On Saturday, December 16, 2023, at 10 a.m., Mississippi Valley State University will host its Fall 2023 Commencement in the R.W. Harrison HPER Complex.
This year, the graduates will receive words of motivation from Dr. Roy C. Hudson who will serve as the keynote speaker for the celebration.
Hudson was employed by MVSU in 1973 as the Director of Student Teaching and Associate Professor of English. Since that time, Hudson served as the Vice President for University Relations and Special Assistant to the President, the Interim President of the University from July 2007 through December 2008, and a professor of English, which he continued to do as Vice President and Interim President.
Of his administrative accomplishments at MVSU, Hudson is most proud of his work in Governmental Relations for the university. As the Governmental Relations Officer of MVSU for 30 years, Hudson was instrumental in gaining funding for some of the university’s major facilities including the new Business Education Building and the Sutton Administration Building. He also played a role in receiving funds through the Ayers settlement decree to rebuild the J.H. White Library and build the new Science and Technology Building.
As an English professor, Hudson was a regular presenter at the National Conventions of the National Council of Teachers of English and the Conference Colleges Composition and Communication. He also made his mark as a teacher educator having served on MVSU’s committee to gain accreditation for the teacher education programs by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).
In addition to his work at MVSU, Hudson taught English in the Meridian Community College System and had a stellar career as a Higher Education Evaluator and Consultant. During his career, he chaired and served on more than 20 Reaffirmation Committees of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Hudson completed his doctorate degree in English Education at Rutgers University in 1973. He also has a master’s degree from Mississippi State University in 1969 and a bachelor’s degree from Mississippi Valley State University in 1966.
Outside of his work life, Hudson has been married to Dorothy Williams Hudson for 60 years, and they share two children, a son, Gregory Hudson of Fort Lauderdale and a daughter, Pamela Hudson Lindsey (Ward) of Memphis, TN. He also has a grandson named Jaimyal Linsey who graduated from MVSU in 2014.