Mark Keenum, the president of Mississippi State University, addressed the turmoil caused by the Trump Administration’s numerous changes to higher education funding over diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, in an unusual letter for the state’s conservative higher education system.
Keenum, a former under secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and former chief of staff to the late Sen. Thad Cochran, wrote to the campus community Friday that Mississippi State was working to comply with a sweeping memo the U.S. Department of Education issued earlier this month declaring virtually all race-based programming and admissions policies illegal.
If universities did not comply by Feb. 28, the department threatened to investigate and withhold federal funding that supports research, student financial aid and other institutional operations, the loss of which would be “catastrophic to our university,” Keenum wrote.
Though Keenum wrote that Mississippi State was working to not “over- or under” interpret the letter, “making us an outlier,” his letter is notable because it was also sent to the media as a press release.
While some universities in Mississippi have issued internal statements to faculty and staff about the Trump administration’s attempts to reshape higher education, MSU appears to be the only four-year institution in the state that has commented on the department’s “Dear Colleague” letter in a detailed, proactive way.
To comply, Keenum wrote that Mississippi State has changed website language, nomenclature on campus and policies concerning student organizations, though the letter did not state which policies. The university is also initiating a process to rename the Holmes Cultural Diversity Center to the Holmes Center for Student Success, subject to the approval of the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees.
The center is named after Richard Holmes, the first Black student to enroll at Mississippi State in 1965, and once supported 11 student organizations that promoted diversity and inclusion.
“We are committed to working with government at all levels as an effective partner,” Keenum wrote. “At the same time, we are equally committed to providing a safe and welcoming learning environment on our campus.”
Throughout the years, Keenum has repeatedly offered his support for diversity, equity and inclusion policies at Mississippi State. This past school year, the university rechristened its diversity office; most other four-year institutions in the state followed suit.
Perhaps the strongest words in Keenum’s letter were for changes the Trump administration is contemplating to federal research funding, particularly a planned reduction in funding that can be used for research facilities, lab equipment and capital improvements.
This plan was recently halted by a federal judge, but Mississippi State is “developing contingency plans” in the event the reduction goes through, Keenum wrote.
The land-grant university has the state’s highest amount of federal research funding, which Keenum called “an incredible success story.” It also means the potential changes have “high stakes — $162 million, according to the press release.”
“We are extremely concerned about announcements from Washington that pause or interrupt the research of our faculty, staff and students,” he wrote, adding that “we will work hard to do all that we can do to protect our most valuable assets – our people.”
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