Dr. Jerryl Briggs, acting president of Mississippi Valley State University, says he is a “self-proclaimed Mama’s boy.”
On Monday, he told the Greenwood Rotary Club he owes all of the successes in his life and his 25-year career in higher education to his mother, a single mom who kept him on a productive path when he was growing up in New Orleans.
“I am a first-generation college student in my family,” Briggs said. “My mother worked diligently to keep me on the right path. Unfortunately, there are some that get lost to bad elements, but she said to them, ‘You’re not gonna get this one!’”
Briggs joined the Marine Corps when he was a senior in high school and spent the next six years serving in the Marine Reserve in New Orleans.
“If you’re a Marine, you’re trained as an infantryman, a grunt, no matter what your job,” he said. “I decided I was going to be a communications specialist. That’s a grunt with a radio on his back.”
In all seriousness, Briggs said, serving in the Marines gave him discipline and an inclination toward giving and service.
He worked during those years to receive a bachelor’s degree at Xavier University, then a master’s degree at Louisiana Tech and finally a doctorate from the College of William and Mary with post-doctoral work at Harvard.
From there he entered a career as a higher education administrator that took him to several different colleges and universities before he came to Valley in 2013.
“Basically, I went to college at 17 and never left,” Briggs said.
“It is my calling.”
Briggs said the value of a college degree can be measured by how much more money a person, on average, will earn in a lifetime because of having a degree, but more importantly it’s about developing a well-rounded person.
“It’s about exposure to people from different places and being able to talk to people about all kinds of different things,” he said.
The philosophy classes he took and, yes, his undergraduate studies as a chemistry major all added up to making him better rounded overall.
Now he faces the decision of whether to throw his hat into the ring to be considered by the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning Board as the new president of Valley, following the recent departure of Dr. William Bynum to Jackson State University..
Briggs said he has not made a decision because the board has not yet released its plan for hiring, including when the application process will begin.
He’s got too much to do anyway, preparing for incoming students to arrive on campus in the next three weeks and continuing to keep Valley on the strong financial footing it has achieved over the last several years.
He cited a 14 percent increase in enrollment under Bynum’s and his leadership, following seven consecutive years of enrollment decline. And he pointed out that Valley has increased cash reserves during that same time period, raising the university’s cash on hand from $12 million in 2012 to $15 million in 2017.
“We have been able to prudently save money, and we have lowered our debt ratio,” making Valley number three in the state higher education system in terms of financial stability, he said.
Briggs said his goal is to see Valley partner with Greenwood and Itta Bena and not to just “sit as an island.
“Valley is important because it’s ours, it’s our community’s university,” he said. “We want to be a viable part of this community, and our doors are open to you at any time.”
He invited those at the meeting to come to concerts and lectures at the school and to use the facility for workshops or other community events that need space.
Valley recently showed that kind of hospitality when it became the temporary home for 150 Marines relocated here to work on the recovery at the military plane crash site in western Leflore County.
“I was talking to someone in the command and asked them where the Marines were going to stay,” he said. “He told me they planned to go to a gym somewhere and set up cots to sleep on, and I said, ‘No way. Our home is your home, and as long as we’ve got beds available, your Marines have a place to stay.’”
Despite facing certain budget reductions, starting this year, Briggs said he is being proactive, planning ahead and not panicking.
“We’ll have to do some things differently. We’ll have to look for new funding sources,” he said. “We’ll have to tighten up spending, but that’s not a problem for me. I’m cheap.”
Briggs repeated his invitation to all to come to Valley and see what’s happening there.
“I don’t believe in working behind a desk,” he said. “I believe in being visible and active in the community.”
• Contact Kathryn Eastburn at 581-7235 or keastburn@gwcommonwealth.com.
