MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — As Middle Tennessee State University’s new academic year gets underway, Student Government Association President Michai Mosby has already been hard at work welcoming students back to campus.
“They call me Mr. MTSU,” joked the 21-year-old senior, who is heading into his second term as SGA president.
Throughout the year, you’re likely to see the Memphis native actively participating in events, whether it’s leading a chant at an athletic game, engaging in activities at a campus function or simply chatting with other students.
“Michai is the epitome of a servant leader,” said Khalilah Doss, the newly minted vice president for the Division of Student Affairs and dean of students. “His desire to elevate the voices of students, and to leave MTSU better than he found it is clear.”
While many college seniors are solely focused on the end game, Mosby has decided to continue serving his university community at the highest capacity while finishing up his bachelor’s degree.
“I don’t take it lightly, the responsibility that representing people holds and it’s something I enjoy because I look forward to speaking up for people who have not had the position to do that for themselves. I love serving people,” said Mosby, who juggles three jobs — including an internship at a local church — while pursuing a double major in political science and public relations.
He stays busy and he’s set more goals for the coming year at MTSU.
“Last year my vision was to create opportunities for us to be unified. I feel like I’ve done a great job unifying our student government with departments across campus, with different organizations and the administration,” said Mosby, who was honored as Youth for the Year for the 2024 NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet.
This year his biggest goals can be summed up with two words: action and inclusion.
“We’re reimagining what student engagement looks like,” Mosby said. “How can we put student in better positions? How can we encourage the student body to be engaged?”
This year’s welcome-back activities looked a little different. Instead of the Student Union Commons, festivities moved to the knoll outside Keathley University Center and were planned with a “holistic point of view.”
“The student activities were remodeled and based on a student feedback survey we did last year. We’re being mindful of the different ways we can accommodate students and embrace everyone to make them feel they are supported,” Mosby said. “Some of our students love coming to events, but they also have noise sensitivity and wonder, ‘What’s there for me?’ So we wanted to give them more options so everyone can feel comfortable. We wanted to figure out how to best serve everyone.”
He is also excited about the two most visible newcomers on campus: Doss, who has worked closely with Mosby over the summer preparing for the academic year, and new Blue Raider football head coach Derek Mason, who kicks off the season at 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 31, with a home game against Tennessee Tech University at Floyd Stadium.
“Dr. Doss has a very big heart for connecting with students, and I want to introduce her to as many students as possible as she leads our Student Affairs Division,” Mosby said. “And it’s also important our students support our new football coach as he works to better our football program, as he has a vision and he’s big on student engagement.”
Mosby will also play a key role in a new football pregame tradition launching this year called Party in the Grove. Held in and around the Walnut Grove area next to Peck Hall, the new event will feature a performance stage for bands, artists and DJs, as well as food trucks and several new sponsor tents and activities.
Mosby and Blue Zoo President Bretlyn Warner will emcee the events before leading fans in a “Follow Me to Floyd” parade to the stadium roughly 45 minutes before kickoff before the six home games this season.
Meanwhile, Mosby and the SGA are also launching the President’s Roundtable, which is comprised of leaders from student organizations who will meet with university leaders twice a semester to “bridge the gap” between students and administration.
He’s also working with SGA members on Vision 2025, which will be released at the beginning of the semester, as well as rewriting the mission statement for the student organization.
“There are big changes coming,” Mosby said.
Although it may seem like Mosby doesn’t sleep much — and he doesn’t — he said he’s found a work-life balance that keeps him grounded.
“Faith is something I take into every space and every opportunity. Faith is what keeps me morally and spiritually grounded and something I take very seriously,” he said.
