| Wednesday, September 30, 2026 |
| FAO renews MSU designation as Reference Centre on Antimicrobial Resistance and Aquaculture Biosecurity | |
 | The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is redesignating Mississippi State University as an FAO Reference Centre on Antimicrobial Resistance and Aquaculture Biosecurity. The renewal follows FAO's positive review of MSU's progress since it was first named an FAO Reference Centre in 2022, and it extends the agreement for a five-year period through October 2031. The university has a long history of leading expertise in the areas of fisheries and aquaculture, working with the FAO in the areas of antimicrobial use and antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, as well as aquaculture biosecurity and aquatic animal health. The center is housed within the university's Global Center for Aquatic Health and Food Security, or GCAHFS. AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses or other microorganisms evolve to resist treatments such as antibiotics. MSU President Mark E. Keenum said he looks forward to the university continuing this important work. MSU Provost and Executive Vice President David Shaw and other MSU leaders met with officials at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy, Sept. 22 to discuss building more resilient food systems as part of a broader agri-food systems conference. |
| MSU, MGCCC partner to host 'Securing the Coast' cyber security event | |
 | Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and Mississippi State University held "Securing the Coast," an event aimed at helping small businesses with defense contracts strengthen their cybersecurity practices. The event comes as the Department of War pushes for increased security amid threats to critical defense contractors, many of which operate along the Gulf Coast. Center of Cyber Education Director Shelly Hollis said small businesses often struggle with basic security measures. "Even within social media, there are people always trying to get you to click on links and do things so that you then turn around and give them your private information. So that's one of the biggest risks. And even small businesses see that a lot. Poor passwords -- not having good, strong passwords is a big issue," Hollis said. A grant from the Department of Energy supports cybersecurity programs at Mississippi State University and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, exposing students to challenges faced by small businesses in the area. |
| Student Association Senate passes resolution to increase student activity fee | |
 | The Mississippi State University Student Association Senate passed a resolution last Tuesday to increase the student activity fee from $25 to $50. The increased fee would provide additional funding for student worker wages and activities, with 40% going to the Sanderson Center and 60% to student activities. After discussion, the resolution passed 27-8, with 6 present votes. The Senate's approval does not mean the fee increase has been implemented. Student Association President Keegan Figueroa, who spoke in support of the bill, said the resolution represents the Senate's support for the proposal as it moves through the university approval process. Figueroa said he began working to increase the student activity fee at the beginning of his administration after hearing concerns about limited funding for student organizations. As everyday costs rise while available funding remains the same, Figueroa said student organizations were increasingly limited in what they could do with minimal funding. Figueroa said some organizations even had to cut budgets for specific events because of limited funding. MSU currently charges a $25 student activity fee, which Student Association Treasurer Cape Merrell said is lower than student activity fees at other Southeastern Conference universities. |
| MSU distributes naloxone, hosts overdose trainings following deaths of UM students | |
| Several Mississippi State University organizations distributed naloxone, a medication that reverses opioid overdoses, and trained students on how to respond in drug overdose situations during campus events for the Office for Student Wellbeing's Healthy Campus Week. While Healthy Campus Week was previously planned to teach students about campus resources that can keep them healthy, the events shifted to involve naloxone distribution and drug overdose trainings following the deaths of two University of Mississippi students. The deaths of 18-year-old Aidan Hamilton, a freshman from Englewood, Colo., and 20-year-old Robert Strang, a junior from Atlanta, are not confirmed to have been drug overdoses, but officials have stated that the drug kratom was found at the scene of both deaths. Additionally, two arrests were made at Puffs Vape, Tobacco and Beer Store in Oxford on Thursday involving the seizure of kratom, which has been illegal in Oxford since 2019. The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life and the Student Association hosted a training on how to use naloxone, with over 80 students in attendance, on Sept. 22. The Office of Student Affairs handed out free naloxone in the Dawg House inside the Colvard Student Union on Sept. 23 and on Holmes Plaza on Sept. 24. |
| Weeds, Weeds, and More Weeds! | |
| What is a weed? What is an herbicide? And how do farmers address the weedy issues that crop up along the way when growing rice? On the latest episode of The Rice Stuff podcast, host Dr. Steve Linscombe tackles all this and more, joined by four renowned weed scientists: Dr. Jason Bond, Extension/Research Professor at Mississippi State University, Dr. Jason Norsworthy, Distinguished Professor at the University of Arkansas, Dr. Connor Webster, Assistant Professor at the LSU AgCenter, and Dr. Sam Rustom, Assistant Professor and Extension Agronomist at Texas A&M University. The crew dives into the nuances of weed control in rice production, as well as ongoing concerns, such as herbicide resistance and AI weed identification. |
| AccelerateMS pushes earlier start to workforce development | |
| The question isn't whether business and industry leaders should get involved with developing future generations of the state's workforce. It's whether they can afford not to, Blaise King, director of strategy and alignment for AccelerateMS, told the Rotary Club of Columbus. Mississippi, and the Golden Triangle in particular, can compete on national and international levels when it comes to economic development, but doing so requires developing a talented workforce, King said. "We've got to be a little bit more creative about what this pipeline looks like and how we're building that pipeline," King said during the Tuesday meeting at Lion Hills Center. "I would say talent is the constraint, but talent is also the opportunity that we have to really show where we can continue to compete." One particular strategy that has been underway since 2022 is placing career coaches in public high schools throughout the state. Coaches work directly with students to identify career goals and then make feasible plans for achieving them. The next goal is to start workforce development efforts sooner. While career coaches previously worked with high school upperclassmen, King said AccelerateMS is now expanding those efforts to the middle school level. |
