| Friday, June 25, 2021 |
| MSU Extension Service agents to assess agricultural damage from June flooding | |
 | Mississippi State University Extension Service agents will be assessing agricultural damage from early-June flooding until well into July. Leaders said preliminary estimates indicate losses could break records. According to the extension service, the 2019 Yazoo Backwater Area flood caused $617 million in crop damage alone. It looks like the more recent flood will exceed those losses. Heavy rainfall, primarily north of U.S. Highway 82, throughout the second week of June 2021 waterlogged crops during critical growth stages. Flooding caused complete or partial losses in many fields. MSU said rainfall totals for that week were as high as 20 inches in some areas. In the aftermath, many producers requested damage assessments through the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. MSU Extension agents conduct these evaluations in concert with MEMA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency to record all disaster-related agricultural damages, including crops, equipment, structures, and livestock. |
| MSU Extension, MAFES partner to host ag tech course | |
 | A yearly seed technology short course offered at Mississippi State University has expanded its scope to include additional agricultural technologies. The MSU Extension Service and Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station invite seed industry professionals, producers and crop consultants to attend the Seed and Ag Technology Short Course Aug. 3-4 at the Bost Extension Conference Center. Participants will learn about precision agricultural technologies and practices for seed and crop production, including digital applications, data management strategies, UAV applications and precision planting technologies. Other topics will include equipment safety, H2A/B labor management practices, state and federal seed laws, seed treatments and biologics, seed quality evaluation and testing, control and automated solutions for seed processing and handling, and the influence of fungicides and harvest aids on seed quality. Seed and agricultural industry professionals, stakeholders, producers, crop consultants and research professionals are invited to the two-day course. |
| College Bound: Mississippi State, Ole Miss top choices for Northside graduates | |
| Mississippi State University is the No. 1 college choice for 2021 graduates of eight high schools in northeast Jackson, Madison and Ridgeland. Overall, 243 students have selected MSU for their higher education compared to 233 who chose the University of Mississippi. Forty-three graduates of Jackson Academy plan to attend Ole Miss, while 25 graduates plan to attend MSU. At Jackson Prep, 48 students in the Class of 2021 will head to Ole Miss and 43 to Mississippi State. At Germantown High School, 83 students have selected Holmes Community College; 50, Mississippi State; and 36, Ole Miss. At Madison-Ridgeland Academy, 27 students will be freshmen at Mississippi State University and 20 at Ole Miss. At Madison Central High School, 69 students will enter Mississippi State University; 54, the University of Mississippi; and 33, Holmes Community College. At Ridgeland High School, seven students are going to Mississippi State and six each to Ole Miss and the University of Southern Mississippi. St. Andrew's Episcopal School will have 18 students on the Ole Miss campus and eight students on the Mississippi State campus. At St. Joseph Catholic High School, eight students will take the next step at Ole Miss and 14 at Mississippi State. Popular choices also include Holmes Community College, which is the selection of 160 students; University of Southern Mississippi, 54; and Hinds Community College, 56. |
| Starkville aldermen hope to overturn veto of scooter ban | |
 | Two Starkville aldermen announced a special-call meeting for 1 p.m. Friday to discuss Mayor Lynn Spruill's veto of the Bird scooter ban. Spruill issued a veto Tuesday of the board's June 15 ban on Bird scooters within city limits, but Ward 3 Alderman David Little and Ward 5 Alderman Hamp Beatty, who support the ban, requested the special-call meeting in hopes of overturning it. If the veto isn't addressed before June 30, the matter would fall to the new board that will have two new members, Jeffrey Rupp for Ward 3 and Mike Brooks for Ward 4. Little, an outgoing alderman who did not seek re-election, said safety issues are the driving force behind the meeting. The initial reasoning behind the board banning the scooters in the city derived from multiple complaints from citizens about the scooters, such as riders taking them down highways and sidewalks and users operating them under the influence. "I know the mayor has been working with them to improve on that," Little said. "I don't know how you're going to stop folks from riding on sidewalks. That's just a user issue." In order to overturn the veto, five of the seven aldermen must vote in favor of maintaining the ban. While the original vote was 4-3, Little said he thinks one more person will flip their vote and likely vote his way. "I believe we have (the votes)," Little said. "Otherwise, we'd be wasting everyone's time." |
| State, local governments may have to pay more for public pension plan | |
| The board that oversees the Mississippi Public Employee Retirement System is pondering whether to increase the amount paid into the pension plan by state agencies, local governments and education entities. The issue of whether to increase what is known as the employer contribution rate to ensure the long-term financial viability of the public pension plan was discussed recently by the Administrative Committee of the Board of Trustees of PERS, but no action was taken. But Shelley Powers, a spokesperson for PERS, said the issue "most likely will be revisited" during the Aug. 23-24 meeting or during a special-called July meeting. The increase in the contribution rate could cost state and local governments an additional ten of millions of dollars annually. A recent report by the Legislature's Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review Committee highlighted the possibility of the employer contribution being increased. The report pointed out that because of multiple factors some warning indicators were "flashing red." Most state, city and county employees and public educators are in the system that currently has about 325,000 members, including current employees, retirees and others who used to work in the public sector but no longer do. In total, about 10% of the state's population is in the system to some extent. |
| Will Philip Gunn run? Speaker signaling 2023 challenge of Gov. Tate Reeves | |
| He's been crisscrossing the state for months meeting with local leaders. He's on track to have $1 million in his campaign coffer this year. He's taking jabs at Gov. Tate Reeves at every opportunity. Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn sure shows all the signs of someone strongly considering a gubernatorial run in 2023. It hasn't gone unnoticed. A potential internecine GOP battle between Gunn and Reeves has become the buzz of the summer among Mississippi politicos. They appear to be split between calling it a fool's errand or a golden opportunity to oust an incumbent known more for creating enemies and strong-arming campaign donors than pushing policy and building consensus. Asked directly about whether he would run in 2023, Gunn told Mississippi Today: "My focus is doing a good job as speaker of the House. I'm traveling the state talking about what we are trying to accomplish legislatively. I do not know what the future holds." Note he did not say he isn't considering a run. Modern history shows unseating an incumbent governor -- especially a Republican -- in a primary is a difficult task and a rare occurrence nationwide. The governor in Mississippi is de facto head of the state party, and by custom picks their own party chairman, which Reeves has done. Big money campaign donors are typically reluctant to switch horses midstream. Gunn, 58, is said to be receiving encouragement to run from many powerful quarters, but so far, those quarters are hesitant to say so publicly. Several declined to speak on the record with Mississippi Today about a possible Gunn challenge. |
| House Speaker Philip Gunn's argument for eliminating Mississippi income tax | |
| Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn addressed a variety of issues during an interview on The Gallo Show on SuperTalk Mississippi Thursday morning. State revenues are close to $1 billion over estimates. The House Speaker told us you have to remember that a lot of money was infused into the economy through the federal government. "I've been pointing to that to say this is a reason to do the income tax." Gunn is referring to plans to phase out the income tax, as was debated in the last legislative session. "One of my arguments has been when you give people more money in their pocket they're going to spend it. We've seen that be true over the last year." Gunn has been touring the state speaking to different groups to explain how the plan might benefit Mississippi and its residents. |
| Trump administration appointee joins Gov. Tate Reeves' cabinet | |
 | Gov. Tate Reeves has made four new appointees among his senior staff members, with Liz Welch taking over some duties assigned to previous Chief of Staff Brad White. Welch will be temporarily assigned White's administrative and management duties within the governor's office. The news comes weeks after White was tapped to take over as executive director of the Mississippi Department of Transportation. David Maron will serve as deputy chief of staff and legal counsel; Anne Hall Brashier will take over as deputy chief of staff of policy and legislative affairs; and Cory Custer will serve as deputy chief of staff of external affairs. Custer is a former Trump administration appointee, who served as assistant commissioner for the Office of Public Affairs with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He also served as senior advisor to the U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of Investment and Innovation. |
| 57 years after 'Mississippi Burning' slayings, state releases investigation files | |
 | Records documenting the Mississippi murders of three civil rights activists who traveled to the Deep South during the volatile summer of 1964 to help register voters have been released for public review 57 years later. The Mississippi Department of Archives and History on Wednesday made available volumes of information related to the murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner. The notorious case often was referred to as the 'Mississippi Burning' by the FBI, a reference to the burned-out station wagon the slain men were driving and authorities recovered. Former Clarion Ledger investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell, whose reporting led to the reopening of the case by the Mississippi Attorney General in 2004, said the records may reveal new details and insights. "I think this will shed more light on the case," Mitchell said. "A deep dive into these records can obviously tell us a lot more on how the cases were put together and give us names to track down people and ask them 'Hey, what was it like." The records also include details about dozens of other racially-motivated assaults and crimes in Neshoba County, where the slayings took place. The materials were gathered and compiled by the Mississippi Attorney General's Office, which won a manslaughter conviction on the 2005 anniversary of the murders. |
| Rep. Kabir Karriem to host 'one-stop shop' day of 'empowerment' Monday | |
| COVID-19 gave Rep. Kabir Karriem a couple of extra months to think about what he would tell his constituents in Columbus about the 2021 legislative session. Normally, the second-term legislator provides that update as part of his annual Mother's Day event in May. But with that event scaled down, Karriem chose to wait until conditions suitable to a gathering were safer. In the interim, he began to think not only about the legislative session, but all the other challenges people in his district face. "It all just sort of hit me -- the homelessness, the number of vaccinations going down, people without jobs, the fact that so many of our people are renters," Karriem said. "What people need now is hope. They also need help." Monday at 5 p.m. at the Columbus Municipal Complex, Karriem will host "A Day of Empowerment," where he said he'll provide his annual legislative update -- "the good, the bad and the ugly," he called it -- but much more. "It's kind of a one-stop shop," Karriem said. Those who attend can register to vote, get the COVID-19 vaccination, receive free legal assistance for having criminal records expunged, learn how to qualify for a home loan, get a job and take home some groceries. |
| State public water supply official feared Jackson's water plants were on verge of failure | |
| A top official at the Mississippi State Department of Health had deep concerns that Jackson's water system was on the brink of failure months before a February winter storm system shut it down, leaving thousands of residents with no water for drinking, bathing or flushing toilets for weeks. First posted to Jackson Jambalaya Wednesday, Bureau of Public Water Supply Director William Moody wrote in a June 25, 2020 email to Amy McLeod, a regional engineer in Moody's division, that processes at the O.B. Curtis Water Treatment Plant in northeast Jackson were in "major decline" and had "shoestring operating conditions" that posed safety risks. "If the string breaks, the system may not be able to cover the water usage demand, or worse, not be able to ensure the safety of their drinking water," Moody wrote. Moody said the city's two water treatment plants were "barely able to keep up" with operational requirements. Poor management and maintenance, financial issues and the inability to stay in compliance with federal mandates set by the Safe Drinking Water Act were rapidly creating a "perfect storm" that would eventually lead to a complete failure at the plants, Moody said. Liz Sharlot, director of communications for the health department, said in a statement Thursday that the agency is working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to improve the state of Jackson's water system and its operations. |
| White farmer wins temporary halt to program for Black counterparts | |
 | A federal judge in Florida halted the Biden administration's new debt relief program for minority farmers on Wednesday. Judge Marcia Morales Howard, an appointee of President George W. Bush, temporarily blocked the Agriculture Department from implementing a $4 billion program aimed at helping distressed minority farmers on the basis that it likely violates white farmers' rights to equal protection under the 14th amendment to the Constitution. Howard ordered the Agriculture Department not to issue payments under the program for "socially disadvantaged" farmers until she can rule on the merits of the case. She wrote that the program, which is embedded in President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan law, is "significantly likely" to violate the constitutional rights of the plaintiff, a white farmer named Scott Wynn. Her order creates a nationwide injunction against the debt-relief program. Earlier this month, in a similar case, a Wisconsin judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking implementation of the program, which covers up to 120 percent of the debts of farmers who are members of groups that have historically been discriminated against based on their race or ethnicity. Several white farmers have filed suit in cases across the country, at least one of which is backed by America First Legal, a group founded by former Trump White House aides. |
| In rare bipartisan move, Senate approves bill to help farmers profit on climate action | |
 | The Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill on Thursday to help shore up private agriculture and forestry carbon markets. The vote was 92-8. The bill -- a rare example of bipartisan action on climate -- asks the Agriculture Department to create a certification program to help farmers, ranchers and foresters navigate a growing array of private-sector programs and make money by selling carbon credits. Such landowners can generate the credits by changing their operations to cut emissions or pull more carbon dioxide from the air into soil or trees. "It allows USDA to provide legitimacy to the trustworthy actors in the marketplace," Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), co-author of the bill, said on the Senate floor Thursday. Senate Agriculture Chair Debbie Stabenow, a primary backer of the bill, had been working around the clock to resolve a handful of holds on the bill in recent days. She said Thursday the overall goal is to get farmers to work with USDA "to design a carbon market that works for them, not Wall Street." By the time the bill hit the floor Thursday, it had 55 co-sponsors -- an unusually large and bipartisan roster that was almost evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. The legislation is backed by a broad coalition of outside groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, an organization with a long history of opposing federal climate legislation, and major environmental groups like the Environmental Defense Fund and the Nature Conservancy. |