— Nancy DeGennaro (Nancy.DeGennaro@mtsu.edu)
Michai Mosby, a 21-year-old Memphis, Tenn., native and senior public relations and political science major, is heading into his second term as president of the Student Government Association at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tenn. (MTSU photo by Andy Heidt) 
Monica Smith, left, assistant to the president for community engagement and inclusion, and MTSU Student Government Association President Michai Mosby enjoy the 2024 Murfreesboro Juneteenth celebration and street festival held Saturday, June 15, in front of the Bradley Academy Museum and Cultural Center along South Academy Street in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Smith spoke to the crowd about MTSU’s ongoing connections to the community while Mosby kickstarted activities by singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” often called “the Black national anthem.” (MTSU photo by Jimmy Hart) 
Secretary of State Tre Hargett presented Middle Tennessee State University with an award for winning the annual Tennessee College Voter Registration Competition in the four-year public school category at a luncheon on campus Nov. 28, 2023. Standing, from left, are Rutherford County Administrator of Elections Alan Farley; Delquan Dorsey, Student Government Association events director; Kelsey Ladd, SGA assistant events director; Zoe Spikner, SGA communications director; Riley Jacoby, SGA chief of staff; Caroline Spann, SGA election commissioner; Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett; Michai Mosby, SGA president; Kalea Jackson, MTSU American Democracy Project vice president; Nancy Prescott, ADP graduate research assistant; Victoria Grigsby, ADP president; Dante Buttrey, ADP treasurer; Marcus Rosario, ADP member; and MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee. (MTSU photo by J. Intintoli) 
Middle Tennessee State University Student Government Association President Michai Mosby welcomes new students in August 2023 during the 22nd annual University Convocation in Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn. In his second term as SGA president, Mosby, a senior from Memphis, Tenn., will again address new students at this year’s Convocation starting at 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24, in Murphy Center. (MTSU file photo by Andy Heidt) 
MTSU Student Government Association President Michai Mosby gives a thumbs up Saturday, Sept. 23, at the 2023 Homecoming Parade featuring the Band of Blue, floats, Blue Raider athletic teams, various student organizations, classic vehicles, the Homecoming court and more. (MTSU photo by J. Intintoli) 
Shown attending the recent College Civic Engagement Luncheon in Nashville, Tenn., Middle Tennessee State University’s (front row, from left) Election Commissioner Caroline Spann, SGA President Michai Mosby and Danny Kelley, MTSU assistant vice president in the Division of Student Affairs and SGA advisor, join other student government leaders in laughing at a remark shared by Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett, the host for the annual event promoting voter registration. (Submitted photo) 
Middle Tennessee State University student Michai Mosby, chief of staff of the MTSU Student Government Association, leads the audience in recitation of the True Blue Pledge Monday, Jan. 17, at MTSU’s 2023 MLK Celebration and Candlelight Vigil held in the Student Union Ballroom. (MTSU photo by Cat Curtis Murphy) 
Middle Tennessee State University student Michai Mosby, left, president of the Student Government Association, joins other student volunteers Wednesday, Feb. 21, in the Student Union in helping package 15,000 meals filled with a variety of nonperishable items as part of the university’s annual Big Event community service project. Organizers said most of the meals will be donated to the MTSU Food Pantry and the remainder will be donated to Nourish Food Bank. More than 80 students participated. (MTSU photo courtesy of Jackie Victory) 
Middle Tennessee State University Student Government Association President Michai Mosby talks to the more than 100 prospective students and their parents attending the MTSU True Blue Tour recruiting event at The Chattanoogan Hotel in Chattanooga, Tenn., recently. He shared about the opportunities they will have — just as he has had — by coming to the Murfreesboro, Tenn., university as a freshman or transfer student. (MTSU file photo by Andrew Oppmann) 
Newly elected MTSU Student Government Association President Michai Mosby poses for a photo inside the Parliamentary Room at the campus Student Union Building on April 25, 2023. MTSU photo by Andy Heidt) 
As Middle Tennessee State University Student Government Association 2023-24 Attorney General Nicholas Morgan, at podium, presides over the swearing-in ceremony, new 2024-25 officers, from left, Luis Esmurria, Jayla Walker, RJ Ware, Michai Mosby, Jameson Spray, Brianna Campbell, Olivia Kilpatrick and Anna Jacobellis are introduced during the SGA/Center for Student Involvement and Leadership Awards, held in the Student Union Ballroom on the MTSU campus in Murfreesboro, Tenn., on April 22. (MTSU photo by James Cessna) 
Michai Mosby, president of the Student Government Association at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tenn., speaks to the crowd at the 2024 Convocation held Saturday, Aug. 24, in MTSU’s Murphy Center on campus. (MTSU photo by J. Intintoli) Michai Mosby, who is heading into his second year as president of the Student Government Association at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tenn., stands with school mascot Lightning inside Tucker Theatre during the Scholars Academy for incoming students this summer. (MTSU photo by James Cessna) Middle Tennessee State University Student Government Association President Michai Mosby, right, stands next to new Blue Raider Football Head Coach Derek Mason and team captains during the Scholars Academy, held Aug. 22, at Floyd Stadium in Murfreesboro, Tenn. (MTSU photo by James Cessna)
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