State College Board names Alfred Rankins president of Alcorn State University

State Commissioner of Higher Learning Hank Bounds, left and college board member C. D. Smith, Jr., answer reporters questions about the selection of Alfred Rankins Jr., a state higher education administrator, as the state college board's preferred candidate to be the next president of Alcorn State University at a Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014, at a news conference in Jackson, Miss. If confirmed, Rankins will become the next leader of the 4,000-student university. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
State Commissioner of Higher Learning Hank Bounds, left and college board member C. D. Smith, Jr., answer reporters questions about the selection of Alfred Rankins Jr., a state higher education administrator, as the state college board's preferred candidate to be the next president of Alcorn State University at a Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014, at a news conference in Jackson, Miss. If confirmed, Rankins will become the next leader of the 4,000-student university. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
State Commissioner of Higher Learning Hank Bounds, left and college board member C. D. Smith, Jr., answer reporters questions about the selection of Alfred Rankins Jr., a state higher education administrator, as the state college board’s preferred candidate to be the next president of Alcorn State University at a Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014, at a news conference in Jackson, Miss. If confirmed, Rankins will become the next leader of the 4,000-student university. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) — Alfred Rankins Jr. will be the next president of Alcorn State University.

Meeting in Lorman Tuesday, the state College Board unanimously voted for its deputy commissioner of academic affairs to take the reins at the 4,000-student university.

The board is choosing an insider after an abbreviated search. The 42-year-old Rankins was the only person interviewed.

Rankins served in 2012 as Mississippi Valley State University’s interim president

Previous Alcorn State leader M. Christopher Brown II resigned in December as the board moved to suspend him over purchasing problems.

Records reviewed by The Associated Press show Alcorn spent almost $89,000 at the president’s house without seeking bids as required under state law. An auditor says the school spent more than $67,000 in bond money on projects not permitted under the bond authority.