Team 2: Story 1: State law halts student organization funding at Mississippi universities

Background

Student organizations at Mississippi State University are facing a year without funding after a state diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) law and its interpretation led to a halt in appropriations, leaving many groups struggling to host events, retain members and maintain a sense of community.

While the law was not originally intended to impact student organizations, its effects have disrupted the activities of student groups that are both DEI-focused and non-DEI-focused.

In April 2025, with the passing of Mississippi House Bill 1193, Mississippi universities were ordered to cut all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) focused university programs and activities. The following summer, interpretations of the law resulted in a halt in the distribution of appropriations to student organizations.

At Mississippi State University, these were distributed through the Student Association, with $47,000 being allocated across 80 student organizations in the 2025 spring semester.

While this law was not intended to affect student organizations directly, in its current state, it does apply to any organization using state funds. Although the money that was distributed came from the student activity fee, which is meant to be appropriated by students in the Student Association to fund student organizations, the lack of clarity over whether that money is still considered state funds caused MSU and other universities in the state to halt student organization appropriations or risk losing state funding.

At the beginning of the fall semester, student organizations were notified via an email from Student Affairs Vice President Regina Hyatt that they would not receive appropriations as normal for the semester. Later, it became clear that appropriations would not be allocated in the spring either.

The University of Mississippi also had to change the way it funds student organizations, putting more regulations on what can and cannot receive funding, according to the Daily Mississippian. The gist of these regulations comes down to the events themselves and who is to attend. If a leader needs a salary or a guest speaker needs to be paid. Things that cannot receive funding are decorations, giveaways, salaries, animals, and flowers. The Associated Student Body has all the information written about these allocations on their website.

Sections of the law are currently under injunction, awaiting a ruling in the Jackson Federation of Teachers v. Lynn Fitch court case. However, the injunction has changed little, as MSU and other universities in Mississippi have continued to act as if the law were still in place.

In the current legislative session, a senate bill was introduced that would have clarified that student activity fees are not considered state funds, but that bill died in committee.

How student organization appropriations normally work

Student organization funding at MSU comes through the $25 student activity fee paid by students. It is then allocated through the Student Association to student organizations.

Typically, the Student Association treasurer, who is elected annually by the student body, oversees the appropriations committee. For the 2025–2026 staff, this Treasurer was Mary Walker Foster, a junior Business Administration major from Pascagoula, Mississippi.

Foster currently manages all executive and Student Association budgets, looking over all Student Association branches and their budgets. As treasurer, managing appropriations was supposed to be a major component of her job.

“It was very disappointing, not only for the student body, but that's something that that's a huge part of being an SA treasurer, is doing appropriations and giving out, you know, these funds to student organizations,” Foster said. “And you know, it was really disappointing to hear that basically, the job that you had signed up for was not going to be able to be done.”

The impact

In the 2025 spring semester, over 80 student organizations received appropriations. Foster has seen the impact of this halt firsthand and shared how it has changed student organizations.

“I think it was a terribly negative impact,” Foster said. “I mean, it quite literally put all these student orgs just kind of at this halt of not being able to run their organizations and being able to get their word out and kind of express what they do.”

She also shared how it hurt to see her fellow members of the MSU Student Association who are involved in other student organizations not receiving funding.

“It was just really disheartening to see friends not being able to get their funding to help student orgs,” Foster said.

According to Foster, the Student Association tried to help organizations through other means, such as fundraising workshops. However, it became clear that these methods were not an adequate replacement for appropriations in getting funding to organization leaders who, at the end of the day, are just students.

Foster explained why having funding for organizations is so important.

“It gave student orgs so much mobility to do so much with getting out and getting their word out to the university,” Foster said.

She explained how organizations were able to put on events on the YMCA Plaza and Drill Field. They could provide members or prospective members with food and giveaways that helped grow the organization. For example, if an organization could buy pizza for an event that attracted 30 people, those 30 attendees could then be encouraged to become members.

“It really was such a positive impact on our student orgs at the end of the day,” Foster said.

In addition, another campus organization leader shared his thoughts on the appropriation cuts. Turning Point USA president Samuel Gonzalez described the organization’s initial reaction to not receiving funding.

“My initial reaction was like, why?” Gonzalez said. “I mean, there’s so many different organizations that kind of need help, and we don’t have a steady supply of money or funds.”

Gonzalez said that not having university funding presented a new challenge for TPUSA. He investigated further into the situation and asked why funding was halted.

“There wasn’t really a reason given when I asked,” Gonzalez said. “They just said that they were unable to—that there were things going on with either the state or federal government regarding funding, and that the issue was going to try to be resolved, but I haven’t heard much from that.”

The organization has a small number of members, so TPUSA has still been able to host events. However, their tentative plans were affected by the situation.

Turning Point was not initially informed of the appropriation halt and had to seek answers. Gonzalez was asked whether he believes other students understand what is happening with appropriations.

“Speaking with other people who are involved with organizations, they have told me that they don’t fully understand what’s going on, and I don’t fully understand either,” Gonzalez said.

The halt has created confusion among students, and there does not appear to be a clear resolution. Turning Point has explored alternative funding methods, including benefit days and potential membership dues, and is hoping to receive donations from students or community leaders, according to Gonzalez.