| Meridian's Key Field 1 of 4 finalists to house KC-46 | |
| The U.S. Air Force notified Congress Tuesday that Key Field in Meridian has been selected as one of four preferred locations to be the future home of the new KC-46 aircraft. Mississippi's full congressional delegation welcomed this announcement. The Mississippi delegation has consistently made the case that Key Field is well equipped to host the KC-46 aircraft. This month, the Mississippi delegation sent a letter to Air Force Secretary Troy Meink in support of Meridian. Over the past few years, Mississippi's federal officials have supported additional efforts to modernize Key Field infrastructure, paving the way for the installation to continue its contributions toward America's national security posture. |
| Gipson calls for economic emergency declaration over rising fuel costs | |
| Mississippi Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner Andy Gipson is calling on state leaders to declare an economic emergency and take temporary action to reduce fuel costs for Mississippi workers, farmers and the timber industry. In a statement Tuesday, Gipson asked Gov. Tate Reeves and other state leaders to consider measures including temporarily suspending the state fuel tax on gasoline and diesel. Gipson also proposed allowing farmers and loggers to use off-road diesel as a way to expand the available fuel supply. Gipson said any relief could include calling the Legislature into a special session if necessary to address construction projects affected by a temporary suspension of the fuel tax. "These fuel prices are breaking the backbone of Mississippi's economy," Gipson said. "We have been dealing with this for several months. Our farmers, loggers and working people cannot endure much more of this." |
| Farmers being affected by rising diesel prices | |
 | Harvesting season is a little trickier this year, as farmers are dealing with unprecedented highs for the price of diesel. The Golden Triangle area is known for cotton, soybeans, and corn. Those raw ingredients become fiber, food, and fuel. Planting and harvesting them takes a lot of fuel, especially diesel. It fuels tractors, combines, pickers, and trucks. According to Macrotrends, the national average in February sat around $3.72 per gallon, all the way up now where it's currently at $6.26 including, a $1.30 rise in the last 2 months alone. Farmers like Noxubee County's Jack Huerkamp did not see prices continuously rising like they are. "They started to rise in February," said Huerkamp. "Of course, when the Iran war started. And we had enough fuel to get us into summer, so I didn't worry about it. I kept looking forward to ease back down, and it was going to end, and it didn't end. And eased back up again so we've been buying just a little bit that I have to as I go along." |
| Growth, Inflation Figures Show Signs of an Economic Pickup | |
 | New reports out Wednesday showed the U.S. economy grew more than previously thought in the second quarter of 2026 and that inflation remained firm in August. They added to evidence that the economy is powering past challenges and fueling continued price increases. The Commerce Department raised its reading for annualized gross domestic product growth in the second quarter to 2.2%, well above the 1.5% that had previously been reported. The key consumer-spending and investment categories were both stronger than previously thought. Wednesday's numbers added to evidence that despite constraints like tariffs, an immigration crackdown and high energy prices, the economy remains on solid footing. The GDP revisions cast growth seen earlier this year in a substantially better light. The previous estimate, of 1.5% inflation-adjusted second-quarter growth, had looked like a sizable slowdown from the rate seen in the first quarter. Now, the revised look back at the first half of the year paints a picture of steadier economic expansion. |
| Deadline to register for general election is Monday | |
| Monday is the deadline to register to vote for the Nov. 3 general election, which will include races for the Senate, the 1st and 3rd Congressional Districts and various local races across the Golden Triangle. Voters who have voted in past elections should check their registration prior to that date. In Mississippi, voters can be removed from the rolls if they are marked inactive for two consecutive federal elections, deceased or confirmed to have moved. If the county believes a voter may have moved, the county circuit clerk's office can mark that voter as inactive. Lowndes County reported having 36,281 active voters in August marking a 2.77% decrease in active voters compared to August 2024 voter count of 37,316, according to the secretary of state's website. Oktibbeha has seen a 3.2% decrease of active voters in the same time period. In August, 25,674 active voters were reported compared to 26,523 reported in August 2024. Clay reported 13,270 in August 2024, which has fallen to 12,932 this August, a 2.55% decrease. To verify your voter registration status, download a mail-in voter registration form and update your voter information visit YallVote.ms. Your local circuit clerk can also provide this information. |
| Colom challenges Hyde-Smith to debates, calls her 'chicken' | |
| Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Scott Colom said Tuesday he accepted invitations from two TV stations to debate and challenged Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith to join him. Flanked by a staffer in an inflatable chicken outfit, Colom told reporters he sent Hyde-Smith's campaign an invitation to debate before the Nov. 3 general election. In a letter sent to the Republican's campaign, Colom asked her to respond by Friday. "She's chicken!" Colom said of Hyde-Smith at the press conference. Jake Monssen, Hyde-Smith's campaign manager, said in a statement that "losing candidates always want to debate about debates" and that there was "no point in debating someone so out of touch with Mississippi that he advocates for the sex change surgeries for children." Monssen's statement about children refers to a letter Colom, a district attorney in northern Mississippi, signed in 2021 where he condemned the criminalization of gender-affirming care and said families of trans youth should not be prosecuted. Colom has said that he has never supported gender-affirming surgeries for children and that he does not believe trans athletes should compete in women's' sports. |
