PRESIDENT
Drew Cleek
I was a junior college transfer, and since I’ve been on campus the last three years, I’ve been highly involved in student life. I’ve been a member of the Student Association for the past two years, including SA Senate and SA vice president. I feel as a candidate I have a lot to offer the student body as their president. I believe my strongest attribute as a candidate for this position is the experience I can bring to this office. I’m a very approachable person, and during this year, I hope to tear down any barriers the average student may feel currently exist between them and the SA. Not only am I involved on campus, but I’m also deeply rooted in the community. I’m a member of the Mississippi National guard as well as a local small business owner. The president must be someone with who can listen to the needs of student’s on and off campus, and that’s something I will do.
Thomas Sellers
Through serving as an orientation leader, I have seen the importance of MSU’s many organizations and how to better serve each of them. I have also served on the SA in various ways. I started on the elections committee as a freshman, then was selected as elections commissioner on cabinet and have served as the administrative liaison, on executive council, over the past year. Through my many positions, I have had the opportunity to work on events such as Bulldog Bash, initiatives such as the Difference of One and the Student Fee Committee.
If elected, I plan to initiate a newsletter that will serve as an outlet for students to see what is going on inside the SA. I want to continue the Difference of One initiative to increase involvement across all of the student organizations. I plan to partner with students and administrators to bring back The Reveille. For my entire platform, visit sellersforpresident.com
Randy Williams
My platform entails five major points. First, I would like to add an additional hour to the Academic Forgiveness Policy. I also plan to reestablishing the school’s yearbook, The Reveille. I want to allow commuters to park in their commuter zones for free during football season. Also, I would like to bring the Redbox movie rentals to campus and adding an additional cabinet position to cater to the military students. My heart really goes out to the military students because my life was altered due to the military. With the university trying to become more military and veteran friendly, I am willing to do everything in my ability to assist Mississippi State with this task. My ultimate goal is to reconnect the students back to the student government so that we can function better as an entire body.
VICE-PRESIDENT
Willie Brewster
I currently serve on SA cabinet as co-director of student health and wellness. Furthermore, I was an SA senator my freshman year, elected by my peers. Also, I wish to bring diversity. MSU has the highest African-American percentage within the SEC, and I feel our executive council should reflect the diverse student population.
Within my platform there are four major things in which I will pursue. Firstly, working with academic advising: I wish to better teacher evaluations here, while also creating an advisor evaluation. I also hope to expand the shuttle stop system. Also, I wish to work avidly to reinstate the campus yearbook, The Reveille. Finally, I wish to expand the campus outreach program. This program is designed for the SA to hear suggestions and see exactly what the student body wants to see done at MSU.
Rhett Hobart
Freshman year, I served as a member of Freshman Council where I was able to assist in planning “The Big Event.” In February 2009, I was appointed to the SA executive committee where I have been able to serve as executive assistant. As vice president, want “Enrich the STATE Experience” for each and every student. First, I want to enrich technology and create a more user friendly university by changing standard university Web mail to GmailU where each student would increase their mailbox capacity. Secondly, I want to enrich university history and traditions by continuing to develop True Maroon, expand on Dawg Rallies and “Come Early, Be Loud, Make a STATEment.” My final two points are to enrich the freshman experience and to enrich and improve lines of communication with SA and the student body. To learn more details about my platform, visit RhettHobart.com.
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Nathan Nunnelee
With my platform, I would like to help the students at MSU better cope with the changes by offering more cost-beneficial opportunities to students.
I plan to consolidate and publicize free community and campus events. I would like to create a calendar consolidating events so students are more aware of what is going on around the community. I also plan to heighten awareness about jobs available on campus. Finally, I plan to take steps to improve the freshman experience. Currently, freshmen are required to live in the residence halls and purchase a meal plan. However, the residence halls are severely overcrowded with single-person rooms having two occupants. In addition, student feedback regarding dining services is not given enough value. I intend to reform the structure of housing scholarships for upperclassmen, thus alleviating the shortage of rooms and to work closely with dining services to better meet the needs of students.
Nathan Upchurch
During my years at MSU, I have been involved with RHA, Sigma Chi Fraternity, Sigma Alpha Lambda, National Society of Collegiate Scholars and I am currently serving as the Pre-Law Society secretary.
As attorney general, I hope to accomplish three main goals. First, I would like to enhance our student body’s voice by expanding on “Cowbells to the Capital,” which would allow the entire student body to voice their opinion regarding state legislation affecting our education and experience at MSU.
Secondly, I would like to implement a monthly student involvement fair called the “Monthly Market,” which would allow organizations to advertise their services frequently throughout the semester and promote student involvement on campus.
And lastly, I would strive to interpret the constitution with integrity and working to explore revisions that will be in the best interests of the student body.
TREASURER
Randall Weems
Currently, I am serving my second consecutive term as a SA senator. I have served on the senate appropriations committee, and I serve as the chairman of the committee this year. While working with the committee, we delegate $25,000 to various organizations on campus. I also serve as the recruitment chairman for the Sigma Chi Fraternity, which entails managing the recruitment budget, communicating with potential rushees and alumni and planning rush events for the summer.
I believe my experience with the budgets of the SA Senate and Sigma Chi recruitment have well equipped me to serve as the SA treasurer and wisely distribute the funds for the upcoming year. If elected, I also plan to work on the Night Route’s continuance by creating the most time and cost efficient routes. Futhermore, I will meet with the IHL Board President to learn more about the efforts students can make to create a larger used book market. Finally, I would like to see more emphasis placed on certain university traditions such as the Dawg Rally and the Come Early, Be Loud, Make a STATEment programs. Don’t forget your vote can make a difference on Feb. 17.
Robin Tierce
I believe the shuttle system is a great aspect that all students should be able to take advantage of. I would like to be able to keep all the funding in the budget for the shuttle system, but also work on making the routes that are already in place more cost efficient. With the money left over, I would like to take advantage of expanding the system to other places on campus along with developing off-campus shuttle stops.
Another point is to make sure that all the funds that the Student Association distributes out are used wisely. I would like to make sure the money allocated is done so wisely. I would like to make this a team effort with the different organizations on campus by working with these groups to make sure they are getting their fair share. I will be willing to sit down with each group to come up with alternatives to spending to achieve each groups individual goals. I have experience in cutting cost from my previous position I held in my sorority. When leaving the office at the end of my term, I was able to leave the person taking over money to be able to get a head start on her position with the funds I had left to spare.
SECRETARY
Valerye Windham
As secretary, I will be facing one of the most reformative terms in the recent history of the Student Association. With every executive candidate promising to implement great change throughout the duration of their time in office, the position of secretary is expected to become more challenging than in previous years. One of my main plans for my term is to streamline these transformations and make sure the record amount of change can be executed without the added stress of disorganization and miscommunications. I also plan to keep the student body more aware of the current affairs of the SA and to also implement a system to keep the SA informed of student’s feedback. One idea I am working towards is to consolidate MSU Announcement e-mails, these e-mails can sometimes come at numbers up to four or five a day and could easily be consolidated into one e-mail containing all the day’s information. Secondly, I intend to collect student feedback through optional online surveys regarding the SA’s performance that could be done on MSU’s onCampus student Web page.