The voice of Mississippi State University’s student body joined a building chorus of other Universities in Mississippi Tuesday night when the SA Senate passed Resolution 25 urging Mississippi’s State Legislature to consider changing the state flag.      Resolution 25 is MSU’s end of a collaborative effort between student governments across Mississippi even across the boundary of traditional collegiate rivalries. 
   Resolution 25 states the students of Mississippi insist on having their voices heard, and asks the Legislature to address the issue in this year’s legislative term. The resolution points out the last time the State voted on changing the flag was in 2001, so anyone living in Mississippi under the age of 33 has not had the opportunity to officially weigh in on the matter. 
Taylor Thomas, SA senator and co-chair of the appropriations committee, said he and 2016 Vice President Hunt Walne approached Ole Miss’ Associated Student Body (ASB) VP in September with the idea of multiple schools working together to pass a joint resolution stating the majority of college students in Mississippi support the idea of changing the state flag to remove the confederate iconography. 
 “From there, we collaborated with John Brahan, the Associated Student Body VP at Ole Miss, and Kyle Stoner, the (then) Student Government Association VP at University of Southern Mississippi about what this resolution would look like,” Thomas said in a press release.
  Thomas said the previous resolution MSU’s SA passed in September represented the voices of the 20,000 students at MSU. If the push for the joint resolution is successful and all other universities’ student governments agree their student bodies also desire change, the tally will rise to 80,000. 
  Last week, Thomas said Alcorn State University’s student government passed on the joint resolution, and Ole Miss’ ASB is scheduled to vote on the resolution next week. 
  “One voice can make a statement,” Ole Miss ASB VP Brahan said. “But the combined voices of the eight public institutions of Mississippi can hopefully make a difference.”
   MSU’s SA Senate passed Resolution 25 with a 23-1-1 vote, with one senator voting against and one abstaining. 
 Should all eight of the universities listed in the resolution vote to pass it, a copy of the resolution will be sent to Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant, Mississippi Lt. Governor Tate Reeves, and Mississippi Speaker of the House Philip Gunn. 
   Walne said he grew up viewing the confederate flag in a positive light. 
 “I had many members of my family that fought in the Civil War, and even some that died,” Walne said. “However, now being older and knowledgeable I understand both sides of the issue.”
   Walne said in the same press release it is now clear to him that the ‘Confederate Battle Flag’ is seen as a racist symbol to many and not successful in unifying the people of Mississippi under a single banner. 
    The joint resolution could be a powerful statement, Brahan said.
 “This collaborative effort shows that the students are passionate about seeing the state flag change to represent all Mississippians,” Brahan said. “Hopefully in the near future.”