Alcorn State University (Alcorn State, ASU or Alcorn) is a public historically black land-grant university adjacent to Lorman, Mississippi. It was founded in 1871 and was the first black land grant college established in the United States. The university is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

Alcorn State's athletic teams known as the Braves and compete in the NCAA's Division I. All teams compete as members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).

Alcorn State University was the first black land grant college in the country. Mississippi's Reconstructionist legislature, dominated by Republicans sympathetic to the cause of educating the formerly enslaved, was established on the site of Oakland College, a college that had gone defunct due to the Civil War.^[9] Alcorn University started with what is recognized as three historic buildings.^[10][11][12]

United States Senator Hiram R. Revels resigned his seat when he accepted the position as Alcorn's first president. The state legislature provided $50,000 in cash for ten successive years for the establishment and overall operations of the college. The state also granted Alcorn three-fifths of the proceeds earned from the sale of 30,000 acres (12,000 ha) of land scrip for agricultural or land grant colleges under federal legislation. The land was sold for $188,928 with Alcorn receiving a share of $113,400. This money was to be used solely to support the agricultural and mechanical components of the college, which Congress wanted to develop nationally. From its beginning, Alcorn State University was a land-grant college.^[10] After a group of white Democrats known as Redeemers took over the legislature, Alcorn's appropriation was slashed by almost 90 percent, to $5,500 per year, and an all-white board of trustees was appointed.^[9]

In 1878, the name Alcorn University was changed to Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College. The university's original 225 acres (0.91 km²) of land have been expanded to develop a 1,700 acres (6.9 km²) campus. The goals for the college set by the Mississippi legislature following the Reconstruction era emphasized training for blacks rather than academic education. The school, like other black schools during these years, was less a college than a vocational school intended to prepare students for the agricultural economy of the state and of most of their hometowns.

At first the school was exclusively for black males, but women were admitted in 1895. The 2022 freshman class included 339 females and 159 males.^[13] Alcorn began with eight faculty members in 1871. Today the faculty and staff number more than 500. The student body has grown from 179 mostly local male students to more than 2,933 students from all over the world.^[13]

In 1974, Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College was renamed Alcorn State University, representing the development of its programs. Governor William L. Waller signed House Bill 298 granting university status to Alcorn and the other state-supported colleges. Alcorn had already become a more diversified university, with graduate programs. It provides an undergraduate education that enables students to continue their work in graduate and professional schools, engage in teaching, and enter other professions. It also provides graduate education to equip students for further training in specialized fields.

In 1994 Jay Searcy of the Philadelphia Inquirer said that except for its football team, Evers, and "an occasional Olympic athlete," "Alcorn rarely gets mentioned outside the state of Mississippi" although attention on the university increased after Steve McNair made athletic successes.^[14]

In 2020, MacKenzie Scott donated $25 million to Alcorn State. Her donation is the largest single gift in Alcorn State's history.^[15]

Alcorn State is accredited, with seven schools and degree programs in more than 50 areas, including a nursing and a Master of Business Administration program. The facilities number approximately 80 modern structures with an approximate value of $71 million.^[16]

Alcorn State is the second largest historically black college or university (HBCU) and the fifth largest university in Mississippi with an enrollment of approximately 3,700 undergraduate students and 600 graduate students. The university has seven schools, offering more than 50 different fields of study.

• College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences
• College of Arts and Sciences
• School of Business
• School of Education and Psychology
• School of Nursing

Alcorn State University consistently ranks among the top 25 HBCUs in the nation according to the annual U.S. News & World Report HBCU rankings.^[19]

Alcorn State University is the only HBCU in Mississippi with a comprehensive nursing program.^[20]

The Myrlie Evers-Williams Honors Program is available to highly motivated undergraduate students seeking to enhance their academic experience and leadership skills.^[21]

The main campus is located in Alcorn State University census-designated place,^[24] an unincorporated area in Claiborne County, Mississippi. It is 45 miles (72 km) south of Vicksburg,^[14] 40 miles (64 km) north of Natchez, and 80 miles (130 km) southwest of Jackson.^[25] It is near Lorman.

The Nursing School and the Business School's Master of Business Administration (MBA) program are located in Natchez, Mississippi. The university also has a class center in Vicksburg.

Alcorn State is a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and participates in NCAA Division I FCS. Alcorn sponsors 15 athletic programs.^[30]

Alcorn State University's marching band was founded in the 1960s; the band is known as the "Sounds of Dyn-O-mite" (SOD). Led by four or five drum majors, SOD has more than 190+ members.

The "World Renowned Golden Girls" (GGs) is the danceline that has been featured with SOD since its inception. Founded in 1968, they are the first danceline (no twirling batons) featured with a HBCU marching band hence why they often refer to themselves as "The Mother of HBCU dancelines."^[31]

Quick Facts Country, State ...

Alcorn State University CDP
Census-designated place
Alcorn State University CDP Show map of Mississippi Alcorn State University CDP Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 31°52′49.65″N 91°8′26.42″W
Country	United States
State	Mississippi
County	Claiborne
Elevation [32]	259 ft (79 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	1,120
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
GNIS feature ID	2586580[32]

Close

Alcorn State University CDP is a census-designated place (CDP) and the official name for an area covering the Alcorn State University campus, in Claiborne County, Mississippi, United States.

The population at the 2020 census was 1,120.^[33] while the Fall 2019 enrollment at Alcorn State University was 3,523.^[34]

• Melerson Guy Dunham – an educator, lay minister, civil rights activist, and history taught at Alcorn until her retirement in 1970 and wrote the book entitled Centennial History of Alcorn College.^[43][44]