Merger Plans Gain Unlikely Supporter

Although he has spoken publicly against Haley Barbour’s proposal to merge MVSU and Alcorn with Jackson State, JSU president Ronald Mason recently gave a presentation where he floated around the idea of creating one HBCU. This was a presentation he said was never suppose to be made public.

He said it was “just an idea” and that he was looking for ways to “help the HBCUs survive.”

State Sen. Alice Harden (D-Jackson) said was “shocked and appalled” by the proposal.

I suppose Harden and most of the LBC are never going to be moved, and since they make up the majority of Billy McCoy’s support, the House will never be moved, but there are things that could have been done differently by the supporters which could have made merger talks possible.

I recently mentioned that Barbour has not been too vocal in his support since the day his budget proposals were released. Speaking in support of the plan would have been a good start, but there are a couple other things he could have done.

The first was not to sell this as a financial move, but as a plan that would make the schools better. John Wilson, who is the executive director of Obama’s HBCU initiative, said he is not opposed to mergers on the surface but thinks they should be motivated by “greatness” rather than financial concerns.

The other thing Barbour should have done was try to win over as many supporters as possible before the proposals were released. The Obama administration did a wonderful job of winning many of the special interests that helped derail Bill Clinton’s healthcare plans in 1993. Barbour should have followed that lead. Rep. George Flaggs (D-Vicksburg) really got merger talks started when he questioned the feasibility of funding eight state universities. He is now 100 percent against any merger, but there was a small opening for Barbour to get him on board. Barbour could have also gone to the HBCU presidents, got their reaction before he went public, and asked how he could win their support.

I don’t have any behind-the-scenes information about what went on in making of the budget proposal from the governor. Some have said Barbour was never really serious about the mergers. I suppose you can say he was just planning on using it as a bargaining chip, but any chances of a merger in 2010 have long been dead.