Phillips County graduates Guest, Von Kanel earn Ole Miss degrees

Guest and Von Kanel joined more than 3,800 University of Mississippi graduates in May, putting two Phillips County names into a class that drew about 6,000 students and families to Oxford. For readers in Helena-West Helena, Marvell, Elaine and Lake View, the degrees are more than campus news because they add to the county’s stock of college-trained workers.

Ole Miss said its 2026 commencement season ran May 5-9 and marked the university’s 173rd Commencement. The May graduates came from the College of Liberal Arts, General Studies and the schools of Accountancy, Applied Sciences, Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Journalism and New Media, Law and Pharmacy, a spread of programs that reaches into the professions most likely to shape hiring and pay in the region.

The university also said it is a doctoral degree-granting institution with 15 academic divisions and more than 23,000 students. Through Merit Pages, Ole Miss sends hometown achievement stories to newspapers, high school principals, guidance counselors, state legislators and family members, which is why Phillips County students can show up in local coverage even when the university is handling a much larger commencement season.

That matters in Phillips County because every new degree widens the pool of residents who can move into classrooms, offices, health care jobs and management roles, whether they return home immediately or build experience elsewhere first. Ole Miss says undergraduate honor recognition requires at least 12 graded hours and no academic probation, with a 3.50 to 3.74 semester GPA earning Dean’s Honor Roll and a 3.75 to 4.00 GPA earning Chancellor’s Honor Roll, standards that help explain why hometown achievement notices can keep arriving before a student reaches graduation day.