Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mike Ballard has closed the book on Mississippi State's more than six score years of institutional history. Now, it's the readers' turn to open it up.
"Maroon and White, Mississippi State University, 1878-2003" is the much-published author's latest work. Named for the school's colors, the 402-page successor to John K. Bettersworth's "The People's University" is being released by the University Press of Mississippi.
Ballard is the land-grant institution's archivist and coordinator of the Congressional and Political Research Center in Mitchell Memorial Library. He also is the author of a string of Civil War-related histories, including "Pemberton: The General Who Lost Vicksburg" and "Civil War Mississippi: A Guide."
"Maroon and White" tells the university's story from the beginning, adds some new material and extends the history to cover the periods from 1978-2003.
In 1978, Bettersworth, then Mississippi State's vice president emeritus of academic affairs, produced "People's University" as part of the university's centennial year celebration. It was an update of his 1953 original book, "The People's College."
Ballard, who holds MSU bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in history, said his more than two years of research tracked "two very obvious themes that, though seemingly contradictory, are parallel and quite compatible: continuity and change."
What originally was named the Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College was built around the study of agriculture and engineering.
"Today, those two areas still are very strong pillars, and their influence is statewide, nationwide and worldwide," Ballard said. "Yet, both are considerably more complex, as one might expect more than a century after the university's founding in 1878."
Ballard said changes in the modern era have produced strong fields of study in architecture, the humanities, arts and sciences, business, and all the variations within those areas.
"While the dramatic additions in curricula are signs of changes, they also underscore the continuity of the university's mission to provide a broad spectrum of opportunities and choices to students," he observed.
"Perhaps the persistent examples of continuity and change are MSU's 'People's University' appellation," he continued. "The name implies that the university's atmosphere is one of inclusiveness, of tolerance, of the blurring of social stature."
Based on his study of both official records and innumerable other archival materials, Ballard said he can state with certain authority that "the campus is as friendly now as it has been back through the years."
"Camaraderie among students, faculty, staff, and alumni has kept it so," he said. "That same team concept has helped the university overcome many trials through the years, especially under-funding that has had wide-ranging ramifications."
As to the future, Ballard said, "The continued growth of the university will produce more challenges, and the lack of funding likely always will be a serious issue."
Nevertheless, he said "this review of Mississippi State's journey through its first 125 years and counting shows clearly that the university will continue to be vibrant, visionary and progressive.
"The historical record also shows that those who love MSU never have and never will expect, nor tolerate, anything else."
Ballard will be signing copies of "Maroon and White" from noon-2 p.m. Dec. 14 in the Barnes & Noble at Mississippi State Bookstore at the Cullis Wade Depot. (MSU's fall commencement ceremonies in Humphrey Coliseum will take place at 7 p.m. on the 14th and 10 a.m. on the 15th.) For more information, contact Rita Robinson at 662-325-5841.
-------------------------
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: Dr. Ballard may be contacted for additional comments at 325-7680 or mballard@library.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.