| Thursday, October 15, 2026 |
| Grant to expand rural clinical training for physician assistant students in Mississippi | |
 | Mississippi State University (MSU)-Meridian is one of two institutions in the state sharing a $500,000 U.S. Department of Education grant to expand clinical training opportunities for physician assistant students in rural Mississippi. Officials said the funding, which runs through August 2029, will help strengthen future healthcare workforces and improve patient outcomes where access to care is needed most. Collaborating with Mississippi Christian University (MC) in Clinton, the shared funding will support the development and expansion of rural preceptor partnerships, which provide supervision and training for students during required clinical rotations. Lesley Clack, dean of MSU-Meridian's School of Health Professions and principal investigator, said in addition to creating more preceptor relationships, the award will reduce financial barriers for the 40 MSU-Meridian PA students who are currently completing nine five-week rotations throughout the state. |
| Education: MSU students provide adapted swim lessons for Starkville students | |
 | Through an ongoing partnership with Mississippi State University Department of Kinesiology, several Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District students are getting their first experience in the swimming pool. MSU students in the kinesiology adapted swim course are working with SOCSD students this fall in a series of swimming lessons held at Sanderson Center during the school day. The lessons include an introduction to water safety, fun activities designed to help children become more accustomed to being in the water and beginning instruction in the basics of swimming, including floating, front stroke and kicking their feet. The school-day lessons are available for up to four SOCSD students per lesson and conducted in a group environment. MSU Kinesiology majors and certified adapted swim instructors are assigned to each participant. The first lesson was held in September with parents and SOCSD student support services staff attending. Gregg Twietmeyer, kinesiology professor, and Yulia Kizner, adapted aquatics instructor, oversaw a group of four kinesiology majors who worked individually with students. The Yellow Jackets overcame their fears through activities using stuffed animals, rings, pool noodles, water toys and easy games. |
| First phases of $40M water, sewer improvements being completed | |
| Starkville's wastewater treatment plant improvements and a new water well are both expected to be completed by fall 2027, with the first part of the treatment plant improvements completed earlier this month. The projects are among $40 million worth of improvements being made to the plant and the water system after studies found more than $90 million of needed upgrades for both systems after years of neglected maintenance, Edward Kemp, general manager for Starkville Utilities, told about 15 residents who attended a town hall meeting hosted Tuesday by Ward 5 Alderman William Pochop. "We're playing catch-up from a lot of deferred maintenance that's occurred for many decades," Kemp told The Dispatch, "So that is part of it, but with any utility system you need to be making continued improvements." Kemp said critical upgrades of Starkville's wastewater plant, including replacing six aerators that failed in 2019 and a full electrical replacement, were completed on Oct. 1. The project cost $9 million. A second project underway at the treatment plant, with a $13 million price tag, will expand the plant's capacity to allow the city to accommodate its growing population. The project is about 20% complete with Kemp projecting the additional capacity should be finished by fall 2027. |
| Visit Starkville wins Mississippi tourism organization award | |
 | Visit Starkville has been named Destination Management Organization of the Year in its budget category by the Mississippi Tourism Association. The award recognizes organizations with annual budgets of $500,000 to $999,999. It was presented during the Governor's Conference on Tourism, held Oct. 6-8 at the Oxford Conference Center, according to the association. The association cited Visit Starkville's work in destination development, sports tourism, events and industry leadership. "This honor belongs to everyone who makes Starkville such an amazing destination," said Paige Hunt, Visit Starkville's director of tourism. "Direct visitor spending in Oktibbeha County climbed to $213.1 million in 2025, up nearly 8 percent from 2024." The association said Starkville earned USA Today's No. 1 Best Small Town in the South recognition for a third consecutive year and recorded record tourism tax collections. |
| Mary Means Business: Mobile bookstore prepares for Starkville opening | |
| A new chapter is beginning for Starkville book lovers. Mississippi State graduates Megan and Chase Cooper are preparing to launch Cooper's Prose, a mobile bookstore built out of a custom 7-by-16-foot enclosed trailer. After moving back to the area last year, the duo saw a gap in the market and decided to start renovating a trailer in hopes of opening a brick-and-mortar shop in the future. "When we moved back last fall, we noticed the lack of local bookstores and felt that was something that could really serve our area," Megan said. "... We both work full time so the mobile option gives us that flexibility currently, but the long-term plan is to find a permanent space in Starkville once we're more established." ... Also in town, there's a new store on the horizon near the Episcopal Church. I saw a sign for Audacious Goods at 325 University Drive last week when I was leaving church. Filings with the Mississippi Secretary of State's office show owner Shannon Voges-Haupt registered the business in mid-August as a "used merchandise retailer." I did reach out to Voges-Haupt, also owner of Worker Bees, and did not hear back by press time on Wednesday. |
