With the holidays approaching, most denizens of Mississippi State University are devoted to wrapping up this semester’s projects, laying the groundwork for next semester’s goals, and digging the tensile out of the attic to deck the halls. 
With the Letters to the Legislature mailed off, plans to restructure the Student Association senate on the drafting table, and the Dec. 1 Holiday in the Junction coming up, MSU’s SA’s agenda is no different. 
SA President Jojo Dodd said Holiday in the Junction it the biggest event in the next few weeks. He said the event centers around MSU President Mark Keenum lighting the MSU christmas tree in the Junction, marking the official start of christmas for MSU.
Last Wednesday, the Community and Government Relations Committee of SA hosted a ‘Letter to the Legislature’ event where students could write letters to government leaders expressing their opinions surrounding the Mississippi state flag. In addition to sending letters collected that day, SA intended to teach students how to contact state leaders on their own. 
“It went well,” Dodd said. “We had 60 or so letters.”
Dodd said the event’s table became the center of a rolling conversation about multiple social issues affecting and surrounding MSU student life.
“(The conversation) was the most constructive part,” Dodd said. “It wasn’t just about the flag.”
Dodd said SA hopes to hold the event a second time before the close of this semester.
At the beginning of this semester, SA passed Resolution 12, which stated the MSU student body would like the state legislature to address concerns about the current state flag, and Dodd said he and other university’s SA heads have been working together to draft a state-wide Resolution to the same effect.
“I think every student SA in the state coming together on this issue would be very powerful,” Dodd said. 
He said SA presidents from across the state met in Jackson last Thursday and officially decided to move forward with the Resolution, aiming to have it passed sometime early next semester. 
SA Senator Holly Travis said on Dec. 2, the SA  Community and Gov. Affairs Committee and Cabinet will partner with the local Brickfire Project day-care center. The event will be a group mentor day where MSU student volunteers will help elementary school students with their homework before breaking out decorative cookie frosting and games. 
“Our hope is that this event will kick off the SA’s relationship with Brickfire so that not only are we student leaders on campus but also encouraging leadership for the community,” Travis said.
As for next semester, Dodd said SA will focus on commitment to advancing the status of higher education in the state as well as making changes to how the student body is represented on SA senate. 
Currently, there are seats for each academic college, as well as a few positions for graduate students and other outliers. 
Dodd said SA believes there is more that can be done to adequately represent all facets of the MSU student body. 
SA Vice President Roxanne Raven said the current conversation is to form seats for student organizations such as the Holmes Cultural Diversity Center, greek life, religious student organizations, and the honors college.
“We are trying to raise the number of seats in the Senate,” Raven said. “We are trying to have about 50 or more seats that are more than academic colleges so we can represent people more directly.”
Raven said at this point in time the restructuring is mostly in the planning stages, and will soon be meeting with members of MSU student affairs to make sure all of MSU is considered.