| Infrastructure breakthrough marks victory for political center | |
 | President Biden's deal with a bipartisan group of 10 senators is throwing a lifeline to one of Washington's most endangered species: The political center. The agreement announced outside the White House and captured in back-slapping photos that quickly ricocheted throughout Washington, came after significant doubt had been cast on the group's ability to lock down a deal. Many had predicted the talks would collapse or unravel, and had said Biden was wasting time. Instead, Biden's appearance outside the White House with the bipartisan Senate group marked a big win for Senate moderates and Biden himself, who campaigned as a dealmaker but struggled to break through with Republicans. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), in a rare gaggle with reporters on Capitol Hill, took a veiled jab at the naysayers. "Folks around D.C. and around the nation will lament and say that bipartisanship is a thing that's gone past. And you all have heard for weeks now people saying that a bipartisan agreement couldn't happen," Sinema said. She said the deal "is proof that bipartisanship is alive and well in the United States Senate and in our country." The bipartisan agreement is already facing pushback from both sides of the aisle. |
| Former VP Mike Pence: Idea of overturning election results is 'un-American' | |
 | Former Vice President Mike Pence has defended his role in certifying the results of the 2020 election, saying he's "proud" of what he did on Jan. 6 and declaring there's "almost no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president." Pence, a potential 2024 presidential contender, delivered his strongest rebuttal to date of former President Donald Trump's continued insistence that he could unilaterally overturn the results of the last election, even though the Constitution granted him no such power. A mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 in a bid to halt the certification process and transition of power, with some chanting, "Hang Mike Pence!" Pence, in remarks at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Thursday, directly addressed those who continue to blame him for Trump's defeat to now-President Joe Biden, who won the Electoral College on a 306-232 vote. "Now there are those in our party who believe that, in my position as presiding officer over the joint session, that I possessed the authority to reject or return electoral votes certified by the states," Pence said. "But the Constitution provides the vice president with no such authority before the joint session of Congress. "And the truth is," he continued, "there's almost no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president. The presidency belongs to the American people and the American people alone." |
| Rudy Giuliani's New York Law License Suspended Over False Election 2020 Statements | |
 | A New York court suspended Rudy Giuliani's state law license Thursday after concluding that he made "demonstrably false and misleading statements" in his effort to reverse the results of the 2020 election in favor of former President Donald Trump. Mr. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, represented Mr. Trump as his personal attorney beginning in 2018 with the Russia investigation. After the 2020 election, Mr. Giuliani led a legal team that laid out sprawling and unsupported allegations of a conspiracy between Democratic officials and foreign governments to steal the presidential election for Joe Biden. "These false statements were made to improperly bolster [Giuliani's] narrative that due to widespread voter fraud, victory in the 2020 United States presidential election was stolen from his client," the New York appellate division wrote in an order based on the findings of a continuing investigation by its attorney-grievance committee. It is unusual for the appellate division to suspend a lawyer's license before the grievance committee completes its investigation, ethics lawyers said. The 33-page order said the court acted now because Mr. Giuliani's conduct threatened the public interest, citing Mr. Giuliani's "past, persistent and pervasive dissemination of these false statements in the media." The suspension of Mr. Giuliani's law license comes as courts across the country are weighing whether some of the failed legal challenges to the 2020 presidential election were frivolous or improper and warrant punishment for the lawyers who filed them. |
| Speaker Nancy Pelosi launches new probe of Capitol attack, 500th defendant arrested | |
| U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday created a new House committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, after Senate Republicans in May blocked an independent commission to probe the assault. Some 500 people have now been arrested in the sweeping federal investigation into the violence, the Justice Department said on Thursday. Speaking at a news conference, Pelosi, a Democrat, declined to spell out a timeline for the panel to investigate, saying it will be "as long as it takes". She gave no details of the make-up of the panel, but made clear both parties would be expected to name members, saying she hoped that House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy will appoint "responsible people" to the panel. Pelosi said it would have been preferable to have an outside commission, and that she had not totally given up on that idea. The House passed legislation to set up an independent bipartisan commission, but Senate Republicans blocked it, saying existing committee probes as well as prosecutors' investigations made it unnecessary. "We see this as complementary, not instead of, and hopeful that there could be a commission at some point," Pelosi said. |
| Lagging vaccination rates, rising Delta strain: how Gulf States are handling latest COVID concerns | |
 | Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama have the lowest vaccination rates in the U.S, but the Delta variant of COVID-19 is starting to spread. And it's raising concerns. The Delta variant, which caused a massive surge of cases and deaths in India, is highly transmissible and is spreading quickly in the U.S. now. This dangerous variant of the coronavirus is likely to become the dominant strain within weeks, reports NPR. As of June 23, there are 29 cases of the Delta variant in Mississippi, 20 in Alabama and 10 in Louisiana. That's double the number of cases from a week ago. Though hospitalizations have been relatively flat across the region, officials say almost all of the new severe cases are among the unvaccinated. A slow vaccine rollout is a major concern as the Delta variant spreads, said Mississippi state epidemiologist Paul Byers during a June 23 press conference. "We're starting to see a bit of an increased proportion of cases and deaths among our younger population," Byers said. "We are still seeing deaths in our older, vulnerable population who have not been fully vaccinated. And a lot of that occurs from the transmission that we're seeing in younger folks. We still are seeing some lags." Looking ahead to the fall, health officials are worried about how outbreaks will impact schools being able to reopen, especially as the state now struggles to vaccinate individuals younger than 16. In Mississippi, just 4% of people aged 12-17 were fully vaccinated. |
| Federal health officials find vaccine benefits outweigh small cardiac risk for teens, young adults | |
 | Federal health officials said Wednesday there is a "likely association" between two coronavirus vaccines and increased risk of a rare heart condition in adolescents and young adults, the strongest assertion so far on the link between the two. Data presented to advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention adds to recent findings, most notably from Israel, of rare cases of myocarditis -- inflammation of the heart muscle -- predominantly in males ages 12 to 39, who experience symptoms after the second dose of the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Most cases have been mild and have taken place several days to a week after the second shot, officials said. Chest pain is the most common symptom. Patients generally recover from symptoms and do well. There have been 1,226 reports of myocarditis out of about 300 million mRNA doses administered in the United States, as of June 11, according to Tom Shimabukuro, a CDC vaccine safety official. Of those, 267 were reported after the first dose and 827 after the second, and 132 reports did not indicate which dose. Experts and health officials said the additional data needs to be understood in the broader context of risk: With virus variants increasing, and adolescents and young adults making up a greater percentage of covid-19 cases, unvaccinated teens and young adults are far more likely to contract the disease. Getting covid-19 puts someone at far greater risk of heart inflammation and other serious medical problems than the risk of getting myocarditis from vaccination, they said. |
