prominent black speakers, and fewer curfew restrictions. In the early 1970s, civil rights leaders continued to protest the inequalities in higher education opportunities offered to whites and blacks in Mississippi. In an effort to defuse some of the criticism, Gov. Bill Waller proposed changing the names of three black institutions from "colleges" to "universities". Thus, in 1974, the institution was renamed again, as Mississippi Valley State University. Following President White, Dr. Ernest A. Boykins, Jr. took office in July 1971. Dr. Joe L. Boyer became MVSU's third president in January 1982 and was followed by Dr. William W. Sutton in July 1988. Dr. Lester C. Newman became the fifth president of MVSU on July 1, 1998. Dr. Donna H. Oliver became MVSU's sixth president and first female president on January 1, 2009. On November 6, 2013, Dr. William Bynum took office as MVSU's seventh president. In May 2017, Bynum departed MVSU to become president of Jackson State University. Dr. Jerryl Briggs, who served as executive vice president and chief operating officer in Bynum's administration, was named interim president of the university shortly afterwards. On October 19, 2017, Briggs was officially named as the university's eighth president. In a 1997 article in Innovative Higher Education, the journalist Dale Thorn describes MVSU's successful attempt to avoid a merger with another institution and to remain a separate entity. In 1998, the university renamed many of the buildings on campus, except for those named for white supremacist politicians Walter Sillers, Jr., Fielding Wright, and J. H. White. Campus The campus is on a tract of land adjacent to U.S. Highway 82. It is in Mississippi Valley State census-designated place, in unincorporated Leflore County, in the Mississippi Delta region. It is northwest of Itta Bena. The university is about from Greenwood, about from Greenville, about north of Jackson, and about south of Memphis, Tennessee. MVSU includes faculty and staff apartments and other residential apartments. Dependent children living in these units are within the Greenwood-Leflore School District. These apartments were formerly served by the Leflore County School District. Effective July 1, 2019 this district consolidated into the Greenwood-Leflore School District. Academics Mississippi Valley State University offers undergraduate and graduate degrees through the following entities: College of Art & Sciences College of Professional Studies College of Education Graduate School MVSU offers an honors program to better cater to high-achieving undergraduate students on campus. MVSU was accredited in