| Congress continues back-seat role as AI execs feted at White House | |
 | Following a meeting at the White House with President Donald Trump and technology moguls, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Tuesday pushed back on calls to impose regulations on artificial intelligence, even as news of worrisome AI models hacking into government databases become increasingly common and the public grows more skeptical of the technology. And while Trump, several members of his Cabinet and Johnson lunched with a group that included Nvidia's Jensen Huang, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Anthropic's Dario Amodei, Amazon's Jeff Bezos and others, the Senate took a pass on even considering a Democratic-backed regulatory bill. Standing in the White House's north driveway, Johnson declared that Congress would "keep steady hands at the wheel on this" but did not commit to crafting any legislation. Instead, he pledged that lawmakers would "continue to assess and further deliberate in the days ahead." Rather than describe the contours of what he would like to see in future legislation, Johnson talked up what he described as a "statement of principles ... on behalf of the industry" that laid out "robust internal controls and layers of internal and external review." Moments later, Trump walked out and joined the gaggle, where he mostly repeated his previous stances on taking a hands-off approach to AI. Asked why tech leaders should be trusted to to self-regulate, Trump replied: "Because they're outstanding people." |
| Hegseth to cut more generals, admirals in bid to remake military's top ranks | |
 | Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is expected to announce deeper cuts to the military's top ranks, reducing the total number of positions for general and flag officers by as much as 20 percent, officials told The Washington Post on Tuesday. The potential cuts could impact the careers of hundreds of current and rising military leaders following scores of firings and denied promotions that Hegseth has directed since becoming President Donald Trump's defense secretary in January 2025. Hegseth's tenure atop the Pentagon has been marked, in part, by his drive to dramatically reshape the military's senior-most ranks. Former top defense officials, congressional Democrats and some fellow Republicans who are alarmed by his leadership purge and efforts to impose structural changes argue that the moves are politically motivated and threaten to do lasting harm. One of the officials who spoke to The Post said the defense secretary could outline the initiative publicly as soon as Wednesday, during a planned gathering of military officers in Quantico, Virginia. This person, like the others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details that had not been publicly announced. Hegseth's plan to further reduce the number of senior military leaders was reported earlier by Fox News. A spokesperson for Hegseth said that the Fox report was accurate but declined to comment further. |
| Democrats want a blue wave. New Hampshire is Exhibit A for why that may not happen | |
 | Five weeks before Election Day, Democratic enthusiasm is reaching a fever pitch. With Republicans struggling to overcome President Donald Trump's low standing, Democrats are on the offensive in Republican strongholds like Texas and Florida, and even eyeing contests in deeper-red Kansas and Mississippi. Many Democratic leaders predict that the House majority is all but theirs, and that the Senate majority, almost unthinkable a year ago, is nearly in their grasp as well. In the midst of such confidence, however, Democrats are ignoring glaring vulnerabilities that threaten to undermine the unstoppable blue wave they say is coming. Look no further than swing-state New Hampshire, where Democratic leaders are sounding the alarm about political challenges that could jeopardize Rep. Chris Pappas' campaign for an open Senate seat and undermine the party's ability to win races around the country. Democrats point to Republicans' overwhelming financial advantage that is allowing them to dominate the airwaves in the closing days of the campaign. At the same time, the Democrats' brand remains deeply unpopular, and they have virtually no margin for error in midterm races that are playing out largely in Republican-leaning states. |
| Oxford vape store clerk knew kratom was killing people before 2 Ole Miss students died: court records | |
| The men arrested in a recent kratom bust at an Oxford retail store knowingly sold deadly products, court documents reveal. A filing in the Lafayette County Circuit Court show that the two Ole Miss students whose deaths have garnered national attention purchased illegal products from area retailers. The students -- 20-year-old Robert Strang and 18-year-old Aidan Hamilton -- passed away on Sept. 21. The cause of their deaths is pending an autopsy and toxicology report. While officials are investigating their deaths separately, law enforcement noted that there was a similar kratom-like product at the sites where both passed away. Court documents show that those products were purchased at an Express Mart gas station in Water Valley and Puff's Vape Tobacco & Beer in Oxford. In addition to the products purchased at local retailers, both Strang and Hamilton are reported to have used other illegal substances. At Strang's place of death, police found roughly 20 to 30 cans of nitrous oxide. The Ole Miss student's roommates told police that Strang would use "whippets" daily. As for Hamilton, the freshman's roommate told authorities that the deceased smoked "a lot of marijuana" from pens and pipes. |
| Gravy celebrates 100 issues focusing on Southern food | |
 | Just over a quarter-century since its launch, Gravy, the quarterly journal of the Southern Foodways Alliance at the University of Mississippi, is celebrating 100 issues in print. Gravy started shortly after the alliance's 1999 founding as a simple member newsletter, with notices about upcoming events and news about the organization and its members. Founder John T. Edge and co-director Mary Beth Lasseter compiled the earliest issues. Eventually, it began publishing original articles, poetry, recipes, interviews, illustrations and photography. "Gravy aligns with SFA's mission by telling stories of the changing American South," said editor Sara Camp Milam, who joined the alliance's staff in 2012. Milam manages a small team of editors, designers and fact checkers. Each year, Gravy supports the work of some 100 freelance writers, illustrators, photographers and audio producers working in the South and beyond. |
| Southern Miss wins North American Coursera award for engagement | |