| Inside the race to save Mississippi's only Frank Lloyd Wright house | |
 | For decades, Fountainhead sat quietly on a wooded hillside in Jackson, hidden in plain sight. Drivers passing through Woodland Hills could catch glimpses of its weathered copper roof through the trees. Architecture enthusiasts made pilgrimages to view it from the street. Neighbors knew its legend. Yet for most Mississippians, the state's only major residential work by Frank Lloyd Wright remained a mystery behind foliage, concrete walls and a steep hillside. Now that is beginning to change. Less than a year after purchasing the property, the Mississippi Museum of Art has appointed noted architectural historian Jennifer Baughn as curator of Fountainhead and launched an ambitious effort to restore, preserve and eventually open the landmark to the public. Museum officials hope visitors will begin experiencing the house by late 2028. The undertaking could ultimately represent a multi-million-dollar investment by the museum and its supporters. The goal is not simply to save a house. It is to transform one of Mississippi's most important works of architecture into a public place. "Once you experience the spaces," Baughn said, "you understand that this is not just a house museum. It's a place to experience light and space." |
| Lawmakers consider cost saving methods in Mississippi's licensure boards | |
| Efforts are underway to consider methods for licensure boards in Mississippi to save money through the consolidation of office space and the use of shared services. Working out of a state-owned building would provide cost savings in rent and in turn provide a means to lower licensure fees, enticing more people to enter the careers overseen by the licensure boards. Senate Government Structure Committee Chair state Senator Tyler McCaughn (R) advised those in attendance that it was his intent not to delete any board or government office, but rather see if legal, financial, IT work, and human relations needs could be consolidated. In Mississippi, there are separate licensure boards for the various professional fields working in the state, such as doctors and nurses, even though they are both in the medical field. While there is no intent to combine those licenses under one board, the two could share services as described by McCaughn. |
| What will Legislature do to regulate kratom after Ole Miss deaths | |
| Among a handful of other priorities, State Health Officer Daniel Edney confirmed he will be pushing for strict regulation of kratom during the upcoming 2027 legislative session. Kratom is a drug derived from the kratom tree, a Southeast Asia native, and it can work as both a stimulant and a sedative, depending on the dose. Though kratom has existed for years in the United States, it entered the public sphere in Mississippi in late September after the deaths of two Ole Miss students. Lafayette County officers reported finding packaged kratom in both investigations. Edney, the state's top public health official, told the Clarion Ledger after a quarterly health department meeting on Oct. 14 that kratom regulation was one of the most important goals next year. "My main position, and the Board of Health agrees, at the very least, can we all agree to get this stuff out of the gas stations and vape stores?" he said. An addiction doctor by trade, Edney said that he and his colleagues deal with the drug and its "nasty detox" every day. Kratom now, he said, exists in a nebulous, largely unregulated space. |
| Everyone has the same question in the midterms -- where's the beef? (And how much does it cost?) | |
 | In the midterm elections, meat is on the menu. As Democrats and Republicans argue over high prices and the Iran war, they're also having a food fight over who's the most red-blooded carnivore. The latest example came this week in Mississippi, where Democratic Senate candidate Scott Colom released a video with a snippet of Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith saying that if consumers are upset over high beef prices, "you know you have so many proteins to choose from." The video cuts to a man grilling burgers who says, "Pick another protein? I'd rather pick another senator instead." The Mississippi race is somewhat unusual because it's the Democrat hammering the Republican over beef. Elsewhere, Republicans have branded Democrats as vegans or otherwise opposed to meat, trying to show that they're culturally out of step with voters, hostile to local cattle industries or just not manly enough. A spokesman for Hyde-Smith's campaign argued that the Democrats deserve blame for high prices. "It is Scott Colom who supports Biden-era policies that drove up inflation," said Nathan Calvert. |
| Why the Scott Colom 'pick another senator' ad went viral | |
| You've probably seen it by now. Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Scott Colom, who is angling to unseat incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith come Nov. 3, released an ad on Oct. 13 that went viral nearly immediately. The ad opens with a clip from a televised February interview with Hyde-Smith, a cattle farmer and former agriculture commissioner. Hyde-Smith responds to concerns about rising beef prices with the statement that Mississippians "have so many proteins to choose from." Colom, one of whose oft-repeated campaign slogans begins with the promise to "lower costs," has latched onto Hyde-Smith's comment for much of his campaign. The "pick your protein" food truck that has followed him around the state is a direct reference to the interview. A handful of people react to the statement in his ad. "Pick another protein?" a woman eating fried catfish asks the camera. "She done lost her damn mind." All of them conclude the same way: "I'd rather pick another senator instead." The 28-second video filmed in Jackson exploded on X, Facebook and Instagram. It racked up more than 2.8 million views between the three platforms within the first 36 hours. Colom's ad is the latest in what has become a contentious bout for the Senate seat. |
