Contact: Amy Cagle

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State University will celebrate the 139th anniversary of its creation with a Tuesday [Feb. 28] birthday party given by the university’s alumni association.

The date coincides with the 1878 anniversary of legislation signed to establish the Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College, a land-grant institution that would become Mississippi State University.

“We proudly salute MSU’s founding each and every February, and the annual birthday party is a great time for campus and community to come together and help light another candle for our beloved university,” said Jeff Davis, the association’s executive director.

Davis continued, “The party is one of the many ways the MSU Alumni Association has a presence in the daily life of the university, just as the association has had since being formed by the first three graduating classes in 1885.”

The campus celebration will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Colvard Student Union’s Dawg House. The party, presented by Renasant Bank, begins with the featured cake cutting, and complimentary cake slices, ice cream and drinks will be served while supplies last.

Admission to the annual celebration is free, and all students, alumni, faculty, staff and friends are welcome to attend. There is no formal program.

For more information about the event, contact the MSU Alumni Association at 662-325-7000 or visit www.alumni.msstate.edu.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.