| The University of Southern Mississippi has been named the North American regional winner of the 2026 Coursera Outstanding Achievement Award in the Engagement Excellence category. The award recognizes organizations that sustain learner participation and connect learning with academic, professional and community goals. It is the second consecutive year Southern Miss has received a Coursera Outstanding Achievement Award. Southern Miss began offering Coursera Career Academy in fall 2024, giving students, faculty and staff free access to professional certificates, courses and guided projects. The university also extended licenses to members of the Southern Miss Alumni Association. |
| Jackson State has 12 alumni serving as college presidents, chancellors | |
| Twelve current college and university presidents and chancellors across seven states hold degrees from Jackson State University, according to a release from JSU. The group includes leaders of historically Black colleges and universities, community colleges, technical colleges and public and private institutions, the university said. Among them is Jackson State President Denise J. Gregory, who earned a bachelor's degree from JSU in 1994. Gregory was named the university's president earlier this year, becoming the first alumna to serve as JSU's permanent president, according to the release. "Twelve Jackson State alumni leading colleges and universities across seven states is both a point of pride and evidence of the university's national impact," Gregory said in the release. "My journey from a student on this campus to president reflects how JSU prepares graduates to step into consequential leadership roles, expand opportunity for students and strengthen the institutions and communities they serve." |
| East Texas Water Institute launched | |
| The future of East Texas' water resources is promising with the Sept. 24 launch of the East Texas Water Institute (ETWI), a new regional initiative designed to expand the information, expertise and partnerships available to communities as they plan for generations to come. The T.L.L. Temple Foundation is endowing the institute's executive director position, making a long-term investment in the leadership and capacity needed to sustain the Institute's work across East Texas. Dr. Drew Gholson was appointed as associate vice president and executive director of the Institute. He most recently served as an associate professor and director of the National Center for Alluvial Aquifer Research at Mississippi State University. Gholson brings a wealth of credentials and experience to the table. He holds a bachelor of science degree in rangeland ecology and management, a master of science degree in water management and hydrological science, and a doctorate in soil science. Having been raised on a cow/calf operation in Iowa Park, Texas, Gholson said he grew up knowing the importance of water. |
| Mark Peters Named LNG Center of Excellence Director of Operations | |
| Mark Peters has been named the director of operations for the LNG Center of Excellence at McNeese State University, according to Dr. Michael Buckles, provost and vice president for academic affairs. The LNG Center of Excellence at McNeese serves as a neutral place where education, industry, government and the community collaborate and engage in discussions, debates, educational activities, research and the dissemination of LNG-related topics. Peters has a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Mississippi State University and began his career with Dow Chemical as a production engineer. Peters is looking forward to working in a higher education setting after years in large-scale industry operations. He said he is excited by the opportunity to serve as a vital bridge between McNeese and the industry working to translate the real-world operational needs of local LNG partners into high-impact academic programs, workforce training and research. |
| LSU Global Travel, Safety & Security Office assists students, faculty with international travel | |
| In January, LSU launched a new sector of the Office of Global Engagement--- the Global Travel, Safety & Security office. The office, led by Director Raynold Lyngdoh, has begun offering resources to faculty and students on international travel safety and security procedures. The office works to ensure the safety of the LSU community that travels out of the country, which is also identified as the duty of care by Lyngdoh's office. He added that LSU is obligated to provide safety services to its faculty and students before they leave and during their travels, which is exactly what his office is here for. Lyngdoh is highly experienced in the global safety field. He has worked for other companies that specialize in risk management for travelers abroad, like OnCall and InternationalSOS. One main part of Lyngdoh's job is to help prepare travelers for visiting countries that have been deemed less safe by the U.S. Department of State. "I am always monitoring the world, anything from conflicts, to hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes, riots, protests, strikes, forest fires." Lyngdoh said, "If you're traveling somewhere, I need to make sure that you're alerted." |
| U. of South Carolina, Westinghouse sign agreement for nuclear workforce training center | |
| The University of South Carolina inked a deal with Westinghouse related to the school's plans for a nuclear workforce training center within its engineering school. The agreement signed Tuesday at the South Carolina Nuclear Summit in Columbia kickstarts talks between USC and the nuclear giant. It does not commit Westinghouse to any investment in the training center. USC plans to ask state legislators for $100 million in the next fiscal year, starting July 1, 2027, and is seeking private investors willing to match that amount. The center on the college's campus in Columbia will be part of the school's larger plans to renovate and expand its college of engineering and computing. It will train technicians, engineers, specialized construction professionals and operators for both large- and small-scale nuclear reactors. "Anybody that wants to be building or operating these reactors somehow will have to come through us because we are going to have a unique facility," Hossein Haj-Hariri, dean of USC's Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing, told reporters at the summit. |
| Hasan Piker criticizes U. of Texas over Austin event | |
