Mississippi State University’s Student Association passed Resolution 18 yesterday stating Bill 1523 is contrary to MSU policy and values of the student body after tabling and subsequently neutering Resolution 10.
HB 1523, also known as the ‘religious freedom bill,’ was signed into law by Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant recently. The law, effective July 1, will allow for workplace discrimination on religious grounds and has received nationwide opposition since it was passed by the state legislature.
Two days after the Governor signed the bill into law, MSU President Mark Keenum released a statement addressing ‘recent legislation’ that stated state laws would not affect MSU’s preexisting policy and practice of and toward inclusion and diversity on its campus.
In recent weeks MSU SA Senators Drew Baker and Logan Reeves drafted Resolution 10 which mirrored Keenum’s statement and said their own goals and actions still remain the same as before the bill was passed. However, Senator Katie Bryan drew issue with the resolution and motioned for the document to be sent to the Student Affairs committee, which she chairs, to be re-worded to be more respectful of the state legislature.
The following Tuesday, Resolution 10 made its way through committee and onto the floor during yesterday’s SA business meeting. Resolution 10 was joined by Resolution 18 written by Senator Taylor Thomas, which had not previously been introduced, that came out in direct opposition to HB 1523.
Gavin F. King, junior music education and business administration major, who serves as attorney general for the SA Executive Council, said why Resolution 18 was passed and how Resolution 10 was approached beforehand.
King, from Opelika, Alabama, described how Resolution 10 came up in a recent senate business meeting and was sent back to committee via parliamentary procedure where it was “watered down.” King said the committee chairman wanted a bill that was a little more neutral.
“We as an executive council didn’t think that the senate should be in the business of passing neutral resolutions,” King said.
“When that resolution came up, it came back up in senate this week, Resolution 10 passed with very little fan-fare. A lot of people didn’t even know what was going on. There was no discussion. It passed via voice vote and then we moved on to Resolution 18,” King said.
King said as an exception to what Resolution 10 did, Thomas believes along with the Executive Council that if something is said it should actually be said.
“This resolution [Resolution 18] was very similar to one passed at the University of Southern Mississippi and their student government a few weeks back,” King said. “This resolution really took a much more direct stance on how we as a Student Association feel about HB 1523. Part of our job as an Exec. had been convincing our senate in a lot of ways, but it’s not their job to be neutral.”
King said the Senators have opportunities at the present to speak on behalf of students, which is a great responsibility not to be taken lightly and decisions should be made that are best for our campus.
“If that means advocating on behalf of students to our legislature, then that’s just what we think needs to happen,” King said.
King said that they wanted to be sure, not only current students, but also prospective students and employees are not going to be afraid of how business is done at MSU.
“We’re still going to be committed as a Student Association, as a university, to representing all people, to creating an equitable environment for people who come from different backgrounds, whether it be religious, socioeconomic, cultural; it’s important that we respect all of that diversity and that’s part of what makes this institution what it is,” King said. “We don’t feel like HB 1523 really falls in line with our mission as a Student Association or as a university.”
