Spring Break
Playboy auditions 35 despite community opposition
Students protest against use of university's name, obtain 1,196 signatures for petition
Nathan Gregory
Issue date: 3/23/07 Section: News
Graham said the magazine is exploiting college females for a profit when it is already financially successful.
"Playboy is a leech off the college campuses. They are using the fact that all these college students are here together at one location, and they're just trying to get a quick buck. I don't believe that Playboy has a problem with making money, so why would they have to use ... colleges in order to make themselves more money?" he said. "If a girl wants to pose, that's fine, but leave Mississippi State's name out of it."
A candidate for the shoot in Starkville who wished to remain anonymous said she thought auditioning would be a good opportunity for her.
"I think Playboy is a classy magazine. It's not just porn," she said. "I've never been photographed before. I just thought it would be cool."
Mizuno said the employees of the magazine respect the opinions of students who are opposed to affiliation between the magazine and colleges. "[Students] have a right to do that. We're not going to throw it in their face. We respect their opinion," Mizuno said. "We know where we are. We're in the Bible Belt, and we respect that."
Mizuno said he has faced opposition before and would carry on with business as usual.
"We can go ahead and do [the photo shoot] because we still have ladies coming in to see us. We're here, and if girls don't show up, we have a problem.But they are showing up. How are we addressing [opposition]? We're not," Mizuno said.
Bullen said the group took the petition to MSU President Robert "Doc" Foglesong, the dean of students' office and the Starkville Board of Aldermen.
Graham said he will continue to push the petitions to anyone who will listen.
"We're hoping that this is going to be a shockwave that is going to start at Mississippi State and roll all the way through the other Southeastern Conference schools," Graham said. "We hope people are going to get on board and realize that we don't need this type of publicity. Our school was founded on stronger principles than that."
The "Girls of the SEC" pictorial is scheduled to be published in Playboy's October issue.
"Playboy is a leech off the college campuses. They are using the fact that all these college students are here together at one location, and they're just trying to get a quick buck. I don't believe that Playboy has a problem with making money, so why would they have to use ... colleges in order to make themselves more money?" he said. "If a girl wants to pose, that's fine, but leave Mississippi State's name out of it."
A candidate for the shoot in Starkville who wished to remain anonymous said she thought auditioning would be a good opportunity for her.
"I think Playboy is a classy magazine. It's not just porn," she said. "I've never been photographed before. I just thought it would be cool."
Mizuno said the employees of the magazine respect the opinions of students who are opposed to affiliation between the magazine and colleges. "[Students] have a right to do that. We're not going to throw it in their face. We respect their opinion," Mizuno said. "We know where we are. We're in the Bible Belt, and we respect that."
Mizuno said he has faced opposition before and would carry on with business as usual.
"We can go ahead and do [the photo shoot] because we still have ladies coming in to see us. We're here, and if girls don't show up, we have a problem.But they are showing up. How are we addressing [opposition]? We're not," Mizuno said.
Bullen said the group took the petition to MSU President Robert "Doc" Foglesong, the dean of students' office and the Starkville Board of Aldermen.
Graham said he will continue to push the petitions to anyone who will listen.
"We're hoping that this is going to be a shockwave that is going to start at Mississippi State and roll all the way through the other Southeastern Conference schools," Graham said. "We hope people are going to get on board and realize that we don't need this type of publicity. Our school was founded on stronger principles than that."
The "Girls of the SEC" pictorial is scheduled to be published in Playboy's October issue.
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