Next time you are walking to class, take a moment to absorb the beauty of our campus.
Every aspect of the view of the Drill Field as I walk beside Allen Hall to the Chapel of Memories has an unexplainable awe that cannot be felt until personally experienced.
The beautiful landscaping, new buildings and wonderful scenery are blessings that every State student should be thankful for.
After all, it’s our money that has given us this magnificent place to earn our education.
However, I have noticed during my four months of attending MSU that many students seem to take this gift for granted.
The pace of life is fast and no one seems to understand the nuances that make this place great.
Not only do many people take it for granted, they also show no sign of pride or understanding of the hard work put into keeping Mississippi State what it is.
While walking home from the library one week I became disgusted by the way people were treating our campus.
As I walked down the steps of the library I noticed a guy toss his empty pack of cigarettes onto the grass.
Then, as I continued toward Cresswell, I saw an SUV parked halfway on a flowerbed.
Upon reaching the outside of Cresswell, I noticed a group of men leaving their cigarette butts in another flowerbed.
To my amazement, the immature, careless behavior didn’t end there. It only got worse.
As I rode the elevator to the fourth floor, a guy spat on the inside of the elevator door.
Later that night I learned that the pool table in the lobby of Cresswell had been closed because a student had broken the pool stick.
All of this and more were done to a brand new dorm.
There are many other instances when a lack of pride and appreciation for our university are shown.
I often see trash strewn about the picnic area behind the Union.
Not only does much of this behavior break the law and deface the campus, it is also disrespectful to every person whose hard work made this place the great place that it is.
Men such as Dave C. Swalm, who donate large sums of money to the university for the building of new structures such as the Swalm Chemical Engineering Building, deserve for their legacy to be respected.
But, here it isn’t the case. In an auditorium at Swalm, thousands of dollars of electronics were stolen.
By littering and mutilating campus buildings and landscaping, these disrespectful students are doing a great disservice to every other student and all future students.
If other alumni or potential donors see the lack of pride shown by current students for the university they may be less willing to give.
The Greeks, for instance, have given the university a new flagpole and adjacent landscaping on the Drill Field. A park is being planned for the area in front of Allen Hall.
Sen. Edward Sanders and the Student Association are working to build a statue for Sonny Montgomery, perhaps our most famous alumni.
This generous behavior may cease to occur if the current and past gifts are abused.
Our university is a wonderful place that every student should treat with the utmost respect.
Groups such as the volunteers of the project “Clean Sweep” are working hard to turn around the misdeeds of many disrespectful and inconsiderate students to make our home Mississippi State the clean, beautiful place it was meant to be.
Charlie Swanson is a freshman business major. He can be reached at [email protected].