| Monday, June 28, 2021 |
| A 'we' tailgate: Food and friendship on the menu at Mississippi State fans' CWS meet-up | |
 | Paul Maloney wants to get one thing straight. The maroon and white congregation at the end of Row 6 of Parking Lot D at TD Ameritrade Park dates back to Maloney and his wife Traci, who made their first trip to the College World Series in 2007. But it's not the Jackson couple who have made their annual event -- now in its 14th year and counting -- a must-stop for Bulldogs fans making the Omaha pilgrimage. "It's not Paul and Traci Maloney's tailgate," Paul said. "It's not a 'me' tailgate; it's a 'we' tailgate." It's the Nebraska man and his daughter who got things off the ground. The Iowa family who helped the Maloneys grow their tailgate bigger and bigger. The Bulldog faithful who come back year after year, always in greater numbers. "If it wasn't for all these people that help, all the people that cook, all the people that contribute, all the people that help set it up and all the people that help break it down, there would be no tailgate," he said. "Period." |
| Ole Miss, Mississippi State will not require COVID-19 vaccinations | |
 | The University of Mississippi and Mississippi State University will not require students to receive a COVID-19 vaccination before returning to campus for the 2021-22 school year. Here's why. The Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees determines which immunizations will be required before enrolling at a college or university in Mississippi. As of right now, only the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is required for all students before registering for classes, according to IHL policy. Students participating in health education programs must also show proof of a Hepatitis B vaccination, and international students must show proof of a test screening for tuberculosis. IHL Board policy requirements do not currently include the COVID-19 vaccine. An amendment to that policy would be required before Mississippi's eight public universities have the authority to require the COVID-19 vaccine or any other vaccine not already mandated. Both universities do, however, encourage students to be fully vaccinated when they return. The universities have touted several benefits for those who opt to receive the vaccine. "Vaccinations are our best defense against the spread of COVID-19," the MSU COVID-19 Task Force wrote in guidance to students. |
| Early assessment: June floods may have done record damage | |
 | Floods in early June may have done record-breaking agricultural damage but assessments are far from done, Mississippi State University's agricultural extension service said Thursday. Agents will be checking out damage well into July from as much as 20 inches of rain (about 50 centimeters) that fell during the second week of June, primarily north of U.S. Highway 82, a news release said. "By the time we were ready to respond to early requests for assessments, the rainwater was receding off of the land, so the growers were scrambling to either salvage what they still had or gear up for replanting," said emergency coordinating officer Preston Aust. "We've made a lot of progress in several counties, while there are others where we are trying to work around the growers' schedules." Damage may exceed the $617 million in crop damage from Yazoo backwater flooding in 2019, the news release said. Mississippi's cotton crop will also be affected by the flooding, but a cooler than normal year already had put the crop behind schedule. "Submerged cotton plants can take it on the chin when water gets on them," said MSU Extension cotton specialist Brian Pieralisi. "There are concerns, but I'm hoping if they were not totally submerged, we'll be OK. There are some spots that are drowned out." |
| Mississippi State abuzz as a Bee Campus USA | |
| The current buzz around Mississippi State's campus is its new affiliation as a Bee Campus USA, a designation of the Xerces Society. The university joins 122 campus affiliates across 44 states recognized for benefiting pollinators. The MSU Bee Campus committee, consisting of faculty and staff in the College of Forest Resources and College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, led the effort. Wes Burger, interim dean of the College of Forest Resources, spoke to the importance of protecting pollinators. "We are proud to receive this designation. It is the result of dedication by our faculty, staff and students to protect and enhance pollinators and habitat across our campus and research farms," Burger said. "Pollinators are vital to our environment, benefiting 35 percent of global food production or one in every three bites of food we consume, and pollinating approximately 90 percent of flowering plants." Despite their importance, pollinator species face population declines. Bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, hummingbirds and other species are dwindling, primarily due to loss of native plants and habitat, among other factors. |
| MSU Southeast Emmy Awards and 2021 Conservation Camp, USM Opening Biloxi Cyber Center | |
