Emma Sweat  — junior from Cumming, Ga. — elementary education major with concentrations in English and history
What on your platform are you the most passionate about? 
“The most important thing to me on my platform, personally, is the meal plan. I really am working closely with Aramark and the Starkville Restaurant Association to combine your meal plan, both flex dollars and MoneyMate, and take it off campus so that you can use it at restaurants on Main Street, at drive-thru restaurants down Miss. Highway 12 and things like that. Because we always know how much of a hassle it is to wait in lines at the union or have to wait at the Perry, and for upperclassmen to have to come back on campus to use your meal plans, and I really just think this is something that could impact the students in a great way. It would be a lot easier on freshmen because everyone has to come in with a meal plan, and also for the students, for the upperclassmen that have meal plans that live off campus. You can never find parking, especially on the weekends when a lot of things aren’t open. It’s just a hassle to find food for yourself when you’re paying your college tuition and trying to afford living expenses, and you don’t want to spend an extra $9 because stuff in the union isn’t open.”
What have Michael Hogan or other past Student Association presidents done that you would like to continue or build on? 
“It wasn’t a point on his platform, it’s not really something that he is doing that is tangible that you can feel and touch, but I just really want to work to be like him in the way that he is so personable with every organization on campus. I really think it’s great — his open-door policy—and how anyone can come to you. And I know a lot of times students feel that there’s this separation between the SA elected government and the actual students of campus, and I don’t want it to be like that. I’m a normal student who goes to class and does what she has to do, and I want other students to feel like they can come to me whether it’s, ‘Hey, I have a question about a class I’m taking,’ or ‘I want to work to do this program on campus.’ So I really want to work with his open door policy and let students know that I am there for them, and I am a normal student and that they should feel comfortable coming to me with anything.” 
Is there anything you would change?
“I think the SA is going to a great place. I really like where we’re going with the programs and the events that we hold and things like that. I would like to work on working with the academic board to implement some new policies and things like that to help campus because I really think the SA, we do some great programs, and we also need to keep up our policy because we can get some great policies passed, like the textbook policy and things like that.”
What experiences have you had at Mississippi State University that motivated you to run for president? 
“Well, the thing that ultimately led me to run for president was my involvement in the SA. I knew Shelby Balius coming in as a freshman, and I saw her run for president and how that impacted her. She was the one that came to me and got me involved in the SA, and I just saw, between both her and Michael Hogan, how the SA president can have such an impact on campus and that you can get things done that you know the university needs, and by seeing the actions that they took and things like that, it really made me have a passion to better MSU, especially coming from a town that wasn’t all Mississippi State all the time. I want to make it where Mississippi State’s a household name, no matter where you’re from, that they know what we do and what we’re like, and that way we can bring students from all over the nation. So I really want to work to better our university to better it for the students and, ultimately, help us grow because I mean, I came here on a whim.”
How do you plan to further the connection between the SA and the student body if elected president? 
“Like what Michael Hogan does, the open door policy. I also want to, this sounds so corny, just walk around the campus, get to know the students. I can talk to a brick wall if I wanted to, so I just really want to get to know people and know why they came to MSU, know what brought them here and know what they think will help better our campus. And one of the things on my platform is to increase student involvement on campus. The involvement that I’ve had on campus, whether it be through Maroon VIP or from Gamma Chi through the Greek system or through serving in the SA, it has taught me so much about this university that you don’t know unless you get involved. So I really think that by working to get to know the students and getting them involved and offering more opportunities to them that, ultimately, that would help me connect with the student body.”
What are your thoughts on the “Vote Anything” campaign? 
“I really like the Vote Anything campaign — I think it is great. I think it is getting students educated on what’s going on, and I know from this position that I’m running for, I’ve looked back at how many students have voted and things like that in the SA elections, and I feel like the SA elections are targeted a lot toward certain groups of students on campus. And I want every student to vote because a lot of students don’t realize that the SA is them. It’s not the people they elect or the people that are appointed — it’s the 23,000 people that attend Mississippi State that create the SA, so I think the Vote Anything campaign really gets out to the students and says, ‘Hey, you can do this. You can make the difference. You need to vote.’ So, hopefully this year we’ll see the numbers increase and see more students turn out to vote and really students educating themselves more about what’s going on campus. So I really think it’s a great thing for the SA.”
Where do you see the biggest potential for change on MSU’s campus? 
“One of the things that I think is a really big issue on campus is students getting lost in the day to day — students that feel homesick, that don’t feel like they know where they belong— they don’t know what to do. One of the main things on my platform is to increase student involvement, and some of the things that I want to do there is for transfer students that come and don’t have the send-off parties and don’t have the welcoming committee that the freshmen do. I really want to push that toward them and let them know that they can have the same experiences as freshmen do and that they’re not cut off because they transferred here. I also feel like the big things that I would like to do is for students with majors who have to have internships and for students that need to go to the job fairs, I want to create job fairs that coincide with involvement fairs so that these students, whether you’re a freshman or a fifth-year senior, can go to these job fairs and can kind of get an idea of what internship they want or what job they want in the long run and can go up to employers as freshmen or sophomores and say, ‘Hey, I really like what your business is doing. I would like to intern with you in a few years, what can help me with that?’ So that those students who don’t know where to get involved can find where this stuff is and can know when to get involved and how to get involved. I think that’ll create a better student atmosphere and get students excited about what’s going on campus.”