Joining President LaForge are Indianola Mayor Steve Rosenthal and Shelby Mayor Peggy Mengarelli.

Earlier this month, mayors from across the Mississippi Delta gathered at Delta State University for the fourth annual Mayors’ Summit. We invite these influential Delta leaders to campus each year to give us an opportunity to discuss campus and community activities and to continue to forge collaborations and partnerships that benefit the Delta. This year’s meeting focused on the university’s signature conferences — International Conference on the Blues and the Winning the Race Conference — as well as Delta State’s newest initiative, the Local Government Leadership Institute, which will provide local, elected officials with the basic knowledge and tools needed to run their municipalities effectively and efficiently. The Summit also gave the mayors an opportunity to share ways they are tackling challenges within the Delta.

In other news on campus, plans are already taking shape for Delta State’s 2017 Homecoming week, and registration is now open for anyone who wants to participate in the Homecoming Parade. The parade will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Nov. 11 before the Homecoming game, and the entry form is located on the Delta State home page at www.deltastate.edu.

Joining President LaForge are Chinese students Yujia Liu and Leyuan Liu.

Delta State’s international programs and exchange opportunities have continued to expand over the past year, and the university has hosted a number of international visitors on campus. One of the areas in which the program is growing is with our effort to build partnerships with universities in China. Last summer, Delta State hosted 10 faculty members from the Anyang Institute of Technology in the Henan Province. This summer, we are hosting two groups from China from the Henan University of Economics and Law, also located in the Henan Province in the city of Zhengzhou.

The first group of visitors includes nine students and one team leader, and they are visiting Delta State to learn more about Southern culture and to experience life as an American college student. The students are college sophomores and juniors, and there are nine accounting majors and one e-commerce major.

In other news on campus, the Delta State Youth Basketball Camp is taking place this week, and we welcome all of the young campers to campus! And, in less than one month, on August 20, Delta State students will return to campus for the fall semester. We look forward to welcoming them back for what is sure to be another exciting semester for the Green and White.

To keep up with all of our news, activities and events, visit our website at deltastate.edu.