Mitchell Owen
Mitchell Lance Owen
B.A. in Political Science, 2008
Among the most dedicated students are those who approach their education as the beginning of a lifetime of learning and service. For Mitchell Lance Owen, Mississippi State provided the foundation for a career in law and public service—a path he had envisioned long before he graduated.
Owen first found MSU through campus visits and sporting events. “I visited Mississippi State my senior year of high school for sporting events and thoroughly enjoyed my visits to the campus,” he said. “I ultimately decided that it was where I wanted to further my college education. I always anticipated being an attorney and one day using both my political science degree and law degree to participate in public service.”
As a student, Owen was a member of Kappa Sigma Fraternity, an experience he says had a lasting impact. Through the fraternity, he met students from across Mississippi and the country, allowing him to build relationships beyond his hometown on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
His favorite MSU tradition is an easy choice: the Left Field Lounge. As a baseball fan, Owen says the unique game-day tradition remains one of his favorite parts of the university.
He also credits his professors with helping shape his path. His political science education proved particularly valuable as his career developed.
After graduating from MSU in 2008, Owen earned his law degree from Mississippi College School of Law in 2011. Following the Mississippi Bar examination, he began practicing law with Owen, Galloway & Myers.
He later spent eight years as an assistant district attorney for Mississippi's Second Circuit District, which includes Harrison, Stone and Hancock counties. The experience remains one of the professional accomplishments he is most proud of.
“I believe my time as an assistant district attorney is something I’m most proud of as it relates to my professional achievements,” Owen says. “This job allowed me to bring justice for victims of crimes in my local community.”
His political science education also prepared him for an aspect of the job he had not anticipated: navigating the political responsibilities of working alongside an elected district attorney.
“District attorneys in the state of Mississippi are elected officials who play a large role in the local community,” he says. “This required me, as one of his assistants, to adhere to the standards he set.”
Owen eventually returned to the Gulf Coast, where he met his wife, another Mississippi State graduate. Today, the couple have three children and enjoy introducing them to the Gulf Coast lifestyle that Owen remembers fondly from his own childhood.
“We enjoy going out on the boat and traveling to the islands in the Gulf and around the back bayous,” he says. “We are now introducing our children to fishing, hunting and sports while building core memories that are invaluable to my wife and me.”
The family also visits Starkville whenever time allows, often combining trips with Mississippi State away games and opportunities to explore new places.
When asked what advice he would give today's students, Owen encourages them to slow down and enjoy the college experience.
“Enjoy your time at Mississippi State. Take it one day at a time. Do not limit your time at MSU as an educational steppingstone to rush into the working world,” he says. “Enjoy the events, the students, the town of Starkville, and everything the campus has to offer. As I look back on my time there, I wish I had slowed down to appreciate the opportunities on campus and around town.”
If he had to describe his Mississippi State experience in one word, Owen chose impactful.
“The professors I encountered during my time at MSU, and more specifically in CAS, forced me to examine my personal viewpoints as well as those of people who had differing viewpoints,” he says. “That helped me have a better understanding of the country and the world we live in.”