| A week after University of Texas' University Democrats group said it struggled to find a larger venue for an appearance by left-wing political commentator Hasan Piker, Piker accused UT officials of selectively supporting free speech by refusing to accommodate his event. On a video call Monday, Piker called UT's handling of the event "disappointing but not unexpected." His Sept. 30 appearance will proceed in the William C. Powers Jr. Student Activity Center, but attendance will be capped at roughly 460 people. When the American-Statesman reached out to the university for comment on University Democrats President Adit Raha's claim that spaces that should've been available to the group were not made available for "questionable reasons," the university did not immediately respond. Raha said his organization invited Piker to campus because of the commentator's ability to excite young Democrats. Piker contrasted UT's handling of his appearance with Turning Point USA's Oct. 7 event featuring conservative commentator Ben Shapiro. Shapiro will speak in the 967-seat Lady Bird Johnson Auditorium after TPUSA's event received university approval before University Democrats' request, according to the student group. |
| U. of Michigan Leaders Hit the Brakes on Pass/Fail | |
 | The University of Michigan's College of Literature, Science, and the Arts on Monday paused its plan to cover, or hide, letter grades for all first-semester freshmen, citing a request from the university's top brass for more "input, analysis, and discussion" before implementation. The now-delayed pilot program, announced in August and initially set to take effect next fall, had drawn mixed reactions from faculty members and teaching experts across higher ed. While some pointed to research supporting the argument that pass/fail grading can benefit students' outcomes and experience, others feared students would be less motivated to study and complete coursework in their first semester. In an email shared with The Chronicle, President Domenico Grasso wrote to administrators in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, asking them to pause plans for the policy. He wrote that it "has become the subject of extensive media coverage, much of which consists of distorted narratives about our intentions and, most concerningly, about the academic strength and resilience of our students." |
| At Cornell, hundreds of sex assaults, few expelled | Exclusive | |
 | More than 1,200 incidents of sexual assault, dating and domestic violence and stalking were reported to Cornell University's Title IX office from 2018 through 2024, USA TODAY found in an exclusive analysis of data the school reported to New York state. Of those, Cornell filed disciplinary charges against an accused student or employee in 162 cases. It found at least one of them at fault in 51. Most of those found responsible received minor sanctions that allowed them to remain on campus, such as probation or training, the data show. Fourteen cases resulted in suspensions. Seven ended in expulsion or dismissal. The findings come as Cornell faces intensifying scrutiny over its handling of sexual violence, including a lawsuit in state court accusing the university of failing to protect a student who says seven fraternity members drugged and gang-raped her in 2024. But USA TODAY's analysis suggests the questions raised by that case extend well beyond a single incident: Over seven years, Cornell suspended or expelled fewer than half of the people its disciplinary process found responsible for sexual or gender-based violence. |
| Hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin gives record $3B to Carnegie Mellon to build Miami campus | |
| Carnegie Mellon University announced Wednesday that hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin is donating $3 billion, with the bulk of the money for a new campus in Miami focused on societal challenges. The Pittsburgh-based private research university said the gift is the largest ever single gift to a U.S. university. Other donations topping the billion-dollar mark include $1.8 billion from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to Johns Hopkins University in 2018. And Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny, also have been prolific donors, including a $2 billion gift to Oregon Health & Science University in 2025. Griffin's gift includes $2 billion to build a new 35-acre campus in Miami's Wynwood neighborhood, just north of downtown. The campus is expected to enroll around 3,500 undergraduate, master's and doctoral students. Rather than academic majors, it will focus on what the university and Griffin described in a news release as "grand challenge areas," such as human health and biological discovery; national security and strategic capabilities; energy and climate resilience; and advanced manufacturing and industrial transformation. |
| Higher Ed's AI Integration Overhyped, New Data Shows | |
 | Despite widespread hype about integrating artificial intelligence tools into college classrooms, faculty aren't using them as much as other types of education-technology tools. That's one of the big takeaways from a report Instructure -- which owns the nation's most popular learning management system, Canvas -- released Tuesday entitled, "EdTech Top 40: Inside the U.S. higher education digital learning stack." It's an analysis of de-identified data from 19.5 million U.S. higher education users between September 2025 and April 2026 and the Learning Tools Interoperability integrations they used during that time period. (LTIs are external tools capable of connecting with Canvas, or another LMS.) According the report, the five LTIs that reached the most users during that time period included McGraw Hill (11,369,232 users), Watermark Course Evaluations & Surveys (10,632,703 users), Zoom (9,051,162 users), Kaltura (8,592,923 users), and Panopto (8,333,378 users). By contrast, the most widely adopted dedicated AI tool -- Google Gemini -- didn't even crack the top 100, reaching 87,788 users across 211 institutions. |
| College Students Flex Their Power in A.I. Investment Frenzy | |
 | Fourteen years ago, a venture capital firm created a program for college students to invest in their peers, called Dorm Room Fund. Some dismissed the effort as risky and a little bit crazy. After all, could you really trust students to make good investments? Now the fund's network has its tentacles all over the artificial intelligence boom. Dorm Room Fund's alumni have gone on to establish major A.I. companies like the coding start-up Cursor and the defense tech company Shield AI. Others have become investors at top firms including Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed Venture Partners. They share deals, advice and industry banter. This month, Dorm Room Fund raised a new $50 million fund to keep investing in companies created by college students and the 500 members of its alumni network. That is four times the size of its last fund, a sign of how much investor attitudes about the program have changed. Silicon Valley investors have long courted college students, including paying them to drop out, as Peter Thiel's Thiel Fellowship famously does. But the wooing has gotten more aggressive in the A.I. boom, where dropouts and recent graduates are finding overnight success in growing numbers. |
