Delaware State formally welcomes first female president, Wilma Mishoe

The News Journal

Now, it's official.

Delaware State University formally elevated Wilma Mishoe to the school's presidency in an investiture ceremony Saturday at the Dover campus.

Mishoe, a daughter of the school's seventh president, was named interim president in January and became its 11th president effective July 1.

Wilma Mishoe receives the hood and gown of the presidency of Delaware State University by board of trustees members Debbie Harrington and John Ridgeway as she is formally conferred with the presidency of Delaware State University in an investiture ceremony Saturday at the Dover campus. Mishoe, a daughter of the university's 7th president, had been interim president since January before being named president in July. She is the university's 11th president and first woman president.

She is Delaware State University's first female president — a fact noted by speakers as often Saturday as were her deep ties to the school. Her father, Luna Mishoe, served as president of then-Delaware State College from 1960 to 1987.

"We will continue to be guided by our original mission to provide access and opportunity to those who desire an education," Mishoe told the gathering. "Our success as a nation has been built on the premise that education is paramount. I firmly believe that every individual deserves to be educated to the very fullest of his or her intellectual potential to achieve."

Background:Delaware State University names Wilma Mishoe interim president

Mishoe had been an administrator in several leadership roles over a 30-year career at Delaware Technical Community College as well as a board of trustee member at Wilberforce University and interim president there before joining the Delaware State board of trustees in 2015 and becoming its chairwoman in 2017.

The ceremonies, complete with academic regalia and symbols of office, included representatives from other Delaware institutions of higher learning along with song and dance performances by faculty; staff; and members of the school's Approaching Storm marching band, who played "Pomp and Circumstance" during the processional.

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