By Chloe Newton
Staff Writer
During the Annual Meeting of the Mississippi Baptist Convention on Oct.30, Mississippi College (MC) president, Dr. Blake Thompson, gave a report on the university.
In 2022, MC broke ground on what Thompson believes is one of the “most transformational projects in the history of the university.” The project, officially named ‘Rising Spring,’ is in partnership with the city of Clinton. The community-centered development will provide recreation for the students and locals and will attract people, businesses, and new students to the city and the university. Construction is planned to be in full swing by fall of 2026.
“I wanted to use Rising Spring as a way of introducing the theme of rising because it applies to so much more than real estate development. We use this phrase to reflect in a number of ways on our Mississippi College community,” Thompson said.
Thompson reflected over the many ways MC has been rising. Because of the Speed Scholarship, a full-tuition scholarship awarded to students from Mississippi, nearly 900 new students began classes in August. The past three years have seen an increase in enrollment with two of those years being record-breaking. Average GPA and ACT scores have also increased. Additionally, MC Law saw its largest number of first year students, with an enrollment of 140.
More importantly, students are meeting the rising expectations of the university.
“Our students are indeed rising to a life of purpose, and we have rising expectations for them to do that. It’s more than just expectations on grades and performance in the classroom. We are educating the finest future doctors, lawyers, teachers, nurses, business people, and a whole lot of other professions to go and serve the Lord. But we’re also educating well trained, capable pastors in our Department of Christian studies,” said Thompson.
For almost 200 years, Mississippi College has prepared many students for their future occupations, including serving in the Southern Baptist Convention, the International Mission Board, the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board, and Baptist churches in the Magnolia State.
Mississippi College has been affiliated with the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board since 1850. Thompson believes the affiliation has strengthened the mission of the university.
“The Mississippi Baptists have helped us to rise for a long, long time, and we hope that it’ll continue for a long time ahead,” said Thompson. “One of the most important ways that we’ve partnered is through the Cooperative Program. We could not do our work effectively without the support we received from more than 2000 churches across this state.”
