| Tuesday, September 1, 2026 |
| MSU names interim director of Center for Cyber Innovation | |
 | Mississippi State cybersecurity leader and educator George Trawick has been named interim director of the university's Center for Cyber Innovation. A clinical professor of practice in cybersecurity and cyber programs coordinator in MSU's Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Trawick will lead the center's efforts supporting cybersecurity research, technology development and national security partnerships. The CCI develops advanced cybersecurity solutions for defense, homeland security and intelligence community partners. It works with government agencies and industry leaders to address emerging cyber threats and strengthen the nation's cyber capabilities. "As MSU continues to strengthen its position as a national leader in cybersecurity education and research, the Center for Cyber Innovation plays a vital role in advancing technologies and solutions that support our nation's security," said Scott Willard, interim vice president for research and economic development. "Dr. Trawick brings exceptional operational, technical and academic experience to this leadership role." |
| Education: MSU geologist, student investigate methane emissions on Atlantic seafloor | |
 | A Mississippi State University geologist and doctoral student will descend almost 1 mile beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean this fall as part of an international research team investigating methane emissions, their effect on the Gulf and its ecosystems. MSU Department of Geosciences Professor Adam Skarke and Ramon Kalski, a Ph.D. student in earth and atmospheric sciences from Pascagoula, are joining an expedition aboard the U.S. Navy research vessel Atlantis through late September as it inspects areas of the seafloor where large amounts of methane gas emerge. The team's goal is to determine where methane originates, what controls its movement, how much enters the ocean and how long the emissions have occurred. "The results of this work will give us information that helps us better understand our shared ocean and atmosphere, including things that impact our lives like fisheries, energy resources and climate," Skarke said. |
| MSU hosts U. of Oxford's Horobin for Giles Lecture Series Sept. 10 | |
| Mississippi State will host a public lecture by University of Oxford Professor Simon Horobin on Sept. 10 as part of the prestigious William L. Giles Distinguished Lecture Series. Horobin's presentation "Narnia and the North: Norse Mythology in the Works of C.S. Lewis" begins at 6 p.m. in McComas Hall theater. The event is free and open to the public. A professor of English Language and Literature at Oxford, Horobin also serves as chair of the faculty of English and is a leading scholar on the language's history. Organized this year by MSU William L. Giles Distinguished Professors Christopher Snyder and Wes Schilling, the annual series brings world-class scholars, scientists, artists and leaders to campus to engage directly with the university community. "I have attended a couple of other talks by Professor Horobin at Oxford," Snyder said. "We have similar research approaches to the writings of Lewis and Tolkien, namely, identifying features from medieval language, literature, history and archaeology that likely influenced these two professional medievalists in their fiction and nonfiction." |
| Education: Partnership aims to buy bikes for Sudduth Elementary | |
| Bikes in the Schools, a partnership between Mississippi State University's Physical Education and Coaching program and Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District, helps students build the skills and confidence needed to ride a bike. The program is striving to ensure every Kindergarten and first-grade student at Sudduth Elementary -- roughly 900 students -- learns to ride a bicycle safely through their physical education class. The organization is currently raising funds through bulldogboost.com/campaigns/bike-in-the-schools to purchase a classroom set of bikes. Students in the MSU program will gain experience teaching students how to ride the bikes as well as assist physical education teachers with set-up, helmet fittings and safety checks to make prior to riding. |
| Ask The Dispatch: Are there Flock cameras in the Golden Triangle? | |
| As national conversations about Flock cameras span from a growing number installed across the country and the potential misuse of license plate data, users in local Facebook groups, including in "Columbus MS (What's Going On)," are also debating whether the cameras are being used in the Golden Triangle. Starkville Police Chief Mark Ballard confirmed the city currently has four Motorola cameras -- though the city recently approved adding five new cameras in their most recent budget meeting at a cost of $27,500. Capt. Brett Watson, with Oktibbeha County Sheriff's Office, said the agency does not specifically use Flock or Motorola cameras, but there are ALPR cameras in the county. He did not provide the number. Starkville Mayor Lynn Spruill said there are already specific protocols and procedures in place that ensure the cameras are being used appropriately. Because Starkville lacks the funding to have a "100-person police department," she said the cameras have made a big difference when large populations come to town for events. |
| 48th Prairie Arts Festival returns Saturday with live music, arts and crafts | |
| Trains will run, and blues music will croon as the Prairie Arts Festival returns for its 48th year. West Point-Clay County Growth Alliance Director Lisa Klutts said the festival, which is always scheduled for the Saturday before Labor Day, is returning with its usual crowd of roughly 200 vendors filling downtown with art, music and food. "The energy that it generates and the anticipation and how people look forward to coming, you can just feel it," Klutts told The Dispatch on Thursday. The event this year will kick off with a 5K race at 8 a.m. Saturday. After the race, Klutts said the festival will take over downtown between Main and Westbrook streets from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with vendors selling items ranging from handmade crafts to juried fine art. All the proceeds this year for the festival will help to fund ongoing renovations to the Sally Kate Winters Memorial Park downtown, Klutts said. During the festival, Black Prairie Blues Museum will host live music from Henry Jones and will be selling tamales, hot dogs and bratwursts, Museum Director Deborah Mansfield said. |
| No injuries reported after large fire breaks out at Howard Industries in Laurel | |
 | A large fire broke out at Howard Industries in Laurel Monday afternoon, prompting several area fire departments to respond to the scene and employees to be evacuated. "Massive fire happening right now at Howard Industries on Industrial Boulevard," Jones County Fire Council PIO Jennifer Kempton said in a statement after the fire was first reported around 2:40 p.m. "Multiple city and county departments are on the scene fighting the fire. Please avoid the area if possible to allow first responders room to work. More information to come." All employees were safely evacuated, and no injuries have been reported. By 8 p.m. Monday, more than a dozen fire departments had worked to contain the blaze, which crews said may have started after a paint booth next to a tanker truck caught fire. An investigation into the fire remains ongoing. Howard Industries is one of the largest private companies in Mississippi. |
