Delta State communications team wins statewide recognition at CPRAM awards

Delta State University’s communications team brought home statewide recognition again, with Staff Photographer Campbell Saia taking first place in Sports Photography, Senior Edition, for the third consecutive year. The honor came at the 2026 College Public Relations Association of Mississippi Awards, where the university’s Office of Communications and Marketing was recognized for its creative work.

That result carries extra weight in Cleveland, where Delta State is one of the city’s most visible institutions and a major part of the community’s identity. The university is a public campus in the Mississippi Delta, and its communications office plays a central role in how Delta State is seen by prospective students, alumni, faculty, staff and the broader region. A strong showing in a statewide competition signals that the school’s public image is being shaped by work that stands up to peer review across Mississippi.

The CPRAM conference ran May 18-20 at the Heindl Center at Northwest Mississippi Community College in Senatobia, bringing together college public relations and marketing professionals from across the state. CPRAM describes itself as a statewide network for those professionals, which makes the award especially meaningful for a university that competes with institutions across Mississippi for attention, support and student interest.

Delta State’s Office of Communications and Marketing handles news coverage, photography, graphic design, branding and web design for the university at large. The office says its goal is to exhibit Delta State’s excellence across the region, state and beyond, and it uses social media to connect with prospective and current students, faculty and staff, alumni, stakeholders and the community. In practical terms, that means the team is not just producing polished materials. It is helping define how the university tells its story, from campus events and ceremonies to athletics and daily life.

Saia is listed by Delta State as a photographer and videographer in the Communications and Marketing department, underscoring the in-house talent behind the award-winning work. The third straight first-place finish in sports photography suggests consistency, not luck, and it adds to a pattern of recognition for a communications operation that has become one of Delta State’s most effective public-facing assets. For Cleveland and the surrounding Delta, that visibility helps reinforce the university’s place as both a local anchor and a statewide competitor.