VP for Marketing & Communication Joins Biola University Staff

MC alumna and longtime staff member Tracy Harrison joins the staff at a Christian university in California.

After many years in Clinton and at MC, Harrison will start her position at Biola University on Feb. 19.

MC alumna and longtime staff member Tracey Harrison is set to join the staff of Biola University in La Miranda, Calif., on Feb. 19, 2024, where Harrison was appointed to the position of Vice President of Communication and Brand Marketing. She has been serving Mississippi College as the Associate Vice President for Marketing and Communication. 

“With exceptional skills in print and digital marketing, public relations and communications, Tracey has a proven track record of bolstering a university’s branding efforts, community relationships, strategic communication and marketing reach,” said Biola University President Dr. Barry H. Corey. “She also understands how to guide institutions through crises. More importantly, Tracey has shown she can lead teams with humility, effectiveness, personal connection and a commitment to individual and corporate development.”

MC President Dr. Blake Thompson echoed this sentiment in a letter to MC employees. 

“Tracey has been an integral part of our leadership team and we’ll always be a member of the MC family,” Thompson said. “Her contributions have been invaluable, and while we’re sad to see her go, we celebrate with her as she embarks on this new semester.”

MC has been a part of Harrison’s life since she was three years old. Her father, Terry McMillan, began coaching football at MC with John Williams in 1972. Harrison’s family lived in the apartment located in Chrestman Hall.

She earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at MC in business and communications. Upon graduating with her bachelor’s degree, she began as an admissions counselor in 1991 while working on her master’s degree, which she received in 1994. 

Dr. Rory Lee, who was Vice President of Advancement at that time, hired Harrison to be the director of the annual fund. Shortly after, Lee became the interim president. Under his administration, Harrison took on her first public relations duties. She officially assumed the position of Public Relations Director under President Howell Todd. 

She also taught classes in the School of Business and the Department of Communication from 1998-2004. She then moved to Tallahassee, Florida, where she served as a college minister while her husband coached football at North Florida Christian School. Harrison returned to MC in 2007 to fill her original position, this time under Presidents Lee Royce and Blake Thompson. The latter centralized communications and marketing into one department.

Harrison is excited about her new position at Biola and feels her move is a calling from God.

“The more I learned where Biola has been and where they are headed, I felt like I could help them,” Harrison said. “I do believe in the vision that their president, Barry Corey, has, and it’s a remarkable place.”