| Hotel Leighton now open in Plein Air | |
| Hotel Leighton, a 23-room boutique hotel in Plein Air, is now open. Plein Air is a traditional neighborhood development founded in 2006 by Campbell and Leighton McCool in the heart of Taylor. In addition to southern vernacular homes that feature ample front porches and tall ceilings, Plein Air has a vibrant commercial district home to multiple restaurants, event venues, a chapel, professional offices, pilates studio, facial spa, florist, eye clinic, coffee shop and more. "A boutique hotel has been on our radar for a number of years," said Campbell McCool. "We host almost 40 weddings a year at Plein Air, plus lots of corporate events, and people are constantly asking about a place to stay." The hotel offers a variety of rooms; all rooms offer either a king bed or two queen beds. Several of the rooms are larger suites. The Grand Bridal Suite is a 700-square-foot suite with a king bed, plush seating area, wet bar, soaker tub, large shower, makeup bar, and balcony overlooking the Plein Air town square. |
| Biloxi's 9th casino could be on the way as tight deadline looms for work to begin | |
 | Developers are scrambling to meet a deadline to start construction of a new casino in the works for more than 15 years at U.S. 90 at Veterans Avenue in Biloxi. The project has a new name -- Black Marlin Casino -- and a date Thursday, Sept. 3 at 2 p.m. with the Biloxi Planning Commission to create a planned development district. RW Development also will ask to change the entire 11-acre property to waterfront zoning and to remove 25 live oak trees and three magnolia trees on the 11-acre property to make way for the casino. The planning commission review is one of many approvals the developers will need to clear before work can begin. The most pressing application will be to ask the Mississippi Gaming Commission for permission to proceed with construction before the 3-year deadline expires in late December. That deadline was set when the commission granted site approval for the site at 1820 Beach Blvd. The review process for approval to proceed is intense, and includes background and financial checks to make sure the developers have the money needed to complete the project before construction can begin. To meet the December deadline, the gaming commission likely would have to extend the deadline while the process is under way. |
| Mississippi lawmakers eye PERS debt as system faces $26B shortfall | |
 | Mississippi has a large bill to pay to cut down on the approximately $26 billion debt tied to the Public Employees' Retirement System of Mississippi (PERS). The Mississippi Senate passed funding to pay some of it down during the 2026 Legislative Session, but the bill died in the House. Hundreds of thousands of Mississippians are currently or will draw retirement from the system. State Sen. Daniel Sparks (R-District 5) said the PERS Board are committed to making good on the PERS promise. "We owe it to the retirees, we owe it to the current employees, and we're going to meet our obligation because that's what it is. It's a contract," he said. There are multiple factors that have contributed to the system racking up the debt. According to June 2026 report by the S&P 500 Global ratings, Mississippi's pension plan is one of the weakest funded in the country. |
| State argues Fifth Circuit should remand Mississippi's anti-DEI law case to different judge | |
| The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans heard arguments Monday over an indefinite injunction placed on Mississippi's anti-DEI law by U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate. The law, HB 1193, was passed by the Mississippi Legislature during the 2025 legislative session and then signed into law by Governor Tate Reeves (R). As it was described by lawmakers, the law prevents public K-12 schools and higher education institutions in Mississippi from utilizing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices when making decisions concerning school employment, academic opportunities, and student engagement. Such decisions are to be based on an individual's merit and qualifications rather than a person's race, color, sexual orientation, or gender. The law passed through both bodies in the State Capitol and then received the governor's signature in April. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Mississippi Center for Justice filed the lawsuit after the bill became law. On Monday, counsel with the Mississippi Attorney General's Office argued before the Court of Appeals that the provisions outlined in HB 1193 should be removed from the preliminary injunction that was put in place by Judge Wingate in August of last year. |
| Senate Corrections Chairman Juan Barnett resigns from Legislature | |
| Sen. Juan Barnett, a three-term Democratic legislator from Heidelberg and chairman of the Senate Corrections Committee, resigned from the Legislature on Monday, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said in a statement. It's unclear why Barnett resigned, and he did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but he has dealt with health issues that caused him to miss several weeks of this year's regular legislative session. Barnett took office in 2016 and has served as the chairman of the Senate Corrections Committee since 2020. He has represented portions of Forrest, Jasper and Jones counties in the Senate. Barnett in the past pushed for earlier release and shortened sentences for many incarcerated in Mississippi prisons, despite his father being shot to death in the early 1990s while Barnett was in the Army deployed to Iraq, and the shooter receiving a relatively short sentence. Barnett said he believes in forgiveness and giving people second chances. Gov. Tate Reeves will now have 30 days to set the date for a special election. |
| Sen. Roger Wicker talks Iran war, military spending, rising gas and grocery costs | |
 | WLOX's Hugh Keeton caught up with U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker last week at the Mississippi Association of Broadcasters (MAB) 2026 conference, where Wicker was awarded the MAB Service Award. Senator Wicker discussed a variety of topics, from the importance of local broadcasting, to changes in college sports rules, and the Iran war and its impacts on our wallets -- from grocery to gas prices. A lot of the work currently happening on Capitol Hill centers on the war in Iran, which has reached the six-month mark --- going on for longer than many people expected. "I have supported the president's military action against Iran. After all, they've been our sworn enemy for almost five decades... killed American service members year after year and sponsored the terrorism in the Middle East, the Houthis and Hezbollah and Hamas, whose motto has been 'death to America, death to Israel.' So I think they should be taken out," Wicker said. However, Wicker said he has been an advocate inside the White House for "going ahead and getting the job over with militarily." Wicker said he visited the Coast multiple times during the month of August. In those visits, and other visits around the state, Wicker said people are voicing to him that they feel the same way. |
| Trump says U.S. communities opposing AI data centers could end up 'backwards and poor' | |
