Alcorn State has been the home of the Braves for many years. Last week, that name took on a new meaning in an announcement that moves the university and the state of Mississippi years ahead.

The president of the nation’s oldest public historically black land-grant institution, Dr. M. Christopher Brown II, announced at a Memorial Day cookout at his home that Jay Hopson, a Vicksburg native, had signed on the dotted line to be head coach for the Braves football team. As such, Hopson will be the first white coach at the 141-year-old school listed among the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities and the first white coach in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, of which Alcorn is a member.

The news means the racial divide that has scarred Mississippi for hundreds of years finally has a bridge, and we hope it’s one that will be well-traveled as the university at Lorman and the whole state focus less on black and white and more on meeting such goals as winning football games and boosting academics.

In his announcement, Brown said Hopson was chosen to lead the football program because he wouldn’t settle for second best in their attempts to move the team to the winning column. Hoorah for Hopson’s holding his ground, and hoorah for Brown and the search committee for recognizing it’s that kind of tenacity that will propel the university forward.

The hire was a good decision because of the potential for the football program, but it was a better one in the pursuit of racial diversity that Brown has sought since his first day on the job.

It’s not the first time race has been in the plus column in Mississippi — in 2003, Mississippi State University hired Sylvester Croom as head coach, making him the first black head coach at a Southeastern Conference school.

We hope the bravery shown by Hopson and Brown will be infectious. And we hope the Braves garner only the best from the brave decisions.