The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University is pleased to announce the arrival of its new director, Dr. Rolando Herts. Herts officially began serving in his new role\u00a0Aug.\u00a018 after the retirement of Dr. Luther Brown, who established the Delta Center in the year 2000.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am excited about working with colleagues at Delta State and partners throughout the Mississippi Delta region,\u201d said Herts. \u201cThe Delta Center will be managing the implementation of the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area, as well as overseeing the International Delta Blues Project. These and other exciting initiatives and programs will utilize the region\u2019s rich cultural heritage as a tool for promoting education, tourism, community engagement and economic development.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brown said he looks forward to seeing Herts\u00a0take on the leading role.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area is benefiting the entire Mississippi Delta. It has a strong management plan, and Rolando Herts will lead the effort to turn the plan into reality,\u201d said Brown.<\/p>\n
Herts has years of experience working in and conducting research on the Delta region. After completing undergraduate and graduate programs at Morehouse College in Atlanta and the University of Chicago, he returned to the Delta to teach second grade in Indianola with Teach For America. He also directed\u00a0TRIO Student Support Services at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.<\/p>\n
While at Pine Bluff, he exposed students to educational cultural heritage and civil rights attractions in Memphis, Atlanta, Birmingham and in Arkansas communities. He earned a doctorate\u00a0in planning and public policy from Rutgers University, where he examined the MDNHA\u00a0as a case study of university-community tourism engagement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spent formative years in Eudora, Arkansas, and graduated from Little Rock Central High School, a National Historic Site of the National Park Service \u2014 where nine black students led school integration efforts in 1957,” said Herts. “Growing up, all around me were reminders of the importance of cultural heritage, education and community.<\/p>\n
“Attending Morehouse reinforced this with educational, social justice and heritage leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King, Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays and Dr. Wendell Whalum as exemplars. While working on my doctorate\u00a0at Rutgers, I met Dr. Luther Brown through Ron Nurnberg, executive director of Teach For America Mississippi Delta. Dr. Brown has been an excellent mentor who has worked tirelessly to preserve and promote cultural heritage in and for the Delta region. I am humbled by this opportunity to help carry on this important legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Given its management role with the\u00a0MDNHA\u00a0and the International Delta Blues Project, the Delta Center will be expanding its capacity to serve as a regional connector and resource for understanding and celebrating the Mississippi Delta\u2019s cultural heritage. Through funding from the Hearin Foundation, the center will\u00a0soon be hiring a director of blues studies. Undergraduate internship and graduate assistantship positions also will be created, providing Delta State students with experience that will prepare them to engage with the Delta\u2019s emerging cultural economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Delta region was fortunate to have a visionary like Dr. Luther Brown come into the Delta and open all our eyes to our rich heritage,” said Lee Aylward, DCCl program associate for education and community outreach. “With the arrival of Dr. Herts, the Delta Center will be spreading its wings, not only building on this legacy, but also expanding programming and engagement throughout the Delta.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a native of the Delta, Dr. Herts brings to the table an understanding and desire to help promote the region and its importance to the world. With the new program in blues studies coming to the Delta Center, and the approval of the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area\u2019s management plan, these are exciting times at the Delta Center.\u00a0Dr. Herts\u2019 education, background and energy make him the ideal person to lead us to the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n
To learn more about the The Delta Center for Culture and Learning, visit http:\/\/deltacenterforcultureandlearning.com\/<\/a>. More information on the\u00a0International Delta Blues Project is available at\u00a0<\/span>https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/president\/international-blues-conference\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University is pleased to announce the arrival of its new director, Dr. Rolando Herts. Herts officially began serving in his…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":61168,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,296],"tags":[784,362,122],"class_list":["post-61167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-delta-center","category-facultystaff","tag-herts","tag-mississippi-delta-national-heritage-area","tag-the-delta-center-for-culture-and-learning"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61167","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=61167"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61173,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61167\/revisions\/61173"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}