| President Donald Trump on Monday blasted communities that oppose new data centers as Republicans confront voter backlash over the projects ahead of November's midterm elections. "The only reason that communities throughout the U.S.A. should not want Data Centers is if they want to end up being backwards and poor," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. "If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign," the president said. Trump's post comes nearly a week after a memo issued by the National Republican Senatorial Committee warned, "If voters' perceptions of data centers are not fixed quickly, the campaign against them will expand far beyond Ohio." The NRSC said that private polling in that state shows Republican Sen. Jon Husted in a "dead heat" with Democratic challenger Sherrod Brown in the special election to fill the remainder of the term for the seat vacated by Vice President JD Vance. In May, Gallup said a survey conducted in March found that "seven in 10 Americans oppose constructing data centers for artificial intelligence in their local area, including nearly half, 48%, who are strongly opposed." |
| 'Eisenhower would be spinning in his grave': Many Republicans are over Trump's Iran bluster | |
 | President Donald Trump threatens in one moment to slowly asphyxiate Iran's economy and, in the next, to quickly bomb them into submission. Republicans who disagree which option is correct are still united on one thing: They're over Trump's seeming indecision. The latest whiplash came this weekend, when the U.S. carried out its first known attack on Iran since late July, hitting rocket launchers the U.S. military said were prepared to drop sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz. The president then threatened on Truth Social to blow Kharg Island, the energy stronghold, to "smithereens." The threat came just days after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced an "economic D-Day" to slowly strangle Iran's economy. The value of the new, intensified sanctions, Bessent said, was to obviate the need for military escalation. The seemingly contradictory efforts underscore the morass the administration finds itself in six months after the president launched a war he said would last only six weeks, and which he and members of his Cabinet have repeatedly described as over and successful. "This was launched with no plan, has been executed with no plan, and has been largely driven by the politics of the moment," said a former security official who served in President George W. Bush's administration, who like others in this story was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the dynamics of the war. "That's why you see this insane -- we're in, we're out, we're back, we're out, we're bombing, we're not bombing. I mean negotiating by tweet -- Eisenhower would be spinning in his grave." |
| Top General Says Military Has 'No Plans' to Deploy to Polls During Midterms | |
| The nation's top military officer said the Pentagon has no plans to send troops to polling places or use military personnel to seize election materials during November's midterms, offering Democrats their clearest assurance yet that the armed forces will stay out of elections. Gen. Dan Caine, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the commitment in a letter, released Monday, to Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Michigan), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The Associated Press was first to report on Caine's letter. "The Joint Force has no plans to send Federal military personnel or Federalized members of the National Guard to polling places during the 2026 elections," Caine wrote. "Likewise, the Joint Force has no plans to use such personnel to seize ballots, voting machines, or other election-related material." Caine also said he had "neither received nor anticipate receiving any unlawful order" concerning the military's role in the elections and stressed that "election administration and security remain the fundamental responsibility of state and local officials." |
| Some Jewish Republicans bashed JD Vance. Then he got a standing ovation. | |
 | There were few people at the Republican Jewish Coalition summit who would call Vice President JD Vance one of their favorite politicians. But the vice president spoke here anyway Monday night, drawing a standing ovation after remarks that included lauding the U.S. relationship with Israel, according to two people in the room for the closed-door speech, and acknowledging that "not everybody in this room is going to agree with" him on his tolerance for some controversial podcasters. His visit was designed to extend an olive branch as a chorus of anti-Vance voices in the GOP's pro-Israel community have been raised against his potential presidential run, people with knowledge of his thinking said. Attendees said they were pleased Vance made an appearance at a meeting that is a frequent stop for Republican presidential hopefuls seeking to win over donors and Jewish leaders from the more hawkish wing of the GOP. But showing up was just one step, they said. "Look, the vice president's record on some of the things he said about Israel is not great, but this is an important step in trying to earn our trust, and I hope he does," Eric Levine, a longtime Republican fundraiser and a coalition board member, said prior to Vance's remarks. |
| Casework strained to a breaking point, report says | |
 | Congressional casework is nearing a "boiling point" after years of growing pressure and a chronic lack of investment, according to a new report released Monday by POPVOX Foundation, a nonprofit led by former Hill staffers. The report, which draws on four years of research, finds that caseworkers are more valuable than ever as they race to help people left behind by the executive branch -- but they aren't getting the resources or recognition they deserve. "We're in this moment where casework is truly increasing. The frog is boiling, and caseworkers themselves and offices are starting to kind of sit up and go, 'Oh, this is not sustainable,'" said Anne Meeker, a senior adviser at POPVOX and herself a former caseworker. When people can't get through to a federal agency about their Social Security checks or other crucial benefits, they try their members of Congress. On the other end of the line? A congressional caseworker ready to do whatever they can. As they help constituents navigate a federal system that is unstable or slow to respond, these staffers are "quietly absorbing costs that properly belong to the executive branch," the report argues. The mass firings in federal agencies under the Trump administration didn't help, but the problem predates that, according to Meeker. It leaves congressional caseworkers trying to fill the gaps -- and often makes them the first to spot national emergencies. |
| Do D.E.I. Bike Paths Exist? The Trump Administration Says Yes. | |
 | Four years ago, after Joe Biden fell from a bike, Donald Trump made a pledge to the American people. "I will never, ever ride a bicycle," he declared. The joke landed because Mr. Trump is known to be more of a limo-and-golf-cart sort of guy. But more recently, his administration has begun acting on its deep aversion to cycling, revoking federal grants for what it calls "D.E.I. bike lanes." In a high-profile move earlier this year, the administration even tried to remove a bike lane near the White House. Sean Duffy, Mr. Trump's transportation secretary, has argued that when bike lanes cut into space for cars and trucks, the result is more congestion, "longer travel times and wasted fuel." But Mr. Duffy and his colleagues have also deployed rhetoric that suggests the bicycle is hopelessly lefty. The attacks are depressing to longtime cycling advocates like Bill Nesper, executive director of the League of American Bicyclists. "There is something there that they're playing on, which is 'Look at that dork on a bike,'" Mr. Nesper said. Whether this strategy pays off politically remains to be seen. |