 | The Mississippi State University Television Center recently won four 2021 Southeast Emmy Awards for its documentary "It's a Journey" during a virtual presentation on Saturday, June 19. The Southeast Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences hosted the awards, which recognize excellence in television programming in the Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina and Asheville, North Carolina Southeast Region. "It's a Journey," which won in the Environment/Science–Short Form Content category, focuses on land conservation efforts in rapidly urbanizing counties on the Gulf Coast. The documentary is part of MSU Films, the TV Center's short film production initiative, which is a partnership with Mississippi State's Office of Public Affairs. UTC staff members also received individual awards for the project. UTC Senior Producer James Parker won both the Photographer-Long Form Content and Editor-Long Form Content categories, and UTC Creative Manager Hal Teasler won the Graphic Arts/Motion Graphics category. Mississippi State University is hosting its 2021 Conservation Camp from July 19 to July 23. The weeklong day camp, which is open to sixth- through ninth-graders, is based on the MSU campus and features wildlife science and outdoor exploration. The entry fee is $100, which includes lunch each day and all activity costs. The camp lasts from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. Participants must apply by June 28, and MSU will notify those selected of their acceptance by June 30. |
| Roses and thorns: 6-27-21: A rose to the Mississippi State University Student Association | |
| A rose to the Mississippi State University Student Association and its partners as it prepares for the return of one of the most popular events in the Golden Triangle. After a one-year hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the MSUSA last week took its first step in bringing Bulldog Bash back by obtaining a downtown event permit from the city. This year's Bulldog Bash will be held Sept. 17. The concert and its related events typically draw around 35,000 spectators while showcasing several bands and artists each year. This year's concert lineup will be announced later. SA and the Bulldog Bash committee will collaborate with the Greater Starkville Development Partnership and the Downtown Main Street Association to bring in tourism and economic development. The event features Maroon Market, comprising various companies, organizations and restaurants who fill the area with local artisans, boutiques and good eats. We welcome back Bulldog Bash. |
| Starkville aldermen override veto, reassert scooter ban | |
| Mayor Lynn Spruill strolled into the municipal courtroom at City Hall on Friday afternoon toward her customary place at the center of the board table, speaking cordially to the gathering audience as she went. Even if her countenance bore signs of "just another day at the office," her garb -- a maroon Mississippi State windbreaker draped over a T-shirt emblazoned with "OMAHA" -- showed clearly there was some place she'd rather be. Spruill's trip to watch the Bulldogs baseball team play in the College World Series was delayed a day, however, as she instead presided over a special-call meeting where aldermen voted 5-1 to override her veto and reassert a ban on commercial scooter services in the city limits. The ban forces the scooter sharing company Bird to immediately cease operating its local electric fleet due to safety concerns and numerous complaints of rider misuse. "We're not trying to take away something that is pleasurable, and I know there are some people who use (the scooters) for transportation," said Ward 5 Alderman Hamp Beatty, who along with Ward 3's David Little called Friday's meeting to override the veto. "For me, this is 100 percent a safety issue. ... We would be derelict if we didn't do something to abate the potential for serious injury or tragedy." Further, Little called the scooters an "attractive nuisance" that would become "an accident waiting to happen" when college students returned to the city in the fall. |
| Task force set to examine state's domestic relations laws | |
| Acting under guidance from the Legislature, a newly formed task force will meet to examine Mississippi's domestic relations laws. The passage of SB 2621 during the 2021 session created the task force, which will be comprised of judges, attorneys, child advocates, and law professors. Starting July 1, the members will study the state's current laws as well as models used by other states for child support, child care, and support expenses and will analyze current trends of law regarding no-fault divorce, child support payments past the age of majority for disabled children, and costs for guardians ad litem who represent the best interests of children. With their findings, the task force will then deliver recommendations to the Legislature and the Mississippi Supreme Court for the purpose of revising Mississippi's domestic relations laws and rules of court. These recommendations will be made on or before December 1st. The 15-member Task Force includes attorney guardians ad litem Lee Ann Turner of Starkville, appointed by the Mississippi Bar. |
| Infrastructure plan highlights need for skilled workers | |