| The GOP's midterm lifeline: Maybe the polls are wrong | |
 | Republicans nervous about the midterms are increasingly turning to the same salve: The polling will be wrong. They aren't suggesting Republicans will have a good night come Nov. 3 -- or that the party will hold the House. But they're clinging to the possibility that it could be a typically bad midterm year reminiscent of 2022, when polls projected Democrats would be pummeled, only for those predictions to fall short. It's happened in other cycles, too, they note. President Donald Trump outperformed final polling averages in all seven swing states in 2024 and defied the national polls in 2016 as well. This story is based on conversations with more than a dozen people, including veteran GOP operatives, pollsters, strategists working on battleground races and national party officials. Most conceded the national environment is bad for Republicans and has only gotten worse over the last few months. But even a small sampling error, they say, could completely change how election night turns out for the GOP. With less than three weeks until Election Day, Republicans are increasingly pessimistic about their prospects, as persistent inflation, high prices on everyday items, elevated mortgage rates and a lingering war in the Middle East hamper campaigns. |
| Trump doubles down on Russian diesel deal as Republicans run from it | |
| President Donald Trump is pushing ahead with his deal to import Russian diesel, blowing past his party's growing complaints about taking help from Vladimir Putin. It's unclear exactly when the imports will officially arrive, but the economic boost from Moscow is sparking discontent as Republicans in tight races scramble to message around the surprise announcement. The Russia deal completes a trio of Trump economic moves that are politically toxic to swing-state Republicans, joining his bid to encourage beef imports and his Canadian trade war. All three are unpopular enough among members of Trump's own party to create significant discord about the GOP plan to tackle rising prices. For the White House, the argument is simple: Diesel prices are too high, and even a smaller-scale import plan helps ease the burden. Others in the administration privately acknowledge, however, that there's a clear reason for the recent rise in prices: Trump's ongoing war with Iran. A handful of GOP lawmakers, including Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker of Mississippi, are taking a different tack by predicting the diesel imports never materialize. Wicker said he's pitched the administration on alternative ideas. |
| Hegseth Vows a 'Hell or High Water' Push for $350 Billion Defense Boost | |
| Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday that the Pentagon would aggressively push for at least $350 billion in additional military spending when Congress returns after the midterm elections, warning the money is critical to President Donald Trump's plans to overhaul the armed forces. The remarks preview a renewed lobbying effort for a defense package that remains stalled amid Republican divisions over how to pay for it. The proposal would fund Trump's Golden Dome missile defense shield, expanded munitions production and $50 billion for drones, which Hegseth called the Pentagon's "No. 1 priority." The administration faces a narrow window to advance the legislation during Congress's lame-duck session, particularly if Democrats win control of the House in November's elections. Hegseth appeared alongside civilian leaders of the military services at the Association of the United States Army's annual conference. The panel discussion on autonomous warfare marked an unusual gathering that Pentagon officials billed as a show of unity behind the administration's plans to modernize the armed forces. |
| Trump says Pentagon will not livestream execution of Fort Hood shooter | |
 | President Donald Trump said the U.S. military will not livestream the execution of a former Army officer convicted of the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood, reversing the Pentagon's previous commitment to broadcast the event. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth previously committed to livestream the execution by firing squad of Nidal Malik Hasan, who killed 13 people and injured 32 others in what was the largest mass murder at a U.S. military installation. "With all of that being said, I think streaming the execution for all to see might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan but, many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device," Trump wrote in a post on social media on Oct. 15. "He will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed," Trump added. |
| Education: Sonya Kovalevsky Day returns to The W | |
| Mississippi University for Women will once again celebrate Sonya Kovalevsky, a pioneer for women in the field of mathematics, with the annual Sonya Kovalevsky High School Mathematics Day event Oct. 23 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Held on The W's campus, SK Day has been a staple for more than two decades. "We aim to inspire these high school students to continue their studies of mathematics and to encourage and prepare for possible careers in mathematics-related fields," said Joshua Hanes, associate professor of mathematics and organizer of the event. "Students will take a competition exam with prizes including W scholarships. We hope that students who win scholarships will consider attending The W in the future." Phil Kains, assistant professor of mathematics at Belhaven University, will be the keynote speaker this year. He will give a talk titled, "What is a Math Person." |
| 20 Years Later, Langley's death remains a 'Dark Day' | |