| Fearing AI, young workers retrain for hands-on jobs | |
| ChatGPT hit the internet in November 2022 during Keon Davis' junior year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He used it and grew overreliant, but it also worried him. Davis, who was studying marketing, soon watched it automate tasks he handled in a summer internship, like crafting outreach emails and doing consumer research. Seeing how easily he might be replaced was one reason he changed direction a few months before graduating in May 2024. Instead of pursuing marketing jobs, he signed up for Teach for America. He's in his third year in front of a third grade classroom at a charter school in New York City. He's enjoying the work, which requires building trust with students, understanding their individual needs and helping them believe in themselves. "Stuff like that cannot be automated," he said. As AI threatens to upend the white-collar job market, some young workers and recent graduates, like Davis, are reconsidering their career paths. They are, in some cases, leaving computer science studies for other college majors, or exploring a hands-on trade like electrical work, or a human-facing career, such as nursing or teaching. |
| Hegseth freezes hiring of civilian tenured faculty at US military academies | |
 | Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed departments on Tuesday to halt appointments of civilian staff to tenured positions at U.S. military service academies and develop hiring plans that prioritize "institutional flexibility and faculty contribution to the warfighting mission." "The primary purpose of our Military Service Academies (MSA) is to prepare the next generation of officers to lead the men and women of the greatest military on Earth. To ensure our educational institutions remain firmly focused on this warfighting mission, we must address the structural mechanisms that have allowed civilian academic norms to dilute our focus on lethality," Hegseth said in a one-page memo titled "Refocusing the Military Service Academies on Warfighter Education." The Pentagon chief said in the memo that granting tenure to civilian faculty "often leads to academic stagnation, faculty complacency and institutional inability to adapt to emerging needs." |
| Politicians increasingly taking the reins as college presidents in red states | |
| Former elected officials are increasingly filling the role of college president, especially in red states where dissatisfaction with higher education is high. While conservatives want to see these leaders shake up a system they see as biased against them, they also hope hiring a former senator or governor offers better connections with state legislators, potentially leading to more support for the school in question. But concerns are growing over the controversies overtly political college heads can court -- and over their general qualifications in the education sphere. "I think the bigger issue is that the presidency has become a much more externally facing job, and boards are looking for, more broadly, for people who really know how to lead a complex organization and navigate an increasingly complicated public policy environment, and so that's what I really think that is happening out there," said Ross Mugler, president and CEO of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. "And government experience can be an asset, but political alignment should never be a job qualification," Mugler added. Florida is a standout case, with at least five GOP appointees currently at the helm of public colleges. In Texas, the current interim president of Texas A&M University is a GOP politician with more than a decade of experience in the state Legislature. And Mitch Daniels, the current interim president of Purdue University, served as a Republican governor of Indiana after holding positions in both the Reagan and George W. Bush administrations. |
| How Trump's Pocket Rescissions Could Affect Higher Ed | |
| Advocates for international education warn that the Trump administration's latest attempt to cut millions in federal funding could be a devastating blow to the nation's pipeline of foreign language specialists and dramatically hinder the country's ability to respond in times of crisis. The administration said Friday that it plans to claw back nearly $70 million for domestic grant programs at the Education Department's Office of International and Foreign Language Education and roughly $25 million for migrant students. Over all, the president is planning to rescind $810 million across several agencies as part of a maneuver known as a "pocket rescission." (The U.S. Government Accountability Office has called this action illegal on multiple occasions.) "This isn't just nice to have; it's necessary," said Fanta Aw, the CEO of NAFSA, an association of international educators. "There are critical languages that this country needs." Continuing to defund foreign language programs in an increasingly interdependent economy isn't going to make this country safer, stronger or more prosperous, she added. Rather, it's going to be "incredibly disruptive." |
| Federal anti-swatting guidance calls for better preparation by colleges | |
| Higher education institutions and K-12 schools can better prepare for and protect themselves from swatting incidents by developing procedures and training to identify and respond to false threats, according to guidance issued jointly on Sept. 25 by the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice. The guidance recommends several steps that colleges and schools can take, including training their staff and educating their communities on typical characteristics of a swatting event so they can detect false threats sooner. The federal agencies called swatting a "crisis" that causes significant disruption and trauma to educational communities. Swatting also costs taxpayers millions of dollars in personnel and equipment, lost classroom time and property damage, the Education and Justice Departments said. Swatting is a false report of a violent crime at a certain location, intended to result in a heavy law enforcement response. At colleges, these incidents often trigger shelter-in-place or lockdown orders, which can cause "chaos and other harmful consequences when campuses are not well-prepared," the Education Department said in a Friday statement. All threats should be treated as credible when they are received, the agencies said. |
| It's time for Mississippi to join most of our Southern state neighbors in banning kratom | |
