Homecoming Revival
In coming years, student leaders, the university and Starkville must come together to make Homecoming week a series of events that mixes the best of Bulldog Bash and Super Bulldog Weekend all in one.
Over the years, the Student Association activities committee and the Alumni Delegates have shouldered the weight of Atlas in trying to provide a memorable Homecoming for students. They should be commended. The problem is that 20 years from now, Joe and Jane Alumnus from Greenwood won’t sit around with their children in a state of nostalgia talking about the great Homecoming week of 2005, unless the football game is a memorable one.
This problem is not unique but plagues many universities who experience a deficit of school spirit. Outside of tradition-rich Texas A&M University, many universities have a problem with school spirit. I visited A&M a few years ago with the Student Association and found that outside of the obvious hype that their student leaders fed us, there was genuinely an overwhelming atmosphere of school spirit. At midnight on a Friday before every game day, they routinely have 50,000 people file into their stadium for a big pep rally called Yell Practice.
Our first mistake this year was having Fall Break on Homecoming week. The university should change the dates of Fall Break so that we can plan for a week of memorable activities. We should ring in Homecoming on Monday and keep ringing until the football team leaves the field on Saturday after its win.
In between this time, we should have a plethora of activities during the week that Joe Alumnus Sr. will tell Joe Jr. about in 20 years. We do have some great activities planned for this year that everyone can attend, including the Noonday Ring, the pep rally and the Homecoming parade.
Campus Improvements
Ray Hayes, vice president of finance, has been giving a magnificent presentation to university-related organizations, detailing upcoming plans for MSU in the near future. The most notable projects are the development of the Junction, the Union renovation and the new Cullis-Wade Depot Building.
The Junction, which was conceived by the Student Association, will be a massive tailgating area that extends from the M-Club to Dorman Hall. The goal is to have a common tailgating area for students, alumni and visitors. The new Union design is much more in line with the architecture of surrounding buildings than the old plan, which was scrapped after a new administration took over. The renovated building will provide ample space for student organizations and a larger food court. The Cullis-Wade Depot building will serve as a visitor’s center and a full service Barnes and Nobles, much like one you would find in a major city complete with extended hours.
Plans for the Cooley Building are still being discussed, although Mayor Camp has a vision for the building, complete with a Culinary Institute run by the Viking Corporation and a common shopping area with the goal of making Russell Street a mecca of retail and entertainment. The plan also calls for a walkway, which would extend from the Junction to the downtown area via Russell Street.
Venyah travels to Germany
Michael Venyah, the fire and brimstone evangelist who preached daily to everyone from students to neo-Confederate activists on campus, has moved to Germany. His semester-long stay at the free speech memorial caused a firestorm of controversy resulting in nine Reflector articles and letters to the editors advocating everything from Christian love to having him banned from campus.
In an e-mail to selected MSU students, he requested that they “pray for revival in this land of gross spiritual secular-humanistic anti-Christ darkness.” He goes on to say that in Germany he and his wife have been physically attacked and locked in their apartment to keep them away from angry locals.