Some Alcorn State alumni have complained that the uncertainty about the future of the institutions has made the search for a new president difficult. Ross announced his resignation in December, just weeks after Barbour proposed the merger
Ross will become president of Central Michigan University on March 1
Although the protest didn't draw the 5,000 participants the organizers predicted it would, the respectable turnout of demonstrators encouraged the task force
Mississippi NAACP President Derrick Johnson said the institutions continue to have a powerful impact on the state, noting that "90 percent of the 50 Black state legislators graduated from our HBCUs." With several of those legislators present on the Capitol steps, Johnson said the activists would not accept a decision to merge the schools and would continue to demand adequate financial support for the existing schools. He issued a terse warning: "If you don't fully fund them, we will shut this state down."
