At his first convocation as Tougaloo College’s president, Corey Wiggins reflected on a question he’d asked himself before the event: What prepared him for this moment?
“And strangely enough, my mind didn’t go to a job I had, a title I’ve carried, or even a degree I’ve earned,” Wiggins said during his speech. “It went home.”
Wiggins, who took over as the college’s president on July 1, talked about growing up in Copiah County, and how his experiences led him to his new role. He also recounted the college’s storied civil rights history and its connection to the institution’s future.
Nearly 250 Tougaloo alumni, faculty, students and local high school students and community residents filled the Kroger Gymnasium in the Owens Health & Wellness Center for the convocation Wednesday. The event opened with brief remarks and prayers from campus student leaders followed by the college’s concert choir singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which is often called the Black national anthem.
Wiggins recounted Tougaloo’s history before talking about his role in its future.
Founded in 1869, four years after the Civil War, the American Missionary Association bought 500 acres of a former plantation and established Tougaloo College. Nearly a century after the college’s founding, nine Black students — later dubbed the Tougaloo Nine — staged a sit-in at the segregated Jackson Municipal Library on March 27, 1961.
Tougaloo College President Corey Wiggins delivers his convocation address, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026, at the campus in Jackson. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi TodayThat moment and other events during the Civil Rights Movement, Wiggins said, defined the college’s mission: to learn, lead and serve.
For Wiggins, the college’s legacy will require new and prospective students to show the same courage by embracing change. It will ensure Tougaloo remains strong for future generations, he said.
“You have to show up. You have to do the work. You have to be curious,” Wiggins said to applause. “Whatever path you take, your Tougaloo education should prepare you for your moment to think critically, to act courageously and serve something larger than yourself.”
Those commitments come as Wiggins inherits lingering concerns about the college’s leadership.
In March 2025, the college’s faculty senate issued a series of no-confidence votes for former President Donzell Lee, Provost Josiah Sampson III and Registrar Pam England.
The faculty senate previously voted no confidence in Sampson and England in May 2024. Lee was interim president of the university at the time.
The dissatisfaction also predates Lee.
In 2022, Tougaloo students voted no confidence in President Carmen Walters. That year, a group called the Tougaloo College Alumni Coalition for Change garnered more than 1,500 signatures on an online petition calling for Walters’ removal.
On Tuesday, Wiggins told Mississippi Today he can’t speak to what happened on campus before his arrival. But he has attended alumni events, faculty senate meetings and walked the campus with students.
Read more: Who is Corey Wiggins? Learn more about Tougaloo College’s new president
“I think that’s how we build camaraderie,” Wiggins said. “That’s how we build and create the healthy tension that you need to create an institution that’s forging a way ahead.”
Wiggins said Tougaloo faces challenges competing with public institutions for faculty, an issue he plans to address as he develops the college’s strategic plan.
Meherun Laiju, vice chair of Tougaloo’s faculty senate, said she was a member of the selection committee for the president and believes they chose the right candidate.
“We believe that he will be transparent,” Laiju said.
Wiggins asked faculty to work directly with Pamela Foster, the college’s new provost and vice president of academic affairs, to address their concerns, Laiju said.
Jalynn Sanders, a senior physics major, said students have felt unheard by college administrators, particularly around campus infrastructure. But Wiggins has reached out to student groups since the start of the semester to create a positive impact on their campus experiences, Sanders said.
Tougaloo College President Corey Wiggins speaks with attendees during a meet-and-greet at the school in Jackson on Wednesday, July 1, 2026. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi TodayThe institution has had too much change, said Blondean Y. Davis, who chairs the college’s board of trustees. Wiggins will provide the leadership that the college needs, she said.
“With change comes a sense of unrest,” Davis said. “He also has the aggressiveness in terms of facilitating financial stability that we need to lead us into the world.”
Wiggins has a deep understanding of the college’s community and the potential to elevate the institution nationally, said Michael J. Cleveland, vice chair of the Tougaloo College National Alumni Association board of directors. It is important that Wiggins involves alumni, the community, and faculty, in shaping the institution’s future, he said.
Wiggins and his administration should also address faculty and student recruitment, retention, fundraising and donor retention, Cleveland said.
“I think he’s coming at the right moment to do what needs to be done,” Cleveland said.
“And if he isn’t,” he said. “We’re going to hold him accountable.”
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