| Wendell Berry, Kentucky-born author who advocated a simpler life, has died at 92 | |
 | Wendell Berry, the Kentucky-born author and agrarian who in poems, stories, novels and essays celebrated the farming communities of his native state and warned of the excesses and misjudgments of an industrial, commercialized society, has died. He was 92. His daughter, Mary Berry, confirmed on Monday that he died in his home in Port Royal, Kentucky. "There's not enough I could say about him to do him justice," she told The Associated Press. Few authors were more tied to their home than Berry, an intellectual and spiritual heir to Henry David Thoreau and such Southern agrarians as Robert Penn Warren and John Crowe Ransom. In prose and poetry that mirrored the uncluttered and deeply felt life he advocated, Berry challenged modern assumptions about prosperity and happiness and renewed the mysteries of birth, love, work and death. He had learned from his own history: Berry was born and raised in a farming town during the Great Depression and watched its seemingly immortal ties unravel by his teens. His disdain for modernity touched upon virtually every aspect of life, from dancing to weather forecasts to birth control, opinions he well knew were not universally shared. Reviewing a Library of America anthology of his nonfiction, The New York Times' Dwight Garner wrote that Berry "bangs the same themes so relentlessly -- the perils of industrial agriculture, the decimation of rural life, America's blind faith in technology -- that one's eyes begin to cross." |
| Group wants biotechnology researcher to lead Mississippi University for Women | |
| A group of Mississippi University for Women alumni and Columbus residents is asking the state's college board to consider a prominent alumna as the institution's next president. They're also pressing trustees to disclose a timeline and details about how the board will conduct the leadership search. Doris Taylor, a biotechnology researcher and scientist who graduated from the W in 1977, is the top pick for the Citizens Coalition for MUW and Mississippi School for Mathematics and Sciences. The W is at a defining moment that "demands a leader of national standing who is also a daughter of this institution," the coalition wrote in a letter to the college board. Taylor, founder and CEO of Organamet Bio Inc., said the coalition's endorsement is an honor. She had expressed interest in the top job in 2018, but the appointment went to Nora Miller. At listening sessions IHL held in April, some speakers named Sally Burchfield Doty, director of Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi, as a potentially strong president for MUW. Doty, from the W's class of 1988, served in the state Senate from 2012 to 2020. Scott Tollison, MUW's interim president, told Mississippi Today he is focusing on providing transitional leadership and has not thought about the permanent role. |
| New Transit app and campus construction change student transportation | |
 | The University of Mississippi has updated the parking and transportation system this semester. Parking spaces at the Tad Smith Coliseum and the former Kincannon Hall site have been temporarily blocked off due to construction, and the university has implemented a new app to track and plan public transportation routes. The university implemented the new Transit app, which replaced Transloc at the start of this semester. The app includes live tracking and information about bus routes. While temporarily closing parking spots may result in more parking options in the future, students trying to park on campus this semester are dissatisfied with the decrease in available parking. Kylan Edwards, a junior law studies major from Jacksonville, Fla., believes the Commuter Blue parking pass is overpriced compared to the parking available. "No one should be paying ($330) to be late to class because they can't find parking," Edwards said. |
| Redistricting joint committee will hold hearing Tuesday at DSU | |
| The Mississippi Legislature's joint committee on redistricting will hold its next hearing on Tuesday, Sept. 1, at Delta State University to gather testimony from Mississippians on how lawmakers should proceed in whether to redraw Mississippi's congressional and state legislative districts following the U.S. Supreme Court's effective undercutting of a section of the Voting Rights Act that protects the strength of minority voters. The hearing, which begins 6 p.m. at Delta State's Bologna Performing Arts Center in Cleveland, marks the joint committee's third stop in a statewide tour and the first and only hearing set in the Delta. Other hearings will take place in Natchez, Meridian, Hattiesburg and Biloxi. The final hearing is scheduled for Oct. 1 at the Capitol in Jackson. State lawmakers will only listen to Mississippians' thoughts about potential redistricting rather than speak or answer questions. |
| No durags, bonnets in class; JSU students react to fellow HBCU school's new dress code | |
| Jackson State University students are reacting after a fellow Historically Black College or University implemented a new dress code, banning students from wearing certain things to class. As students began the fall semester at Tuskegee University in Alabama last Wednesday, they were subject to a new dress code that prohibits them from wearing bonnets, durags, pajamas, slippers or revealing clothing in classrooms and public spaces on campus. The new dress code also requires that business attire be worn to professional events and career fairs. "Honestly, I feel like students should be able to wear what they want to, but I do see the university's viewpoint on it, like we should be professional. It's certain things that you shouldn't wear in certain spaces, and I think that's why Tuskegee implemented the dress code, but at the same time, we're college students, so I think having the freedom to express themselves in whatever way is also important," said JSU student Marrion Longino. |
| Hansen to discuss Winston Churchill, C.S. Lewis during annual Spell Lecture | |
| One of the most prolific American Christian journalists will share a message about faith during the Spell Lecture at Mississippi Christian University, scheduled for 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 10, in Provine Chapel on MC's Clinton campus. Collin Hansen, vice president for content and editor-in-chief of the Gospel Coalition, will present "How Winston Churchill and C.S. Lewis Applied the Past to Preserve Our Future." The lecture is sponsored by the MC Christian Studies department and the Institute for Christian Leadership. Benjamin Goff, MC instructor of Christian Studies and assistant director of the Institute for Christian Leadership, said the annual Spell Lecture "provides a wonderful opportunity for our students to hear from prominent Christian voices and engage with important ideas that challenge them to think deeply about their faith and its implications for the world around them." "Collin Hansen has spent years entertaining some of the most important questions the church faces today," Goff said. "He has the rare ability to blend theological rigor and cultural awareness in a way that is accessible and beneficial for a wide audience. |
