New DSU president prioritizes Rolling Fork ahead of inauguration. See the plans

Dan Ennis was just learning about the Mississippi Delta in general and Delta State University, specifically, last March.

On March 28, 2023, the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning named Ennis the ninth president of DSU in Cleveland.

Just four days earlier, however, about an hour's drive south of Cleveland, an EF-4 wedge tornado ripped a nearly mile-wide scar through the small town of Rolling Fork and obliterated virtually everything along historic U.S. 61.

Rolling Fork, a small community, is populated with Delta State alumni, including lawyers, farmers, the newspaper editor and bank presidents. In many ways the rebuilding of the town of approximately 1,800 residents has been on the backs green-and-white-wearing DSU alums.

Ennis, who officially assumed office on June 1, 2023, will be formally installed as Delta State University’s ninth president on Saturday. Celebrations have been planned for all week leading up to the big day on Saturday,

However, Ennis wants to make sure a nod is given to Rolling Fork and its residents to make sure people understand the week is not all pomp and circumstance.

So, Ennis has organized a work day Friday for students and alumni in Rolling Fork, some 11 months since the tragedy in Sharkey County.

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"This was really something important to me," Ennis said. "It was right around the time I was still interviewing for the job, that the tornado hit. I was paying attention to Mississippi news. I was trying to learn about Mississippi when this happened."

He said he would have been horrified upon reading about any tragedy such as the one that struck Rolling Fork but the news was particularly devastating, considering he was trying to acquire a job serving in the Mississippi Delta.

The potential for living in the Mississippi Delta became a reality.

"When they kind of had the public unveiling for me in Cleveland, I asked to carve out some time to make a trip to Rolling Fork," Ennis said. "I got to go and tour the town and see the destruction and meet many of the people there. There are just so many folks in Rolling Fork and the area that went to Delta State."

When it came time to start planning the inauguration ceremony, he made sure to add a day of service in Rolling Fork to the schedule.

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"It was important to me to make this happen," Ennis said. "I think it is going to be a good day. It's also a day to let them know we will always be behind them and working with them to help rebuild the town. This won't be the last time we are working with our friends up there."

Rolling Fork Rising, a local nonprofit, run by Britt Williamson, will be coordinating DSU's service day. RFR was established following the storms with a vision to help rebuild homes, especially for renters.

"There is still some cleaning up here and there that needs to be done, for sure," Ennis said. "But they are really wanting to get people back in houses. So, we are going to be painting houses that have already been built and helping in any way possible with what they need."

DSU affiliated people will leave Cleveland early Friday morning to get to Rolling Fork and then work, have lunch and work some more before heading back to Bolivar County.

"We are going to do whatever they need," he said. "They will dispatch us across the town for different activities in different places."

Ross Reily can be reached by email at rreily@gannett.com or 601-573-2952. You can follow him on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter @GreenOkra1

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Ennis plans relief efforts for Delta State in Rolling Fork MS