The Copiah-Lincoln Community College Band and Colette Alumni Chapter will recognize Stanley Stewart and Devin Wallace during the college’s 2026 Homecoming festivities on Thursday, Oct. 8.
Stewart will be inducted into the Band and Colette Hall of Fame, while Wallace will receive the Stanley Stewart Outstanding Young Alumni Award. Both will be recognized during the Alumni Awards Reception at 3:15 p.m. in the Thames Center on the Wesson Campus.
Stanley Stewart
For more than four decades, Stanley Stewart was a familiar and influential part of the Co-Lin music program. He came to Co-Lin in 1970 as director of the marching and concert bands and jazz ensemble while also teaching instrumental music. During his tenure, Stewart helped expand the band program, establishing the college’s first concert band, introducing student woodwind, percussion and brass ensembles, and helping shape traditions enjoyed by generations of Co-Lin students and alumni.
Stewart later served as chair of Co-Lin’s Fine Arts Division. Even after retiring as band director in 2001, he continued serving the college as an adjunct music instructor, Blue Wave Show Band assistant and jazz ensemble director. His lasting influence was honored with the establishment of the Stanley Stewart Band Scholarship through the Co-Lin Foundation.
A graduate of Mississippi State University, Stewart has continued sharing his love of music through the Ole Brook Wind Symphony and has remained active in his church and community. He and his wife, Sheila, have four children and six grandchildren.
Devin Wallace
Wallace, a 2018 graduate of Co-Lin, continued his education at Mississippi State University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies before entering the university’s Alternate Route Master’s Program for secondary education.
Wallace currently teaches science at Brookhaven High School, where he also serves as assistant tennis coach and as assistant percussion director and drumline instructor for the Pride of Ole Brook Marching Band. His tennis team won the 5A State Championship in 2025. Wallace takes particular pride in seeing former tennis players and percussion students continue their talents at community colleges and universities.
He has also worked with a competitive percussion group through the Mississippi Indoor Association, helping the group earn first place in its division at the state level.
Wallace and his wife, Claire Upton Wallace, met during their first year at Co-Lin. They reside in Wesson with their daughter, Annie Blaise.
Stewart and Wallace will be recognized alongside Co-Lin’s other 2026 alumni award recipients during the Alumni Awards Reception. Homecoming festivities will continue throughout the afternoon before the Wolf Pack hosts East Central at 6:30 p.m. in Stone Stadium.