Delta Center hosts Hillel Jewish group

Lee Aylward (second from right) of the Delta Center for Culture and Learning recently hosted a tour for the Hillel Jewish student group from the University of Virginia. They visited various Delta sites, including the "Cast of Blues," a collection of 54 blues masks found in the lobby of Ewing Hall at Delta State.

The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University recently hosted members of the Hillel Jewish student group at the University of Virginia.

Hillel is the largest Jewish student organization in the world. By participating in life-changing trips and campus initiatives, students learn to make a meaningful impact on the future of people and the world while they grow intellectually, socially, and spiritually.

The Delta Center’s Lee Aylward provided a Delta tour to significant sites in the Delta, and director Dr. Rolando Herts gave them an overview of the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area.

The group will spend time throughout the Delta for a week conducting service projects and learning about the different communities. 

The mission of The Delta Center is to promote greater understanding of Mississippi Delta culture and history and its significance to the world through education, partnerships and community engagement. The Delta Center serves as the management entity of the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area and is the home of the International Delta Blues Project. For more information, visit http://www.deltastate.edu/academics/delta-center-for-culture-and-learning/.

Delta Center welcomes Robertson Scholars

From left to right, the scholars (with their University and home Country or State) are: Tierney Maray (Duke, Australia), Andrew Tan-Delli Cicchi (Duke, New Zealand), Oluwasanmi (Sanmi) Oyenuga (Duke, Nigeria), Sebastian Baquerizo (Duke, Ecuador), Jacob Oliffe (UNC, Australia), Griffin Unger (UNC, US - Pennsylvania), Virginia Hamilton (UNC, US - Georgia), Jaclyn Lee (UNC, US - California), Charlotte McKay (UNC, New Zealand)

The Delta Center for Culture and Learning has welcomed another set of interns from Duke and the University of North Carolina.

These Robertson Scholars all receive full tuition for all four years of their education and are required to enroll in classes at both universities. During the summer between their freshman and sophomore years, they participate in service projects in Atlanta, New Orleans, New York City or the Mississippi Delta.

Subsequent summers are spent anywhere in the world. Scholars typically stay in the Delta for about two months. The Delta Center acts as the home base for those scholars serving in the Delta and presents weekend trips to heritage sites in and around the Delta.

The first trip of the summer was to Memphis, where the scholars were introduced to Graceland, the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, the National Civil  Rights Museum and Beale Street.  The Delta Center’s Lee Aylward led the tour.

For more information on the Delta Center for Culture and Learning, please call 662-846-4311.

University of Maryland explores the Delta’s Jewish Heritage

Students from the University of Maryland listened to Charles McLaurin discuss his experiences during Freedom Summer in 1964.

The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University recently provided an introduction of the Delta’s cultural heritage to a group of students from the University of Maryland.

The group was particularly interested in the Delta’s Jewish heritage and contacted the Delta Center through the Institute for Southern Jewish Life in Jackson. Following the introduction to the Delta, the group listened to Charles McLaurin about his experiences during Freedom Summer. McLaurin worked to register African American voters throughout the Delta in the summer of 1964.

The group will spend a week in the Delta, conducting service projects at Mississippians Engaged in Greener Agriculture.

For more information on the Delta Center for Culture and Learning, call 662-846-4311.

Delta Center provides heritage tour for Mississippi State and Ole Miss students

PHOTO: The combined classes from Mississippi State University and the University of Mississippi at Dockery Farms. Photo by Cade Smith, Student Leadership and Community Engagement Director at Mississippi State University.

The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University provided an introduction to the Delta’s cultural heritage for a combined group of students from Mississippi State and the University of Mississippi during their Alternative Spring Break.  The students spend a week in the Delta, combining service projects with visits to attractions like Delta State University, the Quapaw Canoe Company, the Delta Blues Museum, McCarty’s Pottery, the Levee Run Farm, Dulaney Seed Company, and Po’ Monkey’s Lounge.  The students stay at the North Greenwood Baptist Church and dine in restaurants throughout the Delta.  The academic aspect of the course focuses on the Blues and Civil Rights heritage of the Delta.  The Mississippi State group was organized by Alternative Spring Break Co-Directors Courtney Allen and Chris Turner.  The University of Mississippi class was organized by AmeriCorps VISTA workers Ryan Parsons and Erin Mauffrey, and accompanied by Dr. Albert Nylander, formerly Dean of Graduate and Continuing Studies at Delta State and now Director of the McLean Institute for Partnerships and Community Engagement at Ole Miss.