| There is still a lot of political wrangling and foot stamping and behind-closed-doors negotiation to go before the bipartisan infrastructure deal President Joe Biden announced last week becomes law. Assuming it does, roughly a trillion dollars in federal money will flow out to states and localities to fix and build new roads, bridges, water and power systems, airports, broadband internet ... the list goes on. All of which means more jobs for skilled and semi-skilled Americans to fill. Biden promises "millions of good-paying" new infrastructure jobs. Not quite as many jobs as in the president's original, more expansive proposals, said Columbia Law School professor and former Treasury official Michael Graetz, but still, "it's a very, very large package compared to what we're used to." And it comes at a crucial moment, said Manny Rodriguez at Revolution Workshop in Chicago, with millions of skilled blue-collar workers -- many of them older white men -- close to retirement. "There's going to be enough money for a generation worth of projects in all the different trades, from laborers to carpenters to ironworkers, road builders, heavy-equipment operators, the list goes on," he said. Rodriguez's organization trains minority workers for construction jobs. |
| Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis 'very wary' of upsetting Trump | |
 | Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is on a collision course with the most powerful man in the GOP: Donald Trump. DeSantis is crisscrossing the country to deliver red-meat speeches. Iowa leaders begged him to visit. He just beat Trump in a key straw poll. And now the popular governor is getting close to overshadowing the former president in the 2024 presidential sweepstakes. All of that could be dangerous for DeSantis' political health, as Trump continues to ponder a new bid for the White House and remains capable of kneecapping any Republican he sees as a threat. "It makes it difficult to openly start campaigning as [Trump] at least contemplates running again," said Saul Anuzis, former chair of the Republican Party of Michigan, cautioning it's still "early" in the election cycle. "It keeps activists on the sidelines." DeSantis, who has the benefit of claiming he's just running for reelection, continues to gain accolades for opening up Florida during the coronavirus pandemic sooner than most large states. His frequent appearances on Fox News put him in the national spotlight almost nightly. Last weekend, DeSantis beat Trump 74-71 in the annual Western Conservative Summit's straw poll in Denver -- results that surprised even organizers of the summit. Last year, Trump won the same straw poll with nearly 95 percent support. |
| House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy has 'no' regrets opposing Jan. 6 independent commission | |
 | With Speaker Nancy Pelosi's decision to create a select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy is confronted with an inherently more partisan examination of the Capitol attack than one he and other Republican leaders helped torpedo. But he says he has no regrets. "No, none whatsoever," McCarthy said Friday of whether the select committee announcement gave him any pause on opposing an independent 9/11-style commission that one of his own colleagues helped negotiate. He did not answer a question about whom he would appoint to the select committee and said he has not been briefed by Pelosi on the panel. "Nancy Pelosi has spent all the time and all these months playing politics with this, and now we're finding [the] select committee will be more politics of what she wants to do," the California Republican said. "The FBI is the appropriate place to investigate." A Pelosi spokesperson said McCarthy had his chance to take the politics out of the probe. In May, McCarthy opposed a deal that was struck between Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and ranking member John Katko, R-N.Y., to establish a commission to investigate Jan. 6. Katko acknowledged that Thompson made concessions to strike an agreement, but it wasn't enough for McCarthy and others in House Republican leadership to endorse the measure, which garnered 35 House Republican votes. Despite bipartisan support, the 9/11-style commission failed to overcome procedural hurdles in the Senate. |
| 'It's just a joke': Former AG William Barr derided Trump's false election claims | |
 | Former Attorney General William Barr candidly denounced former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to a report in The Atlantic detailing how the man who was once one of Trump's most loyal lieutenants split with the former president. In a series of interviews with ABC News' Jonathan Karl, detailed in a forthcoming book on the last days of the Trump administration, Barr described the final weeks of the Trump administration and Trump's frenzied attempts to retain power. "My attitude was: It was put-up or shut-up time," Barr said. "If there was evidence of fraud, I had no motive to suppress it. But my suspicion all the way along was that there was nothing there." The expletive-laden conversations between Trump and Barr describe a president furious at his election loss and genuinely in disbelief that his most loyal subordinates would not support him in attempting spread false conspiracy theories and subvert the election. After the 2020 election, the Justice Department launched investigations into widespread voter fraud across the country in key battleground states. The latest revelations show that Barr was skeptical of Trump's claims even as he greenlit the operations. Barr also told Karl that he'd expected Trump to lose the 2020 election and that he was not surprised by the outcome. In the aftermath, he launched his own informal inquiries into the most popular claims made by Trump's close allies, alongside the DOJ's official investigations. |
