{"id":60281,"date":"2014-06-04T14:59:23","date_gmt":"2014-06-04T19:59:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/?p=60281"},"modified":"2014-06-04T14:59:23","modified_gmt":"2014-06-04T19:59:23","slug":"wyatt-and-delta-state-celebrate-milestones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/2014\/06\/wyatt-and-delta-state-celebrate-milestones\/","title":{"rendered":"Wyatt and Delta State celebrate milestones"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some of Delta State\u2019s most faithful alumni were on campus Tuesday to celebrate the 80th<\/sup> birthday of the university\u2019s fifth president, Dr. Kent Wyatt.<\/p>\n

Fittingly, the cake and ice cream party was held in the atrium of Kent Wyatt Hall, as the crowd was also filled with faculty, staff, friends, family and a number of community members.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m turning 80, but I really do feel good,\u201d said Wyatt. \u201cThis is a surprise to see so many folks here and it\u2019s a great celebration. I really appreciate President LaForge, Dr. Roberts, Leigh Emerson and everyone who put this together for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m having a great time visiting with my friends. It gives me a chance to reminisce and think about some good times I\u2019ve had in the past. I look forward to some more good times in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wyatt is celebrating another milestone this month, with 2014 marking 50 years of Delta State association. He moved to Cleveland at the age of 11 when his father took the head-coaching job for the Statesmen football team.<\/p>\n

After graduating from Delta State, Wyatt eventually served under President James Ewing as alumni director and then as assistant to the president for both Ewing and Aubrey Lucas. Wyatt became the first alumnus chosen as president, serving in the role from 1975-1999.<\/p>\n

Special recognition was given to Wyatt\u2019s wife, Janice, who has been at his side through his entire Delta State career.<\/p>\n

Also announced at the event was a major fundraising achievement made possible by Wyatt\u2019s leadership. Several years ago, the institution and the Delta State University Foundation organized a university-wide comprehensive fund raising effort called the Campaign for Delta State \u2014 chaired by Wyatt and his longtime friend Ned Mitchell.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday I have the pleasure to announce that thanks in large part to Kent Wyatt, along with Ned Mitchell and the leadership of the Delta State University Foundation \u2014 and the tremendous efforts of so many alumni and friends \u2014 we have just exceeded our $40 million campaign goal for the Campaign for Delta State,\u201d said President William N. LaForge.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe campaign will officially come to a close at the end of this month, and we will enjoy a nice celebration at the end of the summer,\u201d added LaForge. \u201cI wanted to take this opportunity to thank you, Kent, for your leadership and involvement in this very special effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

LaForge provided another notable announcement in reference to a $10,000 gift he and First Lady Nancy LaForge made to the Foundation in April to celebrate the president\u2019s one-year anniversary, which was made in honor of the Wyatt\u2019s 50 years of service to Delta State.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Wyatts have decided they would like for this money to be used to support students who have demonstrated success and commitment in their coursework, and who would otherwise be unable to complete their education within a reasonable time to graduate,\u201d said LaForge. \u201cThis is the first scholarship established for the retention of students.\u201d<\/p>\n

The affair concluded with a communal singing of Happy Birthday and an original song \u201cOde to Kent Wyatt\u201d performed by LaForge and Delta Music Institute director Tricia Walker.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you for helping us celebrate Dr. Wyatt\u2019s special birthday,\u201d said LaForge. \u201cI encourage you to help celebrate the importance of Dr. and Mrs. Wyatt to Delta State and the contributions they have made to this university by supporting the scholarship that has been established in their name.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those interested in making contributions are asked to contact the Foundation office at 662-846-4704 or foundation@deltastate.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some of Delta State\u2019s most faithful alumni were on campus Tuesday to celebrate the 80th birthday of the university\u2019s fifth president, Dr. Kent Wyatt. Fittingly, the cake and ice cream…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":60283,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,93,108],"tags":[1422,99,1423,95],"class_list":["post-60281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-alumni","category-foundation","category-president","tag-foundation","tag-kent-wyatt","tag-president","tag-scholarships"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/144"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60281"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60282,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60281\/revisions\/60282"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}