Jackson Jambalaya

Get out of Jackson- while you can!

It's customary to list accomplishments during tenure in announcements like this. What did enrollment and the endowment do while he was there? The rest is fluff.

Won't be missed. As effective as the accounting clerk running St. Andrews.

I cannot speak to the amount of the endowment, however I attended college there in the mid 1950’s, and it is my understanding that the enrollment is the same, or slightly less, than when I was there.

@2:27 He dug a well.

Enrollment tanked under his watch. Frances Lucas had it up to around 1100. Now? A little over 600. He did well for the endowment but admissions has been an absolute disaster under his tenure.

According to the Millsaps website. enrollment was 700 in fall 2022. 65% from out of state.

Rather than toot his own horn, the Clarion-Ledger did it for him. See their website.

Why would he choose to leave a town with no water, impassible streets, bullets flying around campus virtually each night, cars literally drag racing on city streets all hours of the night, shootings at Kroger during car thefts, the senseless murder of children neglect-ably left in cars at grocery stores, a city council satiated with black racist, and run by another black racist?

Perhaps parents are beginning to wake up to the fact that liberal faculty and the woke posture of some private colleges are reason enough to avoid those places.

The good news (for this place) is that there is no shortage of liberal replacements. Next up in the batter's circle is...

Enrollment dropped to 800 and he cut classes and majors

Enrollment up to 1000 plus and faculty is about right size

He also taught his entire time he was there …for 12 plus years

He will be hard to replace

Can't blame enrollment on him. Why would anyone in their right mind want to attend college in Jackson, MS . Just as well join the military and you would probably be much safer. Jackson, MS is gone and its not coming back. It's over get out while you are alive.

Death knell

Tough job to steward such a distinguished institution in the macro environment of Jackson.

Heard he is going to Sewanee

US News lists 2022 enrollment at 731. COVID and the Jackson water situation hit them hard, hence the construction of a water tower on campus. I was there in the mid-70’s and enrollment was just short of 1000. From what I hear, the Jackson kids don’t want to go there and many opt for the honors college at that school up north. Faculty took pay cuts a year or two ago and there were some early retirements and departures.

2:40 PM
I was there from 1958 and we had about 495 students and the tuition was $10.00 per semester hour. The enrollment is about the same, but the tuition now is over $1900.00 per semester hour.

It's not a retirement people. Trading up and out.

240
But the other colleges and universities are growing with the rise in population, not stagnating.

@7:09 He came from Sewanee. They have their own problems, and this clown is not the answer.

Honors College at Ole Miss is killing Millsaps.

Why pay Millsaps tuition when you can get a full ride to Ole Miss and the Honors College? Leave the football bs out of this conversation. The education is on par.

9:38...Why, you ask? Lots of Methodists are still of the opinion that Millsaps is somehow an extension of the 1960s era church, and their children must be sheltered there or they risk going to hell.

Little do they know (or either don't care) that when they cart off little Worthshire IV or Courtney-Blaze to the school under the pines, they're actually sacrificing them to the devil of extreme liberalism, from which they will never recover.

A degree from millsaps said you did a little more and you certainly probably paid a little more

Oral and written comprehensive exams at millsaps are legendary and there’s more of a sacrifice associated with millsaps

Ole miss honors college is still a degree from ole miss

I totally agree @9:38. But just not Ole Miss. State and USM have the same Honors Colleges. They are basically small liberal arts colleges inside the universities. I went to Davidson College in NC. Basically the same as Millsaps. For the price that Davidson, Sewanee, Rhodes, Millsaps charge, there is no advantage anymore.

Dr Pearigen brought his whole commitment to Millsaps. He is an outstanding leader, a gentleman, and a scholar. He cares enough to help fan that spark of intellectual growth in learning to all people and yes it is his turn to enjoy life in retirement.

KF - Your readers prove once again that they will getting into a pissing contest over absolutely anything that you post. Wonderful people to be around I'm sure.

5:26 tell me you didn't go to Millsaps without telling me you didn't go to Millsaps. I'd hardly say Millsaps professors are extreme liberals.

Right on, 6:53.

