Mississippi Valley State University News November 13, 2014 MVSU, MSARNG Partner for Magnolia Gold Program MVSU received a $20,000 grant check from the Mississippi Army National Guard last Thursday evening following the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the Adjutant General of the state of Mississippi and Dr. William Bynum, President of MVSU. Through the MOU, the university has set up several general guidelines for instituting the new Magnolia Guard Officer Leadership Development (GOLD) program at the university. Valley is the first university in the state to bring Magnolia GOLD to its campus. The program, which has an overall commitment to producing leaders, aims to develop qualified U.S. citizens into commissioned officers in the United States Army Reserve who will serve in the Mississippi Army National Guard (MSARNG). In order to achieve this aim, the Magnolia GOLD is setting up a developmental program consisting of professional classroom instruction, leadership laboratories, and physical conditioning training, all of which fall under Professional Military Education (PME) guidelines. The grant check was presented by General Augustus L. Collins, Major General in the Mississippi Army National Guard and Adjutant General of Mississippi, during half-time of Valley's football game against Grambling. Over a dozen students involved in the GOLD program were in attendance. Lieutenant Robby James is serving as the officer-in-charge (OIC) at Valley, responsible for teaching military science classes at the 100, 200, and 300 levels. These classes are generally taught to freshmen, sophomores, and juniors, respectively. Anyone can take the military science classes, but once students complete basic training and enlist in the Army National Guard, they become eligible to receive tuition assistance and reimbursement. Basic training takes 16 weeks but some students, based upon their score on the military's Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test, may be able to complete basic training in eight weeks. Otherwise, they have the option of completing basic training over two summers. Once a student has enough credit hours and has completed basic training, he can become an officer - perhaps before he's even graduated. Lt. James cited the speed with which a student can become an officer as one of the potential benefits of the Army National Guard over traditional ROTC programs. "If you have 90 credit hours you can start the process for becoming a commissioned officer," he said. That process entails finishing officer candidate school (OCS), a program designed to help military personnel become leaders in the armed services. Students can complete OCS while still in school by engaging in weekend training, or they can take an accelerated eight-week course. Although MVSU is the first university to institute the Magnolia GOLD program, the MS Army National Guard has also set up the program at Jones County Community College and hopes to open it at other community colleges as well. Lt. James suggested that by setting up the program at community colleges as well as at Valley, students will transfer to Valley in order to complete their training with the Army National Guard, making Valley a destination for students interested in serving in the Army National Guard. He hopes that, eventually, students will be able to complete their weekend drills on campus as well, allowing enlisted students to stay close to campus, and their academic duties, while still being able to serve in the military. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.