Mississippi State University ushered in the African-American studies program Thursday, opening the doors for students to receive a minor that offers an in-depth understanding of the history and culture of the people it embodies.The program will include courses in anthropology, English, history, music, political science and sociology.
The inaugural ceremony was held in the John Grisham Room at Mitchell Memorial Library, where more than 100 people showed up to take part in the program’s inception.
Student supporters, including members of the basketball, football and track teams, were a part of the standing-room-only audience.
Stephen Middleton, director of the African-American studies program, MSU President Robert ‘Doc’ Foglesong and provost Peter Rabideau were present for the event.
Middleton said the program is a discipline that allows people to develop their skills across the university’s curriculum.
It is an historical event in the larger scheme of things, he said.
“In the years to come when historians and scholars write about African-American studies and its presence in the university curriculum, they will take note of what MSU announced Thursday,” Middleton said.
The program will benefit students because they will experience multi cultural societies during their college years, he said.
For example, a student that graduates with a business administration degree will have an advantage if he or she lands a job with a multi national company.
Foglesong said at the event that he is proud to see the program coming together after all the time spent planning it.
“This has been a special project that we undertook a little more than a year ago,” Foglesong said.
Jacqueline Wade, the keynote speaker and black studies curriculum specialist at Middle Tennessee State University, told the audience the new program will give students a new perspective on the world.
“This program will help us to see the American world through a window rather than a mirror reflecting a dominant culture,” she said. “You have not gone wrong, and you will never go wrong offering students a chance to broaden their social and economic backgrounds.”
Wade commended the Black Voices Choir after an interlude of gospel hymns, adding that if its members were to enroll in the African-American studies program they would learn how symbolic the songs they sing are to their heritage.
“You will have a chance to not only to perform the music from a particular heritage, you can study it as well,” she said. “One can’t know music without understanding the social and significant content of musical expression coming from the African-American experience.”
It was strongly emphasized throughout the ceremony that the program is open to students of all ethnicities and majors.
“This program is not for African-Americans. It’s not for Caucasians … it’s for Americans,” Foglesong said.
African-American studies is not directed toward one group, Middleton said.
Those involved in the program will study content dealing with African-Americans and those they live among.
“If there’s a cultural code in the program, it’s about people overcoming obstacles,” he said.
Middleton presented Foglesong with a leadership award on behalf of the program for his support in helping to establish the program.
“Dr. Foglesong had a dream of participating in an ongoing dialogue about diversity,” Middleton said. “He passed that dream onto me.”
Dorothy Jean Isaac, former president of the Starkville National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said having a program that focuses on the in-depth study of African-American culture will be beneficial in reducing ignorance and silencing racism.
“It’s going to teach,” she said. “This is what we need with everything going on in the region and all the news surrounding topics like [the Jena Six].”
MSU alumnus Ken Cornelius said the African-American studies minor will give MSU a competitive edge when recruiting students by offering the growing program.
“Since I have been here, the African-American enrollment has gone up and I feel this will help it to increase even more and bring awareness to other ethnicities about our heritage,” said Cornelius, who graduated with a communication degree.
Middleton said he has received positive feedback from students regarding the program. He said he projects that by the end of the upcoming spring semester, more than 50 students will have formally declared a minor in African-American studies. Middleton said he is available to meet with student groups and organizations to discuss the program.
News editor Erin Kourkounis contributed to this article.