| U. of Alabama System Executive Committee grants faculty senate 'advisory-only' capacity | |
| he University of Alabama System Board of Trustees' executive committee implemented a post-tenure review process, as well as a five-year academic program review, earlier this month. The committee also voted to ensure that the faculty senate at the University, as well as the faculty senates at UAB and UAH, will continue to serve under an advisory role. Alabama passed House Bill 580 which "the governing boards of four-year public universities can create faculty senates, which the law stresses shall be "advisory only." Having the faculty senate under an advisory-only capacity is "a long-standing practice at our institutions," said System Chancellor Sid Trant. The faculty senate cannot speak on behalf of the institution on the matter. "We were already designated as such," said the faculty senate president, Tricia McElroy. "As a representative body, we remain the only direct line of communication from the faculty to UA officials, particularly Academic Affairs, and our communication over the past six months has been vigorous." Other Alabama universities such as Auburn University and Jacksonville State University took a different approach and recently dissolved their faculty senate as a whole. |
| LSU ITS announces Canva Pro access through student accounts | |
| LSU Information Technology Services announced Monday that all students will have access to Canva Pro functions through their LSU account. Canva, an online graphic design platform, can be used to create various marketing materials, presentations or social media visuals. With access to Canva Pro features, students can utilize AI writing and design tools embedded within the platform. LSU ITS was able to connect students with the Canva platform through funds in the Student Technology Fee. ITS expressed its gratitude to the committee handling these funds in an email to faculty, staff and students Monday. Faculty and staff do not have access to Canva Pro features, according to the announcement, but can apply for a limited number of licenses through the ITS office. |
| U. of South Carolina leaders tout buildout, enrollment growth amid broader higher ed headwinds | |
| The University of South Carolina has been on a massive construction spree while also setting new records annually around student enrollment, private fundraising and securing a large share of state taxpayer dollars to make it all happen. At least $1.8 billion worth of construction underway or in the planning stages. It's a 180-degree turnaround from the USC of five years ago, when the school was stumbling through leadership changes gone awry, fallouts with major donors, and reckoning with multiple allegations of sexual harassment by employees, who have since resigned. Lately, the news has been about ribbon cuttings and ground breakings. The university seeks to keep that momentum going even as higher education undergoes major changes across the country. "The university is in a position better than it's ever been in," outgoing Board of Trustees Chairman Thad Westbrook told the SC Daily Gazette in an exclusive interview last Thursday, nearly a week after he handed over the title to the school's first female chair. "We're hitting on all cylinders at a time when higher ed is facing some headwinds," added the Columbia lawyer who's been chairman since 2022. Westbrook credits much of that to USC President Michael Amiridis, the school's former provost who returned to South Carolina in 2022 after spending seven years as chancellor of the University of Illinois-Chicago. |
| Fired Tennessee professor Shirinian says $1.9M payout 'not actual justice' | |
 | Former assistant professor Tamar Shirinian says her $1.9 million settlement with the University of Tennessee System was "not actual justice" for being fired from the flagship Knoxville campus over her online comments about Charlie Kirk. "It can't be justice because they robbed me of a year of my professional life," Shirinian told Knox News. "They robbed me of a year of feeling just secure and stable in my family life." Approved in June, the settlement ended Shirinian's federal lawsuit against the university that alleged political pressure from U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett and an anonymous donor who threatened to withhold millions of dollars in contributions unless she was fired. The payout represents one of the largest free-speech lawsuit settlements in the country stemming from comments made about Kirk after his September 2025 assassination. "The settlement allows me to move on with my life, but it is not actual justice. And there can't be," Shirinian said. Shirinian is now turning her attention to her next projects: an edited volume on social reproduction due out in January, a volume on political solidarity with a colleague and a monograph on feminism. |
| UGA School of Medicine's Inaugural White Coat Ceremony held on Saturday | |
| The University of Georgia School of Medicine held its first White Coat Ceremony Saturday at the UGA Performing Arts Center. At this ceremony, the 64 students in the inaugural class at the UGA School of Medicine put on their white coats for the first time. "You are the first Bulldog physicians in the history of medicine," Deep Shah, vice chairman of the University System of Georgia Board of Regents, said, according to an article from UGA Today. "You have honored the University of Georgia by selecting us to be where you choose to complete your medical education." The White Coat Ceremony, which was established by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation in 1993, represents a student's entrance into the medical profession. "As a land-grant university and Georgia's flagship institution, UGA is uniquely positioned to address the healthcare needs of our state through world-class medical education, research and community outreach," UGA President Jere W. Morehead said at the ceremony. "The students who will receive their white coats this morning will set the standard for UGA-trained physicians – now and for generations to come." |
| U. of Utah student died Friday in electric-scooter accident | |
| A University of Utah student was killed Friday following an accident involving an electric scooter, according to a statement from the university. The school said in a statement released on Monday that it is mourning the loss of a first-year student from California. It said the student died as a result of the accident. "University officials are providing support and assistance to the student's family during this difficult time," according to the state. "We extend our deepest condolences to the student's family, friends, classmates and all those affected by this loss." The U. offered its mental health first responders and the University Counseling Center as resources for anyone affected by the accident. The university has not released any identifying information about the student or details of the crash. |
| A makeover for college: No gym, no meal plan and two years of work | |
