Electronic marquee damages university prestige

With the implementation of the Master Plan, the Centennial celebration, and the guidance of an ambitious administration, Southern Miss has made excellent strides in beautifying campus these past few years.

Returning to campus this past week, I beamed with pride as I saw the impressive new front entrance, the Century Park expansion and the finished Trent Lott building.  Each of these new structures gives a sense of prestige and professionalism to the look of the Southern Miss campus.  The choice to raze the old Commons building and repurpose the space in The Hub uses existing campus space in a stylish, student-focused way.  It's always nice to walk the campus and see how the look and feel of Southern Miss has improved.

However, I also encountered what remains one of the most embarrassing aspects of the Southern Miss campus-- the electronic marquee on the corner of Hwy 49 and Hardy Street.  On the off-chance that the electronic sign is working, the messages relayed are either illegible or irrelevant.  "Welcome to Hattiesburg, Home of Southern Miss," it flashes, pitifully, with garbled script.  There is no reason our respectable four-year university should have this eyesore greeting passers-by in the same way Cane's Chicken Fingers advertises "The Box that Rocks."  Notably, the sign at Cane's has more working bulbs.

The solution here is not to replace the bulbs or redesign the marquee.  Even if we were to install a high-definition electronic sign at the front of campus, it would remain a cheesy, unattractive novelty that would be better suited advertising happy-hour specials than inviting students to achieve higher education.

I understand the university's budget is tight, but it is time to retire the marquee.  Let's simply take out the electronics and put the university name and seal, keeping the brick base.  If we can make the corner of Hwy 49 and Hardy half as appealing as the new front entrance sign, we will have made up the cost of the new sign in saved electricity and university appeal.

Jake Meek

Alumnus 2009