| Twenty years after University of Mississippi police Officer Robert Langley was killed in the line of duty, his family, friends and fellow officers continue to remember the man behind the badge. Langley was killed Oct. 21, 2006, at the age of 30, during a traffic stop on West Jackson Avenue near the Ole Miss campus. He became the first University Police Department officer in the university's history to be killed in the line of duty. For those who knew Langley, the anniversary is about more than the events of that morning. It is about a husband, father, friend and police officer whose life was cut short. "I still think about it to this day," Langley's widow, Lisa Langley, said. "I miss him." Langley had stopped a vehicle for speeding when the driver accelerated away with Langley at the vehicle's window. Langley was dragged approximately 200 yards before being thrown from the vehicle. He suffered severe head injuries and was taken to a hospital in Memphis, where he died. The driver, 20-year-old Ole Miss student Daniel Cummings, was arrested shortly after the incident. He later pleaded guilty to manslaughter by culpable negligence and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. |
| New attendance policy awaits review by faculty senate | |
 | The University of Mississippi Associated Student Body has been developing a proposed attendance policy that would add three new cases for university-wide excused absences since fall 2024. This semester, student government leaders are finally bringing their proposal to the faculty senate. The current university attendance policy gives instructors the responsibility to set attendance policies for their classes and to include their policies on the course syllabus. The university offers guidelines for what "better class attendance policies" include but does not mandate what instructors should include in their policies. The guidelines do state that students should not be penalized for absences associated with legal, civic or military duties. ASB is hoping to add three new scenarios to the university attendance policy that would allow for excused absences: a student's attendance at a university event, including NCAA-sanctioned competitions or Ole Miss Athletics events; in cases of major medical procedures or in bereavement-related absences for one calendar week. |
| UMMC scientists take new approaches to tackling Mississippi's cancer burden | |
| As the University of Mississippi Medical Center prepares to break ground on a new home for its Cancer Center and Research Institute, or CCRI, scientists are exploring new ways to improve cancer outcomes for Mississippians -- from investigating how stress and living conditions affect tumors to uncovering pancreatic cancer's earliest clues and developing more precise ways to deliver chemotherapy. Inside UMMC laboratories, researchers are working to rewrite Mississippi's cancer story, offering the promise of a different ending -- and a new beginning -- for patients, families and health care providers. Their work is driven by intriguing questions: Can a person's environment and life experiences influence how cancer develops and spreads? Can researchers detect pancreatic cancer sooner or deliver treatments more precisely to the cells that need them? |
| USM receives $3M grant to continue AQUAVIEW development | |
| The University of Southern Mississippi's Institute for Advanced Analytics and Society (IAAS) has received a $3 million grant extension from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to continue development of AQUAVIEW, a cloud-based platform that improves access to NOAA ocean science and environmental data. The extension will support the project through September 2029. USM said Wednesday that the funding will support expanded platform capabilities and continued collaboration between Southern Miss and NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). AQUAVIEW is designed to make NOAA data easier to discover, access and use across a variety of applications, including scientific research, education and emerging artificial intelligence technologies. |
| William Carey University breaks ground on student housing at Tradition campus | |
 | William Carey University held a groundbreaking Wednesday afternoon for the first phase of on-campus student housing at its Tradition campus. Phase one consists of a six-unit townhome that will house 24 students. The Tradition campus has been a commuter campus since it opened in 2009. President and CEO Dr. Ben Burnett said it is time to add housing options for students. "This is a growing area, but there's not a lot of places our students can live right around this campus," Burnett said. "But the need also is to recruit more people to this campus and to help build a residential and business economic workforce or economic ability of the area of Tradition." Burnett said the university plans to continue seeking funds and raising money for continued developments. The project costs $3.2 million and is funded through state grants and the university's board of trustees. |
| Pearl River Community College seeks Pell eligibility for three career training programs | |
 | Pearl River Community College is working to qualify welding, commercial truck driving and emergency medical technician training for Workforce Pell Grants. Up to 40 students a year could benefit if the programs qualify, said Rebecca Ellis, PRCC's dean of workforce, economic development and adult education. The effort is part of an $8.5 million federal initiative involving Mississippi's 15 public community colleges. The U.S. Department of Labor grant supports training and workforce data systems; it is separate from the Pell awards eligible students could receive, according to the governor's announcement. For students changing careers, the financial burden goes beyond tuition. Ellis said transportation costs and lost wages can also prevent people from attending. "Every single dollar could make the difference between whether someone is able to roll or not roll," Ellis said. |
| School start times under scrutiny amid permanent daylight saving time debate | |