| Pat Coats Named Interim Executive Director of UM's DeSoto Campus | |
| The University of Mississippi at DeSoto Center campus in Southaven will see a transition in leadership this summer with the retirement of executive director Rick Gregory and the promotion of Patricia "Pat" Coats into this role. Gregory is closing out a career in education that spans more than 30 years and two different continents. Before taking the helm at UM-DeSoto in 2013, he served as president/dean of the International College of Lijiang College in Guilin, China, and as vice president and dean of the Gary Cook Graduate School of Leadership at Dallas Baptist University. Gregory's experience in higher education brought a different perspective to the board, said Debbie King, executive director of the chamber. "Dr. Gregory's leadership with the Southaven chamber was paramount to the business community because of his collective yet commanding leadership style that included being directly involved in legislative matters that affected business in DeSoto County," King said. UM Associate Provost Tony Ammeter, director of the Division of Outreach and Continuing Education, said that even though he will miss Gregory's enthusiasm, leadership and sense of humor, they both share excitement at having Coats assume the leadership role at UM-DeSoto. "She has a strong passion for our students and is an experienced administrator," he said. "We are very much looking forward to working with her." |
| Biloxi is getting a new coding and cyber security training center with free tuition | |
 | Downtown Biloxi has been selected for a new training facility for high-tech, high-paying computer jobs. The announcement of was made Wednesday that University of Southern Mississippi's School of Computing Sciences and Computer Engineering and Mississippi Coding Academies are working with Biloxi to bring the new facility to South Mississippi. Future locations are also planned on the Coast. Applications for the new Biloxi Cyber Center, scheduled to launch in early August, are already being accepted at www.mscoding.org. Biloxi Mayor Andrew "FoFo" Gilich has worked to bring high-tech computer jobs to the city since he was elected. The Biloxi site will provide software development and cyber security training for adults to prepare them for entry-level cyber security industry certification. "This is a great opportunity for adults re-entering the workforce, veterans, or recent high school graduates to upskill for jobs in software development and cybersecurity," said Dr. Sarah Lee, Director of the School of Computing Sciences and Computer Engineering at USM. USM will provide instruction for the cybersecurity modules that will prepare participants for the CompTIA Security + certification exam. |
| Mississippi College School of Nursing earns accreditation for its MSN program | |
| The Mississippi College School of Nursing just earned a significant accolade for the school's newest program. The school announced that it received accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) for its MSN program. "Accreditation is an essential part of any professional program," said Dean of Nursing Kimberly Sharp. "The accreditation journey is never over, but we needed to receive our initial approval for the MSN degree." Now that the School of Nursing has preliminary accreditation, it plans to explore other concentrations for students interested in earning a master's degree in nursing. "The MSN program needed to be created from scratch," Sharp recalled. "We were required by IHL to hire CNL-prepared instructors several years before the program even began. MC's administration has been very committed to the support and development of this new program track." The 36-hour program can be completed entirely online, although students must complete 400 hours of clinical practice to finish their degrees. |
| 'Discover Days': Belhaven inviting any age high schooler to tour campus | |
| Belhaven University is inviting any age high student the opportunity to discover its campus. You have the opportunity to meet professors, take a tour of campus, hear from current students, and hear from the president. You can also meet the admission counselors and talk about the enrollment process. The school says it had a lot of student requests for tours so they decided to open up the campus to students, even though they may not be old enough to start college. "Coming as a freshman you may have a different feel or outlook of a campus visit compared to a junior or senior who is really kind of looking at final details and trying to make a final decision," Stefanie Grayson, assistant director of campus visits, events, and student ambassadors. "We encourage them to visit as much as they can and as many schools as possible." |
| University: Famed Kentucky writer Wendell Berry must butt out of decision on mural stirring racial conflict | |
 | The University of Kentucky argues renowned Kentucky poet Wendell Berry and his wife, Tanya, have no standing and can't intervene in its decision to remove a mural denounced by Black students. In its move to dismiss a lawsuit, UK says that the mural in Memorial Hall is not part of a "public trust," as the Berrys have argued, but rather a piece of government speech, according to court records. The university is entitled to make decisions about the messages it conveys, and UK argues that includes the mural. Even if the case is thrown out in Franklin County court next month, the celebrated novelist isn't likely to give up, according to Scott White, the attorney representing the couple. No matter who wins, an appeal is likely, extending the battle, he said. The university has said it wants to remove the mural because it depicts enslaved people and because of how those depictions impact Black students. The Berrys argue that the artist who made the mural, Tanya Berry's maternal aunt, Ann Rice O'Hanlon, had meant to show that Black people were central to building the region. UK doesn't typically comment on legal action, but in its response to the lawsuit, it argues that the mural's message undermines the university's efforts to bring equality and inclusion to the campus. The university also states in its filings that it has no intention to destroy the mural, just to move it. |
| U. of Missouri System Curators say no context needed for Thomas Jefferson statue; vote down Legacy Walk | |
 | The Thomas Jefferson statue will remain on the University of Missouri campus without context. And there will be no Legacy Walk to acknowledge the role of enslaved people in building the University of Missouri. Those are the results of separate votes Thursday by the University of Missouri System Board of Curators. A task force appointed by UM System President and MU Chancellor Mun Choi worked for months to develop the recommendations after new calls to remove the statue of the founding father and slaveholder emerged. The recommendations were made in February. Student Roman Leapheart started an online petition a year ago seeking removal of the statue, gathering thousands of signatures. Choi developed the task force as a compromise. A resolution proposed by Curator Greg Hoberock, to link a QR code near the statue with additional information, failed on a 4-4 vote, with Julia Brncic, Maurice Graham, Hoberock and Michael Williams voting in favor and Darryl Chatman, Todd Graves, Jeff Layman and Robin Wenneker voting "no." A second vote was on a resolution to reject the task force recommendation. That vote was 7-1, with Brncic voting "no." Graves said he disagrees with Jefferson's religious views, but doesn't think that should accompany his statue. He said not everything about Jefferson can be included when providing context. "How far are we going to go?" Graves asked. |
| U. of Missouri provost answers questions about School of Medicine tenured salary cuts | |
