During a recent polling of nearly 150 freshmen, only 24 students claimed to have read this year’s Maroon Edition selection, “The Optimist’s Daughter,” by Eudora Welty.
Rich Raymond, head of the english department at Mississippi State University, said the leaders of the Maroon Edition are creating ways to generate awareness and excitement about the first-year reading program, and they hope the program will continue to grow in the future.
Raymond said he anticipates the program will grow as the year progresses and during the next few years of the Maroon Edition.
“I hope we continue doing this and it catches on. I’ve noticed students who come are very engaged and eager to talk, but I just wish more students would take advantage of this,” he said.
Raymond said he acknowledged the mixed reaction to the program from students and hopes over the next several years, student involvement in the program will increase.
 
 
“Some presentations have been very well attended and some not, so it’s hit and miss,” Raymond said. “I think as the word gets around, in another year or two perhaps things will be better attended.”
He said many students said they thought the book was required reading, and it affected their interest in the book and companion events, but participation in the Maroon Edition program is at the discretion of students and teachers.
Linda Morse, chairwoman of the Maroon Edition committee, said she hopes that by having events sponsored by a variety of departments about an assortment of Welty’s themes, students will find an event that interests them and become more interested in “The Optimist’s Daughter” and the Maroon Edition project.
“Part of what we do at the Maroon Edition is to have those themes become the focus of different programs. Different departments take a theme from the book, or perhaps the author, and go with it,” Morse said. “Departments put their own twist to it. There are a lot of things going on.”
Raymond said he thinks students can see literature as something anyone can find interesting.
“When a student looks around the room and sees who’s talking, he or she discovers it’s not just interesting to literature teachers because the novel touches on a wide range of social issues,” Raymond said.
Rhett Hobart, Student Association president, said he believes the Maroon Edition will grow as a tradition for students the longer the program continues.
 ”I think as we evolve the program and get larger as a university, the awareness is going to grow, and also as the awareness grows, the involvement is going to grow,” he said.
Besides participating in the events, Hobart said students can suggest books via the Maroon Edition website.
“I think it’s really important that they’re doing this — getting student involvement in the book selection and getting student involvement and feedback in the entire process,” Hobart said.
Raymond explained the Maroon Edition’s goal is to build a relationship with reading and writing for first-year students at MSU.
“The message is that literature and literacy are crucial and whatever we can do to explore written language in an interdisciplinary kind of way is a benefit,” Raymond said. “This is the third year we’ve done this. It’s part of our mission to encourage reading and writing whenever possible. This is a way of doing that.”
In order to meet student needs, the Maroon Edition offers events from a variety of different disciplines. This year the Maroon Edition will host a keynote event, “An Evening with the Daughter’s Optimists,” in Lee Hall. Friends and family of Welty will be speaking about the life and work of the author.