The vote to measure interest in a student-run Green Fund passed with 72.18 percent of student voters voting yes and 27.82 percent no.
Student response to the amount they were willing to allocate for the fund was divided among five options. 29.7 percent voted “n/a;” a $5 allocation came in second with 24.73 percent; a $15 allotment came in third with 20.01 percent; 19.4 percent voted for $10 and 5.71 percent voted for an $8 increase.
However, when students were asked which activities they would prefer to see student dollars spent on, the majority voted for campus concerts and events with 53.37 percent of the vote. Campus sustainability initiatives came in second place with 20.12 percent.
Rhett Hobart, Student Association president, said Students for a Sustainable Campus campaigned well for the Green Fund.
“I think the group is to be commended for the hard work and effort in the process. They campaigned hard to make sure the student body was aware of the referendum on the ballot,” Hobart said.
He said the passage of this referendum is a poll of the student body to see if they support the issue, but it does not change anything for student tuition at this point. The fund has more steps to go through before the process is complete. Not only was the Green Fund voted in favor, but there was also enough support for a student fee.
“Right now, Mississippi State does not have student fees. This is the first step in a long process if our student body wants it to happen,” Hobart said. “It’s a slippery slope, because once you have one, then (the fees) can, in a sense, snowball.”
He said this vote gives MSU insight into how the student body feels about the issue.  Hobart said he found it interesting the student body is willing to take on extra fees.
“At times, it can be deceiving because you can see a flat tuition rate, but then, in actuality, your cost of attendance is higher because of student fees,” he said. “Obviously, (students) want to make sure we live in a healthy and environmentally- friendly world, but you have to look at the best way to go about doing it to really understand the concept of a green fee.”
Liz Kazal, a leader in SSC, said this was a collaborative effort of all the students in the organization to get the vote passed. She also said the day will go down in MSU history. 
“We had record voter turnout for this election, and we had an overwhelming majority vote positively for the green fund,” Kazal said. “It’s not just a step forward for MSU, it’s a step forward for Mississippi as a state, and it’s very exciting to be a part of it.”
Hailey Hawkins, a leader in SSC, said she could not be more proud of the results.
“The best way to describe it, as all of us were standing in front of the Union waiting for the results, was pride,” Hawkins said. “After many, many weeks of campaigning and talking to students about the Green Fund, I was just so proud of my campus and all of the students that helped. It was an amazing feeling.”
For the rest of the voting results, visit sa.msstate.edu.