| Tuesday, August 25, 2026 |
| Mississippi State unveils monument honoring first Black student | |
 | Mississippi State University is permanently honoring its first Black student with an on-campus monument. University officials held a ceremonial ribbon cutting Aug. 21 to unveil the special landmark enshrining Dr. Richard Holmes' name on the school's grounds. The monument is in the school's former YMCA plaza, and the student-focused mall has been named after Holmes. Holmes was born in Chicago and raised in the Starkville area. After graduating from Mississippi State and going through medical school at Michigan State, Holmes went on to be a physician who served communities and families in Alabama, Mississippi, and in Mississippi State's Longest Health Center for three decades. "Holmes Plaza and the monument we are dedicating today ensures that Dr. Holmes' story is always remembered on our campus. And what an incredible story it is," Mississippi State President Dr. Mark Keenum said. |
| Mississippi Soybean, Corn Crops May Set Yield Records | |
| August would typically be too early to accurately forecast Mississippi's soybean crop, but this year, it is a month ahead of schedule – far enough along to predict a promising harvest. Mississippi State University Extension soybean specialist Justin Calhoun anticipates a state record-breaking yield in 2026. The previous record, 57 bushels per acre, was last reached in 2023. Calhoun's update was one of several shared by specialists and researchers with MSU Extension and the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station during the annual Row Crop Field Day at the MSU R.R. Foil Plant Science Research Center Aug. 17. The event gave producers, agricultural professionals and MSU graduate students an opportunity to tour research plots at the facility known commonly as "North Farm." Participants heard the latest observations from agricultural specialists and researchers on crop progress, insect and disease management, and ongoing research projects. |
| Mississippi Cattlemen, Farm Bureau Federation have beef with Trump | |
| The Mississippi Cattlemen's Association and the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation are pushing back on President Donald Trump's plan to allow 300,000 metric tons of government-subsidized ground beef into the U.S. supply chain. However, soon after the announcement, the Mississippi Cattlemen's Association released a statement questioning the move, saying that flooding the U.S. market with government-subsidized foreign beef is not the way to rebuild the American cow herd or strengthen our domestic cattle industry. Further, the Cattlemen's Association said cattle producers are already facing higher input costs, particularly for fuel and fertilizer, and are now looking at the prospect of lower cattle prices. The Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation agreed. Mike McCormick, president of the federation, said his federation was highly disappointed in the President's announced plan. "This announcement is certainly not a move that we would consider aligned with the Trump Administration's 'America First' agenda. It will have a major impact on cattle prices in Mississippi at exactly the time many producers are marketing their cattle," McCormick said. |
| Economists don't expect reopening the US to Mexican cattle imports to reduce high beef prices | |
 | The U.S. reopened a border crossing in Arizona to cattle from Mexico on Monday as part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to reduce record-high beef prices, though economists doubt the move will mean much to grocery store shoppers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has said concerns about the New World screwworm's spread lessened enough to allow the movement of cattle from Mexico at a crossing in Douglas, Arizona, about 230 miles (370 kilometers) southeast of Phoenix. Over time, it hopes to reopen other crossings in New Mexico and Texas. "Today, the border in Sonora is open for livestock," Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said during a Monday morning news conference in Mexico City, referring to the Mexican state bordering Arizona. Cattle were coming across the border by mid-afternoon Monday. "The administration obviously has a lot of incentive to try to be able to say that they're doing something about high beef prices in particular," said Derrell Peel, a professor of agribusiness at Oklahoma State University. "Beef has been singled out because it is an expensive product and because it's just high profile." "I don't expect to see any measurable impact on cattle prices or beef prices soon," Peel said. |
| Can a Democrat become Mississippi's next senator? Pete Buttigieg thinks so. | |
| Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg waded into an unlikely contest on Tuesday, endorsing District Attorney Scott Colom in his attempt to unseat Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi's Senate contest. In his endorsement, he called on Democrats to expand their ambitions ahead of the 2026 midterms to include the historically ruby-red state -- even as party leaders focus their resources elsewhere. "There is no such thing as a permanently red state. We need more people in Washington who know that the status quo isn't working and that keeping our communities safe is non-negotiable: Scott will be one of them," Buttigieg wrote in a statement. Buttigieg told MS NOW in a phone interview Monday that if there were a candidate with the background to pull off the unthinkable and flip Mississippi, he would put his money on Colom. It's unclear whether Buttigieg plans to travel to Mississippi to campaign for Colom or whether his affiliated PAC, Win the Era, plans to financially back Colom's campaign. |
| Farmers Struggle to Get Basic Services From Depleted Agriculture Dept. | |