The survey

After sending out a form to all organizations that received appropriations last academic year, 23 presidents responded in depth about how the funds were necessary for membership and events.

For example, CubeSat, which provides students the opportunity to develop technical skills by designing small satellites, has been impacted.

Current president Madelyn Berry explained why appropriations were necessary for the organization.

“We have been unable to host the workshops to the same scale or at all,” Berry said. “We cannot purchase consumable equipment for skill development with our budget at this time.”

Other organizations that provide students with a community to develop skills in their academic area are also struggling. One example is the National Society of Black Engineers, led by president Kyla Hunter.

“We used these funds for our annual fish fry, providing food and snacks at our General Body Meeting,” Hunter said. “Additionally, besides SA we weren't able to receive funds from our sponsors to pay for T-shirts, convention, merch and so much more.”

The loss of funding has left the organization unsure how to continue supporting its members.

“We were not able to provide for our members like we normally do,” Hunter said. “We weren't able to do a fish fry, provide food at our meeting or even use funds from our normal sponsors. Less people are able to afford convention, our members still do not have T-shirts and we are having less and less merch to give out.”

While events with food or merchandise may seem unnecessary, they provide opportunities to build community within organizations. Hunter also shared how personal the impact has been.

“The personal impact is that I feel that even if our organization is growing, the way that we are able to support our members is not, and that's what hurts the most,” Hunter said. “It feels that we are being punished for being an organization that supports minority students.”

The legislation affecting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives has had a clear impact on organizations that support minority students, including those focused on developing future engineers.

Another affected group is the Table-Top Gaming Club. President Spencer Cole explained why appropriations are important for a recreational organization.

“Our club depends on having a frequently updated and maintained inventory of board and card games available for use,” Cole said.

Maintaining that inventory ensures members have what they need to fully participate.

“[Appropriations] helped with the frequency that members would attend, growth potential, longevity and overall satisfaction of club members,” Cole said.

The club relied on funding for a major event.

“We depended on the money to fund one event — a late night game night that included snacks, beverages and a space that often needed to be paid for.”

Without that support, the club has faced new challenges.

“[The appropriation halt] made it harder to do new, exciting things with the club, reducing potential for growth and making it a little harder to retain some members,” Cole said.

Clubs on campus are meant to foster connection and bring students with common interests together, but without appropriations, that goal becomes more difficult.

Not only were hobby- and belief-based organizations affected, but the Shackouls Honors College also lost financial support. President Luke Salisbury explained the impact.

“We used them to run events and service activities for the members of the Shackouls Honors College and all other interested parties,” Salisbury said.

Without funding, the number of events decreased significantly.

“We had to dramatically reduce the number of activities and service events we held to accommodate the budget cuts,” Salisbury said.

“We have cut our event amount by 50–60% and have eliminated food from all events.”

Salisbury said he has personally contributed money to maintain event quality.

“I have personally begun paying for certain aspects of events just to make them better experiences.”

The organization has received some support from other sources, but not enough to fully replace appropriations.

“We have been greatly given some resources through the Honors College. If not for these funds, we would have had to shut down all activities and furlough the club,” Salisbury said.

The Shackouls Honors College has been established since 2006, and the funding cuts have significantly altered its operations. These challenges also affect newer organizations seeking startup support.

The Prehistoric Preservation Student Alliance, led by Jennifer Burt, is one such group.

“We are a new organization, and it took a long time for us to get a bank account,” Burt said. “We finally did, and we were only able to take advantage of appropriations once. We used the entire amount to purchase food for an off-campus end-of-year celebration that brought together students, faculty and professionals.”

Burt explained why those funds mattered.

“It made it fun, and cleared the expectation of having to find dinner that night,” Burt said.

Before appropriations were removed, the alliance had stronger attendance and consistency.

“We had once-a-month meetings in the fall, but attendance has fallen to where it is depressing for our executive members and makes a horrible impression to the professionals that come to speak,” Burt said.

AAPI

The Asian American and Pacific Islander Student Organization (AAPI), led by president Alice Phouasalith, has also been affected.

“It went pretty smoothly until the end when everything was slowing down and no one really knew what was going on,” Phouasalith said. “We wanted to use those appropriations to host cultural events that highlight different holidays and bring people together through cultural exchange and unity.”

Audio: Alice Phouasalith speaks about message funding cuts send

She explained how appropriations previously supported these efforts.

“The budget cuts were primarily just buying enough things for the events we were having,” Phouasalith said.

AAPI has hosted events such as a MasterChef-style competition and planned an Asian Heritage Month picnic, all aimed at fostering connection across cultures.

“Those kinds of events where people are trying to collaborate across different cultural clubs take a lot of money,” Phouasalith said.

She added that food plays a key role in bringing students together.

“With the budget cuts, it’s been difficult to do those kinds of events and have different organizations participate.”

While AAPI has had some success with fundraisers such as brownie sales and International Fiesta, these efforts are more difficult without institutional support.

“It’s not just about the money, it’s about the attitude that comes with that,” Phouasalith added.

The issue remains unresolved, and many organizations continue to struggle without appropriations. For student leaders, the loss goes beyond funding — it affects connection, community and the overall student experience at Mississippi State.

Email the team at irb38@msstate.edu with any questions

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