Starkvegas lived up to its name Friday night in the Cotton District. A mass, possibly in the thousands, made up mostly of students, descended on the neighborhood for a social event that was described as Starkville’s Mardi Gras, Bourbon Street or Beale Street.
“It was awesome,” MSU senior Laura Myrick said. “I have never seen anything like it since I have been here. We should have it before every home football game.”
“The Mississippi State University Student Association coordinated the event with sponsorships from various businesses,” SA President, Parker Wiseman, said.
“I expected it to be good Friday night, but what I saw was revolutionary,” Wiseman said. “For the first time in my life I witnessed the potential for Starkville to be a real, vibrant and live college community, and a darn good one at that.”
Starkville Ward 4 Alderman Lee Beck attended the festivities and said he was thrilled by the number of people who turned out for the event.
“This is a prime example of the community giving back to the students,” Beck said while socializing with others on Maxwell Street. “We have reached a new level in the relationship between the city and MSU students.”
Other city officials were pleased how the night transpired as well. Mayor Mack Rutledge said he is willing to take on the issues that will make more parties in the Cotton District a reality.
“I’m glad everyone had a good time. From what I hear it was very orderly,” Rutledge said. “I certainly have no objections with figuring out a way for an event like this to happen again.”
Starkville police were not only surprised by the numbers, but also by the good behavior of students, according to Starkville Police Chief David Lindley.
“We received a few disturbance calls, but everything went unusually smooth. We had just about everybody on staff out tonight (Friday). With Bulldog Bash, two high school football games and the MSU game tomorrow (Saturday) we have been very busy,” Lindley said while directing drivers to slow down for pedestrians on University Drive shortly after midnight.
Many noticed the diversity of students attending the festivities. Dan Coleman, director of the Student Association’s Minority Student Affairs and president of the Black Student Alliance, said special efforts were made by the Student Association to make sure a wide range of ethnicities would come to the event.
“I thought this past Friday night showed that the students were just one big family, and color was not an issue. We’re moving in the right direction by improving race relations on campus,” Coleman said.
Not everyone was impressed with the event. Some students found the party to be too wild. MSU junior Kyle Thompson took his 16-year-old sister to the event and left when they found it was not the family setting he thought it would be.
“I wasn’t expecting there to be so much alcohol,” Thompson said. “I just didn’t want her to come here and think that was what college was all about.”
Dan Camp, developer of the Cotton District, said he is extremely excited about the possibility of a tradition forming.
“Friday night was fabulous; no major incidents were reported. I’m proud of the Student Association for all the work they’ve done, and I’m proud of the students for acting so well,” Camp said. “The event might need to be scaled down a little bit, but I will support any efforts to make this a new tradition.