Ole Miss and MSU athletic leaders highlight values at Delta Council

The Delta Council annual meeting was held June 13 in the auditorium of the Bologna Performing Arts Center at Delta State University.

Following the presentation of the colors and “God and Country,” the business session proceeded with the recognition of the 2025 Delta Council Community Service Award and the Wear Cotton contest. Council leaders also recapped the year’s challenges and opportunities, and introduced the 2025–26 Delta Council officers.

Delta Council, an area economic development organization based along the creek in Stoneville, represents nineteen Delta and part-Delta counties in northwest Mississippi. Founded in 1935, it provides a forum for agricultural, business and professional leaders to work together to solve problems and promote regional progress.

The annual meeting is considered a Delta “red-letter day,” and this year’s fried catfish luncheon on the Quadrangle grounds was again a highlight. Attendees left with hands full of food and stories.

One standout recognition during the business session went to molecular biologist Geoff Waldbieser of the ARS Warmwater Aquaculture Research Unit in Stoneville. Along with research geneticist Brian Bosworth, Waldbieser was honored in part for developing Delta Select, a new line of channel catfish that grow faster and yield more meat. These traits boost efficiency for catfish farmers.

Tripp Hayes chaired the forum portion of the annual meeting, which featured the athletic directors from Mississippi State University and the University of Mississippi as keynote speakers. The pair spoke about the evolving landscape of college athletics, including recruitment, NIL policy, and the importance of sports in shaping future success.

Keith Carter, vice chancellor and athletic director at Ole Miss, spoke first. He shared how marrying a Delta native and working on her family’s rice levees shaped his understanding of the region: “I didn’t get fired, but I was asked to go back to the basketball court and leave the farming to the farmers.” Carter said he once wondered why anyone would choose to live in the Delta, until he married in.

“College athletics is evolving,” he said, referencing the House v. NCAA settlement expected to allow revenue sharing with student-athletes beginning in 2025. Carter said Ole Miss is focused on building community and creating a “strong second home” for its approximately 400 student-athletes.

“We want to win, but we also want to educate and build the Ole Miss family.”

Zac Selmon, athletic director at Mississippi State and an Oklahoma native, reflected on an upbringing shaped by farming, family and football.

“The work ethic my father learned from farming transitioned into football on the gridiron,” Selmon said. He outlined four core pillars for MSU athletics: academics, financial literacy, transformational experiences and winning. Mississippi State reports a 93% graduation rate and an average 3.4 GPA among its 350 student-athletes.

Selmon also shared a personal story about when he told his father—former NFL player Dewey Selmon—that he wanted to play football. His dad pulled out his old helmets and pads to give him a firsthand lesson in toughness.

“I had never been hit so hard as when I was hit by my dad,” Selmon recalled with a smile. “But he was the first one there to help me back up.

That’s what I want to do—be there to lift others up.”

He concluded by emphasizing that Mississippi State’s ultimate goal is to prepare student-athletes to make meaningful contributions to the great state of Mississippi.

Attendees said the messages of resilience, leadership and community served as a fitting close to Delta Council’s most celebrated day of the year.