Contact: Sid Salter
STARKVILLE, Miss.—For the second time since 2001, both the Robert Holland Faculty Senate and the Student Association Senate at Mississippi State University have called for adoption of a new state flag for Mississippi.
The MSU Faculty Senate, the elected body representing university teachers and researchers at the university, called for adoption of a new redesigned state flag by a vote of 37 for, one opposed and zero abstentions on Friday, Aug. 21. The vote was taken at the group’s first regular monthly meeting for the Fall 2015 semester.
The MSU Student Association Senate, the elected body representing the student body, called for adoption of a new state flag in a Tuesday, Sept. 8 vote. The vote was 20 for, four against and five abstentions. The student resolution was authored by student Sens. Taylor Thomas and Hunt Walne.
MSU Student Association President JoJo Dodd said after the vote: “Our flag should serve to unite all Mississippians and represent our state’s promising future. I’m proud of the students, faculty and administration of Mississippi State for showing leadership on this issue and seeking to better our community and our state.”
On Feb. 9, 2001, the MSU Faculty Senate previously voted 26-0, with 5 abstentions, to support the new state flag design that Mississippi voters ultimately rejected at the ballot box on April 17, 2001. The Student Association Senate likewise expressed their support in 2001 for the new state flag design.
In announcing the recent MSU Faculty Senate resolution, Faculty Senate President C.P. (Cody) Coyne, a professor of Molecular Pharmacology and Immunology at MSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine, said: “The Faculty Senate is united with MSU President Mark Keenum in recommending the adoption of a new redesigned state flag for Mississippi.”
MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.