 | Across the country, farmers and rural residents describe struggling to obtain the basic services the Agriculture Department is meant to offer, including loans and grants, technical assistance and financing for housing and utilities. Sharp attrition under the Trump administration, largely through voluntary resignations and dismissals by the Department of Government Efficiency, have left many of the Agriculture Department's local offices with skeletal staffing -- and, in some counties, with no one at all. The ripple effects of the Agriculture Department's depleted work force illustrate how the Trump administration's mission of shrinking the federal bureaucracy has undercut a competing priority: delivering for farmers, a core political constituency. Strained government resources also risk posing additional challenges for a farm economy that administration officials have described as "dire." Trump administration officials have defended the staffing cuts as voluntary and necessary to trim a bloated agency. Some of the steepest cuts have fallen on a part of the Agriculture Department responsible for improving the economy and infrastructure in rural communities, leading to long delays in aid for residents and charities alike. |
| Bama Dining takes waste off the menu | |
| Over the summer, Bama Dining ditched one-time-use to-go containers in all dining halls, partnering with ReusePass to introduce the new system. In the past, Bama Dining charged $0.77 for a to-go container at the register in exchange for a ticket. Students handed the ticket to dining employees for them to box up meals. When a student dropped a used container in the trash, the dining employee at the register gave the student a new ticket. "I like the new system better with it being free -- having three days to return it instead of keeping the ticket," said Mauricio Soto, a sophomore majoring in accounting. The new system, ReusePass, is included in every meal plan. Students can visit Lakeside Dining, Burke Dining Hall or The Fresh Food Company, scan their personal ReusePass and get a to-go container at any register. Each dining hall also has QR codes at the registers for students to track the containers they have checked out. |
| Reaching Higher: U. of Arkansas Fully Activates 150 Forward with Transformational Goals | |
| The University of Arkansas officially launched the third phase of its 150 Forward Reaching Higher Strategic Plan this week, setting transformational goals for increasing graduation rates and research expenditures while also sharing a roadmap for achieving those goals, and details about a new transformation management team to support the effort. Chancellor Charles Robinson led a group of university leaders in introducing the activation plan to campus at a kickoff event at the Jim and Joyce Faulkner Center for the Performing Arts. The 150 Forward Reaching Higher activation is a continuation of the 150 Forward Strategic Plan to advance the U of A's land-grant mission by increasing student success including growing support for students across Arkansas, expanding the university's impact by increasing the annual research expenditures and working to enhance the university's status as an employer of choice. The Transformational Goals are achieving an 80% graduation rate and reaching $500 million in annual research conducted by 2032. |
| U. of Tennessee Research Foundation files patent infringement lawsuit against AI giant Anthropic | |
| As University of Tennessee administrators strive to recruit new rockstar researchers, three of the university's past and present faculty members are fighting to reclaim their decade-old project. In mid-July, the University of Tennessee Research Foundation filed the first ever patent infringement lawsuit against Anthropic, an artificial intelligence company known for creating the popular language model, Claude. The lawsuit alleges that the AI enterprise utilized machine-learning technology created by UT researchers J. Douglas Birdwell, Mark E. Dean and Catherine Schuman, infringing upon two patents the researchers filed in 2014. The patents-in-suit are the property of the UTRF, a nonprofit that supports university research efforts. UTRF is responsible for protecting UT intellectual property and promoting its commercialization. The patents cover neural network technology, a machine learning model inspired by the structure and functions of the human brain. UTRF claims Anthropic used this patented technology in Claude Code and basic software without authorization, but it is unclear how the company gained access to the technology. |
| Students fought to create these U. of Texas departments. Now they're gone | |
| As Longhorns return to campus Monday, decades-old ethnic and gender studies departments will no longer exist. Six months ago, University of Texas President Jim Davis announced that the university would consolidate ethnic and gender studies programs in the College of Liberal Arts into the new Department of Social and Cultural Analysis. This summer, the department names were scraped from their glass doors, chairs lost their titles and supporting staff were relocated or let go. The consolidation angered some faculty and students who believe the shift ignores the decades-long history of the departments and the value they offer students and the city of Austin. The four closed departments -- Mexican American and Latina/o Studies; African and African Diaspora Studies; Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies; and American Studies -- encompassed 62 professors, six majors, four graduate programs, and eight minors and certificates. Last year, the departments had a combined 307 students enrolled in undergraduate majors, according to UT data. Dozens more pursued minor, graduate and doctoral programs, according to records used by the consolidation committee. |
| Texas A&M welcomes 70,000 Aggie students back to campus for the first day of class | |
| The fall semester is underway at Texas A&M University, with 70,000 Aggies returning to campus Monday for the first day of class. Thousands of freshmen are learning to navigate campus for the first time, while returning students are settling back into Aggieland. Sophomore Natan Cruz said the start of a new year brings a familiar kind of excitement. "I have class later today and I'm looking forward to it and I have class for the rest of the week and it should be a fun exciting week for me to start my sophomore year of college so," Cruz said. Returning Aggies had plenty of advice for incoming freshmen. Rebecca Rodriguez with Texas A&M Student Activities encouraged new students to embrace everything the university has to offer. "Just really soak in the traditions, almost be a sponge is the advice I'd give and get involved," Rodriguez said. |
