In May, another senior class will graduate from Mississippi State University, but this class will leave its mark.
Student Association President Rhett Hobart and the Class Council have reinstated a class gift project for the 2012 seniors by bringing back a famous MSU landmark, the bullring. The bullring was a gift from the class of 1933 and was located across from the YMCA building until construction of Colvard Student Union required its removal.
It was a marble bench encircling an oak tree next to Highway 12, which once ran through campus. Students gathered there while waiting for rides and would “shoot the bull” which gave the bench its name.
 
The class gift project began in 1922 when the graduating class of Mississippi A&M gave the columns which stand at the campus entrance from University Drive, but for unknown reasons the project stopped in the 1990s.
Hobart and Senior Class Council President Besty Acklen have worked to bring back the project and are now beginning fundraising to restore the bullring to its original location outside the Union.
Fundraising began with a lead gift of $25,000 from the Alumni Association. Jimmy Abraham, director of the Alumni Association, said the bullring has a special meaning to alumni who were at MSU when it was here.
“We can’t think of any other project that will connect alumni and students like this one, and we are happy to partner with the senior class of 2012 to restore this historic landmark,” he said.
Hobart said an additional $15,000 to $25,000 is needed to complete the restoration. The money will go to repairing damages, adding marble basing for support, landscaping and a brick circle around the base.
Seniors can contribute to the project by purchasing one of 300 bricks which will be engraved with their names.
Hobart said the first brick has been purchased in memory of Nick Bell who would be in this year’s graduating class.
“Professor Whit Waide is going to purchase an engraved brick for Nick Bell to kick off the fundraising, and then we hope other students will follow that path and buy the other 299 bricks to make the circle,” he said.
Acklen generated the fundraising plan idea for the class gift. She said she chose bricks because it connects students to the project by having their name on part of the gift.
“People that sat on the bullring engraved it, and where it won’t have our (the senior class’) engravings, it will have our bricks with our names on it, so we are a part of it too,” Acklen said.
Hobart said the bullring is expected to be completed six to eight months before the start of the fall semester. He said it is a special way for the seniors to leave behind their legacy as the first class to have a class gift after such a long time.
“It is a great way for us, being the newest alumni of the university, to do a project that is really special to a lot of alumni. Anybody you talk to who was at MSU in the ‘30s to ‘70s remembers the bullring. It is where everybody used to be,” Hobart said. “Being the newest alumni, it is really special for us to be able to leave this in partnership with the Alumni Association for the generations to come through here in the future.”
Bricks can be purchased and other donations may be made through the MSU Foundation. The SA website will have information about making donations online or obtaining a pledge card.
Acklen said anyone interested in the bullring is welcome to make a donation. Bricks are reserved for seniors to be purchased at $50, and additional donation levels will be honored on a plaque.
“If you can’t necessarily have a brick or give enough for your name to be on the plaque, you can give $20.12 for the class of 2012,” Acklen said.
Abraham said this gift is significant because it will be on campus forever and will remind generations of future students of the great experiences this senior class had at MSU.
He said it sends a great message that students wanted to give something back to MSU before they graduate. He also said he encourages seniors to purchase a brick because $50 over the course of a lifetime is like a penny compared to having your name remembered forever.