| Columnist Sid Salter writes: In the policy-making business, there is a distinct difference between a theory born in a comfortable Capitol committee room and a hard-nosed reality proven on the asphalt of Mississippi's state highways. When the Mississippi Legislature engaged in a fierce, multi-year slugfest over how to handle the state's runaway methamphetamine epidemic in the early 2000s, critics scoffed at the proposed medicine. Lawmakers wanted to pass a law requiring a doctor's prescription for standard, over-the-counter cold and allergy medications containing pseudoephedrine. The pushback was predictable and loud. Opponents argued that the state was engaging in bureaucratic overreach, punishing thousands of law-abiding Mississippians suffering from chronic sinus headaches and seasonal allergies just to catch a few backwoods drug cooks. But the proponents of House Bill 512, which took effect in 2010, held their ground. They had a theory that if you choked off the essential precursor chemical, you could break the back of domestic meth production. Sixteen years later, as Mississippi wrestles with a new generation of complex substance abuse challenges -- most notably the debate over whether to outright ban or merely regulate the herbal supplement kratom -- it is worth looking back at the empirical data left behind by that historic pseudoephedrine experiment. |
SPORTS
| 'They don't know me': Why Kamario Taylor says he's sticking with Mississippi State | |
| Kamario Taylor first chose Mississippi State when he was still an under-the-radar recruit halfway through his junior season at nearby Noxubee County High School in 2023. He chose Mississippi State again, months later, when the head coach he committed to, Zach Arnett, was fired after a 5-7 season. He didn't know how the new staff would view him, but his uncle told him to sit tight and see how it played out. But he was always looking for a reason to stay, and that reason showed up when Jeff Lebby visited Taylor's high school the same week he took the head job. Even though the Bulldogs went 2-10 that next season, Taylor showed up for every home game. Even as his stock soared from a top-50 to top-10 quarterback prospect and he picked up serious offers from the likes of Georgia and Texas A&M, he never wavered. He chose Mississippi State once more after his freshman year of college this past January. He keeps choosing Mississippi State, over and over again. |
| Mississippi State's Kamario Taylor wins national QB of the week award | |
| Another Mississippi quarterback has been named Davey O'Brien National Quarterback of the Week. After Ole Miss (3-1, 1-1 SEC) quarterback Trinidad Chambliss earned the honor for his week-three performance in the Rebels' 32-24 win over LSU, Mississippi State's (4-0, 2-0 SEC) Kamario Taylor earned the nod after week four. In the Bulldogs' 31-24 win over No. 19 Missouri (3-1, 1-1 SEC) at Davis Wade Stadium, he went 27 of 38 for a career-high 360 passing yards and three touchdowns. Taylor's 24-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver Sanfrisco Magee sealed the game for the Bulldogs with 3:57 left in the fourth quarter. It marked the fourth straight game in which Taylor has completed at least three touchdown passes. |
| Can Kamario Taylor win the Heisman? Here's how he stacks up against recent QB winners | |
| Kamario Taylor made a statement following MSU's Week 1 win. "My goal is to win the Heisman trophy," Taylor said, donning a straight face. He had just put up 354 yards and four touchdowns in just over a half of play in MSU's rout of ULM. They were Heisman-level numbers, and kickstarted his campaign to be named the country's best player. Taylor has put up 1,192 yards and 14 touchdowns to just two interceptions, and has added 185 yards and a touchdown on the ground. He's become one of the most-talked-about players in college football, and has shot up the Heisman betting odds. He has the third best odds to win the Heisman, according to Fanduel, just behind Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith and Miami quarterback Darian Mensah. Can Taylor be MSU's first-ever Heisman winner? The last five quarterbacks to win the Heisman have averaged 1,203 yards and 14 touchdowns through their first four games, on par with Taylor's numbers. Let's see how the most recent quarterback winners have started off their year. |
| MSU's Evans building toughness, confidence during strong start | |
| The work hurts, but it has them ready for big moments. Mississippi State's wide receivers, including top target Anthony Evans, go through running back drills at least once a week during practice. The drills are meant to prepare the receivers for when they get hit. "We all hate it as receivers," Evans said at MSU's weekly press conference on Monday. "It hits us in the legs, hits us in the, you know, the area, but it is what it is, and I feel like it does prepare us for the moment." A moment came this past Saturday, with just under five minutes left and the Bulldogs tied with Missouri at 24-24. |
| College football Week 5: No. 8 Florida, No. 14 Iowa, No. 16 Miss. St. wary of letdown after big wins | |
| The ability of No. 8 Florida, No. 14 Iowa and No. 16 Mississippi State to avoid letdowns after emotional victories will be put to the test in their Week 5 matchups against opponents also ranked in The Associated Press Top 25. Florida, perhaps the biggest surprise of the season under first-year coach Jon Sumrall, will go to No. 25 Missouri off a surprisingly lopsided win over then-No. 4 Mississippi. Mississippi State will go for its first 3-0 start in Southeastern Conference play since 2014 when it hosts No. 7 Alabama. The Bulldogs were picked 15th in the 16-team SEC and last week trailed Missouri in the fourth quarter before scoring twice in the last eight minutes to win. Mississippi State QB Kamario Taylor entered the season with 150-to-1 odds to win the Heisman. He now sits at at 7-to-1 and the third choice among the wagering public following his 360-yard, three-touchdown performance against Missouri. Taylor's stage gets bigger Saturday when No. 7 Alabama goes to Starkville to face the No. 16 Bulldogs, who have lost 11 straight against top-10 opponents. Taylor shares the national lead with 14 TD passes and has the sixth-highest passer rating. Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said he could be the best quarterback he's had to scheme against in his two-plus years in the job. |
| These Alabama football Mississippians 'know how loud the cowbells get' | |
 | The state of Mississippi is well represented on the Alabama football roster. Running backs AK Dear (Quitman) and Daniel Hill (Meridian) both hail from there. So does receiver Tyler Henderson (Vicksburg), safety Bray Hubbard (Ocean Springs), defensive lineman Nolan Wilson (Picayune), long snapper Alex Rozier (Hattiesburg), offensive lineman Bryson Cooley (Laurel) and defensive lineman London Simmons (Jackson). Facing Mississippi State like Alabama will on Saturday (11 a.m. CT, ABC) will be a chance for all of these players to return to their home state, but it isn't a matchup against a childhood-favorite team for all of them. "I just didn't really pull for Mississippi State," Hubbard said. "I don't really have family that pulls for Mississippi State. Most of my family actually pulls for Ole Miss. My sister went to Mississippi State and then my brother went to Ole Miss. We're all over the place." Hill has a different relationship with the Bulldogs, though. He grew up a Mississippi State fan. His dad played for Mississippi State. He's also related to JJ Hill, a freshman running back for the Bulldogs. "I've been to plenty of Mississippi State games," Hill said. "I know how loud the cowbells get." |
