Delta State University, also known as DSU, is a regional public university located in Cleveland, Mississippi, in the heart of the Mississippi Delta. DSU is one of eight publicly funded universities in the state. The school was established in 1924 as a public institution by the State of Mississippi, using the facilities of the former Bolivar County Agricultural High School, which consisted of three buildings in Cleveland. On February 19, 1924, Senators William B. Roberts and Arthur Marshall cosponsored Senate Bill No. 236, which established Delta State Teachers College, which Mississippi Governor Henry Whitfield signed on April 9, 1924. The three buildings were Hill Hall, an administration and classroom building, Hardee Hall, a men's dormitory, and Taylor Hall, a women's dormitory. On February 14, 1924, James Wesley Broom was appointed president of the college and the college opened its doors on September 15, 1925. In May 1926, Broom died following complications from an ear infection, and William Zeigel was named his successor. The seal of the college was designed in 1928 as a project of an art class. World War II greatly affected the college.