Mississippi Valley State University and its alumni association are staying together.
That decision comes after the university learned Thursday that alumni had submitted an affiliation agreement to the state College Board.
“With that being said, there will be no disaffiliation, and we are elated,” MVSU President Donna Oliver said through a university spokeswoman.
The affiliation agreement had been the last point of contention in a disagreement between the two groups that had threatened to end their more than 50-year relationship.
College Board staff had recommended severing the ties in November because the alumni association hadn’t signed the affiliation agreement or turned in audited financial statements, but the board decided to delay a decision until this month.
It could have been a repeat of the split between Mississippi University for Women and its alumni group in 2007, but divorce was averted when the alumni association turned in the documents.
Roosevelt Yarbrough, president of the Mississippi Valley State University National Alumni Association, signed the affiliation agreement and sent it to the state College Board on Dec. 21, although he did so in protest of some of its stipulations that he said will give control of the alumni association to the university.
MVSU spokeswoman TaRessa Stovall said Oliver received a copy late Thursday morning.
Caron Blanton, a spokesperson for the College Board, said the signed document is under review by staff.
Yarbrough said there should have been no threat of disaffiliation in the first place but said he’s glad it’s settled.
“I would hope at this point now that the administration would realize that they’re very much in need of the alumni association in order to turn around the situation at Valley,” he said.
• Contact Charlie Smith at csmith@gwcommonwealth.com.
