Jackson State University unveils Enhancements to Historic COFO Building

Jackson State University’s Margaret Walker Center and Office of Community Engagement unveiled their latest beautification project in the historic West Jackson Community. On Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to showcase the newly constructed pocket park partially funded by an $80,000 Home Depot Retool Your School campus-improvement grant secured by the university in 2024.

“This is the first of many ribbon cuttings to come,” said Heather Denne’, Ph.D., director of JSU’s Office of Community Engagement. “Home Depot has been supporting HBCUs through the Retool Your School grant for the past 15 years and JSU has won the grant consecutively for the past seven years.”

Denne’ shared how the university, in an amazing feat, was awarded three substantial grants for the first time ever, further making history and the ceremony even more special. The grants included an $80,000 Retool Your School campus improvement grant, an $80,000 innovation lounge grant, and a $50,000 community improvement grant.

“JSU is the only school to ever win all three grants in the same year for a total investment of $170,000. We want to thank Home Depot for their ongoing contributions to HBCUs,” Denne’ expressed.

The new renovations are a part of the large scale John R. Lynch Street Corridor Project announced by the institution in the summer of 2024. It is a combination of historic preservation with revitalization endeavors to position the corridor at JSU as a centerpiece for historic tourism, cultural reflection, and the ongoing education of students and the greater community.

The new pocket park, located adjacent to the COFO Civil Rights Education Center, includes outdoor seating, lawn games and a mini-putting green for golf enthusiasts. Later this year, during the second phase of construction, outdoor lighting and additional features will be added to the park.

The renovations are led by Woodruff Construction and Architectural company created by 2008 JSU alum, Santez Woodruff. The civil engineer graduate expressed his excitement to be a part of the historic developments led by his alma mater.

“To be able to give the place that gave me so much stability and the knowledge to survive as a former student is a blessing,” Woodruff shared. “It’s truly amazing to be a part of the growth that is forthcoming.

COFO was an essential part of the civil rights movement and organizing in Mississippi and was involved in several key events, including the Freedom Vote, the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, and Freedom Summer. Prominent civil rights activists such as Bob Moses, Medgar Evers, and Dr. Martin Luther King gathered in the historic landmark to strategize and advocate for justice and equality for African Americans in what was a divided South.

Today, Director of the Margaret Walker Center and the COFO Civil Rights Education Center, Robert Luckett, Ph.D., and his staff continue to use the space to educate visitors and preserve the hollowed space.

“This place was the epicenter for civil rights organizing in the state of Mississippi, right here in this community and we should be proud of that,” expressed Luckett. “All of the activists who risked so much in this place, everything that you see here is in honor of them and making sure this community continues to remember the people who were willing to sacrifice everything.”

Since its reopening in 2011, the COFO Center has hosted guests from around the world. Potential visitors can schedule a tour today of the COFO Civil Rights Education Center by clicking here, or contact the staff of the Margaret Walker Center at 601-979-3935 or mwa@jsums.edu.