An Overview of Student Life at Mississippi State University

This article was written based on the information and opinions presented by Casey Malone in a CollegeVine livestream. You can watch the full livestream for more info.

 

What’s Covered:

• Your First Week on Campus
• Greek Life at Mississippi State
• Sporting Events at Mississippi State
• Politics on Campus

 

 

Your First Week on Campus

 

Clubs and Organizations

 

At Mississippi State University, you’re living in Starkville, Mississippi where you get a large campus with a small town community feel. Whether you’re out and about in Starkville or you’re on campus, there is always something going on. 

 

Every student at Mississippi State gets the incredible opportunity to be part of campus clubs and organizations. Around 24% of the students at Mississippi State participate in Greek life. This is a huge part of the campus life and is a great way to get close with your campus community. However, even if you’re not in Greek life at Mississippi State, there are still many clubs and student organizations on campus for you to participate in. There are over 300 organizations available to undergraduate students. The first couple weeks of classes there will be many student fairs where you can sign up for these clubs and get involved with on campus activities. 

 

New Maroon Camp 

 

At Mississippi State, there is a pre-orientation program called the New Maroon Camp that takes place the week before school starts. If you aren’t participating in greek life recruitment, the New Maroon Camp is available for students who want to meet people before classes even start and you are even allowed to move into their dorms early. This is a great way for incoming freshmen to meet all different types of people before the workload of classes begins. You also get the benefit of walking into your first day of classes and already seeing people you know from the week prior. This can help take away the fear of your first official week at Mississippi State. 

 

Greek Life at Mississippi State

 

If you want to be part of Greek life, Mississippi State is a great place to do that. There are many different fraternities and sororities of all different sizes available. Greek life in Mississippi state actually prefers smaller Greek houses, but these small houses can still reach sizes of 250 people, which is a lot bigger than many other schools. Despite this, Mississippi State does place a big emphasis on keeping the houses relatively small, so they are constantly adding more and more houses. They do this so the students in each fraternity and sorority feel like they are part of a tight-knit group and can really have access to the support college students need in their community. 

 

Sporting Events at Mississippi State

 

Mississippi State is a large state school, so there is a huge college sports culture on campus. Students only need to pay $150 to be able to go to every single sporting event on campus. This includes every football game, basketball game, soccer game, and many other sports. The women’s volleyball team at Mississippi State made the NCAA tournament last year, so you will be able to watch their on-campus games as well. 

 

Besides women’s volleyball, Mississippi State is a baseball and football campus. These are the two most prominent sports talked about on campus. Cowbells are brought to every game so students can both cheer for Mississippi State and distract their opponents. Mississippi State is actually the only school in the nation allowed to bring artificial noisemakers to football games. Legend has it, over 70 years ago, a cow wandered onto the football field during a Mississippi State football game and the cow’s bells could be heard around the entire stadium. This is why students are now allowed to bring cowbells to every game. 

 

Politics on Campus

 

Mississippi State is a politically engaged campus where different political positions are welcomed and respected. They are a public institution and support free speech no matter your belief system. Among the hundreds of student organizations on campus, you’re going to find all different political clubs that might teach the values you are looking for. Speech is unequivocally free at Mississippi State where open dialogue on campus is always welcomed. While the campus might be a more conservative institution, there will always be a part of campus where you can find people who share your political orientation and beliefs. 

Read this article to learn more about student life and Mississippi State University (MSU).