Mississippi College and Clinton Leaders Join Ribbon Cutting at Medical Sciences Building

Mississippi College President Lee Royce joins with Clinton Mayor Rosemary Aultman and other leaders at ribbon-cutting for the Christian university's new medical sciences building along College Street.

Mississippi College and Clinton leaders formally celebrated the grand opening of the university’s medical sciences building, the largest academic structure on campus in a half-century.

President Lee Royce, School of Science & Mathematics Dean Stan Baldwin and Mayor Rosemary Aultman were among the officials taking part in ribbon-cutting ceremonies Tuesday at the 22,000-square-foot building on College Street.

In his remarks, Royce noted the university’s first chemistry lab dates back to 1884, and has been replaced seven times since then. This 21^st Century facility that includes gross anatomy and histology labs, classrooms, lecture halls with the latest technology and research facilities won’t be replaced anytime soon.

The facility is a tremendous addition to science programs at Mississippi College that have been “long acclaimed,” Royce said.

Mississippi College’s new building will significantly improve the training of graduate students in medical sciences from around the USA and Canada as they prepare for admission to medical and dental schools. It will be used starting this summer by graduate students in MC’s physician assistant program and be utilized by undergraduates for decades to come.

The masters of medical sciences program, Dr. Baldwin said, is “a huge help to the college.” It attracts students from states including New York, Wisconsin, Michigan and California. The visitors often are discovering Mississippi for the first time. Soon after they arrive, “they fall in love with the Clinton community,” he said.

Opening to classes for the first time in January, MC’s world-class building is a tribute to the hard work of the university’s professors and administrators, as well as gaining the support of Clinton leaders, he said. “This is a wonderful facility that puts MC on the cutting edge of research,” Dr. Baldwin said. “ It is as good as any facility for undergraduates in Mississippi.”

Mayor Aultman, who is stepping down after 20 years of dedicated service to her community this year, enjoyed watching the building go up for more than a year.

The state-of-the art facility is a feather in the cap of Mississippi College with its history so closely tied to the city of Clinton.

“The success of MC is critical to the success of Clinton,” Aultman said. “This is an exciting day and time for Mississippi College.”

Leaders from the Clinton Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Clinton and city alderman also welcomed the new facility that adjoins the Hederman Science Building.

Minutes after the April 30^th ribbon cutting, Richmond Walley continued to work on his computer and hit the books at Mississippi College’s new histology lab.

“This is a really nice classroom and it’s huge,” says Walley, the son of a Richton, Mississippi dentist. A graduate student in medical sciences, the Greene County High School graduate plans to follow in his father’s footsteps. He hopes to apply to the University of Mississippi School of Dentistry after completing his master’s degree work in the summer.

Going through the master’s program in medical sciences at Mississippi College is “a good confidence booster for you,” says the 22-year-old Mississippi State University biology graduate. In his MC classrooms, he’s meeting students from California to Georgia to Minnesota. “People come here from everywhere.”

A biology major and Mississippi College sophomore from Montgomery, Alabama, Hallie Hodge is also quite impressed with the new medical sciences building. “I plan to go to medical school. It will be exciting to have classes in the cadaver lab.”