 | The buildings that frame a grassy quad on a hill above Vermont's capital city are all red brick and white trim, dating from as far back as the 1870s. This quintessential college campus from the 19th century is where a group of business, college and government leaders is working on the task of reinventing higher education for the 21st century. An entirely new college is being planned here to change not only how higher education is delivered, but at what price. It also proposes to highlight ways the current business model no longer works, as evidenced by the 152 colleges and universities that have closed or merged since 2016, and the 442 others that a new projection says are at risk. So deeply entrenched are the problems confronting higher education that a growing chorus of innovators says the easiest way to fix them is to begin again from scratch. The Greenway Institute -- "green" as in new -- will adopt instructional methods proven to work well, such as real-world training under the supervision of faculty mentors, while stripping away such things as layers of administrators and nonacademic amenities that make college in the United States so expensive. "It's not fancy. It's a place where you do have a meaningful relationship with your faculty members. But you also take out your own trash," said Mark Somerville, the founding president. Enough of these experimental higher education institutions are in the planning stages that they have been organized by Duke University into a Future Universities Alliance. |
| Asked to Sign Trump's Compact, Universities Coordinated Behind the Scenes | |
 | On October 2, 2025, the morning after nine research universities were asked to consider signing a Trump-administration compact that would have given colleges preferential funding if they agreed to certain policies and practices, the top federal lobbyist at the University of Virginia emailed her counterparts at most of the other institutions on the list. She asked whether they should hop on a Zoom that afternoon to "walk through next steps on effectively advising our institutional leadership." Steve Voeller, vice president for government and community relations at the University of Arizona, agreed. So did Christina West, then associate vice chancellor for federal relations at Vanderbilt University. Officials at Brown University and the Universities of Pennsylvania and Southern California also said they planned to join, and those at the University of Texas at Austin and Dartmouth College said they had conflicts but would try to jump on later. Before and after the call, officials sent around critics' statements on the "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education," asked whether and what the others had heard from membership associations, and shared what their universities were saying about the document in those early days. The emails were released last week in response to a Chronicle records request to UVa, one of three public universities that originally received the compact. Now, as leaders mull their responses to the administration's second, softer attempt at encouraging colleges to commit to President Trump's priorities, the correspondence provides a rare glimpse into how universities are talking to one another in a tumultuous era for federal policy. |
| Are Scholarships Based on Country of Origin in Danger? | |
 | The Department of Justice is investigating Harvard University scholarships earmarked for Chinese students, raising questions about how similar funding at other institutions could be affected. Earlier this summer, the DOJ wrote in a letter to Harvard that it had audited the university's gifts from Chinese donors and uncovered funds designated for scholarships "with preference given to students from particular countries." The department said it was investigating those scholarships and demanded further information about those donations, as well as details about the recipients of the scholarships. The Trump administration has been scrutinizing foreign donations to universities since last year, arguing that such gifts raise concerns about national security and foreign influence over institutional research priorities. But the DOJ's central concern in this case seems less about the source of the money than the fact that it is set aside for Chinese students, which the department wrote in its letter is a violation of Title VI, the statute that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin in programs that receive federal funding. |
| From Top Civil Rights Post, She Spars With the Left, and Her Colleagues | |
| Harmeet Dhillon offered a four-word summation of her four-decade campaign to tear down the ramparts of liberal academia during a private gathering last September. "I'm going after Harvard," said Ms. Dhillon, the head of the Justice Department's civil rights division, according to audio of the event in New Haven, Conn., obtained by The New York Times. Ms. Dhillon, 57, has repurposed a unit created to address Jim Crow injustices into a battering ram against the elite left. In part, it represents the culmination of a mission she began as an undergraduate at Dartmouth College -- to impose conservative change on liberal institutions she still views as the entrenched establishment. Ms. Dhillon, a gladiatorial Republican lawyer from California who has emerged as a Washington power player, has gone after more than 100 schools, extracting agreements, cash and personnel moves from big institutions over their diversity and antisemitism policies. In one instance, her pressure prompted the president of one high-profile school, the University of Virginia, to take early retirement. Yet the issue that could most define Ms. Dhillon's tenure looms just over the horizon: the division's role in monitoring the administration of the midterm elections. |
| Celebrating the 30th anniversary of MPACT | |
| State Treasurer David McRae writes: 1996. It was the year "Independence Day" hit theaters -- the year "The Macarena" spent 14 weeks at the top of the charts. Americans tuned in to Fox News Channel for the first time and lined up to get their hands on the new Nintendo 64. The Olympics came to Atlanta, but Michael Jordan earned his fourth NBA Championship with the Bulls in Chicago. And while all of that was "da bomb," as we said in those days, perhaps one of the most quietly impactful events in Mississippi was that it was the first year families could participate in the Mississippi Prepaid Affordable College Tuition program, better known as MPACT. Over the last 30 years, MPACT has helped thousands of Mississippi families build a financial path to college. The concept is simple: Parents and grandparents can lock in today's tuition rates and prepay the cost of college, protecting your families against tuition increases down the road. |
SPORTS
| Lebby's lectures: 'Clean football' a point of emphasis heading into Week 1 | |
| Jeff Lebby is preaching one main thing ahead of Mississippi State's season opener against the University of Louisiana-Monroe: clean football. The Bulldogs will roll out its 2026 roster Saturday night at Davis Wade Stadium, and said that limiting penalties and cleaning up the pre-snap process will be a "huge stress" for MSU in week one. "I want to take great care of the ball. I want to make sure our pre-snap process is really clean," Lebby said. "That's one thing that, if you watched football on Saturday, created huge issues for a lot of people. But the non-playing penalties can't be part of our game. ...I want to play really really clean, limit the explosives defensively and create them on offense." Lebby said there are similarities in MSU's goal from last year to this year, but all the Bulldogs are focused on now is week one. "Start fast, win the opener," Lebby said. "That is the only thing we're talking about inside our building on Monday of game week, and it is about Saturday night at 6: 30 in front of our home crowd in Davis Wade." |
