Last Tuesday, April 18, more than twenty MSMS students joined Dr. Hester to travel to Lee Hall at Mississippi State University to attend the “She Should Run: Mississippi” event.

She Should Run is a non-partisan nonprofit organization that assists women running for public office. The Student Association at MSU invited members on campus and throughout the community to come this event. The goal of the program was to “empower our future leaders for tomorrow.”

The panel of  “She Should Run: Mississippi” included Claire Bresnahan, the executive director of She Should Run, and many state and local female elected officials, including Treasurer Lynn Fitch, Senator Sally Doty, Senator Angela Turner Ford and former Representative Kimberly Campbell. After the panel discussion there was also a Q&A session for audience members to engage in.

Ariel Williams, a senior at MSMS, said, “It was truly a phenomenal experience to see and hear from successful women in power who were looking me in the face and telling me that I could be where they were and do even more things.”

Junior Anna Grace Dulaney felt inspired by the program. She said, “My favorite part was when one of the women showed pictures of her working her job and pointed out how she was always surrounded by men. It really speaks to how we need more women represented in government.”

Senior Alex Leise sayid, “Though it was a little less informed than I expected, I think it successfully convinced women in the audience who weren’t sure of running for office to run and create more diversity in the state and local governments.”