On Feb. 26, the Student Association hosted an early birthday party to celebrate Mississippi State University’s 148th birthday. The event was supposed to last from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and be held on the YMCA Plaza, but with the abundance of students celebrating and the possibility of rain, supplies went quickly. The event was shortly moved inside to the Colvard Student Union.
The Student Association set up four tables to display t-shirts, colorful cupcakes, stickers and party supplies, such as hats and party blowers. There were two notable stickers that displayed President Mark Keenum and Annie Doss, known to the campus as Ms. Annie, a well-loved staff member who works in Perry Food Hall. The cupcakes were decorative with white frosting and rainbow sprinkles and a vanilla funfetti flavor inside.
President Keenum and mascot Bully both made guest appearances. President Keenum helped hand out shirts and cupcakes and even personally signed a student’s shirt. Students were allowed to take fun and creative pictures with the mascot.
Kyla Hunter, a senior industrial engineering major, shared that she is a birthday twin with MSU, and she took the opportunity to participate in the birthday celebration by getting a fun photo with Bully.
“Both of my parents have attended MSU, so this is kind of like a full circle moment for me to be here. It is exciting and special to be able to celebrate a birthday with MSU,” Hunter said.
Faith Williams, a sophomore double major in business administration and fashion design with a focus in merchandising, served as this year’s creative director for the Student Association. She helped design the t-shirts for the celebration. The t-shirts are beige in color and display “Mississippi State 148” on the back in a balloon-like style.
Williams said she was astonished by the huge turnout of the event.
“A line was formed from the table that went into the road towards the anthropology building before the event even started,” Williams said.
Williams also noted that she shares a birthday with MSU, like Hunter, and was really happy to celebrate. She was happy to create some of the banners for the event as well as take pictures of students with Bully.
Liam Nicholason, a sophomore political science major, also noted that the t-shirts went out really fast. He described the event as fun and captivating, highlighting that President Keenum’s appearance was a great personal touch.
“I wished it lasted a bit longer,” Nicholason said. “It was such a fun event. The card contest was an amazing way to show some organization’s creativity.”
Any student organization could sign up and participate in the card contest. Organizations created birthday cards for the contest, and the winner will receive a pizza party paid for by the Student Association. There were eight organizations that participated this year.
It was a tough decision for Bully to pick his favorite, but he decided on the Sri Lankan Association’s birthday card. Their card was thoughtful and decorative. The front of the card said “Happy 148th Birthday, Mississippi State University” and was accompanied by illustrations of balloons and hearts.
Two personal touches on the card are the drawings of the Old Main Academic Center and the statue of a bulldog that is found in front of the Colvard Student Union. The back of the card had a drawing of the Chapel of Memories and another bulldog.
Wendy Campbell, a junior double major in English and psychology, served as this year’s Student Association director of programming and spoke about the event as a whole. Her favorite part was standing next to President Keenum and seeing his reaction to his own personal sticker. This is her third year celebrating MSU’s birthday, and she noted that each year it becomes more fun to celebrate.
“Everything was gone in about 25 to 30 minutes,” Campbell said. “It was also very fun and exciting to see the number of students wanting to participate in this celebration.”
Campbell also clarified that this was just a celebration and that the actual birthday for MSU is Feb. 28.
Overall, students said they had an amazing time receiving freebies and taking photos with Bully, celebrating the university they get to call home.
