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S. R. No. 9 *SS08/R553* ~ OFFICIAL ~ N1/2
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To: Rules
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026
By: Senator(s) Norwood, Barnett, Blount,
DuPree, Hopson
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 9
A RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING THE LASTING FINANCIAL AND ATHLETIC 1
IMPACT OF HIGHLY REGARDED COMMISSIONER OF THE SOUTHWESTERN 2
ATHLETIC CONFERENCE AND NEWLY APPOINTED MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF 3
GOVERNORS OF THE NCAA DR. CHARLES MCCLELLAND, AND COMMENDING HIM 4
FOR ELEVATING THE NATIONAL IMAGE OF THE SWAC. 5
WHEREAS, Dr. Charles F. McClelland, a native of Jackson, 6
Mississippi, was named the sixth Commissioner of the Southwestern 7
Athletic Conference during the summer of 2018. Highly regarded as 8
one of the top sports administrators in the country, McClelland 9
currently oversees a conference with a total of twelve member 10
institutions (effective 2021-2022 academic year) which boasts 18 11
sports that compete at the NCAA Division I level and Football 12
(FCS); and 13
WHEREAS, under his tenure the Southwestern Athletic 14
Conference has been at the forefront of league expansions with the 15
additions of Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman in the Summer of 16
2020. Beginning with the 2021-2022 academic year, the 17
Southwestern Athletic Conference boasted 12 total members spanning 18
across six states including three members based in Mississippi 19
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(Alcorn State, Jackson State, Mississippi Valley State), two in 20
Alabama (Alabama A&M, Alabama State), two in Louisiana (Grambling 21
State, Southern), two in Texas (Prairie View A&M, Texas Southern), 22
one in Arkansas (Arkansas-Pine Bluff), and two in Florida (Florida 23
A&M, Bethune-Cookman); and 24
WHEREAS, other notable changes in the conference under his 25
tenure also include the purchase of a corporate office building to 26
serve as the new headquarters for the league. The three-story 27
structure is equipped with over 40 individual offices, two large 28
conference rooms, a walk-in reception/waiting area, and over 30 29
parking spaces. The league's new headquarters fittingly serves as 30
the primary location for conference operations, annual business 31
meetings, along with the onsite filming of multimedia content for 32
distribution via social media and the SWAC Digital Network (SDN); 33
and 34
WHEREAS, in the summer of 2025 the Southwestern Athletic 35
Conference announced the creation of SWAC TV, an exclusive 36
streaming platform that delivers users league athletics content 37
across all 18 conference sponsored sports. For the first time in 38
history, SWAC fans and supporters have a high-quality, 39
technologically-advanced streaming platform solely dedicated to 40
broadcasting live events and delivering high-definition on-demand 41
league content; and 42
WHEREAS, upon its initial launch, SWAC TV was available for 43
download on Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Google Play and Android 44
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TV. The free platform features preseason, regular season and 45
post-season live events across 18 league sponsored sports while 46
also featuring unique feature content, sports talk shows and 47
podcasts; and 48
WHEREAS, in addition to his duties at the league office, 49
McClelland was selected as a member of the NCAA Division I Men's 50
Basketball Committee in March of 2019. In July of 2022, 51
McClelland was named chair of the committee for the 2023-2024 52
season. With his selection, he became the first person 53
representing an HBCU league or institution to chair the committee. 54
The 12-member committee is responsible for selecting, seeding and 55
bracketing the field for the NCAA Tournament. Conferences are 56
divided among committee members so they can focus on monitoring 57
assigned teams throughout the season. Committee members, with the 58
exception of the chair, have conferences for which they serve as 59
either the primary or secondary monitor; and 60
WHEREAS, prior to arriving at the conference office, 61
McClelland served as the Vice President of Intercollegiate 62
Athletics at Texas Southern University located in Houston, Texas. 63
He initially took over the helm of TSU Athletics in April 2008 as 64
Director of Athletics. In February of 2015 McClelland was 65
promoted in title to Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics. 66
McClelland supervised a total of 16 sports - nine women's and 67