 | University of Missouri Provost Latha Ramchand was peppered with questions about salary cuts at Thursday's MU Faculty Council meeting. About 20 tenured faculty in MU's School of Medicine will see salary cuts ranging from 10% to 25% starting Sept. 1 after recent productivity reviews, the Missourian has reported. Members of the council brought up concerns with the reviews and cuts. They asked when the criteria included in the reviews were implemented, about the lack of shared governance within the School of Medicine, how much money was being saved by the cuts and more. Peter Wilden, a member of the council and the Fiscal Affairs Committee chair, shared concerns on behalf of some faculty in the School of Medicine, where he is based. He said they were worried the criteria for the reviews had been updated and shared too late for faculty to adjust their behavior. Wilden likened the sharing of the criteria to "having the rules changed in the middle of the game." Ramchand agreed that the criteria were shared late and said ideally faculty would be given time to adjust, but that didn't happen in this case. She emphasized that while not justifying how the criteria were shared, MU did look to other universities to see how they handled tenured faculty reviews. |
| College applications pour in because of optional ACT, SAT test scores amid COVID-19 | |
 | Melanie Urgiles considered Johns Hopkins University a "reach" school. The first-generation Latina student from Sleepy Hollow High, 25 miles outside Manhattan, wasn't sure she'd get in, considering John Hopkins accepts just 11% of applicants. But when the selective university announced it was going "test-optional" and wouldn't require SAT or ACT scores for applicants, Urgiles decided she'd take a chance. And she was far from the only one. College applications soared for the 2021-22 school year as thousands of students took advantage of relaxed test score policies during COVID-19. America's colleges, on average, experienced a jump in applications of at least 11% -- including public, private and selective universities, plus historically Black colleges. That's according to Common App, which provides a one-size-fits-all application to more than 900 colleges and universities. At selective schools -- where the acceptance rate is typically less than 50% -- the spike was largest: Applications increased by an average of 21%. "The silver lining of COVID is that many of these selective institutions had historically diverse application pools," said Jenny Rickard, CEO of Common App. "The pandemic underscored the importance and value of higher education. People who were able to work from home or keep their jobs, for the most part, had college educations." |
| Campus safety advocates push for federal emphasis on Clery Act | |
 | When a recent graduate of a Virginia college formally reported last August that she was raped off campus, she was disappointed to learn her complaint was made two weeks too late. New rules for how colleges handle sexual misconduct complaints had just taken effect and removed off-campus sexual misconduct reports -- as well as those not involving current students -- from the purview of Title IX, the federal law which prohibits sex discrimination at federally funded institutions. (Wednesday was the 49th anniversary of passage of the law.) The woman, who does not want to be identified, was raped in December 2019 and had graduated from the college more than a year earlier. She was working for the institution when she reported the assault, and her assailant was still a student there. But because she was raped in a private residence off campus, college officials told her the case fell outside of Title IX. The U.S. Department of Education, under policies created by the Trump administration, had by that point begun to mandate that colleges dismiss Title IX complaints that "did not occur in the school's education program or activity." In short, the graduate wasn't protected by Title IX, her college told her in a "dismissal notice" closing her case. The letter noted that the dean of students' office could opt to take action against her alleged assailant under the college's general code of conduct, but it was not required to under current federal law. The dismissal left the woman not only disappointed, but anxious and concerned for the safety of other students on campus. She had heard another woman was raped by her assailant. Would he commit another sexual assault if he remained on campus? |
| Doubling the maximum Pell Grant is necessary, experts say, but is it attainable? | |
| The idea of doubling the maximum Pell Grant award has grown to be widely popular, garnering support from hundreds of organizations and people all the way up to President Biden. While the policy proposal may have seemed pie-in-the-sky a decade ago, it's becoming less so now, according to advocates and experts. "There is momentum like we've never seen before," said Michele Streeter, associate director of policy and advocacy at the Institute for College Access and Success. "This is the first time we've ever seen the administration and a bicameral bill from committee leadership that actually is calling for doubling. That's not even necessarily what I would've expected." The federal Pell Grant program provides need-based aid that doesn't have to be repaid to low- and moderate-income students pursuing two- or four-year postsecondary degrees. But the amount of the grant aid available to students hasn't kept up with the rising costs of college -- the maximum Pell Grant used to cover close to 80 percent of the cost of college, and now it covers less than a third. Over 1,200 organizations, including nearly 900 colleges and universities, have signaled their support for doubling the maximum award amount, which stands at $6,495 for the 2021-22 award year. Congressional Democrats are hoping to deliver on their ask. |
| Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona pitches higher ed priorities during House grilling | |
| U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona was in the hot seat Thursday, answering questions about his agency's priorities during a virtual House education committee hearing. Many of House lawmakers' higher education-related questions revolved around reworking the federal student loan system. However, several Republican legislators also brought up concerns dominating conservative circles, including foreign influence on college campuses and the teaching ideas of critical race theory. Cardona opened the House Committee on Education and Labor's roughly five-hour hearing with a pitch for President Joe Biden's spending plans. He highlighted an almost $103 billion proposal for the Education Department that would significantly boost the size of the maximum federal Pell Grant award, and pieces of the $1.8 trillion American Families Plan, which would make two years of community college free and heavily subsidize tuition at four-year minority-serving institutions. Many lawmakers who spoke during the hearing asked about the federal student loan system, including if and when the Education Department would extend the pandemic-era pause on loan repayments, which is set to expire at the end of September. |
| Will rumors of Philip Gunn gubernatorial run change House dynamics for next two years? | |
 | Frank Corder writes for Y'all Politics: Rank and file members of the Mississippi House, along with their fellow Mississippians, have been watching from afar as the political back-and-forth has publicly boiled over the last two years between Speaker Philip Gunn and Governor Tate Reeves. While there is still a thin public veneer of civility, episodically, tensions have escalated to the point where both Republicans seem to wield their influence in tit-for-tat political skirmishes. Speaker Gunn's attempts to politically outflank Governor Reeves with the Republican base has fueled open speculation that he may jump in the 2023 gubernatorial Republican primary against Reeves. As Daily Journal Executive Editor Sam Hall wrote in his Op-Ed on Sunday, Gunn is sending some not so subtle hints that he is at least considering a primary challenge of Reeves. In an off-session statewide speaking tour couched as selling his income tax elimination plan, Gunn has denied it. On several occasions, he's answered the question head on by saying, "Right now, I'm only running for Speaker of the House," or some other variation thereof. Yet, the speculation increases by the day. When asked for comment for this piece, Gunn did not respond. Now the question is: What will even the speculation of a gubernatorial "loser leave town" primary between Gunn and Reeves do to the political dynamics over the last two legislative sessions of this term? |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State has a leg up in the College World Series, but 'pitchers' bracket' could pose challenges | |
