CANTON, Miss. — Madison County officials are rolling out the welcome mat for Jackson State University.
The Clarion-Ledger reports the Board of Supervisors on Monday unanimously approved a resolution welcoming JSU’s satellite campus to the community.
The university won College Board approval last month for a 10-year, $1.5 million lease for 8,600 square feet of office space in Madison for a branch to open this summer.
The supervisors say that the JSU branch fits into the county’s recently adopted strategic plan for economic growth.
Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler and the dean of the Tulane University branch in Madison have asked the College Board to reconsider approval of JSU’s lease. Dean Richard Marksbury said the board did not follow the law to consider private college course offerings in its decision.
Butler has said she is concerned competition for students could harm Tulane. “We worked very hard to get one of the top 50 universities in this city, and I don’t want to see anything detrimental to their success.”