 | School start times have taken center stage in the fight surrounding permanent daylight saving time. Senators concerned about kids walking to school in the dark are holding the line against legislation -- passed by the House and vocally backed by President Trump -- that would halt the semiannual clock-changing. And while those who want permanent daylight saving time (DST) say schools should just start later, school officials and even some advocates for pushing class times back acknowledge a large number of obstacles prevent hearing that first bell even an hour later. "I think it gets lost that schools already start incredibly early, and kids are already going to school in the dark. ... It's a huge problem," said Terra Ziporyn Snider, executive director and co-founder of Start School Later. "If we went to permanent daylight saving time, then even more students would be going to school in the dark unless the schools change their start times. It boils down to a lack of political will, and it's enormously, enormously difficult to run schools at times that are safe and allow kids to get healthy sleep. The early start times, highlighted by the current fight, fly in the face of studies showing the benefits of starting later, particularly for high schoolers. |
| U. of Alabama among 15 schools launching AI computing partnership | |
| The University of Alabama is a founding partner in the Southeast Region Super-Intelligence Computing Consortium, a group of 15 universities across 10 states that plan to share advanced computing resources for artificial intelligence research. The consortium was announced Oct. 8 at the White House's "Science: A New Golden Age Summit" in Washington, D.C., by Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The group's longer-term goal is to develop and operate one or more leadership-class AI computing systems in the Southeast, and also to use the partnership to seek federal, state, philanthropic and industry funding. The 15 universities bring a collective $1 billion in investment for computing infrastructure and research. Along with the University, founding partners include Auburn University, the University of Mississippi, Mississippi State University, Louisiana State University, the University of Tennessee, Vanderbilt University, the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University. Other members are the universities of Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma and South Carolina, along with Oklahoma State University. The announcement comes as the University is set to open the High Performance Computing and Data Center, a $96 million, 40,000-square-foot facility. |
| Enrollment in Alabama's public community colleges surpasses 100,000 students | |
| Enrollment in Alabama Community College System schools hit the highest number of students for the fall semester in over a decade. Neil Scott, vice chancellor of student success for ACCS, told the Board of Trustees that the combined student headcount across the system is over 100,000 students --- a 3.5% increase over the final enrollment count for fall 2025. "That's an increase of 3,421 students," Scott said. "Sixteen of our colleges are ahead in headcount, and these students are enrolled in over 836,000 credit hours. That's a 3% increase over the final fall 2025 number. Over 24,000 more credit hours being produced by our students or taken by our students." Higher Ed Dive reported in June that students are still enrolling in community colleges more than public or private four-year institutions, but the rate is slowing down. |
| UT Office of Title IX received 78 sexual misconduct reports in 2025. It resolved 9. | |
| The University of Tennessee is one of many universities nationwide currently wrapped up in conversation about sexual misconduct and institutional accountability. A sexual assault case at Cornell University sparked the prolific conversation, garnering national attention at higher education institutions after being publicized online in late September. The case details a student, referred to as Jane Doe, alleging seven men raped her in a fraternity house in October 2024. Doe filed a lawsuit against multiple parties, including the seven men and Cornell. As the conversation rattles UT, the UT Office of Title IX offers data for community members to view related to sexual misconduct. The office publishes sexual misconduct report data yearly in its Sexual Misconduct, Relationship Violence, Stalking, and Retaliation Annual Report. In 2025, the Office of Title IX received 78 sexual misconduct reports. This included a number of reports in all four categories defined under sexual misconduct, including 37 rape reports, 14 fondling reports, 14 sexual exploitation reports and 13 sexual harassment reports. |
| The Crisis Playbook for Universities in Trouble | |
 | At Texas A&M University, the crisis was the death of 12 people killed when a stack of bonfire logs collapsed. At Penn State, it was child sex abuse allegations against a coach in the school's legendary football program. Ohio State went into crisis mode over abuse claims against a former team doctor. The actions these schools and others have taken over the years have coalesced into something of a playbook for schools in the grip of a national controversy. Now, Cornell University, rocked by criticism over its response to a former student's allegation that she was gang raped, is inching along a similar, public relations path. Moving too slowly in a crisis is how colleges tend to "botch" their responses, said Evan Nierman, founder and chief executive of the crisis public relations firm Red Banyan. Universities are accustomed to working within the ponderous time frames of academia, he said, in which information is gathered and then run through committees, oversight boards, deans and trustees. Meanwhile, "we live in a rapid-fire world where reputations are made and destroyed in moments, not months," Mr. Nierman said. Ray Bowen, the 90-year-old former president of Texas A&M, recalled the 1999 bonfire deaths as lowest point of his career. His advice for Dr. Kotlikoff is simple: Whenever legally possible, embrace transparency. |
