Video: EMCC ‘Title’ Hopes Growing

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LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) — One win away from a possible bid for a second junior college national football title, East Mississippi Community College has plenty to be excited about.

But EMCC President Dr. Rick Young told Lowndes County supervisors today there’s plenty going on off the field, too.

“Our athletic programs are a good investment. They open opportunities for the academic side just as the academic side open them for athletics,” Young said.

An EMCC football win Saturday against Jones Community College likely would land them an invitation to the national title game later this year in Biloxi.

“We’ve set the goal of being the number one community college in the country and not just in athletics,” Young told supervisors as he thanked them for increased funding this year. “We are on our way.”

Young outlined a number of initiatives that are underway.

He said work is almost done on traffic changes that should improve safety at the two-year school’s busy entrance in Mayhew.

And the two-year school now has enough funding from its service counties to start work on a new student union and multi-purpose building. That could begin next year. That will set the stage for student dorms in the future.

Five of the six counties served by the college upped their financial support this year to help the college start major projects in its master plan.

And Mississippi University for Women’s nationally recognized culinary arts school soon will announce a partnership with EMCC at the new Lion Hills Golf Center, the former Columbus Country Club that EMCC bought out of bankruptcy last year and is turning into a turf management and culinary program.