| The official, if boring, designation for the four-team grouping in which Mississippi State landed at the College World Series is "Bracket 2." Bulldogs coach Chris Lemonis calls it by a different name. "I feel like we're in the pitchers' bracket," Lemonis said Thursday morning. Sure, Vanderbilt aces Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter are on the other side of things. So are N.C. State starters Reid Johnston and Sam Highfill. But with the overall pitching depth Texas, Virginia and the Bulldogs all possess, Lemonis and his staff have spent plenty of time scouting the arms MSU has faced -- particularly in the bullpen. "At this point in the tournament, that's what you're going to get a lot of," he said. Mississippi State was no exception. After starter Christian MacLeod recorded just four outs in Tuesday's winners' bracket game against the Cavaliers, the Bulldogs' relief corps combined to allow just one run over 7.2 strong innings to hang in the game. It paid off as MSU rallied for six runs in the eighth and hung on for a 6-5 win. And by virtue of that win, Mississippi State got additional rest to let its well-taxed pitchers recuperate. Lemonis pointed to closer Landon Sims, who combined to pitch 4.1 innings across both games, as a player who will benefit from two full days without a game. "That's where the extra day really pays off," Lemonis said. He said everyone should be ready to go for Friday's contest against the Longhorns but declined to name a starter. Left-hander Houston Harding is the logical choice, but the Bulldogs likely won't announce who will take the ball until the starting lineup is released an hour or so before the game. |
| Mississippi State's pitching staff at full speed for Friday's bracket final | |
 | Mississippi State coach Chris Lemonis said all hands are on deck tonight for his pitching staff. MSU, which is 2-0 in the College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, has been sitting in the bracket final waiting to find out its next opponent. Texas defeated Virginia 6-2 in a weather-delayed game Thursday night. The Longhorns are scheduled to play the Bulldogs tonight at 6. And while junior left-handed pitcher Houston Harding has started MSU's third game in both the regionals and super regionals, Lemonis said he was waiting to see how his team matches up with its potential opponent. "Well, we haven't made a decision yet on our starter," Lemonis said on Thursday morning. "We want to see who we play first. We're throwing these guys in practice, they're throwing some in between, they're throwing pens. Shoot, Houston warmed up in the pen the other night. ... All arms are ready to go." The only pitcher that is likely not available for the game is starter Will Bednar, who threw 108 pitches on Sunday and will be needed for a later game. Harding could start, along with Christian MacLeod or even Jackson Fristoe. Mississippi State has used 10 pitchers so far in the CWS – two in Sunday's win and eight in Tuesday's win. The only pitcher that has been used twice is closer Landon Sims, and it isn't going to be the last time he's seen this week. |
| Freshman Kellum Clark giving Mississippi State solid production at bottom of the lineup | |
| Kellum Clark has slowly become a pivotal piece of Mississippi State's lineup this season, and he showed the college baseball world why on Tuesday night. Clark, who has only played in 28 of MSU's 62 games this year, had one of the biggest hits of the Bulldogs' season against Virginia on Tuesday. Virginia pitcher Griff McGarry was no-hitting Mississippi State in the eighth inning, but after an eight-pitch walk to Scotty Dubrule to lead off the inning, freshman Clark sent the first pitch of his at-bat into the right field bullpen to break up the no-hitter, cut Virginia's lead in half and send McGarry out of the game. It was quite the momentum change, as Mississippi State then reeled off three straight hits and took the lead, 5-4, on a Tanner Allen home run. "Kellum has a big swing and hits the home run there," Allen said. "We got on the board, and we got the monkey off our back as a team." It took a while for Clark to begin contributing for Mississippi State. In a normal draft last year, Clark might have gone to play professionally, but he was not selected in the COVID-shortened five-round draft and came to Starkville. Clark became a regular in the MSU lineup on May 9, the finale of a weekend SEC series at South Carolina. He hit a triple in that game, and has started every game as the designated hitter since. |
| Golden Triangle football coaches enjoy experience, lessons learned in Omaha | |
| Seth Stillman knows he picked a good time to attend Mississippi State University. In 2014, the fall after Stillman graduated, the Bulldogs' football team achieved the No. 1 ranking in the country, won 10 games and reached the Orange Bowl. Just one year prior, Stillman traveled to Omaha to watch Mississippi State reach the finals of the 2013 College World Series. "That meant a lot: to be in school there when we were really, really successful," Stillman said. And this summer, the first-year New Hope High School head football coach made another trip to Omaha to watch his alma mater, perhaps hoping to capture the Bulldogs' yearly postseason magic in a TD Ameritrade Park souvenir cup and convey it back to Trojan Field. "It means everything," Stillman said Tuesday of coming to Omaha. "It's something that MSU strives to do every year, and you almost feel like you're going to do it every year." The Bulldogs reached college baseball's elite eight in both 2018 and 2019, and this season, they're back for more. With the cancellation of the 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mississippi State is the only school in the country to have made the last three College World Series. And make no mistake, Stillman said: There are still lessons that can translate from the baseball diamond to the gridiron. |
| Mississippi State's late-game rally against Virginia proves that it's a force to be reckoned with in Omaha | |
| And now you begin to wonder if maybe it is Mississippi State's time. It was a game that went thisaway Tuesday night, before it went thataway, and karma changed sides in less time than it takes to eat a hot dog. Omaha lives for U-turns like this. And its beneficiary almost always goes away feeling as if it can conquer the world. "Crazy college baseball game," Mississippi State coach Chris Lemonis would say later. "That's typical baseball." The team that went into the eighth inning without a hit, trailing 4-0 ... left the eighth with six hits, two home runs and a 6-4 lead. That was Mississippi State. "We talked to the team about it's hard to get the last outs in Omaha," Lemonis said. Put this drop-from-the-sky victory next to the 21 strikeouts the Bulldogs put on Texas the other night, and there is a whiff of something special happening for Mississippi State. There are a lot of good vibes from the Bulldogs 2-0 record here, setting a strikeout record one night and pulling off one of the niftier comebacks in recent memory another. The four-run rally matched the largest ever for a College World Series game in TD Ameritrade Park. The Bulldogs managed this victory striking out only six, or 15 fewer than Sunday night. The team that was outscored 25-3 in the SEC tournament is one victory from the championship finals. "I know this sounds crazy but the ability to take a punch and keep playing is one of our greatest assets we have," Lemonis said. "We've taken punches all year long. That's one thing in our league and playing against the best every weekend is, you get knocked back and you've got to stand up and fight. And our kids, that's what they do." |
| Texas defeats Virginia 6-2 to reach bracket final at CWS | |
| Ivan Melendez and Zach Zubia finally broke out offensively, and just in time to keep Texas alive in the College World Series. Melendez doubled and scored the Longhorns' first run, and hit the tiebreaking single in the eighth inning to help Texas eliminate Virginia with a 6-2 victory in a weather-delayed game that ended early Friday. "As you guys saw the last few weeks, I was slumping it," said Melendez, who entered the game 3 for his last 19. "I hit one to the warning track against Mississippi State and another against Tennessee and I've been drawing a few walks. I was hitting the ball hard, so that was a start." Zubia was 3 for his last 29 when he stepped to the plate in the ninth, and he broke open a one-run game with a bases-clearing double into the left-center gap. He had struck out twice and grounded out in his first three at-bats. The game started 3 hours, 39 minutes late because of rain and lightning. The 9:45 p.m. CDT first pitch was the latest at the CWS since an LSU-Alabama game on June 7, 1997, started at 11:40 p.m. |
| Texas surges past Virginia in 6-2 win to remain alive | |