| Mizzou kicks off fall semester with high enrollment, bustling campus | |
 | The University of Missouri's first day of the fall semester was bustling with energy from new faces, faculty and students alike. This semester, Mizzou expects to reach a total enrollment of 31,650 students, according to a university news release. This number includes: 6,078 first-time college students; 1,211 transfer students; and 1,849 graduate and professional students. In addition to new students, Mizzou also welcomed 135 new faculty members over the past year, according to a news release. Junior Lucia DeLisa noticed how lively the university was on the first day of classes. "Everyone's been active," DeLisa said. "I've seen a lot of different clubs doing 'first day of class' booths to get their names out there. It's just great to see all the different things students are involved in on campus." |
| U. of Chicago's Social-Sciences Division Bans Tech, AI in Core Courses | |
 | The University of Chicago's undergraduate social-sciences division will go "analog" this fall, implementing a blanket policy banning technology in class and AI assistance on coursework across the division's core courses. New restrictions apply to students and faculty members in required social-sciences core sequences, which students typically complete in three phases during their sophomore year. The university's law school announced earlier this summer a similar ban in required first-year core courses. While many professors across the country have taken to banning tech in their classrooms and adding AI policies to their syllabi amid students' increasing use of large language models, or LLMs, on coursework, the new policy at Chicago is among the first to articulate a coordinated prohibition. The university provides free Claude subscriptions to all students and faculty members through a contract with Anthropic, which has spurred debate over the role of AI and tech in learning. The new policy is a welcome change for faculty members who have grown frustrated with AI's looming presence in the classroom. Aaron Jakes, an associate professor of history who teaches a core social-sciences course each winter, said his initial reaction to the memo was "relief and jubilation." |
| Why colleges are cutting Black studies departments, majors and classes | |
 | U.S. colleges are increasingly slashing their African American studies and related programs, citing low enrollment and limited funding, at a time when the federal government is exerting intense pressure to end racial diversity efforts. Some academics blame politics, pointing out that Republicans and the Trump administration have taken aim at scholarships, admissions policies and other efforts to boost diversity. At least a dozen schools, including private colleges and public flagship universities, have scaled back Black, African or African American studies programs since Trump signed an executive order targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs, a Washington Post review found. Low enrollment has made the programs a target for cuts at some schools. To be sure, some cuts may be temporary. The University of Louisville in Kentucky paused admissions to three graduate programs, including its Pan-African studies PhD, because of tight funding. But a spokesman said it is likely that admissions will reopen when more funding is available. And some universities said they are continuing to offer classes and fund research in the field, despite consolidation and other administrative cuts. |
SPORTS
| SEC: Pro athletes should not 'return to college competition' | |
| The SEC on Monday issued a statement emphasizing its belief that athletes who choose to leave college athletics and sign professional contracts "should not then be permitted to return to college competition." The fundamental principle of NCAA eligibility has been called into question again in recent days following a flurry of news about former Ole Miss tight end Dae'Quan Wright, who hopes to clear waivers with the Cleveland Browns so he can return to college and play for LSU in what would be his fifth season of eligibility. Wright's highly publicized situation is unprecedented, but it could become part of a trend this year because of an ongoing legal fight between the NCAA and athletes who are pursuing a fifth year of eligibility. The SEC presidents and chancellors will meet in Birmingham, Alabama, with their conference athletic directors and commissioner Greg Sankey on Tuesday and Wednesday in meetings that had been previously scheduled. Most of the discussion is expected to focus on the overall future of college athletics, the latest eligibility issue, and the SEC's options for creating its own rules if federal legislation isn't passed. |
| Pete Golding explains FBI sweeping for bugs after Lane Kiffin left for LSU | |
 | Pete Golding assured the media Monday he didn't call the FBI and have a team come in to sweep for audio devices that may or may not have been planted by former coach Lane Kiffin. "Any bowl game, playoff system, obviously, you're going to up security," Golding, the Ole Miss coach, told reporters. "I'm not sure that there was a hiring process of, 'Here we go with the FBI.' I do think we probably have a current player whose dad just so happens to work for the FBI that lives in town, from that standpoint." The comments came after Walker Jones of the Grove Collective told the "Assorted Crackers" podcast that FBI officials searched for bugs in the football offices at the Manning Center after Kiffin took the LSU job. Jones said on the podcast, "We actually had the FBI come through and walk the building for bugs and for everything. We knew kind of what was in Baton Rouge, and we knew how they operated. I remember getting on my knees and looking underneath the desk, like checking for, 'Is there some sort of bug in my office?' |
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