JROCK
Preeminent
It sounds like a calculation on his part to increase the odds of the university's survival.
That is a plausible calculation as the post-reconstruction era wasn't anything nice. That Governor (Alcorn) had an interesting resume. Huge slave owner, confederate army veteran but opposed secession and advocated full civil & voting rights for former slaves (not sure if the latter metamorphosis was due to his political aspirations). Perhaps the writing was on the wall for Hiram Revels when he left his Senate seat. There is definitely some interesting history going on.