The Mississippi State University Center for Student Activities is starting new traditions under the banner of “Hail State Holidays.” MSU’s holiday celebrations will begin with several campus holiday events taking place throughout the next two weeks.
Hail State Holidays began last night with a tree lighting ceremony, menorah lighting ceremony and Kwanzaa activity in the YMCA plaza outside the Colvard Student Union. Rob Butler, a coordinator for the Center of Student Activities, said a lot of work went into decorating for the event.
“It’s a 24-foot-tall Christmas tree and a 12-foot-tall menorah,” Butler said. “They came in separate pieces and had to be put together.”
Hillel, the Jewish Student Association, will be passing out dreidels and candy to students during their “Dreidel with Hillel” event Nov. 28.
New Maroon Camp will also host a “Camp After Camp” finals studying activity as part of the new Hail State Holidays. There will be cookies, hot chocolate and special guests such as MSU mascots Bully and Belle to welcome in the holiday season.
“We want to combine fun activities with study times and resources,” Butler said. “It’s finals season, but it’s also the holidays.”
Hail State Holidays will celebrate multiple holidays through partnerships with many student organizations and will encourage community in the student body.
According to the Center for Student Activities website, “CSA is the hub for all things student organizations and events.” The center’s mission is to foster a well-rounded college experience for the students of MSU. According to the coordinators of the Center for Student Activities, Hail State Holidays is part of this mission.
Taylor Roberson, another coordinator for the Center for Student Activities, said Hail State Holidays is meant to mirror Dawg Days, an annual two-week event that kicks off the fall semester with fun activities for students.
“We hope to build this up so that people will expect it each year,” Roberson said. “This is really a new idea and type of event for Mississippi State. We used to have a tree lighting, but it was not really a big event that was marketed or anything,” Roberson said.
“That was many years ago,” Butler added. “And there’s never been an event quite like this.”
Julia Pratt, another coordinator for the Center for Student Activities, said Hail State Holidays will become a recognizable brand on campus, and that the Center of Student Activities will collaborate with MSU Student Affairs to make Hail State Holidays a fixture on campus.
“We’ll have fliers and social media posts, and we’ll have events on CowbellConnect. We are going to be everywhere, basically. You can’t escape us,” Pratt said, laughing.
The Center for Student Affairs has big plans for the future of Hail State Holidays.
“We definitely want to get a lot of organizations involved,” Butler said. “Our goal is to develop relationships so students can find their place at Mississippi State, whether it’s by finding a mentor, making friends or being a leader.”
Butler, Roberson and Pratt have been working hard on this project and cannot wait to watch MSU’s holiday celebrations expand over time.
“Long-term, we would like to build a winter wonderland for students,” Roberson said. “We’d definitely like to see this grow.”
The Center for Student Affairs urges students to participate in events and provide feedback regarding what they have enjoyed and what they would like to see going forward.
“We love feedback. We will have a feedback survey, and we encourage students to give feedback. We can be reached on Instagram, as well,” Roberson said. “Contact us and let us know how we’re doing!”
As it expands in the future, Hail State Holidays will become a recognizable season of events.