| No limit to preparedness or focus for MSU | |
| You can never be too prepared. That was the first thing Jeff Lebby talked about with Mississippi State in practice on Monday. The Bulldogs are just five days away from their season opener against Louisiana-Monroe. "Preparation is what creates a ton of confidence," Lebby said during State's weekly press conference after practice. "And walking down that ramp and being prepared is what it's all about." Last season, the Bulldogs had multiple goals throughout the season, which the team believes helped it to grow. If there are multiple goals in 2026, they pale in comparison to the biggest one right now: winning the season opener. "Right now all we are talking about is starting fast and winning the opener. That is the only thing we're talking about inside our building on Monday of game week," Lebby said. "And it is about Saturday night at 6:30 in front of our home crowd in Davis Wade, and playing the way we need to go play." Mississippi State has won the season opener in each of Lebby's two previous seasons as head coach. Winning Game 1 for the third straight year will take ball security and a clean pre-snap process, some things he wants to see on Saturday night. |
| Softball: Mowatt-McKinney Named National Assistant Coach, Pitching Coach Of The Year | |
| Mississippi State pitching coach Taryne Mowatt-McKinney been named the 2026 Assistant Coach of the Year and Pitching Coach of the Year presented by PitchCom by D1Softball. Mowatt-McKinney is the first person to win both D1Softball awards in the same year. A record-breaking year from Mowatt-McKinney's bullpen ended with the Bulldogs' first Women's College World Series appearance. It was Mowatt-McKinney's eighth trip to Oklahoma City between various stops along her playing and coaching career. The Bulldog pitching staff set new school records for strikeouts (523) and strikeouts looking (121) overall and new conference-play program records for batting average against (.225), total strikeouts (179), strikeouts per seven innings (7.83) and fewest hits (134). "I'm incredibly proud of Coach T and excited to see her recognized with both of these awards," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "She had such a huge impact on our pitching staff and helping our program reach the WCWS for the first time. Her experience in OKC, both as a player and a coach, is something you can't replicate. She knows what it takes to get there and what it takes to compete on that stage, and she continues to share that experience with our program. Coach T has made a tremendous impact on our pitchers and our program, and these awards are very much deserved." |
| Buddy Stephens of 'Last Chance U' out as East Mississippi Community College football coach | |
| Buddy Stephens, the five-time national championship coach who rose to national prominence through Netflix's "Last Chance U" documentary series, is out as football coach at East Mississippi Community College after 18 seasons. EMCC announced Monday night that associate head coach and offensive coordinator Preston Rice will fill in as interim head coach for the remainder of the season. The school did not mention Stephens or specify a reason for the change in its announcement. The move came days after Stephens publicly criticized EMCC and Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference leadership over changes to the league's football schedule and playoff format. Stephens called the leadership responsible for the changes "idiots" in an interview with The Commercial Dispatch published Thursday, and he accused some conference presidents of structuring the postseason around avoiding the cost of traveling for the National Junior College Athletic Association playoffs. EMCC president Scott Alsobrooks responded Monday with a statement, saying the college "strongly disavows the remarks published in a recent article." Stephens' program became known well beyond the junior college ranks when EMCC was featured during the first two seasons of Netflix's "Last Chance U." |
| Mississippi's black bear population is growing, state data shows | |
| Mississippi's black bear population is bigger than it was a decade ago, but state wildlife officials say residents shouldn't expect a hunting season anytime soon. The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks estimates the state's core black bear population at 400 to 500 bears, concentrated on the western side of the state. Anthony Ballard, the department's Black Bear Program leader, presented the new data to the state Wildlife Commission this past Thursday. The presentation was livestreamed and is now public information, Ballard said. "So right now we're estimating about 400 to 500 bears on the western side of the state in our study area, which is the core population," Ballard said. "That's far and away going to be the majority of where our densities are." The news comes after a summer of black bear sightings around the Jackson metro, including a bear caught on camera crossing Gluckstadt Road in Madison County in late July and multiple sightings reported near the Ross Barnett Reservoir and in the Fannin community of Rankin County. Mississippi lawmakers introduced a bill last year that would have set up a framework for a bear hunting season, but it failed to pass. |
| SEC school leaders exploring extreme steps over LSU's plan to sign former pro athletes, including potential expulsion, competition boycott and federal lawsuit | |
| The legal feud between the SEC and LSU may soon escalate to historic levels. High-ranking SEC university executives are exploring legal and internal avenues intended to address the school's plans to add former professional athletes to its rosters, including extreme measures such as boycotting competition against the Tigers, sanctioning the school with probation or even expulsion, and/or filing a federal legal challenge. Multiple sources with knowledge of the conversations spoke to Yahoo Sports under condition of anonymity. An SEC spokesperson declined comment. An LSU spokesperson also declined comment. The conversations, primarily among SEC school general counsels and university presidents, are considered in the early stages. The talks are described as "not league driven, but membership led." While these discussions are serious in nature, it is unclear as to what avenues the conference or its members will ultimately pursue. It is unlikely that the league or its member schools make a formal decision on a path forward before a Thursday hearing in Baton Rouge, where a judge is expected to hear arguments in the Louisiana eligibility case that opened the door for these professional athletes to return to college. One thing is clear, though: Multiple SEC university officials believe that action is required to maintain a fair and balanced competitive field within the conference, and they are prepared to take serious steps against an LSU program that, they claim, stands to violate the membership constitution and bylaws. |
| NIL insiders in Louisiana report unrealistic expectations, exhausted donors | |
