Delta State graduates 436 at Cleveland commencement ceremonies

Delta State University turned commencement into a Cleveland homecoming last week, sending 436 graduates across the stage at the Bologna Performing Arts Center while families, faculty and alumni filled the campus venue behind the sculpture garden on the south side of campus.

The university’s 99th commencement was split into four ceremonies on Thursday, May 7, and Friday, May 8, a change that reflected work underway at Walter Sillers Coliseum. Delta State honored 277 bachelor’s degree candidates, 120 master’s degree candidates, 28 educational specialist candidates and 11 doctoral candidates, a spread that showed how far the school’s academic reach extended across undergraduate and advanced professional study.

The ceremonies carried a distinctly local feel from the first note to the last. Marion Cork of Indianola, a 2026 Delta State Student Hall of Fame inductee, sang the national anthem and later returned with Ronnie Jackson, a 2025 graduate, to lead the Alma Mater. President Daniel J. Ennis welcomed graduates, families, faculty and guests, then later conferred the degrees and closed the ceremony after the platform program was complete.

The day’s most memorable speaker was the Fighting Okra mascot, whose appearance brought a campus-specific burst of humor to the traditional program. The mascot took the stage to a classic rock intro, produced a mock speech document, tore it up and exited, drawing applause and laughter from the crowd before the procession moved on.

Delta State also used the ceremony to recognize faculty and staff whose work shapes the university every day. Dr. Maria Weber, an associate professor of physics and director of the Roy L. and Clara Belle Wiley Planetarium, received the S. E. Kossman Outstanding Teacher Award. Claire Cole, coordinator of executive services and office manager for the president’s office, received the H. L. Nowell Outstanding Support Staff Award.

Behind the scenes, the venue change underscored a larger campus moment. Cabinet minutes from February showed administrators planning for the Walter Sillers Coliseum project and waiting to see whether the building would be available for spring commencement. Facilities updates also showed roofing work at Sillers, plus a new HVAC and sound system, while spring enrollment had increased 6.3 percent.

For Cleveland and the wider Bolivar County area, the ceremonies offered more than a diploma count. They showed Delta State continuing to anchor the local economy, supply the regional workforce and keep academic tradition rooted in the Mississippi Delta even as the campus adapts to new construction and steady growth.