| A weather delay that lasted more than three and a half hours resulted in the latest start for a College World Series game since 1997, forcing the Texas Longhorns to pull out a 6-2 win against the Virginia Cavaliers at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha in the early hours of Friday morning. First baseman Zach Zubia came through in the ninth inning, breaking a 3-for-30 slump since the opening game of the NCAA Tournament with a phenomenal at bat. Working a full count, Zubia got a fastball up in the zone and used a short swing to smash a two-out, three-run, double into the left-center gap. He knew it immediately. It was Zubia's first hit in this College World Series. The big swing from Zubia gave the Longhorns a commanding lead and right-hander Aaron Nixon slammed the door with a 1-2-3 inning to earn his ninth save of the season. The win earned Texas a rematch against Mississippi State at 6 p.m. Central on Friday, likely against Bulldogs ace Will Bednar, who mowed down the Horns on Sunday. Expect Ty Madden to make the start for Texas, even though head coach David Pierce wasn't willing to confirm that after the game. To make the finals, Texas needs two more wins in elimination games. |
| State has been to Omaha 12 times. This, the third straight trip, is different. | |
| Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: We didn't have a College World Series last year because of COVID-19. Mississippi State's Bulldogs, who had competed in the two before that, have returned for this one. State has been to 12 in all. This one is different. For starters, there was no opening ceremony. There was no pre-tournament press conference or autograph session. There have been no live post-game press conferences. Practices have been closed to the media. In a pre-CWS email from the NCAA, media actually were urged NOT to cover the CWS. ... Your dutiful columnist covered State's first two games from my living room recliner in Jackson, where, via Zoom, I had every bit as much access to the players and coaches as the media in the press box at TD Ameritrade Park, where I'll be the rest of the series. One aspect of the CWS hasn't changed this year. Mississippi State fans have converged on this clean, sprawling midwestern city in maroon-colored legions that will surely grow this weekend. Dudy North, they call it. Chris Lemonis, the Bulldogs's skipper, talked about it Thursday morning during a Zoom media conference when discussing the Tuesday night's come-from-behind victory over Virginia. "It was a cool thing to look up there and see our people," Lemonis said. "It looked and sounded like The Dude." |
| Mississippi State and Ole Miss basketball Big 12/SEC Challenge opponents set | |
 | The pairings for the Big 12/SEC men's basketball challenge were revealed Wednesday, with Ole Miss set to host Kansas State and Mississippi State lined up to play at Texas Tech. All 10 matchups between the two conferences will take place Jan. 29. This will be the ninth annual Big 12/SEC Challenge to date and the seventh consecutive in which all the games are played on one day. Big 12 teams lead 44-35 all-time in the challenge, but the SEC has a narrow 25-24 advantage in the last five seasons. Last season it was Mississippi State's win over Iowa State that secured the challenge victory for the SEC. Texas Tech is 2-0 against the Bulldogs. However, the Red Raiders only won the two games by a combined six points, and the last matchup was in 2015 during Mississippi State coach Ben Howland's first season. For Ole Miss, this will be the third time the Rebels face Kansas State in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. Kansas State won at home in 2013 and then again in 2016 on the road in a narrow victory. |
| MVSU softball players accuse coaches of bullying | |
| Several Mississippi Valley State University softball players are speaking out on social media about issues they have with their coaches and the program that led to depression and them quitting. This all started with one MVSU softball player making a post expressing how the coaching staff led her to being in the worst state of her life mentally. After that, more and more players gained the confidence to share their painful stories. Allyssa Montes pitched for the Devilettes from 2017 to 2019. In her post, Montes stated, "They did everything they did to us simply because they gain satisfaction from being cruel to us." By "they," she is referring to her two coaches, Lee Smith and Brittany Tillery. Montes said the coaches pushed her to the point where she thought about suicide. Lacy Wilburn was a catcher for MVSU and quit the team after her junior year, because she said the environment led her to depression. Wilburn, Montes and several other former MVSU softball players said they're speaking out to save current and future players from what they went through. 12 News reached out to both coaches and athletic director, Dianthia Ford-Kee, for comment but neither answered the phone. We did get in touch with Demetrius Howse, the coordinator of athletic media and public relations. He said, "They have an open investigation going right now to see what's really going on, so we're not making a comment right now at this time." |
| How Vanderbilt's Kumar Rocker can do what Jack Leiter didn't against NC State | |
 | Kumar Rocker opened the College World Series on Saturday with a start that wasn't up to his usual standard. But Vanderbilt won the game, walking off Arizona in the 12th inning. Two days later, teammate Jack Leiter was much more successful against North Carolina State, but he ultimately took the loss, 1-0, despite allowing four hits over eight innings. On Friday, Rocker will get his chance against the Wolfpack with the season on the line. The Commodores (47-16) did their part to get him the ball again, and Rocker will likely need a better start than he had Saturday to keep Vanderbilt alive. The Commodores must beat NC State on Friday and Saturday to advance to the best-of-three games championship series, which begins Monday. Vanderbilt's defense struggled with errors against Stanford on Wednesday, too. But the best way to combat poor defense is for the pitcher to avoid contact in the first place, as Leiter did striking out 15 against the Wolfpack. If there's some good news from that loss, though, it's that Leiter's undoing was a single solo home run, and Rocker has been less homer-prone than Leiter this year. While Leiter gives up few doubles or triples, he has allowed 13 home runs in 104 innings. Rocker has allowed more extra-base hits, but just eight homers in 111 innings. A stalled offense is the main thing that sunk Leiter. He gave up one home run in the fifth inning and the rest was history. The Wolfpack was able to play with the lead. If Vanderbilt can reverse that situation Friday, it could give itself the strategic advantage. |
| College World Series 2021: Elliott Avent and NC State were built for this moment | |
| North Carolina State University has long been home to one of the planet's most revered biological science programs, where for decades scientists specializing in genomics have worked tirelessly to crack the code of DNA. Every phase of their work is a step toward building better living beings, an evolution that might one day result in the perfect person or animal to exist and excel in an environment that they were quite literally created for, raised to both love it and thrive within it. But if they are looking for the perfect subject to study, the consummate example of that "he was built for this" ideal they all strive for, they only need to take a stroll across campus over to Doak Field to watch Elliott Avent coach the NC State Wolfpack baseball team. Only, they can't do that this week. The Pack aren't in Raleigh. They are 1,200 miles away, one of the last four teams remaining in the College World Series and only one win away from playing for a national championship. This scrappy, fearless, giant-slaying NC State squad has become the toast of college baseball, the chosen adopted home team of Omaha, the party crashers who are on their sport's biggest stage for only the third time ever. Led there by a man who has been groomed for and has dreamed of this moment his entire 65-year life. |
| LSU to introduce Jay Johnson as next baseball coach Monday | |
| LSU has decided on its next head baseball coach. The Tigers hired University of Arizona Head Coach Jay Johnson. Johnson will be introduced at a news conference Monday at 4:30. Watch the news conference streaming live on WBRZ Plus. Johnson, who's been with Arizona since 2015, finished first in the Pac-12 last season with a 45-18 record. They were eliminated in the College World Series this week by Stanford. The announcement comes after longtime LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri announced his retirement. Mainieri's career came to a close a little more than a week ago when the Tigers were eliminated by Tennessee in their super regional. "I am humbled and honored to be the head baseball coach at LSU and serve as the steward of the next generation of national champions," Johnson said Friday morning. "I view this as the opportunity of my lifetime and will do everything in my power to have our team playing a brand of baseball that makes everyone at LSU, the Baton Rouge community, and the entire state of Louisiana incredibly proud. Geaux Tigers!" |
