Contact: Maridith Geuder
Mississippi State University's student government association next week leads a statewide higher education effort to register at least 2,500 new voters.
Called "Impact Mississippi," the project involves a series of electoral awareness events being held Monday-Thursday [Oct. 22-25]. More than a dozen other schools are taking part, including Alcorn State, Delta State, Jackson State, and Mississippi Valley State universities; the universities of Mississippi and Southern Mississippi; Mississippi University for Women; and Belhaven, William Carey, Millsaps, Mississippi, Rust, and Tougaloo colleges.
"Whether students vote in their hometowns or in university communities, it is vital that they understand and participate in the process," said Jane Anna Harris, a political science major from Inverness. The MSU Student Association's governmental affairs director, she co-chairs "Impact Mississippi" with Josh Blades, the association's special projects director and a biological engineering major from Sylacauga, Ala.
"We want students especially to recognize the power of a single vote," Blades said. "Only through voting can we make an impact on local, state and even national elections."
State and local elected officials, along with Jackson Clarion-Ledger editorial columnist Sid Salter and political cartoonist Marshall Ramsey, will be among those joining the MSU campus effort. Student voter registration assistants will receive training from staff members in the offices of Secretary of State Eric Clark and Oktibbeha County Circuit Clerk Angie McGinnis.
All open to the public, the specific MSU events include:
--Comments by Salter and Ramsey at 2 p.m. Monday [the 22nd] in the Colvard Union small auditorium.
--A panel discussion featuring state elected officials at 6 p.m. on Tuesday [the 23rd] in the Colvard Union lobby. Panelists will include Robert Clark of Lexington, speaker pro tempore of the Mississippi House of Representatives, and Reps. Gary Chism of Columbus, Phillip West of Natchez and Tyrone Ellis of Starkville, along with MSU Vice President for Student Affairs Roy Ruby.
--A 2 p.m. address on Wednesday [the 24th] by Scott Ross of West Point, a former state legislator now serving on the Board of Trustees, State Institutions of Higher Learning. A reception follows his presentation in the John Grisham Room of Mitchell Memorial Library.
--A question-and-answer session at 6 p.m., also on the 24th, in the Simrall Hall auditorium led by Starkville Mayor Mack Rutledge of Starkville and representatives of the city's board of aldermen.
--A 2 p.m. Thursday [the 25th] program on election reform issues led by representatives of the secretary of state's office at the Leo Seal M-Club Building.
For more information about the "Impact Mississippi" project, telephone Harris at (662) 325-3917 or Blades at 325-6966.
For information on specific events on other campuses, telephone the local participating student government office.