The building that stands below the jumbotron in the south end zone of Davis Wade Stadium poses a mystery to most Mississippi State students and fans.
The Seal M-Club is named after former lineman, Leo Seal Sr., who played football in 1911 when Mississippi State University was called Mississippi A&M. The Seal M-Club building is now the gathering place for Mississippi State’s letterman organization, the M-Club.
The M-Club is an organization of student athletes on campus that focuses on community service around the Starkville area, where athletes can make a difference in their surrounding community. Only athletes who have lettered at MSU can be members of the M-Club, and there are currently 108 members. However, in order to stay in the organization, athletes must accumulate 20 points from participating in community service and M-Club events.
The criteria to maintain membership in the M-Club is based on a point system each member must follow. Members gain points by attending meetings, participating in community service activities and attending certain athletic events.
Recently, the M-Club hosted this year’s Bully Book Blitz. This event was for children at Ward Stewart Elementary School in Starkville. Athletes attended a pep rally at Ward Stewart and will continue to go to the school to read with children.
The idea behind the event is simple: if children see the people they look up to the most enjoy reading and learning, maybe the children will be motivated to do the same.
M-Club president Rosie Dion said the kids had a blast at the event.
“The Pep Rally was definitely a success,” Dion said. “We had amazing speakers (our Athletic Director Scott Stricklin was one of them), and 78 student-athletes came out to sign autographs and talk with the kids.”
Members of the M-Club go to schools and are assigned classrooms to attend. With each visit, the class that was visited receives reading points. At the end of each month, the class with the most reading points receives football tickets as a reward for the hard work and dedication toward advancing the education and learning habits of the children in the classroom.
Student-athletes have busy schedules, but with the addition of being a member of a time-consuming organization, it seems as if it would be difficult for athletes to keep their heads above water.
However, junior soccer player Morganne Grimes has the added task of being the M-Club vice president, requiring even more of her time.
Grimes said she has been able to manage her time so far this year.
“Managing time is second nature to upper class student-athletes,” Grimes said. “You get out of life what you put into it, so the most important aspect of life is passion.”
As vice president, Grimes’ job is to assign and keep track of each member’s points throughout each semester.
Fellow soccer player Jen Grant is also serving on the board for the M-Club. Grant said staying ahead on priorities is what helps her throughout the day to manage time.
“Sometimes it can be tough,” Grant said. “But we just have to learn to prioritize certain tasks of the day to stay ahead.”
Grant serves as the secretary for the organization, managing publicity for the M-Club, such as posters. She also assists with the M-Club’s annual membership drive.
Although the M-Club is an organization specifically for lettered athletes on campus, students who do not play sports for MSU can still be involved in the organization in a couple of ways. Grimes said she wants the M-Club to be as involved on campus as possible.
“We are always on the lookout to be involved with other organizations on campus,” Grimes said.
In October, members of the M-Club will be collecting bags of candy for children. The organization will also be collecting canned foods around Thanksgiving and Christmas. Any student on campus is welcomed to be involved with these events.
With the M-Club helping out so much around the community, it is hard for the organization not to change the lives of athletes on campus. Grimes said she has been very affected by her participationin the M-Club by feeling a personal connection with her new community and fellow athletes on campus.
“It is great that we are showing the best fans in the world that we support them just as much as they support us,” Grimes said. “The organization has helped me make more friends that I may have never met had it not been for the M-Club.”