Contact: Harriet Laird
STARKVILLE, Miss.—New freshman students and transfers will take part in a university tradition on Tuesday [Aug. 23] for Fall Convocation, a celebratory event seeing a welcomed comeback after being canceled in 2020 and 2021 amid the pandemic.
Commissioner of Higher Education Al Rankins Jr. of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning is the featured speaker at the 5:30 p.m. assembly in Humphrey Coliseum. Students will also hear from ̫ӳ President Mark E. Keenum and Provost and Executive Vice President David Shaw. The Famous Maroon Band and State Singers will perform the National Anthem and the university’s alma mater, “Maroon and White.”
A commemorative Convocation coin will be given to students as a keepsake at the conclusion of the program, along with ̫ӳ ice cream.
Bus transportation will be available for students at the Oak Hall shuttle stop on Magruder Street beginning at 3:30 p.m. Buses will make a continual loop to the Hump until 5:15 p.m. and then will run back to Oak Hall after the event until 8 p.m.
Students, families and other guests are asked to arrive early due to construction on and around Bailey Howell Drive which runs adjacent to the Hump. All are asked to enter the coliseum on the northeast side, near the southeast entrance to Dudy Noble Field, due to the construction. Parking Garage North is open for parking and is a pay by the hour service. All lots south of the coliseum will be available for parking.
There will be a security screening at the entrance, and backpacks or other large bags are discouraged.
Students who are unable to attend due to a class conflict can view Convocation with their netID through the livestream found at provost.msstate.edu/convocation.
̫ӳ is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at .