| Louisiana governor vetoes transgender sports bill: 'A solution in search of a problem' | |
| Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) vetoed legislation on Tuesday prohibiting transgender girls and women from participating in sports that align with their gender identity. The state legislature passed Senate Bill 156 late last month, which would have required intercollegiate, interscholastic or intramural athletic teams to allow categorize athletes based on "biological sex." "As I have said repeatedly when asked about this bill, discrimination is not a Louisiana value, and this bill was a solution in search of a problem that simply does not exist in Louisiana," Edwards said in a statement on Twitter. "Even the author of the bill acknowledged throughout the legislative session that there wasn't a single case where this was an issue," he continued. The bill passed with a margin wide enough to potentially override Edward's veto. However, according to The Advocate, the Louisiana legislature has never called itself back for a special veto override session. Edwards said that the measure would "make life more difficult for transgender children," who are more vulnerable when it comes to mental health issues. "While there is no issue to be solved by this bill, it does present real problems in that it makes it more likely that NCAA and professional championships, like the 2022 Final Four, would not happen in our state," he said. "For these and for other reasons, I have vetoed the bill." |
| Kentucky to allow college athletes to earn off likeness | |
| Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive order Thursday allowing the state's college athletes -- including players on the nationally renowned Kentucky and Louisville men's basketball teams -- to make money through the use of their name, image or likeness. The Democratic governor said he took the action as a matter of fairness for college athletes. It will spare Kentucky's colleges from being at a competitive disadvantage with rivals in other states that will have laws enabling athletes to profit off their name, image or likeness, he said. "This is important to our student-athletes, who for decades, others -- whether it's companies or institutions -- have profited on," Beshear told reporters. "These athletes deserve to be a part of that." Beshear said his executive order takes effect July 1, when similar legislation passed in several other states will become law. His office said he was the first governor to make the change by executive order. The governor's action won praise from the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville. UK athletics director Mitch Barnhart said the governor's action "provides us the flexibility we need at this time to further develop policies around name, image and likeness." |
| Memphis athletics prepared to launch as dawn of NIL nears sooner than expected | |
| One way or another, the name, image and likeness era of college sports is poised to begin -- and soon. When it does, the University of Memphis' starting quarterback will be able to profit on his autograph. The star guard on the Tigers' basketball team can get paid for a public appearance at the opening for a new car dealership. The school's popular women's basketball player could be compensated for endorsing a local barbecue restaurant or a national apparel brand. Memphis is well positioned for the dawn of this new age after months of preparation and planning. Athletics director Laird Veatch, who established an NIL working group in early fall 2020, is set to announce that the school is partnering with an independent marketing solutions platform aimed at building, protecting and monetizing the brands of its athletes. Adam Walker, Memphis' executive associate athletics director for administration who also serves as chair of the NIL working group, did not identify the company. But he said it has a demonstrated track record of success working with professional athletes, collegiate institutions and businesses in the private sector. Some companies that specialize in helping athletes make the most of their brand include Opendorse, INFLCR, Zoomph and Greenfly. |
| NCAA moving toward hyperlocal solution to NIL as placeholder | |
| The NCAA is lurching toward a temporary, patchwork solution in addressing name, image and likeness compensation for athletes, a hyperlocal approach to allow everyone to earn money off their fame starting July 1 without uniform national rules. The latest strategy to provide clarity to a dramatic change in NCAA policy comes days after the Supreme Court handed down a ruling that left the association exposed to future legal attacks. The NCAA Board of Governors met with the Division I Board of Directors on Thursday to discuss the next step for sorting out NIL. The Board of Governors, the NCAA's highest governing body, put forth no public recommendations following the meeting. The Division I Council discussed possible next moves to NIL earlier this week and is scheduled to convene again Monday. A final decision could be made by the D-I Board of Directors next Wednesday -- one day before NIL laws go into effect in at least seven states. A solution being considered involves the NCAA waiving its rules banning athletes from being paid for use of their name, image and likeness while still keeping bylaws that make pay-for-play and recruiting inducements impermissible, a person involved in the process told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because NCAA discussions about NIL were not yet finalized. |
| NCAA athletes speak out to oppose NCAA's alternative NIL proposal | |
| Some of the most influential college athletes within the NCAA governance system are speaking out against the organization's latest approach in regulating player compensation. Three members of the Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee spoke to Sports Illustrated on Thursday in a passionate defense of the association's original legislative proposal designed to govern how athletes can profit from their name, image and likeness (NIL). Ryan Cassidy, Brynn Carlson and Bryce Choate are united in their frustration over the NCAA's 11th hour decision to abandon an exhaustive legislative policy for a simplified, alternative solution that has been deemed a temporary fix until a Congressional bill is passed. The three current and former athletes made their pleas while sitting on high-ranking NCAA governing bodies this week. Cassidy, a former Rutgers football player, is the athlete representative on the DI Board of Directors, made up of presidents and chancellors. Carlson, a current Missouri women's volleyball player, and Choate, a former Oral Roberts track and field athlete, sit on the NCAA DI Council, made up largely of athletic directors and conference commissioners. |
| Poll Finds Mixed Public Support for Paying College Athletes | |
| A new poll related to the Supreme Court's recent ruling on National Collegiate Athletic Association restrictions of payments to college athletes found public opinion mixed about whether athletes should be allowed to receive modest payments for their name, image or likeness, or NIL. The court ruled that the NCAA may not bar modest payments to athletes, but a nationally representative survey of 1,000 respondents found that although 60 percent of the public supported college athletes making money by selling or endorsing products with their own image or likeness, just 26 percent of the respondents supported paying the athletes directly from university funds, and 45 percent opposed doing so. The poll, released Thursday by the Bucknell Institute for Public Policy, found respondents favored colleges giving athletes a share of the money earned from their sport by the college. Forty-seven percent of respondents favored this option, and 29 percent opposed it. Public opinion on this issue was also sharply divided along political lines. "Both college sports fans and non-sports fans were in agreement on their support for athletes making money from their own image or likeness -- at 62% and 59% respectively -- but there were differences by political affiliation, with 69% of Democrats and 61% of independents supporting the idea, compared with 42% of Republicans," a blog post by the Bucknell institute stated. |
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