Alcorn State University is a public institution of learning in Lorman, Mississippi. It has the distinction of being the first state-supported school for the higher education of black students in the United States. The university’s students are primarily African American, but the institution welcomes students of all races.
The university was founded on land that was once occupied by Oakland College. Oakland College was established in 1830. The college closed at the beginning of the American Civil War in 1861 and did not reopen. The state of Mississippi bought the campus in 1871 and founded Alcorn University as a training school for African American men.
The school was named for James L. Alcorn, the governor of Mississippi at that time. In 1878, the university changed its name to Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College and was designated a land-grant institution under the Morrill Act of 1862. This act granted public lands to support agricultural or mechanical education. The college first admitted women in 1903. It adopted its present name in 1974.
Alcorn State University’s athletic teams are called the Braves. One well-known graduate of the university is civil rights leader Medgar Evers.
The university’s website at https://www.alcorn.edu/ offers additional information.
