Q:The Downtown Dawg program, which, you know, is the night bus route. Last time we talked, it was going well.
A:It is going well. I made some pretty big changes to it over the summer … We saw our ridership increase a good bit in the spring … and this summer we looked at our overall budget for the SA and worked on that a little bit. We were spending a large, large portion of our budget on that, and it wasn’t a portion I was comfortable with spending. I would rather supplement funds for other programs, start new initiatives, to increase our smaller programs … to put more resources into other programs. I cut the funding on the Downtown Dawg, while still keeping the same benefit … We looked at some options.
Q:So what are the changes going to be, exactly?
A:We are decreasing the number of shuttles that run on Thursday nights … It was a very, very small percentage of our riders that were riding on Thursday night. And so with that, we saw the need to decrease the Thursday night busses in order to make it more cost effective. I wanted to significantly cut that cost to make sure that we could allocate money to new events, these new initiatives we are starting this year.
Q:And what would be some of those new events and initiatives?
A:Well, we’re really excited about the Cowbell Yell we’re having this year in the stadium. We think it’s going to be a great way to kick off our season at home. We’re working on that right now and trying to make that even better. We were able to look at increasing the funding on Bulldog Bash so we could provide two great headliners for the event: one big headliner (The Avett Brothers) and another supporting act (Jake Owen). We think it is gonna  be a great artist who has the number one country song in the country right now … And also in our smaller programs … We want to make sure we’re doing things that are gonna be beneficial to the whole student body. It took us looking at this program and seeing that the Downtown Dawg was a way we could cut funding by still providing the same benefit in order to provide more benefit for the whole student body.
Q:As far as things freshmen need to know about sportswise, the Bulldog Coalition …
A:The Bulldog Coalition is a great program. It started back around six years ago … it was started when coach Croom was still our coach … as we developed over time, working through problems … we wanted to launch the best program possible. It took about six years to come to fruition. Last fall, we started the program officially … we think it’s gonna be a great benefit.
Q:Band members attend all the football games are they eligible to participate?
A:Absolutely … Athletes, band members, people who give back to our university on a daily basis at these different events can send us an email and let us know if they’re in that organization — we will give them points for all our games.
Q:This is the first year we’re doing a student road trip, and we’re going to the University of Georgia.
A: Yes. We really want to make it easy for our students to travel to games. We have one of the best traveling student bodies in the country.
Q:The Cowbell Yell pep rally is also new.
A:We are purposely trying to keep things quiet. We want to make sure students go in there, and we blow them away, basically. It’s gonna be something that’s never happened on our campus before. It’s being billed as a pep rally, but it’s gonna be a lot more than that. We’re trying to do everything we can to make it more than a pep rally. … I have just secured one of our former athletes from the past to come back and emcee the event. We are going to keep that quiet until we get closer to the time.
Q:We talked last year about encouraging support for smaller sports … I know the Bulldog Coalition is part of that, but what else have you come up with?
A:We are working that same night on a kick-off for our volleyball season. We have a great coach, Jenny Hazelwood. She has a lot of excitement surrounding her program… We’re excited about this year. … We are excited to be able to announce we will be having a student fan day on that night as well. Tents for Tickets will kick-off … you’ll have claimed your spot and then starting around 5:45 we’re going to have an area in the Ampitheater set up where students can come over there and visit with players and coaches, visit the Golden Egg … and then the volleyball game starts at 7 o’clock. The first 600 students in will get a free T-shirt, a free volleygrind T-shirt. … We have so many great athletes on campus that represent so many great sports, we want to make sure our students are able to connect those athletes and attend as many as possible.
Q:Bulldog Bash will be played by the Avett Brothers and Jake Owen will also play…
A:This year, we wanted to make sure that we really let the student body have a major say in the selection of the artist. We wanted to do everything we could to get as much student feedback as possible. … We have a great opportunity through social media to really get a message out there and get feedback. Starting in April, we began gathering suggestions for different artists and took in over 600 suggestions from students across the university. … We looked at our dates that were out there. We were scheduled for Oct. 14, and as we looked that day and the artists we had available, we just saw a greater opportunity to get a better band on another date … When we’re spending the kind of money we spend on an event like this we’re able to be the best users of the money we have at these events and provide the best atmosphere for the student body as possible. So we had an opportunity to move it to the Nov. 11 date … and be able to host a great band in the Cotton District and really create a whole new atmosphere. … The Avett Brothers have a following across the entire country … and we’re expecting a record crowd this year, as we always have. … We’re hoping to have the full lineup in place in the next two weeks.
Q:Is there anything you would like to add?
A:I think it’s just important for us right now for students to get involved on campus, no matter what organization it is. … The correlation between freshman success and involvement is great at Mississippi State. If you look at the success rate and retention rate of our student body, we have the highest retention rate in the state. More students come to Mississippi State than any other school in the state and more students stay at Mississippi State than any other school in the state. We know that if a student comes to MSU, they have a higher chance to graduate than any other school in Mississippi … If you look at the correlation between involvement and graduation, you see a great partnership there. Students who are involved on campus enjoy their freshman year better, they enjoy their time at the university better and they meet more friends — they have a great time on campus. I think it’s important for students to get involved, to give back and to make their difference on campus. … There are so many ways for students to give back to Mississippi State. I think that’s what makes us so unique as a university in that we are the people’s university. … Our students want to give back. They have that passion to give back to Mississippi State. We were founded so many years ago on this idea of working to make it the best it can be, and we still have that as a student body. I think it’s a great opportunity for students to get involved right now at this great time in Mississippi State’s history as we’re growing and expanding and getting better and to really, really make a difference in this university.
Q:Tents for Tickets …
A:Tents for Tickets is going to be a really, really great event. With our first two games being on the road this year, we wanted to make sure that we were able to create some excitement on campus this year before the season started. … (The athletic department) decided to move these ticket sales to Saturday, which we thought provided us with a great opportunity because we’re able to really harness the excitement you can have on campus and have an event on that Friday night.
Q:So how will the lines work?
A:It will be just like it is for a football game weekend to start out. Students can line up as early as they want in the Junction. They can claim their spots. … It’s going to be a line; it’s going to be snaked through the Junction. You’ll get your wristband, and your wristbands will be numbered. So, for example, tent one will have up to 10 wristbands for that tent, but those students must be there when they put up their tent at 5 o’clock to check in, and we’ll probably have a check-in later that night as well … The next morning at eight o’clock we’re gonna have True Maroon shirts on sale out there as well, charged on your student accounts, and the line will start there, go get True Maroon shirts and then go get your tickets at the M-Club office.
Q:How long do you expect the tickets to last?
A:We’re gonna sell from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Students who are in line at 2 p.m. will be honored with ticket sales as long as they’re still available. There’s going to be a select number held back for Monday. They’re gonna be first come, first serve. We understand there are student conflicts on Saturday. We want to make sure we can accommodate every student we can. … (The tickets) will be sold  on Monday morning  at 8 a.m. at the Bryan Building.
For more Tents for Tickets information, visit: http://www.sa.msstate.edu/press/weekly/