Alcorn State University will hold its Spring 2026 Commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 9 in the Davey L. Whitney HPER Complex on the Lorman campus. Attorney and corrections policy leader Pelicia Hall will deliver the commencement address at both events.
The morning ceremony begins at 9 a.m., with the procession starting at 8:45 a.m. That ceremony will honor graduates of the Golden Class, Graduate Studies, the College of Agriculture & Applied Sciences, and the School of Nursing. The afternoon ceremony begins at 1 p.m., procession at 12:45 p.m., and will recognize graduates of the College of Arts & Sciences, the School of Business, and the School of Education & Psychology.
Hall knows what it means to break barriers.
In March 2017, she became the first woman appointed commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. She served in that role through January 2020. While there, her focus was on rehabilitation and reentry programming that gave incarcerated individuals a path forward.
Hall spent years sharpening her legal and policy instincts in government service before stepping into the commissioner’s role.
She served as chief of staff for the Mississippi Department of Corrections from 2015 to 2017, as lead counsel for the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics from 2011 to 2015, and as a special assistant attorney general in the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office from 2008 to 2011.
Earlier in her career, she practiced law at Page, Kruger & Holland in Jackson, Mississippi, handling litigation across personal injury, employment discrimination, contract and insurance disputes, products liability, and general tort matters.
Today, Hall serves as executive vice president and chief regulatory officer for ViaPath Technologies. She oversees relationships with government entities and regulatory bodies at the local, state, and federal levels and guides policy initiatives aligned with the company’s mission. Hall joined ViaPath in 2020 as senior vice president for reentry and transitioned to senior vice president for government affairs in 2021.
She has more than 20 years of legal experience. Hall is admitted to practice in state and federal courts and began her legal career as a law clerk for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi and the Hinds County Circuit Court.
Hall was elected president of the Association of Women Executives in Corrections in October 2023. She was also elected president of the Alcorn State University National Alumni Association, a position she has held since January 2025.
She is active in the Mississippi Bar Association, National Bar Association, Magnolia Bar Association, Federal Bar Association, American Bar Association, American Correctional Association, National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice, Correctional Leaders Association, and the Rotary Club of Jackson. In 2022, she was appointed a commissioner on the Veterans Justice Commission for the Council on Criminal Justice. Hall is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Her honors include the Girl Scouts of Greater Mississippi’s 2019 Women of Distinction Award, the Metro Jackson Black Women Lawyers Association’s 2017 Legal Trailblazer Award, the 2018 Leading Alcornites Under 50 distinction, the 2019 National Alumni Association Professional Achievement Award, and recognition as a Top Lobbyist and Influencer in the 2022 Lawyers of Color Caucus Issue. In May 2025, she was inducted into the Alcorn State National Alumni Association Hall of Honor.
Hall earned her Juris Doctor from Mississippi College School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts in political science/pre-law from Alcorn State University.
A native of Shubuta, Miss., she resides in Madison, Miss., and is a member of Anderson United Methodist Church. She is the daughter of the late Perry G. Everett and Patricia Everett.
