Tim McGrath

This past weekend we sent Ole Miss back to Oxford in a bodybag to win one of the most storied football rivalries in the U.S. for the third straight year. The slogan proudly proclaims, “This is Our State!” Be it athletics, academics, traditions, or any other pillar of the American university, MSU strives to be the best the state of Mississippi has to offer. But after the Golden Egg is returned to our trophy case, are we done? After U.S. Newsweek ranks the best universities in Mississippi, do we stop classes? After the dust settles, are we ultimately satisfied with being the best Mississippi has to offer?

By the end of this semester, I have come to the conclusion that MSU and its student body are content with just being better than Ole Miss. When applying to school here, I was bombarded with statements saying, “We are the best at X in Mississippi!” I was told we have the biggest student body in Mississippi, the best engineering school in Mississippi, the best football team, etc. No offense to Mississippi, but in comparison, that isn’t all too impressive. 

I don’t go home to Louisiana and pride myself with the fact that my student body is bigger than Ole Miss’s, or that my engineering school is better than USM’s non-existent one. When I brag to friends back home about my university, I don’t compare it to the rest of Mississippi because I’m not satisfied with only being the best in Mississippi. I want to be better than Louisiana universities, so that I’m justified in leaving my home state to come here. If I didn’t see a reason to think MSU was better than what I had at home, I would have stayed at home. 

Here comes the part where I make everyone angry. According to StateMaster.com, Mississippi ranks last nationally in more categories than any other state. Statistically speaking, Mississippi has the worst public education, the highest obesity rate, the highest teen pregnancy rate, the lowest family income, the worst dental hygiene; the list goes on for days. This state is also last in the country in not voting for Ralph Nader, though I have no idea what that says about Mississippi. StateMaster even said it’s the worst state to live in. I encourage you to look up these statistics. And for the sake of unbiased journalism, Louisiana isn’t much better, I know. But with all of this in mind, being the best of the supposed worst isn’t too tantalizing.

This is why over time, I’ve come to hate the “This is Our State” slogan. For all I care, Pearl River Community College can have Mississippi. I want this to be Our Region, Our Country. You never hear MIT declare, “We have the best mathematics program in Massachusetts!” Or Stanford claim, “We philosophize better than those losers at USC!” Because those are both major academic powers, and striving to be the best in their respective states merely limits their accomplishments. We attend a major national university, so we should compete as one.

We at MSU are blessed with an extremely diverse campus, representing most of America and many countries worldwide. Unfortunately, we tend to forget this fact, and that slogan misrepresents our student body. 

This may be your state, but to be honest, it isn’t mine. We bleed maroon and white together, but to put it simply, my pride stems from Mississippi State University, not the state of Mississippi. No matter how much maroon and white I hemorrhage onto the streets of the French Quarter, I will still be from Louisiana. There is a massive world outside of the state of Mississippi, but you have to look to see it. If our biggest concern is being the best in the state, our priorities are way out of order. 

We have a whole planet to touch, but we are afraid to cross state lines. So we become lethargic, confined by invisible borders. And if we can’t see past those boundaries, our university will never see its true potential.

Tim McGrath is a freshman majoring in aerospace engineering. He can be contacted at [email protected].