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MSU is proud to be a part of community |
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Sunday, 20 April 2008 |
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Dr. Vance Watson As Mississippi State nears the end of the spring semester and another productive academic year, we want to say thanks to the citizens of the surrounding region for your great support of our students and your participation in a variety of university programs and joint endeavors.
Dozens of MSU athletic, cultural, entertainment, and current events programs during the past year have been enriched by your presence, and we look forward to seeing the number and quality of those opportunities grow.
We appreciate the accommodations extended in support of student-organized events such as the downtown Bulldog Bash and the opportunity for many students, faculty and staff to take active roles in such community-building activities as the Johnny Cash Flower-Picking Festival and this weekend's Cotton District Arts Festival. MSU is fortunate and proud to be part of a warm and welcoming larger community, since the progress and prosperity of the university and the city and county it calls home clearly are intertwined, as they have been for many decades.
Together, the university and region offer a quality of life and educational and economic opportunities that place us in the nation's top tier of desirable places to live, study, and work. We have a solid and longstanding foundation of formal and official ties, not to mention thousands of interpersonal relationships that make our shared interests virtually indistinguishable.
MSU is a more attractive choice for the prospective students and faculty we recruit from across the nation because of the expanding lifestyle choices in Starkville and Oktibbeha County, just as the university can be a magnet for more and better jobs and other tangible and intangible investments in the community.
Our collective future is bright, and we look forward to working with you in a seamless university-community effort that combines economic development, education at all levels, and quality of life for our students and permanent residents.
We hope that our continuous town-gown interactions will encompass not only official bodies but also civic, service, and professional groups, and perhaps most importantly, neighbor-to-neighbor conversation and collaboration about what's best for our united community.
MSU is proud of its hometown and wants to be a good corporate citizen and a good down-home neighbor. Thank you for your support and encouragement.
Dr. Vance H. Watson is interim president of Mississippi State University. The opinions expressed in this column ar ehis and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Starkville Daily News or its staff.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 21 April 2008 )
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