Delta State employees complete Mississippi State leadership program

Delta State University recognized two employees after they completed the inaugural PILLAR Leadership Institute at Mississippi State University, a year-long program built to send trained leaders back into Mississippi communities. Tameka Curry-Bryant, Delta State’s director of engagement and advocacy and Title IX coordinator, and Khadeisjh Dailey-Halsell, the administrative assistant for Destination Graduation, graduated May 29 as members of the first cohort.

The program is more than a résumé line for a campus that has called Cleveland home for 100 years. Delta State says it is a public university in the Mississippi Delta with more than 40 programs, a 14-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio and more than 20 online programs, and it describes campus and the city as “two connected experiences.” For students and families in Cleveland, that connection runs through the staff members who answer questions, steer students toward support and handle problems before they grow.

Mississippi State says PILLAR stands for Promoting Innovation, Leadership, Learning, Advancement and Resilience. It is a cohort-based leadership development initiative designed to equip people across Mississippi with skills, networks and confidence to lead, with a particular emphasis on the Mississippi Delta and other rural communities. The institute includes online courses, workshops, in-person retreats, mentorship, community service and a capstone project tied to a community-identified challenge.

Its curriculum reaches into the day-to-day work that shapes campus culture: emotional intelligence, strategic planning, financial literacy and workplace dynamics. That matters at Delta State because Curry-Bryant’s role touches student complaints, interim accommodations and support measures through the university’s Title IX process. When that office responds quickly and clearly, students are more likely to stay connected to the university and to the support systems that surround it.

The PILLAR Institute itself received a $25,000 award from the Women’s Foundation of Mississippi, which Mississippi State describes as the state’s only grantmaking organization exclusively dedicated to advancing economic security for women and girls. That funding gives the program a broader reach across the state, but the local payoff lands in Cleveland, where Delta State staff members work every day with students navigating academics, retention and campus life.

For Cleveland County, the significance is practical. The employees who completed PILLAR are expected to bring fresh leadership tools back to Delta State, where small changes in student support, compliance and engagement can affect whether students feel rooted on campus and in the community beyond it.