哔哩传媒

Contact: James Carskadon

STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥斶倭ù� now holds the 鈥淰oter Friendly Campus鈥� designation from the nation鈥檚 leading student affairs organization and the Fair Election Center鈥檚 Campus Vote Project.

The designation recently was announced by NASPA 鈥� Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. MSU was the only Mississippi university, and one of only two Southeastern Conference universities, to receive the honor. The Voter Friendly Campus program requires campuses to engage their student body and promote voter registration and voting as part of their institutional mission.

In 2018, MSU students and staff members led several voter registration and voting initiatives leading up to last fall鈥檚 midterm elections. MSU Vice President for Student Affairs Regina Hyatt said these efforts increased students鈥� awareness of the voting process.

鈥淥ur students learned more about the importance of their engagement in the process and the value of every single vote,鈥� Hyatt said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 our hope their engagement here at MSU will extend to their lives after college, where our students will decide to run for public office, serve on community-wide boards and be invested in the civic life of their neighborhoods and communities.鈥�

MSU and the university鈥檚 Student Association hosted several voter registration drives, which were followed by events to encourage students to vote on Election Day. A free 鈥淲rap the Vote鈥� concert was held the night before Election Day, and the Student Association organized a student walk to polling stations to vote the following day. MSU Parking and Transit Services provided shuttles to and from polling locations on Election Day.

As president of the Mississippi Student Body Presidents鈥� Council, MSU Student Association President Mayah Emerson, a senior educational psychology major from Meridian, helped organize the #MyVoteMatters initiative among Mississippi鈥檚 public universities.

鈥淚t is imperative that students at Mississippi 哔哩传媒, and students across the country, become engaged civically and know that their voices and votes matters,鈥� Emerson said. 鈥淭his year, the Student Association placed a large emphasis on getting that messaging across to our students and we couldn鈥檛 be more excited about being designated as a Voter Friendly Campus. This is a large leap forward, but our work is not done. The Student Association will continue its work encouraging students to be engaged citizens on their campus, in their community, and in this country.鈥�

MSU鈥檚 Voter Friendly Campus designation is valid through December 2020. Campuses were evaluated in a process that included writing a campus plan for engaging student voters, facilitating voting engagement efforts and writing a final analysis of campus efforts.

鈥淚nstitutionalizing voter engagement, registration, and turnout efforts on college campuses is no easy feat for institutions of higher learning, especially in today鈥檚 political climate wherein many communities are polarized.鈥� said NASPA President Kevin Kruger. 鈥淲ith the second iteration of the Voter Friendly Campus program, we鈥檝e learned that campuses that have been most successful in fostering a campus climate inclusive of democratic participation do so by intentionally including multiple facets of the institutions鈥� community in fostering the skills, knowledge, and dispositions supporting students鈥� civic agency.鈥�

MSU is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .