The August School of the Month is Mississippi Valley State University. Neil Foote, media relations manager for the Tom Joyner Foundation, stated that the foundation was founded to promote historically black colleges, universities and programs. Over the past 18 years, our goal has been to ensure that HBCUs are not left behind. Foote stated that we want to help students stay in school and build capacity at black colleges. Foote said that Tom Joyner and his team assess each HBCU individually and choose a mix of universities to be featured based on their particular needs and how the partnership may benefit them. Each year, 11 historically black institutions are selected to be part of the School of the Month program. The Tom Joyner Foundation will support student scholarships and programs to promote each partner institution during the month. “This allows us to tell our story and let people know about the great things happening at our institution,” stated Dameon Shaw (interim vice president for University Advancement at MVSU). The Tom Joyner Foundation will solicit donations to MVSU via its national platform, which includes the foundation’s website, social media, and radio stations that air Joyner’s program. Foote stated that 100 percent of all donations will be donated to the university to fund private scholarships to be awarded to qualified students in Fall 2017. Joyner will also announce a new Hercules Scholar every Thursday throughout August on his radio station. The scholarship is named in honor Joyner’s father Hercules Joyner. Students selected must be full-time students and have a minimum grade point average (3.5) or higher. The scholarship is worth $1,500. Foote stated that the scholarship is valued at $1,500. The foundation also announced the new Convergent Journalism Master’s program by Valley’s Department of Mass Communications, which will begin this fall. MVSU is the tenth university in the country to offer such a program. This program, which lasts two years, focuses on the new trend in journalism, which involves the convergence between broadcast, print and photography as well as internet sites. “We want people (in Mississippi) to benefit from what’s happening. We plan to expand it so that you not only have students from Mississippi, but also students from other parts of the country. We hope they stay here after they graduate,” stated Dr. Samuel Osunde of MVSU’s Chair of Mass Communications. Smaller institutions face challenges in recruiting students and outreach. Shaw stated that MVSU faces challenges in reaching students all across the country. This will help the university recruit. Shaw stated that this radio show is nationally syndicated and will reach students we could not even imagine reaching with our admissions department’s resources. MVSU will remain partnered with Tom Joyner Foundation until August. Foote said, “We hope other people will contribute and create excitement for donors to support the university through the years.” Click here to find out more about MVSU’s current events and how you can donate through the Joyner Foundation.