KF - Your readers do indeed come out of the woodwork when they get triggered. Just look at all the pious folk laying aside their morning tea and crumpets to comment on the magnificent, gentrified palace of superb education right up in here amongst us commoners.

It's real hard to appreciate the landed-gentry from this distance while being separated by moats of boiling oil and drawbridges. We can only see the purple robes from afar when the sunlight strikes just right.

(Oh, but our orals are more difficult...)

For what it's worth, I work in an area higher education institution. (Not Millsaps)

Small liberal arts colleges are teetering on closure everywhere. Very few students pay the 'sticker price' of tuition, and tuition discounts are often 70 percent or more. For many students, a high tuition means they are going to an elite institution, regardless of discounts or other financial realities of the school. I paid "X", so my degree is worth more than state school "Y."

Millsaps needs to choose their next leader very carefully. The reality is they have to cut even more majors that have little to no students in them and concentrate on programs that bring in students that are willing to pay. Anyone in the area should be pulling for Millsaps to navigate their situation--any Jackson institution that brings in a population to live here, even for a little while, is good for the entire area. How many jobs are at stake? Students there pay for the entire Millsaps staff/faculty and probably keep a bunch of restaurants/bars/liquor stores comfortably in the financial black.

Millsaps students aren't likely going to go to Belhaven, MC, Tougaloo, or Jackson State if it goes away. Nor is Ole Miss, State, or USM going to gain either. Most of these types of students would drift towards Rhodes, Sewanee, or an equivalent liberal arts college.

By the way, the college students who graduate in 2026..it's called "the cliff" in my circles. Far fewer 18 year olds...expect 1/3 of all current colleges to be shuttered by 2036...

The problem with Millsaps is they refuse to move into the 21st century. I understand they are a classical liberal arts college and it is a good education. Go across the street to Belhaven they are growing by leaps and bounds. They figured the only way to survive was to offer more majors than the classical liberal education. Also they figured they needed an extra source of income so why not offer programs for working adults. Basically the adult program pays for the undergraduate program. They als have maintained a reasonable cost. I will have to MC has followed there lead.

Hey commenters, have you ever considered taking a break from being mean spirited and incredibly stupid at the same time? I’m sure the double role must be exhausting.

Based on this comment thread, the answer appears to be a hard no.

Perhaps they'd do well to follow the Hillsdale model and differentiate themselves.

These comments are 70% ignorant and 85% stupid.

I think the debate is pretty pertinent to today's liberal arts conundrum.

You've got these universities getting liberal arts kids through reduced tuition rates in Honors College programs. Do we want all our kids to get out of college with 200k in debt, only to pray Joe will chapter 11 that debt? Maybe places like Auburn will charge OOS kids so much that Millsaps and liberal arts will make sense for some students again.

Millsaps struggles with all of this, but what Sewanee, W&L, etc, all have is that their Kappa Alpha houses don't back up to crime riddled streets. Millsaps has a Jackson Mississippi problem and this is an undeniable fact. Have a look at Birmingham Southern College. Similar stuff going on...

Pearigen is a fine man. No win situation.

8:54 reread your first paragraph and tell me who is pious again

Millennial Millsaps grad here. All comments hit on truth, but without question the in-state honors colleges, with far greater resources, have hoovered up a substantial portion of what was a prior student pool. At the same time, tuition has doubled since I graduated. Tough situation.

9:03 - The worst reason in the world to continue an institution, department of government or branch of anything whether public or private is because it provides jobs.

The market will determine whether or not bars and restaurants close, not pining for an unneeded venue to remain open awhile longer.

And speaking of 'double role', hello there 9:31 and 9:41 banging on the same keyboard.

No ill will to this man or Millsaps, and I was a fan of Frances Lucas.

But, I like 10:50's point.

The world was better off when we let people dictate the success of establishments with their dollars.

It’s probably a decent school academically (maybe not what it used to be?) but I can’t imagine sending my kid to such an unsafe neighborhood for college.

I should have known we would have plenty of experts on here on the subject of Millsaps.

A little off topic (but definitely implied in the comments)... I am a Jackson area millennial, had good grades, a 30+ ACT score, and did many "outside activities". I looked at Millsaps (had several friends go there), Rhodes, and some other small liberal arts colleges. However, to me, the state honor colleges seemed to go after a completely different type of student than the small liberal arts colleges. During my recruitment, it seemed the honors colleges were sold as more of a social/sports/school hybrid where the small colleges focused more on size and academics. Maybe it was just me?