| Trump Organization attorneys given Monday deadline to persuade prosecutors not to file charges against it | |
 | Prosecutors in New York have given former president Donald Trump's attorneys a deadline of Monday afternoon to make any final arguments as to why the Trump Organization should not face criminal charges over its financial dealings, according to two people familiar with the matter. That deadline is a strong signal that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. (D) and New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) -- now working together, after each has spent more than two years investigating Trump's business -- are considering criminal charges against the company as an entity. Earlier this year, Vance convened a grand jury in Manhattan to consider indictments in the investigation. No entity or individual has been charged in the investigations thus far, and it remains possible that no charges will be filed. Prosecutors have shown interest in whether Trump's company used misleading valuations of its properties to deceive lenders and taxing authorities, and in whether taxes were paid on fringe benefits for company executives, according to court documents and people familiar with the investigations. The two people familiar with the deadline set for Trump's attorneys spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose private conversations. Under New York law, prosecutors may file charges against corporations in addition to individuals. |
| A summer of symbiosis: MUW students partner with Columbus nonprofits as Yates Fellows | |
| "Hang the pictures at gallery neutral." "I'll show you how to pocket a ball." "Tiene algun recurso para hispanohablantes?" Say these sentences to a group of average Americans, and they will probably give blank looks in return. Last April, Mississippi University for Women students Emma Beeler, Santania Thompson and Ali Glasgow might also have given blank looks. But all that has changed now. The three young women have learned the meanings of these statements and much more because of the work they are doing through MUW's newly created Summer Community Engagement Program. They are three of the 12 Nancy Yates Fellows, part of an MUW Honors College program launched this year. The program was funded by a donation made by W alumnus Nancy Yates, and the Fellows have committed to serving at Columbus-based nonprofits for at least 32 hours per week for the duration of the six-week program. That's why Beeler, a Fellow with the Columbus Arts Council, now knows that "gallery neutral" means the center of every image is at the same height on the wall. It's why Santania Thompson, a Fellow with the Columbus Community Housing Development Organization, has learned to play pool -- thanks to the elderly resident she works with daily. And it's how Ali Glasgow, a Fellow with Columbus-Lowndes Public Library, knows that Spanish-speaking Columbus residents are looking to the library for help with their English skills. |
| UM Names New Head of Equal Opportunity and Regulatory Compliance | |
| Kimberly DeVries has been hired as the new director of the Office of Equal Opportunity and Regulatory Compliance at the University of Mississippi. Formerly director of Equal Opportunity Compliance at Grand Rapids Community College in Michigan for the past six years, DeVries joins the university on Aug. 2. "I'm very much looking forward to working with the other professionals within the office," said DeVries, who earned both her bachelor's degree in political science and telecommunications and her law degree from the University of Georgia. "I think offices who do this work have such a great opportunity to respond to particular concerns and help resolve conflicts at the same time that we advocate for equity throughout the university." The Office of Equal Opportunity and Regulatory Compliance is responsible for the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the university's affirmative action program and ensuring compliance with federal regulations regarding the fair treatment of faculty, staff and students. With the June 30 retirement of Gene Rowzee, interim director of Equal Opportunity and Regulatory Compliance, or EORC, Honey Ussery will serve as interim director until Aug. 2. Ussery is the assistant director of EORC and Title IX coordinator, a position that oversees university compliance with the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in educational programs and activities. |
| USM's educator preparation program earns accreditation | |
 | The University of Southern Mississippi became one of the first to receive accreditation under new educator preparation program guidelines. USM was among the first group to be given a thumbs-up by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation this spring. The CAEP has accredited 423 educator programs across the country, using rigorous, nationally- recognized standards developed to ensure excellence in educator preparation programs. "We are honored to be recognized with CAEP accreditation," USM President Rodney D. Bennett said. "This mark of quality and distinction is a source of great pride for our faculty, partners, current and prospective teacher candidates, and the university community at large. Recent changes to the CAEP standards reflect a commitment to equity and diversity and also place an emphasis on the importance of technology in preparing future educators. USM emerged from the CAEP review process with full accreditation granted for all programs that lead to initial educator licensure and licensure at the advanced level. The CAEP report noted no areas in need of improvement. |
