House Resolution 71

A RESOLUTION URGING THE SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS TO RENEW THE ACCREDITATION OF MARY HOLMES COLLEGE.

WHEREAS, Mary Holmes College is fighting for its academic life by facing yet another measure to close the college; and

WHEREAS, on April 1, 2003, at 9:00 a.m. in Atlanta, Georgia, at the Hilton Hotel, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) will determine whether the $229,000.00 budget deficit of Mary Holmes College makes the college unfit for continued accreditation; and

WHEREAS, Mary Holmes College is a small, private two-year college located in West Point, Clay County, Mississippi, that was established in 1892 by the Board of Mission for Freedmen of the Presbyterian Church USA as its chief supporter, and it has produced thousands of transfer students for Mississippi colleges and universities; and

WHEREAS, if accreditation is not given to the college, financial aid or governmental subsidies cannot be offered to any students and closure of the college would result; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Jackson, the president of the college, is determined to keep the college open, and Alvin O. Chambliss, Jr., has called on Bud Blakey, counsel for the college, pleading that he be allowed to speak on behalf of his child, an alumnus of Mary Holmes College, and other current and future students of the college; and

WHEREAS, the House of Representatives express our support for the continued accreditation of Mary Holmes College:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That we urge the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to renew the accreditation of Mary Holmes College.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Mary Holmes College and members of the Capitol Press Corps.