seven men's at Texas Southern. His daily duties included 68
fundraising, managing budgets, team scheduling, marketing and 69
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keeping abreast of current National Collegiate Athletic 70
Association (NCAA) rules and regulations; and 71
WHEREAS, perhaps the most significant first was accomplished 72
when the 2017-2018 TSU Men's Basketball Team won an NCAA 73
Tournament Game against North Carolina Central in the NCAA 74
First-Four. Exposure for the Texas Southern Athletics Program was 75
also a major focus under McClelland's tenure, and in 2015, 76
McClelland signed a deal with Root Sports to televise all TSU home 77
football games. Root Sports is a regional television station that 78
covers 5 States (Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Eastern 79
New Mexico) and is also the home of the Houston Rockets and 80
Houston Astro's professional teams; and 81
WHEREAS, before arriving at TSU, McClelland served as the 82
Athletics Director at Prairie View A&M University for seven years. 83
While at Prairie View, McClelland collected a remarkable (18) 84
Championships amongst various sports. Additionally, he increased 85
football scholarships to the NCAA I-AA maximum of 63 86
grant-in-aids. In 2007 Prairie View A&M's football team captured 87
the program's first winning season in over 30 years; and 88
WHEREAS, in October 2025, the NCAA board appointed five new 89
members to the Board of Governors Finance and Audit Committee 90
highlighted by SWAC Commissioner Dr. Charles McClelland being 91
selected to served on the committee. The NCAA Board of Governors 92
Finance and Audit Committee is a governance body of the NCAA; and 93
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WHEREAS, for his efforts, McClelland was named one of 29 94
winners of the AstroTurf Athletics Director of the Year Award 95
(2007) as presented by the National Association of Collegiate 96
Directors of Athletics (NACDA). He was also selected as the 97
Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) West award winner. 98
McClelland was the first Athletic Director from the SWAC to 99
receive this prestigious award. In 2025 he was inducted into the 100
Texas Southern Athletics Sports Hall of Fame in recognition of his 101
exemplary years of service to the institution; and 102
WHEREAS, a 1993 graduate of Prairie View A&M, McClelland 103
earned his Bachelor's Degree in accounting and in 1997 received an 104
MBA from Prairie View A&M. He earned his doctoral degree in 105
Higher Education Administration from Texas A&M University in 2011. 106
McClelland's extra-curricular affiliations include membership in 107
the Prairie View A&M University National Alumni Association, Kappa 108
Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., and the Rotary Club of Birmingham; and 109
WHEREAS, McClelland is a former member of the NCAA 110
Leadership/Management Council. At the time it was one of the 111
highest ranking councils in the NCAA, the Leadership/Management 112
Council was responsible for establishing direct general policy, 113
the strategic plan for the NCAA and advised the board of directors 114
on administrative bylaws and regulations. He is also a past 115
president of the Houston Touchdown Club and continues to serve on 116
the board of directors. McClelland served as chairman of the SWAC 117
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ST: Recognize lasting financial and athletic
impact of highly regarded SWAC Commissioner Dr.
Charles McClelland.
Council of Athletics Directors, a position he held for ten years; 118
and 119
WHEREAS, McClelland is married to Ashlee McClelland and is 120
the father of sons, Cainan and Ashton and daughter, Cooper; and 121
WHEREAS, it is with great pride that we recognize the 122
dedication, expertise, and commitment to excellence of a sports 123
administrator whose leadership of Historically Black Universities 124
has made a lasting impact on our community, state and nation: 125
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF 126
MISSISSIPPI, That we do hereby recognize the lasting financial and 127
athletic impact of highly regarded Commissioner of the 128
Southwestern Athletic Conference and newly appointed member of the 129
Board of Governors of the NCAA Dr. Charles McClelland, and commend 130
him for elevating the national image of the SWAC and extend to him 131
the greetings of the Mississippi Senate. 132
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to 133
Dr Charles McClelland, forwarded to the corporate office of the 134
Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and made available to the 135
Capitol Press Corps. 136