Alcorn named HBCU of the Year

Alcorn State University has won the top honor of HBCU of the Year at the annual HBCU Awards hosted by The Center for HBCU Media Advocacy. The awards ceremony honors excellence at historically black colleges and universities, the HBCU Awards is one of the most prominent and keenly contested awards.

“Alcorn appreciates the work and leadership of the Center for HBCU Media Advocacy,” says 18th President M. Christopher Brown II as he accepted the award last night (April 21) in Washington, D.C.

“This award would not be possible without the hard work and dedication to excellence of our faculty, students, alumni, and staff. We thank all of our friends and supporters of the nation’s oldest public historically black land-grant institution. We are Alcorn – always excellent without excuse.”

Other institutions vying for the HBCU of the Year Award who also demonstrated extraordinary community outreach initiatives, comprehensive research, and measurable student engagement by way of enrollment, retention and institutional morale included Tuskegee University, Bennett College for Women, Florida A & M University, and Southern University Law Center.

Alcorn was nominated for nine awards: Best Research Center – The Center for Ecology and Natural Resources; Best Fine Arts Program – ASU Fine Arts Department; National Alumni Association of the Year – ASU National Alumni Association; Male Alumnus of the Year – Dr. Shelby R. Wilkes; Female Coach of the Year – Coach Tonya Edwards; Best HBCU Choir – ASU Concert Choir; Best Alumni Publication – Alcorn, the University’s Magazine; Male President/Chancellor of the Year – Dr. M. Christopher Brown II; and for the HBCU of the Year.

Alcorn also captured the title for Best Alumni Publication. “Winning the Best Alumni Publication Award represents another major achievement for Alcornites,” says Associate Vice President for Marketing and University Relations Clara Ross Stamps who serves as the editor of the award-winning publication. “It’s the great work of our students, alumni, faculty, and staff that gives Alcorn a powerful voice – we thank them for allowing us to share their stories with the world.”

Vice President for Institutional Affairs and Interim Executive Director of the ASU Foundation Marcus D. Ward accepted the award for Dr. Shelby Wilkes as Male Alumnus of the Year, “Like so many distinguished Alcornites, Dr. Wilkes has served Alcorn well for many years. He is an active member of the Alcorn State University Foundation, Inc. Board of Directors and is a great role model and mentor for our students. I am honored to accept this award on his behalf.”

In recognizing Alcorn’s tremendous achievements, Jarrett L. Carter Sr., founder and executive director of the Center for HBCU Media Advocacy, cited that “great things – outstanding research, high-quality teaching and public engagement – are happening at Alcorn State University and you are {Alcorn} as the nation’s first historically black land-grant institution, an elite institution, that embodies the spirit of the HBCU community.”

Source: http://hbcuconnect.com/