Mississippi State University received national honor for the endless effort to promote diversity around campus.
Minority Access Inc, in Hyattsville, Maryland, gave honor to MSU during its 16th annual National Role’s Models conference.  Minority Access Inc. is a national conference that recognizes universities and role models for outstanding work with inclusiveness, diversity and working with under-represented communities and individuals. 
MSU was recognized for programs such as: Holmes Cultural Diversity Center, the office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, The President’s Commission on the Status of Minorities,   the President’s Commission on the Status of Women, the African American Studies Program and G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery Center for America’s Veterans.  
Also, MSU was recognized for its efforts to recruit and retain students of minorities. 
Cedrick Gathings, Director of Holmes Cultural Diversity Center, Interim Assistant vice president for Multicultural Affairs, and the Assistant Dean of Students, makes it his top priority to promote diversity throughout campus. 
“I think how we recognized the special need for our minorities with our different initiatives and programs is really what makes Mississippi State standout and become so well rounded,” Gathings said. 
Stephen Middleton, Director of the African American Studies program, said this was a well-deserved award for MSU. 
“Minority Access showed great judgment in recognizing Mississippi State for its strides in fostering an inclusive community for students and employees. Our leaders, President Mark Keenum and Provost Jerry Gilbert, set the tone in word and deed that MSU is truly the people’s university,” Middleton said. “Most recently, the Maroon Edition speakers, Lynn Vincent, Denver Moore, Ron Hall, the authors of The Same Kind of Difference as Me, is representative of their commitment to an inclusive institution.”
Minority Access Inc. is an organization whose main objective is committed to increasing diversity, decreasing disparities and reducing incidence of environmental injustices. According to their website, their mission is to assist colleges and universities, the Federal Government and agencies of other governments and corporations of all kinds in implementing programs and providing services to recruit, enhance and retain underserved and underrepresented populations.
The MSU chapter of Society of African American Studies and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s President, Wilburn Smith said in an interview that diversity on a college campus because it prepares students for the real world and educates them about people from different backgrounds.
“Mississippi State is big on promoting diversity and inclusion, but without inclusion, diversity is dead. I view diversity as a variation of many forms such as gender, culture, ethnic groups, and backgrounds,” Smith said.