Senior human sciences major Tiffany Crawford easily admits that she doesn’t have a lot of experience with Mississippi State’s Student Association, but she’s not letting that hold her back.
“I feel that I’ve done enough leadership that I’m qualified for Student Association president,” she said confidently.
The Houston native previously served as president of the student government at Itawamba Community College, but her leadership experience extends far beyond that. She’s worked for Mississippi’s former Attorney General Mike Moore and state Sen. Jack Gordon (D-Okolona). She also served as president of her local 4-H Club and is involved in various community service projects.
Leadership runs in the family. Her mother recently retired from the Houston City Council after serving 20 years. During that time Crawford was involved in the mayor’s youth advisory council.
With such a strong background in leadership, building a student body made of skilled leaders has become a priority for her.
If Crawford is elected one of her first duties will be to select cabinet directors and four appointees to the SA Executive Board. She said she would select people who not only demonstrate good leadership but also those who are hard workers.
“I’m a strong believer that you must know how to be a follower before you are able to lead,” she said.
That belief extends beyond the SA though. She thinks it should be a priority of the entire university to build strong leadership roles in all students. One way to create strong leaders is by selecting the right successor to MSU President Charles Lee.
“He is going to be the person we look to for advice and to lead us,” she said. “He is the one who is going to take this campus to greater heights.”
If elected, Crawford said she wants to make everyone feel like they are included in campus issues and activities.
“I want to make sure that we address issues with people of different races on campus. It’s not just people who speak English or just people who speak Spanish,” she said. “There’s a different variety of people on campus. We need to make sure that we are all communicating.”
As far as specific projects go, one thing Crawford said she would like to see reformed is the campus shuttle system.
“People are having to park farther away from their classes, and I don’t think that they should have to wait a long time to try to catch a shuttle,” she said.
Crawford’s philosophy toward SA events is that more events for students will translate into more students involved.
“There’s always things that we could be doing in order to get the students involved,” she said.
She would also like to see the SA take on more events that not only enhance the students’ social experience but their compassion, too.
“We could do a make-a-difference week where we get everybody on campus together,” she said.