“Starkville-the name says it all.”
In lieu of actual reporting, the staff of Sports Illustrated On Campus decided to name the top college towns in America. They also tacked on a list of the worst college towns in the country. Starkville made the top five. Carbondale, Ill.-home of Southern Illinois University-beat our city for the top position.
The witty comment above was all the sophisticated analysis the reporters at SI On Campus could muster. Journalists who probably believe Ole Miss and Mississippi State are the same university (“You have more than one university in Mississippi?!”) don’t get to take shots at Starkvegas. You only get to rag Starkville if you’ve been here for a few years.
Instead of bashing SI On Campus-the publication is useful in the bathroom, even if you don’t read it-I’m going to take the high road. I will list some of the reasons why this town is great.
*The dull drive from Tupelo to Starkville prevents my parents from visiting on weekends.
*Speed traps in the small Alabama towns that pepper the drive from Tuscaloosa to Starkville keep the riff-raff out.
*The complex series of backroads that make up the drive from Oxford to Starkville means that Rebels-can we still call them by that name?-never make it here.
*The population of the town nearly triples on game days. Davis Wade Stadium becomes the fourth-largest city in the state.
*High rate of gun ownership among students translates into low burglary rate for apartments.
*No mall means one less place you risk running into an ex.
Seriously, Starkville is better than its reputation. Long gone are the days of driving to the Mississippi University for Women to pick up a date. Long gone are the days of trekking to West Point to get beer. (Now we only go if we want cold beer.) Long gone is the cow college from which your granddad graduated.
In its place is a modern, comprehensive university that is strikingly similar to its fellow land-grant universities across the country.
That is, students talk to each other through instant messaging or on their cell phones. Some line up around the block to hear a Dave Matthews cover band. Others get crunk at downtown clubs. They watch movies at a theater which features stadium seating.
We don’t have The Gap, but the Web site is close enough for me. Starkville could use a decent bookstore, but you can’t have everything.
Starkville is like a lot of college towns. Tuscaloosa just has a few more bars and a morbid obsession with Bear Bryant. Oxford has nicer restaurants, but students can’t afford them.
Imagine if your granddad came back to visit. He might wonder why there are so many women on campus and even-gasp-in the engineering buildings. He’d question why all the students aren’t in ROTC. Seeing some of the research done at the Engineering Research Center would blow his mind.
Sure, we still have our cows. But the vets are doing genetic research on them. You know, that stuff you read about in Time. It’s being done in little ol’ Starkville.
Look around and see a town that’s come a long way from its cow-and-lumbermill days. Visit one of the coffee shops. Drown at one of the bars. Get your party on at Bulldog Bash. Watch a game at The Hump with Rick’s Rowdies.
Just break the news gently if you talk to out-of-town journalists or your granddad. People don’t react well when their stereotypes are debunked.
Wilson Boyd is a senior economics major. He can be reached at [email protected].