| USM students spend a month in Natchez studying ancient Coles Creek culture | |
 | A group of 12 students from the University of Southern Mississippi has excavated the earth while in the shade of Adams County timber for the past three weeks as part of a field study in their archaeology program. Southern Miss Anthropology Professor Daniel LaDu said the students stay in a house together during the field study. He said he knew they had grown together because they did not go home this past weekend. Instead, they stayed in Natchez to hang out. Andi Williams, a junior at Southern Miss, said each day of the field study is like summer camp. "We wake up around six, and we load the car up at 7," said Williams, who is from Columbus, Georgia. "We are in the car by 7:15, and we are here from 8 to 3:30. It's like a summer camp but as the job." LaDu said he first visited the site in 2009 to do his master's thesis. "We decided to come back this year to answer two questions," LaDu said. "The first question we wanted to address is how are they using the site. The second question was, is it a village that has folks living here year-round, or are they simply coming here to participate in community rituals." |
| U. of Alabama education professors ask for support in critical race theory debate | |
 | Education professors at the University of Alabama say proposed legislation and resolutions that target critical race theory would hurt their ability to train good future teachers. The college's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee sent a letter this week asking higher education officials to join an effort to resist recent efforts in Montgomery to limit how schools approach issues of bias and racism. The committee calls critical race theory a useful lens that helps educators understand the importance of diversity and systems that leave behind minority students and families. "I would say it's really important to establish for everyone that UA professors and Alabama K-12 educators are not saying, nor do they think, that anyone is inherently racist," said Sara McDaniel, a professor who is chair of the committee. "That is not being taught. That is not being discussed. That is not a part of anyone that I know's value system or beliefs." State Rep. Chris Pringle has pre-filed a bill that would ban schools and universities from teaching critical race theory. The committee argued that restrictions on college professors would harm academic freedom and "further holding back our state, students, families and educators" by denying key training in concepts that help teachers understand key research, data and best practices. |
| Auburn University hotel bounces back from COVID-19 slump by renovating rooms and ramping up for football season | |
 | A downtown hospitality hub is finishing up renovations to better appeal to tourists, business travelers and Auburn University faithful. The Hotel at Auburn University & Dixon Conference Center in downtown Auburn features 236 guestrooms and suites, as well as a restaurant, Ariccia Cucina Italiana, and a lounge, Piccolo. The refit comes as the university hotel, the nearby Collegiate and the rest of the local hospitality industry recovers from the coronavirus pandemic, when social restrictions shut down travel for much of last year. Ithaka Hospitality Partners manages the property for Auburn University. They split the annual profits, but the university holds the ultimate responsibility for keeping the place open. Fortunately, the hotel didn't need to be subsidized by the university during last year's business slump. "The university has an operating agreement with Ithaka Hospitality Partners to operate the AU Hotel," said Auburn University spokesman Preston Sparks. "The university is pleased with Ithaka's ability to operate the hotel without subsidy, particularly this past year during the challenge of a global pandemic." The hotel is a popular destination of commercial travelers who come to Auburn to discuss business and research partnerships with the university, as well as parents and alumni visiting the university campus -- and, of course, football fans. |
| Politicians are debating critical race theory. LSU's new president studies it. | |