| Mizzou takes a shot at preventing the flu | |
 | Students with busy schedules had the opportunity to take a preventative measure against the flu on Wednesday without straying far from the University of Missouri campus. Mizzou's Office of Student Health & Well-being hosted an Outreach Flu Vaccine Clinic on Wednesday. Vaccines were administered from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Stotler Lounge at Memorial Student Union, offering seasonal flu prevention in an accessible, central location and making it easier for students to prioritize their health. Mizzou freshman Isla Gardener said she has made it an annual routine to receive a flu vaccine after having a memorable experience of being sick with the flu when she was 8 years old. Other students receiving a vaccination said their decision was mainly influenced by wanting to avoid the possibility of sickness interrupting their semester. |
| Virginia Tech names three-time alum as its new president | |
 | Virginia Tech announced Richard Linton as its new president Wednesday, months after Tim Sands said he would step down from the position after 12 years. Linton, who received his bachelor's and master's degrees and his PhD from the Blacksburg school, has served as president of Kansas State University since 2022. During his time in Kansas, Linton launched a strategic plan that increased student enrollment, enhanced research and broke fundraising records, according to his biography. He faced criticism for shuttering the university's LGBTQ+ student center in 2025 following state and federal-level changes to diversity, equity and inclusion policy on campuses. Linton is expected to start at Virginia Tech in January. Sands said in April he was stepping down as president one year before his contract ended, prompting concerns from some Democrats that the university's board of visitors may have pressured him to leave so it could choose a new president before Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) appointed new members to the board. |
| Cornell's President Grilled by Faculty Senate Over Handling of Crisis | |
| A day after the Cornell University president tried to calm students and parents by banning parties at fraternity houses, he faced a largely hostile faculty senate on Wednesday that was considering a vote of no confidence against his administration. The president, Michael I. Kotlikoff, has been in crisis mode since news broke several weeks ago that a former undergraduate, known as Jane Doe, had filed a lawsuit against the university, her sorority and a fraternity accusing seven men of sexually assaulting her in 2024. The Cornell faculty senate is a mostly advisory body, without the power to remove the president. But a vote of no confidence in Dr. Kotlikoff's leadership would be a rare rebuke and a possible rallying cry for those who want him to resign over Cornell's handling of the investigation into Jane Doe's allegations and the ensuing crisis. The meeting started with a lengthy question-and-answer session with Dr. Kotlikoff, who generally defended his response and explained in greater detail why he made the decisions he announced on Tuesday. Victoria Xaka, an assistant professor of music at Cornell, who left the meeting early and spoke to reporters outside, said the faculty was upset. "There's a lot of signs, a lot of anger, a lot of tension in the room," she said. |
| How a 72-Year-Old Pastor Became America's Favorite Campus Evangelist | |
 | The man paced at the center of a crowd of Drexel University students. Some hopped on benches craning their necks for a better view while others FaceTimed friends so they could watch. The students hadn't come for free food or discounted merchandise. Instead, they congregated last Thursday to hear from Cliffe Knechtle, a 72-year-old evangelical pastor who promised answers to life's most pressing questions. "Is there anyone in the crowd who is an atheist or agnostic?" he asked. A young man stepped forward and began peppering him with questions. For the next four hours, the pastor debated one student after another, fielding questions about faith and folly with the measured cadence of a courtroom lawyer and the booming voice of a tent evangelist. Whenever he paused to sip water, students jostled to snap photos with him. "I've never seen this many people gathered here," said James Tulloch, a third-year health-sciences student. A grizzled champion of ancient wisdom and divine revelation, Knechtle (pronounced connect-lee) has in recent years become an improbable celebrity at college campuses across the country, popularity that coincides with a renewed interest in faith among young people. "There's this perception that college students don't want to pursue God, and that is the farthest thing from the truth," said Ella Wang, a Duke University sophomore who attended a recent visit by the Knechtles. "There are so many kids who are for the first time in their lives thinking, 'What is my purpose here?'" |
| The Pentagon's New 'Distinguished Military Colleges' | |
| The Pentagon last month designated five institutions as distinguished military colleges. Hillsdale College, Liberty University, Louisiana State University, Mississippi State University and Tuskegee University join the six congressionally designated senior military colleges in what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is calling America's Corps of Cadets. The schools will establish self-governed student cadet corps programs similar to those of senior military colleges that offer rigorous military education and tactical training. Done well, the initiative will provide a new model for officer recruitment that makes a military career more accessible for young Americans. To be successful, the program must be more than a rebranding of pre-existing Reserve Officers' Training Corps programs on civilian campuses. The distinguished military college designation predates World War I but was dropped in the mid-20th century. At the time, the War Department recognized schools such as Pennsylvania Military College and LSU as distinguished military colleges based on an annual formal inspection of their corps of cadets programs, facilities and instruction. Mr. Hegseth's new initiative should restore similar metric-based assessments. |
