I’ve never been on their campus but MVSU is one of my favorite colleges simply because they are located in the blackest area of the country.

But sadly the Mississippi Delta region is also the poorest part of the country. I remember hearing them having financial difficulties a few years back idk what the status is now. When I was in the band at Bama State & we played them, they never came to our stadium because they only could afford to travel to Alcorn and maybe Jackson.

Their sports teams were good in the 80s with Rice & Totten, but they’ve been the Vanderbilt of the SWAC since the 90s. If they win 3 games a season it’s considered a success smh. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Valley drops from the SWAC & becomes a D2 school because of their financial problems and not being able to compete.


Instead of celebrities always donating to the usual Howard, Morehouse, Hampton, Spelman & other well off schools, MVSU needs to be getting some of those huge donations.


They have a very proud alumni base but it seems like they had more success attracting kids back in the day. Hopefully they can turn things around

I marched at Alcorn. I’m not sure about the dorms but they have a nice campus. I was impressed

 

[Originalman]

MVSU is in the MS blues area, it's a legit part of the areas culture so it's only right

Yes sir. As a tribute to the blues singers, people (mostly white folks) to this day take the blues back roads (highway 61) where they travel this old road from North to the South and it also goes through the Delta of Mississippi. This is the road the old blues travelers would use to travel up and down the south and into the Midwest where blues was spread (for example to places like Chicago). Greenwood MS is also part of the highway 61 blues road.

Fun fact the home that my grandmother, my great aunts and great uncle all grew up in (in Greewood) is still around to this day (not sure who owns it) but the home is over 100 years old. Anyway there supposedly some famous blues singer was born in that same area where my grandmother grew up at (forgot who it was but it wasn't one of the highly well known ones that we still know of today). Well there is a box where folks can leave fan mail.

So back in 2017, I was in Greenwood for a family reunion and my great uncle wanted to show me, my dad and my siblings the house that he grew up in with my grandmother and great aunts. We drive down the street my great uncle shows me the house and there is a line of white folks dropping these letters off in a black box at the corner of the street. We ask them what are the letters and they said its just overall fan mail as a tribute to the famous blues singers that came out of Greenwood (which there are a few famous blues singers out of greenwood) and who also traveled route 61 and the one blues singer that came out of this particular area of greenwood.

@get these nets