MCC wins Halbrook Award for top athletic grad rate

JACKSON – Meridian Community College has been named winner of the Halbrook Award for having the top student-athlete graduation rate among all of the state’s 15 public community colleges. The award was presented to MCC Dean of Students Soraya Welden Sunday evening at Jackson State University in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Mississippi Association of Colleges (MAC).

MCC recorded a student-athlete graduation rate of 96.2 percent over the past school year, marking the second time since the inception of the award for the Eagles to have earned the No. 1 distinction.

“I have always said that a college’s graduation rate is the foremost barometer of the success of an athletic program,” said Dr. Scott Elliott, MCC president.

“How well your teams compete in terms of wins and losses is most certainly important, but the reality is that the percentage of junior college athletes across America who go on to make their living in the professional ranks is statistically insignificant. Therefore, it’s incumbent upon every college to be chiefly concerned with the academic progress of their student-athletes.”

“The word student comes first in the term student-athlete for a good reason,” Elliott added.

“In Mississippi, our community colleges do a great job of embracing that philosophy. Our greatest trophy is shaking the hands of those young male and female athletes and awarding diplomas when they come across that stage during commencement.”

Elliott noted that achieving such a high graduation rate requires “a team effort.”

“Our coaching staff, of course, has a lot to do with it,” he assessed.

“Most of our coaches do an exemplary job of tracking the classroom progress of their team members, starting with making certain that each athlete attends class faithfully and continuing with monitoring their test scores and conducting evening study halls. Also, our coaches make certain that any school work missed because of participation in ballgames is made up. But it takes more than a high level of commitment by our coaches. It takes teachers, counselors, tutors and others working together to promote student success. I’m so proud that I work with professionals at MCC who take a personal interest in each student persisting in achieving their educational goals.”