Students for a Sustainable Campus is a group of students on campus at Mississippi State University that promotes providing “greener” energy for MSU in the future.
Anne Welch, a member of the group and senior interdisciplinary major, said it is considerably inexpensive to invest in the future of MSU.
“The Green Fund gives students the opportunity to invest in MSU’s future. For the price of lunch in the Union, you can help fund both the purchase of renewable energy for our campus and projects that make our campus more energy efficient,” Welch said.
The Green Fund would be a minimal fee between five and 10 dollars that would be set aside specifically to fund clean energy projects on campus.
A major problem with this proposal is additional student fees were banned about 10 years ago at MSU by the Institutions of Higher Learning, the governing board for the eight public universities in Mississippi. IHL decided any student fees must be lumped into tuition.
Tuesday, the Green Fund was taken to Senate hoping to get a referendum placed on the SA ballot as a way to survey students about their interest in the fund. Two resolutions were proposed: one asked for support from SA, while the other was a referendum to place a question to poll the student body onto the SA election ballot. The Senate voted on whether to let the question be placed on the ballot, not on whether or not it supports the fund.
The resolution passed by a vote of 21 to 18. The referendum would have required a two-thirds vote and therefore 26 votes to be put on the ballot, but only received 25.
SA President Thomas Sellers said he has complete confidence in the Senate’s decision.
“I am very confident in this group of over 40 students that are elected to represent the entire student body,” Sellers said. “After debating and discussing the issue, they made a decision, and that is what they are elected to do.”
A common feeling held by many Senate members was they simply did not want to add any student fees to tuition at this time.
Liz Kazal, member of Students for a Sustainable Campus and senior chemical engineering major, said the Green Fund could help MSU to see similar effects.
“Energy efficiency makes sense. For example, at UT-Knoxville; they reduced their energy consumption by 5 percent and saved half a million dollars,” Kazal said. “That’s money that can go back into their university. The Green Fund will allow us to have similar projects and programs here at MSU.”
Sarah Hewes, freshman history major, said she likes the idea of the Green Fund, but does not like the idea of student fees. She voted against the Green Fund referendum.
She also said a better idea might be to turn it into an opt-in or opt-out system for donations by willing students.
Hudson Frey, junior majoring in biological sciences, voted in favor of the referendum because he feels that it is important to see what a larger part of the student body wants to know about how the Green Fund would work.
Other points led people to vote against the referendum, include the wording of the question being too leading toward the group’s opinion and the fact many students would vote in favor of the fund without realizing what else their money could be going to instead.
Rhett Hobart, SA vice president, said the Senate wanted to make sure it was following every step in the process by looking at student fees in general before pinpointing one. He also said the dialogue and questions that arose throughout the meeting were very beneficial to start the discussion on an issue such as this.
“It was the best meeting we’ve had since I’ve been at Mississippi State as far as discussion and debate go,” Hobart said.
Sellers said student fees are an important issue.
“It didn’t pass Senate, but it doesn’t have to be the end of the road for this group. Seeking SA Senate input is the first step in a process such as this,” he said.
Alexandria Lindsey, Students for a Sustainable Campus member and senior interior design major, said she only has positive thoughts about the future of the group’s goal.
“Our referendum was not approved, but there are other ways to reach our goal,” Lindsey said. “We’re all passionate enough to keep working for this cause, and I think we will eventually be able to prove with overwhelming student support that this Green Fund is what’s best for the future of Mississippi State.”