Alcorn State University may no longer face the threat of a merger of Mississippi’s historically black universities, a proposal that died this week in the state Legislature, but economic hard times will continue to present challenges, Dr. Norris Edney said Wednesday.

Edney, named ASU’s interim president last week, said he is not intimidated. The school has faced budget cuts before and will do so again, he assured listeners at a convocation on the Lorman campus that was also webcast.

“There’ll be no problem that we can’t solve if we do what we should do, and that’s work together,” he said. “We must stand at all times together.”

Edney, 73, was joined by Commissioner of Higher Education Dr. Hank Bounds and outgoing ASU president Dr. George Ross, who is leaving Alcorn after two years to take the reins at Central Michigan University.

Edney began his remarks by offering Ross his personal wishes for success and got a laugh when he said, “Just like Mississippi, Michigan doesn’t have the money either.”

Edney, a longtime member of the Alcorn family, said he is excited, humbled and “proud beyond measure just for the opportunity to work with Alcorn State University one more time.” He began his Alcorn career in 1963 as a biology professor and through his tenure has been dean of the Graduate School, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences and chairman of the Biology Department.

He retired in 2000 and was drafted Jan. 21 by unanimous vote of state higher education commissioners to come back to work.

Bounds called Edney the right man at the right time. “He is so clearly loved and admired,” Bounds said. “He brings all the skill sets we’ll need to lead us through critical times.”

Ross, ASU’s 17th president, oversaw the building of new student housing and an increase in alumni donations, Bounds said.

Ross gave credit to others. “I’m proud of what you’ve done,” he told the Alcorn community, advising them to put as much energy into rallying around the financial challenges the school faces as they put into opposing the proposed merger of the more than 100-year-old university with Mississippi Valley University and Jackson State University. “Don’t settle. You’re better than that.”

Marcus Ward, ASU’s associate vice president for development and alumni affairs, said alumni giving for fiscal 2009 was up between $75,000 and $100,000, about 25 percent, over 2008. Giving for fiscal 2010 is also strong, he said, and will be more and more important as the school faces budget cuts the state’s lagging collections have caused.

Bounds told lawmakers Thursday that as many as 1,042 class sections at the state’s eight public universities could be eliminated by the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2012. In addition, tuition hikes of at least 4.5 percent were announced last week by higher ed commissioners, to take effect in the fall.

Gov. Haley Barbour proposed merging the state’s HBCUs in November, keeping the three campuses open but consolidating administration at JSU. Barbour also proposed merging Mississippi University for Women with Mississippi State University. The proposal died in committee Tuesday.

Edney will serve in the interim until a permanent president is appointed, a process Bounds said he will initiate at his board’s February meeting.

The author of 32 academic publications, Edney has also been president of the South East Athletic Conference and has served on the Natchez-Adams School Board for more than nine years. He is a graduate of Tougaloo College with a master’s from Antioch College and a doctorate in conservation from Michigan State University. He and his wife Lillian have three grown sons.

Contact Pamela Hitchins at phitchins@vicksburgpost.com