The Mississippi School of the Arts will celebrate the history of it campus at its 2016 class reunion this month.

MSA graduates and Whitworth College alumni are invited to attend the reunion May 27-28.

“This year our reunion will include not only MSA alumni, but Whitworth alumni as well,” MSA recruiter Brianna Moore-Christa said. “We think that this is a great way for past and present to connect, as well as to bring attention to all the exciting things that are taking place on campus, including the renovations of Enochs Hall and Elizabeth Cottage and the future renovation of Cooper Hall.”

A historical archival room is being built in Elizabeth Cottage to showcase MSA and Whitworth College memorabilia, Moore said. MSA has been hard at work gathering historical knowledge on the buildings and people who attended Whitworth College, she said.

“With the help of the historical society and the library, it has been a fun and exciting challenge to piece together resources from as far away as Texas and California,” Moore-Christa said. “The history of Whitworth is so very closely tied in with the history of Brookhaven. We hope to tell the story of Whitworth College and the Mississippi School of the Arts through a series of scrapbooks that will be displayed in the archival room, as well as a book that we hope will be one of the most comprehensive histories of the campus ever written. If anyone in the community has anything they would like to contribute or share with the project, we would love to make a copy to add to our archives.”

The reunion festivities will include a breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as a tour of the campus and a historical presentation on Whitworth College.

“Part of our reunion celebration will feature a historical talk at the library in the Vernon Room, where we will be previewing the scrapbooks and discussing the history of the campus,” Moore-Christa said.

To help fund the renovations on campus, MSA is selling personalized bricks to be placed in front of the Mary Jane Lampton Auditorium.

“It’s a great way for people to memorialize their Whitworth heritage and become a part of the campus history themselves,” Moore-Christa said.

MSA was created by HB 706 during the 1999 regular legislative session. The school began operating in August 2003 after millions of dollars were poured into the restoration of Whitworth College, which was to be used as the campus. In 2005, MSA graduated 38 students in its first class.

Whitworth College was founded in 1859 as a four-year, all-female Methodist-sponsored institution from 1865-1928, according to the MSA website. The school became a liberal arts junior college under the Millsaps System in 1928, before facing a long period of decline when the Methodist Conference withdrew its support in 1937, the website states. The campus is designated as a Mississippi landmark and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Moore-Christa said all alumni are welcome to attend the event. The entry fee for the event is $5 per person at the door. All of the proceeds will go to the Rising Phoenix Scholarship.

For more information regarding the event, visit the Mississippi School of the Arts Alumni Association Facebook page or contact the school.