Millsaps needs a benefactor (or group of benefactors) to match the generosity of Jim Barksdale (Ole Miss) or the late Leland Speed (Mississippi College). Perhaps one or more will step up.

UM honors college allows parents the “good” feeling they are “concerned” about their kids college education and justifies them not spending the $$$$ to send their child to Millsaps / Rhodes / etc.

The parents sit around parties and eschew the greater essence of UM “honors” programs to other parents…..

Millsaps is expensive…and it’s a sacrifice for all involved to go there…..is it worth it?

Ask Tate? He’d say “it was awful wonderful blah blah nothing yeah no”

Whenever it comes to Jackson - city government, restaurant closures, city water problems, colleges, crime - you name it - the chorus of Madison/Rankin/don't live in Jackson folk love to chime in and attack the city, its leaders, and institutions. Make no mistake - Jackson has a TON of problems that need to be addressed. Long overdue, in fact. But you don't live here, pay taxes here, shop here, or vote here. So who cares what you have to say. No community in Mississippi is perfect. Maybe look in your own backyard and chime in on the needed improvements there. I can promise you, those areas need some.

"I should have known we would have plenty of experts on here on the subject of Millsaps. January 26, 2023 at 1:44 PM"

Hey there, Wally! You and Beave need to know that nobody has claimed to be an expert. It's a discussion of Opinions. Where's yours?

I went to an in-state public honors college because I was too poor to pay the application fee to any private college or university. I don’t know how Millsaps compares to public honors college programs for undergraduate study, but I also can’t imagine choosing it for a child of mine based solely on its location. I write that opinion as someone who lived in the City of Jackson for five years within the last decade-ish. Many small colleges seem to be struggling—which is another topic and one that brings to mind C.S. Lewis and his Abolition of Man essay—but one that is stuck in the center of a violent city with collapsing infrastructure with no ability to attract or maintain many cultural attractions is one that is weighted with multiple cement shoes. Sad.

@ 1:55 - I think that's a fair take. There's a different focus, and I enrolled, and the folks I know, enrolled for different reasons. Overall, it just makes much less financial sense now to spend your salad days in a gated community in downtown Jackson.

He was good for Millsaps and will be missed. Last time I saw him was at a Sunday afternoon baseball game. He was wearing shorts, visiting with parents and students and cheering for the baseball team. Dedication and involvement rarely observed in higher education and indicative of his daily involvement.

Millsaps was good enough for that liberal, Tater Tot Reeves!

"I'd hardly say Millsaps professors are extreme liberals."
January 26, 2023 at 8:38 AM
........................................

"Ho Hum...Leh-Roy, refresh my bourbon, will-ya?"

How in the world can an institution be totally woke and progressive without liberal leadership? Answer me that in your best Geoffrey Chaucer style, while of course recalling the depth of your orals.

@9:03 “ By the way, the college students who graduate in 2026..it's called "the cliff" in my circles. Far fewer 18 year olds...expect 1/3 of all current colleges to be shuttered by 2036…”

And by 2036, I saw on several television programs just the other day, the entire planet will be reduced to just a spinning cinder in space when the effects of climate change commence just a few short months or years from now.

You mistakenly think you can stop others from ridiculing your self-imposed plight, 4:15.

That's not how this works. That's not how any of this works.

4:42 = well said.

People need to drop the emotional BS and let the market dictate winners and losers.
Sadly, there is no such thing anymore.

5:10 (and 4:33 - same commenter) - you've more than proven you didn't go to Millsaps so you really don't know the stuff of which you speak. Kind of makes your "Opinions" less credible.

https://www.millsaps.edu/financial-aid-and-scholarships/tuition-fees-and-other-costs/

Anonymous said...8:54 reread your first paragraph and tell me who is pious again. January 26, 2023 at 10:28 AM

8:54 here. I spoke as a member of the lower to middle class, the proletariat, those several feet below the raised tip of your nose, if you will. It's impossible for a member of that class to be pious.

The meanest people hang out in these comments.