 | As a young student, the father of incoming LSU President William F. Tate IV gave him a copy of the U.S. Constitution. "When I was teenager, my father handed me the Federalist Papers and basically said 'You have to understand this'," Tate recalled Thursday. As University of South Carolina provost, Tate pushed the Senate Faculty to add what he calls "constitutional heritage" to the curricula -- establishing a class that studies the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, chapters of the Federalist Papers, the Emancipation Proclamation, and documents that conceptualize the African American experience at the country's foundation, something like Frederick Douglass' speech "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" Tate then advocated for "constitutional heritage" before the South Carolina General Assembly. On April 28, South Carolina Gov. Henry D. McMaster, a Republican, signed into law Act 26 adding the class to public high school curricula, "which in my opinion will be my greatest legacy at the University of South Carolina." What Tate doesn't understand is all the talk about "critical race theory," about which he has written a great deal. Tate says critical race theory is not a subject for undergraduate students. "Critical race theory is a framework used in law school and in PhD's education to better understand how laws are formulated and the influence of law on everyday life," Tate said. |
| Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' law punishing student 'indoctrination' is a 'disgraceful' assault on academic freedom, experts say | |
| Florida's Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, signed a new bill into law on Tuesday that requires the state's public universities to survey faculty, students, and staff on their political beliefs to measure "viewpoint diversity" and fight student "indoctrination." The Republican-passed law aims to determine "the extent to which competing ideas and perspectives are presented" in classrooms and whether students "feel free to express beliefs and viewpoints on campus and in the classroom," according to the bill's text. And it mandates that students "be shown diverse ideas and opinions, including those that they may disagree with or find uncomfortable." It remains unclear how the state will use the information it gathers, but free speech scholars and advocates are concerned DeSantis and the legislature will retaliate against universities and their faculty for political reasons. First Amendment experts say the Florida law is unconstitutional and will do the opposite of what it purports to. Instead of promoting free speech, they fear it will both suppress certain viewpoints and undermine academic freedom, as well as force professors to waste time introducing discredited science and theories. And the effort comes amid DeSantis' broader crackdown on free speech, including Black Lives Matter protests and the teaching of critical race theory in public schools. |
| Georgia's university system prepares for critical period | |
| Georgia State University President Mark Becker walked outside his office Wednesday afternoon to greet a visitor while the man who will soon step into his job, M. Brian Blake, was in a conference room a few feet away beginning the transition process. The two men talked briefly in the hallway, where Becker offered his additional help before Blake departed. Here, and at several public universities statewide, the baton is being passed to a new group of leaders. The University System of Georgia has hired three presidents since May and is conducting searches for presidents at three other schools. The system is in the midst of an unexpected six month-long process of hiring a new chancellor, marked by the fractious campaign to put former Gov. Sonny Perdue in the job. The state's Board of Regents on Wednesday named one of the system's top administrators, Teresa MacCartney, acting chancellor for an unspecified period. In many respects, the University System is at a crossroads. The system is continuing to grapple with the impact of COVID-19 on its budget and operations. In a nod to the pandemic's ongoing financial turmoil on many students and families, tuition this coming school year will remain the same for the second straight year. Meanwhile, the system's workforce declined last fall by nearly 1,600 employees through retirements and layoffs. |
| U. of Tennessee System adds fifth campus with Martin Methodist College merger | |
 | The University of Tennessee System has added a fifth campus, the first addition to the statewide higher education network in more than 50 years. Martin Methodist College, located in Pulaski, will join the system as the University of Tennessee Southern, a nod to the regional identity the system hopes to create. The merger with Martin Methodist College is intended to bring affordable higher education to southern Middle Tennessee. The school is located about 75 miles southwest of Nashville, near the Alabama border. The UT board of trustees unanimously approved the merger Friday after nearly a year of collaboration with Martin Methodist. "For the students, it means a more affordable higher quality education at home," UT System President Randy Boyd told Knox News. "They can get an education at home, and then continue to serve that region. What it means for the region is we're going to have a more educated, talented workforce to provide the needs that they have and attract future businesses to the area." As part of the UT System, tuition and fees will be cut by about 60% for current Martin Methodist students. Tuition will fall from $26,000 to $10,200, Boyd said. A new UT campus also creates an option for prospective students in southern Middle Tennessee, which does not have a public university in the region. Many students in the area have left the region or state to seek higher education, Boyd said. |
| 4 universities in Arkansas log increases in cost gauge | |
