Missouri State University-West Plains held its annual State of the University address Thursday afternoon in the West Plains Civic Center Theatre. The socially-distanced address featured presentations from MSU System President Clif Smart and MSU-WP Interim Chancellor Dennis Lancaster.
Prior to Smart and Lancaster’s speeches, the university awarded its Granvil Vaughan Founder’s Award and an Honorary Associates Degree. The awards are normally presented during the college’s commencement ceremonies, which were canceled due to COVID-19.
The Founder’s Award was presented to Chuck and Sue Kimberlin and the honorary degree was presented to Mark Collins. More information on the Founder’s Award can be found here and information on the honorary degree here.
Smart opened the address with a surprise announcement:
Lancaster spoke about the challenges of COVID-19 and maintaining a safe campus while focusing of the education of the college’s students. He summarized his address:
Missouri State University recorded the State of the University address and will make the video available to the public at a later date.
