Students will have a chance to voice their concerns about the Mississippi State Student Association in an open forum being held tonight in the McCool Hall auditorium.The forum will begin at 6:30, and the SA is encouraging students to tell the organization what issues are affecting them, how they feel about the SA’s representation of students and any other questions or concerns they might have.
Bethany Shipp, director of public relations for the SA, said the forum is open to the public.
“We want to get input from students and let them ask all of the questions they might have about the Student Association,” Shipp said. “The forum is open, so we are here to address their concerns and let everyone know what is going on.”
SA President Jeremy Johnson said he encourages students to come out and voice their concerns.
“If anyone has any questions about what we do as the Student Association, we want them to let us know,” he said. “We want the students’ feedback and opinions they might have about the Student Association.”
Rebecca Warden, executive assistant to the SA president, said the purpose of the open forum is to allow students to have a voice in the SA.
“We want to hear their questions because we want to better serve the students at MSU,” Warden said.
Members from both the executive and legislative branches of the SA will attend the forum to ensure that students’ questions do not go unanswered, she said.
“If they have seen anything on campus that they would like changed but do not know how to address it, they can present it at the forum,” she said.
Freshman industrial engineering major Victoria Hutchings said she is planning on attending the event.
“I have heard so much about the Student Association this year and I really want to know what their plans are for the rest of the school year, so this is going to be a good chance for me to ask the questions I have had,” Hutchings said.
Freshman sociology major Dana Aguillard said she is attending the open forum because she wants to learn more about the SA in general.
“I want to know what all of their funding goes toward and what they are planning,” Aguillard said.
Freshman animal and dairy science major Jennifer Estess said she will express her concerns about activities on campus at the forum.
“I would like to ask why a lot of the activities planned this year have not gone through,” she said. “There has been a negative outlook on the SA this semester, and I want to know how they are planning on fixing some of the things that have happened already.”
Assistant news editor Lawrence Simmons contributed to this article.