| Athletics and campus administrators from Louisiana colleges convened last week to tackle one of their biggest challenges: How to deal with the downstream financial effects in the new era of paying student-athletes. Since 2021, the NCAA has allowed athletes to monetize their name, image and likeness by inking sponsorship deals. Starting last year, Division I college sports programs were able to pay players directly for NIL deals through revenue sharing. The problems that accompany these paychecks were the topic of the NIL symposium the Louisiana Board of Regents held Friday at Grambling State University. Athletics administrators, university officials and others involved with college athletics at Louisiana's public Division I schools took part in the event, along with representatives from the office of Attorney General Liz Murrill, who has pushed for more state laws to police the expanding NIL space. Though the challenges are varied --- including whether student athletes have the emotional capacity or knowledge to navigate the market -- athletics administrators agreed the biggest one is fundamental to all of higher education in Louisiana: There's never enough money to go around. "No one has endless money, whether you're at LSU or at McNeese, we're all fighting the boogeyman, if you will," said Heath Schroyer, LSU's senior deputy athletics director. "Everyone's got more, right?" |
| Tennessee Volunteers to honor late Dolly Parton with a helmet sticker this season | |
| The Tennessee Volunteers will be honoring Dolly Parton with a helmet sticker this season, coach Josh Heupel announced on Monday. Parton, a Tennessee native, died on Tuesday, Aug. 25 after a brief battle with cancer. She was 80. "I'd be remiss if I didn't also talk about the passing of Dolly Parton," Heupel said Monday. "All that she's meant across the world, this country, and certainly, the queen of East Tennessee -- a lady that was extremely proud of her roots." The iconic singer grew up in Sevierville, roughly 30 miles east of Knoxville, where the University of Tennessee is located. "You look at (Dolly's) impact, you know, just her ability to give back, make an impact to people, certainly here in East Tennessee. She means a lot to people across this country," Heupel said. "We'll be wearing a sticker patch on the back of our helmet to recognize her accomplishments and everything that she's meant." The sticker, in the Volunteers' signature orange, features a butterfly similar to the one in the Dollywood logo, with "Dolly" written in white at the center. |
| UCLA fires athletic director Martin Jarmond, replaces him with ex-Lakers exec Tim Harris | |
 | UCLA has fired athletic director Martin Jarmond and appointed longtime Lakers executive Tim Harris to replace him as chief executive and director of athletics. UCLA chancellor Julio Frenk announced the change on Monday, ending Jarmond's run of more than six years that included a stunning move to the Big Ten Conference, a string of conference championships outside of football and a significant financial deficit. "UCLA Athletics currently carries a significant financial deficit, and its current path is not sustainable," Frenk wrote. "Now is the moment to build a model for Athletics that protects the breadth of our program, creates new opportunities for student-athletes and coaches, and supports itself through the revenue it generates. I believe UCLA should help lead the transformation of intercollegiate athletics: our future must be shaped by purpose -- not by pressure." Frenk cited the rapidly evolving college landscape, including the soaring costs associated with the name, image and likeness athlete compensation era, while announcing the need to shift to Harris' leadership. |
| CFP launches flag football showcase in Las Vegas as part of national championship week festivities | |
| A flag football showcase will take place in January in Las Vegas as part of the College Football Playoff National Championship week festivities. The CFP, in association with flag football events company iFlag, will host the CFP Flag Football Showcase Jan. 22-24 at CFP Fan Central inside the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, the CFP announced Monday. The 2027 CFP National Championship takes place Jan. 25 at Allegiant Stadium. "Every year, CFP National Championship weekend brings together the biggest audience of our sport's calendar, and we wanted flag football to be a part of that itinerary," Ryan Allen Hall, senior director of public events and sponsorships for the CFP, said in a statement. "The CFP Flag Football Showcase is our opportunity to introduce fans who are already tuned in to college football toward what's next." Aside from hosting the flag football event, CFP Fan Central includes games, clinics, pep rallies, guest appearances, autograph signings and college football exhibits. CFP Fan Central is free and open to the public. The CFP and iFlag will look to continue to build the momentum building around flag football, which will be included in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. |
| Private Equity Wants to Invest in College Sports. Some Schools Are Wary. | |
| College athletic programs seem to be tapping every source of cash they can find to help recruit and retain top players. They are squeezing alumni for more donations, raising ticket prices and selling stadium naming rights. But so far the schools are proceeding with caution with at least one funding option: money from private equity firms. Private equity sees the colleges' cash crunch as an opportunity to profit from some of the world's most valuable sports brands. While some schools have done deals, others are wary of forming partnerships with investment firms whose investors demand big returns in a short amount of time. "Private equity has approached us. They have approached everyone in college athletics," said Aaron Horvath, deputy athletic director at the University of Notre Dame. "No matter if you're in the Big Four conference or the Group of Six" conferences. Mr. Horvath said Notre Dame was not interested in private equity partnerships, though it is finding new ways to fund its sports programs, including a recent deal to place advertising patches on football uniforms. Val Ackerman, the commissioner of the Big East Conference, said she was skeptical of private equity investments. She noted that the high rate of return commanded from the firms' investors could conflict with the core mission of helping student-athletes. |
| Murphy eyes bipartisan effort on private equity in youth sports | |
| Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., thinks private equity's involvement in youth sports will spark the next populist outrage. The Connecticut Democrat and Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., are pushing a bill aimed at restricting private equity's investment in youth sports that has some Democratic co-sponsors. But Murphy said that after the midterms, he'll be aiming to find GOP supporters and to fashion a bipartisan solution that can be considered next year, as the tides turn on the issue. "I think that's an issue that'll be bipartisan over time," Murphy told Semafor. "I think in the next Congress we'll be able to do a version of that bill that has Republican support." Murphy drew a parallel to bipartisan consensus against AI data centers, arguing that both parties recognize the rising cost of travel sports is unsustainable for many families. Private youth sports groups have argued their presence allows investments in things like ice rinks that otherwise wouldn't receive the same amount of funding. But the increasing role of private equity firms is also driving up costs, with adolescent athletes looking at pricier options outside of rec leagues at younger and younger ages. |
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