President of Murray State University since 2018, Dr. Bob Jackson’s seven-year tenure comes to a close next May — when he will move into the role of “President Emeritus,” and embrace new Racer opportunities and experiences.
But for the former First District state senator, there remains plenty to oversee and do in the now — beginning with the Friday, December 13 Winter Quarterly Board of Regents meeting.
During a Tuesday update with the Hopkinsville Rotary Club, Jackson noted this is when the governing body will undertake full discussions and decisions about the future of the CFSB Center — Murray State’s regional special events center, and home of Racer men’s and women’s basketball.
On the heels of renderings released by MSU Athletic Director Nico Yantko and his associates, Jackson said the improvements and changes will be valued north of $10 million, and will likely come closer to $15 million.
And it’s all funded with private money.
Jackson also noted that in 2022, he and university associates helped launch their 100th Anniversary capital campaign, in honor of their 1922 founding, and it has been met with “great success.”
Tagged with a $100 million goal — and a 50/50 promise for scholarships and need-based aid on one side, and academic and athletic support on the other — more than $96 million has been raised to date, including a record $21.3 million in gifts and pledges over the last fiscal year.
These veritable contributions are coming just as Murray State University and its leadership have successfully announced more than $300 million in capital projects in the last five years, including:
+ A $60 million veterinary sciences building near the West Farm
+ A $38 million learning commons and residential hall
+ A $45.5 million school of nursing and health professions
+ A $10 million re-work of campus cybersecurity and network management
+ And at least $47 million, but perhaps more, in deferred maintenance
Since 2018, the beginning of his stewardship, enrollment has increased 5%, and more than 13,500 have graduated from Murray State University in the span. Currently, citizens from 49 states have or are attended MSU, with Maine the only holdout, and students from 45 countries and 112 Kentucky counties can be found in this, and many other year’s, rolls.
Three other major factoids, per Jackson:
MSU and the University of Louisville recently inked a “2+2” partnership for pre-med, in which students will spend two years at MSU before moving on to UofL, and then inking with an in-state residency.
Men’s basketball, at least this year, will either finish at the top, or near the top, of the conference in name/image/license spending, ushering in a new era for scholarship athletes.
And Murray State’s Hopkinsville campus, quaintly located near the up-and-coming Christian County Public Schools consolidation, will eventually be home of a beefed-up Racer Academy for high schoolers.
More than 60% of this year’s incoming freshmen, he said, came with an average 19 credit hours in college education.