| Fighting in D.C. to save journalism | |
| Mississippi newspaper publisher and columnist Wyatt Emmerich writes: After visiting daughter Ruth in New York City, Ginny, Lawrence and I took the train from Manhattan's Penn Station to D.C.'s Union Station. ... We stayed at the Georgetown Marriott, where I was attending a "Fly-In" hosted by the News/Media Alliance to lobby Congress to pass legislation helpful to journalism. Tuesday was the main day. Meetings were set up all day long with senators and congressmen. We had professional lobbyist "sherpas" guiding us through this process, both in setting up and conducting the meetings. It's quite a spectacle to behold and interesting to participate in. ... Danielle Coffey, the CEO of the News/Media Alliance, made a special plea for my participation because they needed Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker to be the lead Senate sponsor of our new legislative initiative, the Stealth Bot Prohibition Act. ... That was the message we carried into the congressional offices. And nowhere was our reception more encouraging than in the office of Mississippi's senior senator. ... It felt like I was in the middle of an important moment in our nation's history. The press is the only industry whose freedom is expressly protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Yet it is being destroyed by AI, scraping bots and outright theft. As one Microsoft executive described it, "The largest theft of labor in human history." |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State QB Kamario Taylor, RB Fluff Bothwell questionable vs. LSU | |
| Mississippi State quarterback Kamario Taylor, who was a top Heisman Trophy contender before injuring his leg before a loss against Alabama two weeks ago, is questionable to play against LSU on Saturday. Taylor, whose status was updated on the SEC availability report Wednesday evening, originally injured his leg in a win over Missouri. He played through visible pain against Alabama and had to leave the game in the fourth quarter. The sophomore from Macon, Mississippi, has thrown for 1,450 yards 17 touchdowns and four interceptions. He's second on the team in rushing with 159 yards and one touchdown. Leading rusher Fluff Bothwell, who was second in the SEC in rushing at the time of his injury earlier this month, is also listed as questionable. He has rushed for 403 yards and three touchdowns this season. |
| Kamario Taylor Watch begins for LSU-Mississippi State as SEC availability report is released | |
 | Kamario Taylor Watch has officially begun. Mississippi State's quarterback was listed as questionable in the SEC's initial availability report released Wednesday ahead of the No. 16 Bulldogs' trip to No. 22 LSU. Taylor, the 6-foot-4, 230-pound sophomore, has reportedly been dealing with a foot injury that predates Mississippi State's last game against Alabama on Oct. 3, which Taylor exited early. The Bulldogs were on a bye last weekend. Mississippi State also listed its top running back, Fluff Bothwell, as questionable. LSU had one player, linebacker Tylen Singleton, listed as questionable Wednesday for Saturday's 11 a.m. kickoff. Singleton was listed alongside a handful of athletes who have been out with long-term injuries, including linebacker Whit Weeks, tight end Trey'Dez Green and safety Dashawn Spears. |
| Chris Jans 'more confident' in 2026-27 roster at SEC Media Days | |
| Chris Jans used to sell paint. Jans graduated from Division III Loras College in 1991 and went to work at Sherwin-Williams. He'd never painted in his life and was selling paint to contractors and painters who knew he didn't know what he was talking about. For a while last season, though, Jans joked he thought he might have to pick back up the paintbrush. "I thought I was going to go back to selling paint and window treatments for a while," Jans said at SEC Media Days Wednesday afternoon. Last season Jans had the worst season of his head-coaching career. He finished 13-19, his only losing record, and ended up in the bottom three of the SEC. Jans said last year was "at best a learning experience." Looking back on last year, he said he was not as confident in last year's roster as he is in his 2026-27 squad. "Certainly, we had to make some better decisions in the spring. We're always vigilant, but it was more so. We had to get it right," Jans said. "... It's definitely something our fan base will be happy about, and we're definitely going to have more of an identity than we used to." |
| Soccer: Ranked Bulldogs Welcome Oklahoma For First Time | |
| For the first time ever, Mississippi State will welcome Oklahoma to the MSU Soccer Field on Thursday night. Kickoff between the Bulldogs and the Sooners is set for 6 p.m. CT. State enters the matchup ranked in the TopDrawerSoccer poll (No. 23), marking the first time in head coach Kevin O'Brien's career that he has led a team ranked in either national poll. The Bulldogs are currently tied for fifth in the SEC standings on 10 points. The Sooners are one of three teams tied for seventh on nine. As things stand, 12 points is the line to earn a first-round bye at the SEC Tournament, and a win could put the Bulldogs firmly in that conversation. Thursday night is MSU's Kick or Treat match with children encouraged to wear their Halloween costumes. All kids in costume will be welcomed onto the field to greet the team as it takes the field before the national anthem. Halftime will see a costume contest at midfield, and Bully's Kids Club members can participate in pumpkin painting. |
