About 500 students attended “Live Maroon and White Forever,” a panel which featured five “Mississippi State University legends” sharing stories about their time at MSU with current students Wednesday night in Lee Hall.
The featured alumni included Roy Ruby, who served as moderator for the event, Frances Coleman, Boo Ferriss, Richard Holmes and Bailey Howell, who each brought a unique view of life as students at MSU spanning over 30 years.
DeJanae Banks, Avent Clark, Drew Fowler and Hayley Greenlee, four graduate students at MSU, organized the event with the MSU Alumni Association, Campus Activities Board and Student Association as sponsors.
A major theme of the panel was loyalty and pride in MSU, beginning with a welcome from Sid Salter, journalist in residence at MSU, who explained his personal feelings about being a member of the bulldog family.
“I think about family differently on this campus than I do anywhere else. On this campus, my family is very large, very strong and very loyal. That’s part of what being in the MSU family is all about,” he said.
Coleman, who serves as dean of Mitchell Memorial Library, discussed her years as a female student in a predominately male university. She said the faculty taught her to be kind and help others whenever possible by helping her and many other female students when they were struggling with course work or their home lives.
“Someone helped us, and we can’t go back and help them, but we can help other individuals as we go through life,” she said.
Ferriss, the first baseball player to receive a full scholarship at MSU in 1939, said he remembers playing ping-pong in the basement of the YMCA, now the MSU post office, bussing women from the nearby women’s college for midterm socials and the 1939 funeral of Bully I.
“When Bully died, it was probably the biggest funeral in Mississippi history … Anything can happen at Mississippi State,” he said.
Holmes, the first African-American student to attend MSU and the namesake of the Holmes Cultural Diversity Center, described the student reactions to his enrollment at MSU in 1965 by saying he never felt seriously endangered on campus. He said he commends MSU for continuing to accept minority students.
“I am proud that the university has embraced, encouraged and attracted minority students. I think we can truly say we are a people’s university, which can encompass and include everybody,” he said.
Howell, a star basketball player for MSU in 1958 and 1959 and former NBA player, said the loyalty of MSU fans has remained with him since his years as a student athlete.
“MSU alumni seem to me to be among the most loyal group of people that you can find anywhere,” he said. “We’re not always on top, we’re not always winning, but our fan base and alumni stick with MSU through thick and thin.”
Ruby, who worked for MSU for over 40 years, said MSU taught him everyone’s life is different whether it is his or her economic standing, athletic ability or intelligence. He closed the program by telling the audience the legacy of MSU depends on the current and future students who continue to shape MSU’s history and folklore.
“This university is a great institution and has a great history and great traditions. It is a great university because y’all chose to be students here,” he said.