| Alabama Prepares For 'Best' Quarterback Kane Wommack Has Faced In Kamario Taylor | |
| Alabama will kick off a five-game gauntlet on Saturday against Mississippi State as they embark on a stretch of four ranked opponents in five games. The Bulldogs are led by quarterback Kamario Taylor, who is one of the Heisman favorites through a third of the season and who Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack had high praise for. "He may be the best that we have faced in the last three years since I've been here," Wommack said. "Just his ability to create explosives in the passing game, finding throws in the RPO game, the off-schedule plays that he makes." Thus far this year, Taylor has thrown for 1,192 yards, 14 touchdown passes, a 69.2% completion rate, a 187.5 passer rating, and just two interceptions. He has also rushed for 185 yards with a pair of touchdowns on the ground. "I think he is already operating as an elite quarterback, you know, in the SEC. I mean, he does such a great job, I mean, in the deep routes," Wommack said. "He's got great touch, leads his receiving core out there, which is a very, very fast group." Taylor will be going toe to toe with Crimson Tide quarterback Keelon Russell, who has a strong relationship. "That's my guy. We hit each other up almost every day. Love him to death," Russell said of Taylor. |
| Protect College Sports Act passes in Senate, awaits House vote | |
| The Protect College Sports Act cleared its first hurdle on Capitol Hill Monday night. The bipartisan bill, which would bring governance to college sports through rules regarding the transfer portal, roster spending and conference realignment, passed in the U.S. Senate 77-22 on Monday. The bill will move onto the House of Representatives, which is not scheduled to vote on the bill until after November midterm elections, according to ESPN. The Dispatch sat down with MSU athletic director Zac Selmon on Sept. 9, where he discussed his feelings on the then-proposed legislation. "I do think there's a recognition that something else has to be done... the SEC and voted on by the president's chancellors have supported the Protect College Sports Act.... I hope Congress can see that there is a great need," Selmon said. "It can provide a lot of protections that I think we're all looking for and seeking for. Is it perfect? Absolutely not. But we never want to let progress get in the way of perfection. And so I think the Protect College Sports Act could be a good step in the right direction." Selmon said there has been "monumental change after monumental change," leaving the world of college sports in an "unregulated system" since the Covid-19 pandemic. |
| College football programs are betting on AI. Can programs manage the risks? | |
| Nebraska coach Matt Rhule attended a conference in the offseason and returned to Lincoln with the zeal of a true believer, convinced he'd found something that could give the Cornhuskers an edge. This conference wasn't the usual gathering of coaches talking X's and O's or fourth-down strategy. The topic was Claude Code, an artificial intelligence tool that allows users to generate complex code with simple instructions. Rhule learned how to create AI agents that could analyze Nebraska's practice schedules, game scripts, travel itineraries and data from the GPS monitors that players wear in practice. If Nebraska ran a particular play 15 times in practice but called it only once in a game, AI could flag it. The goal, Rhule said, was to find the inefficiencies and optimize Nebraska's preparation. Across college football, programs are taking different approaches to the uncharted frontier of AI. Wherever there's data, there's a potential use for AI. Managing team payrolls, breaking down recruiting film, tracking player movement in the transfer portal, monitoring injury recovery -- name the task, and there's probably someone working on optimizing it with AI. |
| Judge tosses lawsuit against NCAA over transgender athlete policy | |
 | A federal judge tossed a lawsuit led by former college swimmer Riley Gaines against the National Collegiate Athletic Association alleging the collegiate sports governing body violated her rights when it allowed transgender athletes to compete in women's sports. Gaines and more than a dozen other current and former college athletes sued the NCAA in 2024 under Title IX, the federal education law barring sex-based discrimination. At the center of the lawsuit was the association's now defunct policy that allowed transgender women to compete on sports teams and use facilities that align with their gender identity. The NCAA rescinded the policy a day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order that bars transgender athletes from competing on women's and girls sports teams. U.S. District Judge Tiffany Johnson on Monday ruled the NCAA is not covered by Title IX because "there is no evidence that the NCAA received federal financial assistance" from the federal government. Gaines, a former University of Kentucky swimmer, said in a statement Tuesday she will be appealing the decision. |
| PCSA Backers Argue Bill Is Bad News for Opportunistic Sports Agents | |
| With the U.S. Senate passing the Protect College Sports Act on Monday and the bill's fate in the House of Representatives unresolved, two of the PCSA's leading backers on Tuesday underscored features of the bill that target college athlete agents. Randy Levine, vice chair of President Donald Trump's Saving College Sports roundtable and president of the New York Yankees, and Cody Campbell, a Texas Tech booster who is a senior member of the roundtable and an oil-and-gas entrepreneur, insisted during a teleconference that the PCSA would prevent college athlete agents from taking excessive commissions and increase the likelihood that college athletes are actually paid for NIL deals. "Tens of millions of dollars going to agents will now go to student-athletes," Levine said. Section 102 of the PCSA would cap agent fees at 5% of the value of contracts. The percentage is roughly in line with player-team contracts negotiated by agents for NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL players, although agents in those leagues can receive significantly higher percentages -- sometimes 15% or 20% -- on endorsement deals. |
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