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• ICC's Brown returns to the classroom this fall from nine-month deployment to Kuwait

              Service is an important word to Itawamba Community College instructor Ashley Brown of Blue Springs.             Fresh off a nine-month deployment to Kuwait, Brown has returned to the classroom this fall as an industrial maintenance, robotics and electrical technology instructor at the Belden Center. He is now in a different kind of service.             He is responsible for recruiting students; building and maintaining the curriculum; ensuring students achieve the skills necessary to be functional, entry-level employees in related career fields; maintaining relationships with industry and prospective employers and linking them.             That’s a long way from what Major Brown was doing in western Asia, where he was the logistic officer for a rotary aviation maintenance unit.             Brown has been in the military for more than 17 years, beginning as an enlisted private. He has served as an armor crewman in an M1A1 Abrams tank, a calvary scout, completed a 12-month deployment to Iraq and was promoted to the rank of Sergeant. After six years of enlisted time, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and became ...
• ICC Opens 2026 Gallery Season With “Soul Red Wawa” by Artist Lilian You

  Itawamba Community College opened its 2026 exhibition season with Soul Red Wawa, a cut-paper and mixed media installation by Tupelo artist Lilian You. The exhibition will be on view through Wednesday, Feb. 11, in the W.O. Benjamin Fine Arts Gallery on the Fulton Campus. The term “wawa” in Chinese culture refers to a doll or figurine rooted in folk art traditions. When created through paper-cut techniques, wawas are commonly used in traditional ceremonies as symbols of good fortune, happiness and prosperity. Drawing from these cultural origins, Soul Red Wawa explores the place of tradition within a technology- and meme-driven modern world. Through hundreds of red paper-cut wawas, You examines the merging of culture and ritual, art and contemporary themes, inviting viewers to consider how inherited traditions evolve and persist in present-day life. Born in northern China, You has lived, taught and worked across China, Japan and the United States. Her artistic practice integrates traditional Chinese folk art, embodied experience and contemporary installation. Her work centers on themes of women, the body, memory, trauma and spiritual restoration, expressed through paper-cut installations, spatial interventions and cross-media ...
• 11 graduate from ICC's prestigious Leadership Development Institute

  Eleven members of Itawamba Community College’s faculty and staff have graduated from its prestigious Leadership Development Institute.             They include Lindsey Patterson of Amory, Natural Science instructor/eLearning A&P lead and A&P department chair; Audra Perry of Belden, Adult Education director; Lee Adams, Bookstore manager; Kaitlyn Stanfield, Housing and Residence Life director; and Rachel Steele, director of Admissions/Registrar, all of Fulton; Jason Dickinson, Campus Police chief; and Jason Williams, Transportation director, both of Mantachie; Caleb Ramey of Red Bay, Ala., TIS systems administrator; Adam Denton of Saltillo, Respiratory Therapy program director; Stacey Loden, Workforce accountability and information specialist; and Alicia Thornton, Surgical Technology program director, both of Tupelo.             “I’m honored to have been a part of LDI, and the experience was very special,” Lee Adams said. “It helped me gain a broader understanding of the three locations of the college as well as how the (ICC) cabinet and administration work to benefit the college, students, employees and surrounding communities. The program, Dr. (Jay) Allen and all of the speakers expanded my knowledge of how to lead so that I can apply ...
• Nine graduate from ICC's prestigious Leadership Development Institute

              Nine members of Itawamba Community College’s faculty and staff have graduated from its prestigious Leadership Development Institute.             They include C.J. Adams of Fulton, assistant director of marketing; Terry Bland of Mooreville, financial aid director; Josh Gammill of Fulton, continuing education director; Adam Gore of Fulton, sports information and media relations director; Holly Gray of Fulton, library director; John Wayne Harris of Fulton, director of physical plant operations; Chris Stevenson of Fulton, dean of academic instruction; Dr. Dana Walker of Tupelo, Associate Degree Nursing program director; and Steven West of Mantachie, systems analyst and programmer.             “The LDI was extremely beneficial and helped me broaden my vision for ICC, both as a college and our nursing program,” Dana Walker said. “The sessions on leadership styles from Dr. (Jay) Allen (ICC President) and others helped foster new ideas on how to use the college’s strategic plan and goals for decision making at my level. The LDI motivated me and made me feel connected to ICC and especially aware of how my decisions impact ICC and the ...
• Faculty, Student Exhibitions Highlight Spring Season in ICC Fine Arts Gallery

  Itawamba Community College is showcasing its second exhibition of the semester with a double feature highlighting the work of both faculty and students. The exhibition is free and open to be public while on view through Wednesday, March 4, in the W.O. Benjamin Fine Arts Gallery on the Fulton Campus. The Art Faculty Exhibition features paintings, drawings, metalpoint, mixed media and ceramics by Dr. Dana Arnold, Elizabeth Owen and Shawn Whittington. The exhibit presents works in traditional and experimental media and techniques, offering a broad view of the creative scholarship within ICC’s Fine Arts Division. A reception and question-and-answer session with the faculty artists will be held Wednesday, March 25, at 1:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Gallery. The ICC Student Art Exhibition and Competition is on display in the lobby and hallways of the W.O. Benjamin Fine Arts Building. Student works are represented in drawing, painting, 2D and 3D design, digital art and ceramics. Participating students include Omarion Agnew, Courtney Black, Jordan Cayson, Alex Conseco Martinez, Logan Crane, Malakai David, Kaiden Donaldson, Brady Edington, Christian English, Daniella Estoque, Paula Elaine ...
• Tupelo artist William Heard’s artwork opens ICC’s fall art exhibition

  Itawamba Community College has opened its fall 2026 exhibition schedule with “Becoming Butterflies, Lovely Ladybugs and Heavenly Honey Bees,” a collection of paintings by Tupelo artist William Flewellen Heard. Heard, a 1994 graduate of Tupelo High School, served in the Army National Guard as a medical specialist before attending ICC and Mississippi State University. In 2000, Heard sustained a spinal cord injury in an automobile accident that resulted in quadriplegia. During rehabilitation at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia, he discovered a passion for art through art therapy. After returning home, Heard was inspired by “Pollock,” a film chronicling the life and work of artist Jackson Pollock. Heard began experimenting with drip painting and has spent more than two decades developing and refining his own technique. Heard later returned to Mississippi State, where he earned a degree in general business with an emphasis in furniture production. He also became involved with Living Independence for Everyone of Mississippi, a statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering individuals with disabilities. Heard is the founder of Our ArtWorks, a nonprofit organization that provides artistic opportunities for individuals ...