| Greg Sankey 'certainly concerned' about LSU's relationship with SEC as lawsuit continues | |
 | As expected, the SEC indicated in a federal court filing on Tuesday that it will continue its lawsuit against LSU. The league has been seeking to clarify that it has the authority to enforce its own rules, including removing the Tigers from the conference should the other members vote to do so. On Wednesday at SEC basketball media days, commissioner Greg Sankey said he wasn't going to comment on the issue. "We'll let our filings speak for themselves on these issues," Sankey said. With the SEC still trying to prove it has the power to remove LSU or any other school from the league, Sankey also fielded a question about what it would take for him to feel better about the Tigers' standing in the conference. "Well, I'd like to not be in court," Sankey said. "But, as I said, those legal filings speak for themselves." |
| Greg Sankey says he's 'concerned' that LSU's relationship with the SEC has been damaged | |
| Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey said Wednesday he was "concerned" that the league's legal battle with LSU could damage the conference's relationship with one of its founding members. Sankey addressed reporters a day after the SEC submitted a filing in federal court asking that its lawsuit against LSU officials not be dismissed because Tigers coach Will Wade still could add ex-pro RJ Luis to his roster. Sankey was transparent about his worry that these legal proceedings could damage the SEC's relationship with LSU. "Certainly concerned, and we've had disagreements among our membership over time," Sankey said. "So this is Year 12 for me. I know that there's also a commitment to the league and a commitment to its members. But we have to work through some of these difficulties." Wade, who couldn't travel for his slotted appearance at SEC media days on Tuesday because of weather, answered questions virtually, revealing he doesn't have Luis -- the former St. John's star who signed an NBA contract -- on his team. |
| SEC commissioner Greg Sankey: 24-team CFP decision could come 'sooner than later' | |
| The SEC is open to expanding the College Football Playoff to 24 teams, with a resolution coming soon, commissioner Greg Sankey told reporters. "We'll make some final decisions -- probably sooner rather than later -- is my expectation," Sankey said from SEC basketball media day Wednesday morning. The Big Ten and SEC share decision-making power in shaping the future CFP alignment. Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti and his conference athletic directors have pushed to double the current 12-team format to 24 teams. Sankey and SEC officials were initially tepid to such a major expansion, but have gradually warmed to it. "Attitudes change over time and perspectives change, and so we'll see where that leads us from a final decision standpoint," Sankey said. "I think in general, we have achieved some of the progress we've expected on scheduling commitments. We'll see if we can finalize those across the nation." |
| Can Greg Sankey's proposed College Football Playoff scheduling requirement work? | |
| From SEC basketball media days on Wednesday, commissioner Greg Sankey expressed perhaps his most optimistic public views of an expanded 24-team College Football Playoff. He described the league as having "openness" to the expansion format and that a decision is expected "soon rather than later." He said something else too. "I think in general we have achieved some of the progress we've expected on scheduling commitments," he told reporters. "We'll see if we can finalize those across the nation." If you're a frequent reader here, you already know what we reported on Sept. 3 -- that Sankey, in a memo to other conference commissioners, outlined priorities if his league is to possibly agree to a 24-team playoff, including that very scheduling commitment he referenced above: requiring teams to play 10 games against power conference competition to be eligible for the postseason. As noted by Sankey's comment -- achieved some progress on scheduling commitments --- the other power leagues, most notably the Big Ten, have agreed to the requirement: Each power league program playing nine conference games must have one non-conference game against a power league opponent (the Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, SEC or Notre Dame). |
| 'The JMU Way': Why James Madison keeps winning, no matter who's in charge | |
| The old-timers in Harrisonburg, Virginia, remember where this all started. It wasn't so long ago, in fact. In September of 1972, a 30-year-old man named Challace McMillin recruited 60 men to form the first-ever football team at what was, just five years before, an all-women's university called Madison College. As the story goes, McMillin wandered through class registration lines plucking the most burly of men. Half of them quit before the very first practice. It did nothing to slow then-president Ron Carrier's plans of creating a football program to "change the psychology" of a campus still transitioning to coeducational. Three years later, in 1975, Madison College finished undefeated and won the Virginia College Athletic Association. More than a half-century later, James Madison University's athletic program buzzes with fervor. On Monday morning, more good news arrived: The school accepted membership in the American Conference, just four years after transitioning from FCS to FBS. "If you are asking if I would have predicted 25 years ago or even 15 years ago, this level of success, no," said Charlie King, a now-retired, longtime JMU vice president. King, and others interviewed by Yahoo Sports, help answer a vexing question. How did this former all-women's college, tucked amid the rolling hills and blue crest mountains of the Shenandoah Valley, become one of the nation's fastest-ascending athletic programs in NCAA Division I? |
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