| Four of the six largest public universities in the state reported increases in average net price, a measure of college affordability for first-time enrollees who take classes full-time. The average net price is an estimate of the true cost of attending college. It factors in expenses like housing and common types of grant aid. For the four largest universities in the state, average net price increases ranged from 3% to 8%, percentages greater than the rate of increase in tuition and fees at the schools during the same year-over-year time period. While rising costs outside of tuition and fees can contribute to increases in average net price, a higher education researcher said the wealth of students enrolling also matters. Universities reporting annual increases of less than $1,000 in their average net price included the Arkansas State University; Arkansas Tech University; and the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville's average net price increased year-over-year by $496 to $16,759 for the 2019-20 school year. Suzanne McCray, UA's vice provost for enrollment and dean of admissions, in an email said increased housing costs as well as fees for the 2019-20 academic year, as well as a some other cost increases, likely explained the bump upwards in average net price. For students in the $30,000 and under income category, UA's average net price dipped to $12,003 in 2019-20 from $12,094 a year earlier, according to the federal data. |
| U. of Missouri legacy walk voted down, but unity fountain created | |
 | There will be no legacy walk recognizing enslaved people and other indigenous people who had a role in building the University of Missouri campus. Instead, the fountain near the Student Center and Strickland Hall will become "the fountain of unity," as it's called in documents from the UM System Board of Curators, and will recognize all people who contributed to building MU. The board voted 6-2 Thursday against the MU History Committee's proposal to establish the legacy walk. The board, however, went on to establish the unity fountain, which had been included in the original proposal. Curators Julia Brncic of St. Louis and Michael Williams of Kansas City dissented. Curator Greg Hoberock of Washington, Missouri, proposed the resolution that nixed the walk but supported the unity fountain. Hoberock said the history committee's original charge was to memorialize the role of enslaved people in the foundation of the university. "The problem is this proposal just grossly exceeded that," Hoberock said. "My resolution basically is, as it reads, to create the unity fountain as a place for people to think about all these issues and the founding of the university and those people who contributed to it." |
| Clemson has doubled tuition-tied debt since 2015. Other South Carolina schools aren't far behind. | |
 | Amid historic low interest rates and an enrollment boom, Clemson University has over the past five years doubled the amount of borrowing that depends on tuition dollars for repayment. Student payments on that debt, meanwhile, have increased by about 25 percent, from $1,368 per in-state student in 2015 to $1,724 in 2020. These costs comprise nearly 10 percent of an undergraduate student's total tuition and required fees, which stood at $15,120 in 2020. A Commission on Higher Education report in 2018 found that families in South Carolina spend a higher percentage of their income on tuition than families in any other state. On average, its schools are the most expensive state-run colleges and universities in the Southeast, and fifth most costly in the nation. Clemson University has the second highest tuition in the state among public universities, behind Winthrop University in Rock Hill. But officials with Clemson told The Post and Courier that the projects and the borrowing strategy that the university is employing now are conservative and likely to pay dividends in the future. Still, the connection between tuition dollars charged by state universities and their debt load featured largely in the JRBC meeting. Projects from Clemson, the University of South Carolina, College of Charleston and South Carolina Educational Television were among agencies on the agenda on June 22. |
| Meet the New Dean of Iona College's LaPenta School of Business: Dr. Lynne Richardson | |
| Dr. Lynne Richardson will become the dean of LaPenta School of Business at Iona College next month. She joins Iona from the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va., where she has served as dean of the College of Business since 2011. In addition, Richardson also served as chief financial officer from 2017-18 at the request of the university's president. Previously, she had been dean of the business schools at Mississippi State University and Ball State University. Richardson replaces Dr. Richard Highfield, who has served as interim dean since July 2019. |
| Companies using free education to attract and keep workers amidst war for talent | |
| Higher pay, signing bonuses, and hybrid work schedules are just some of the incentives companies are using to attract and keep workers as the economy continues to reopen and consumer demand soars. Now some businesses are going a step further by offering free education in a bid to get the talent they need. Last month, Waste Management announced that it will not only pay for college degrees and professional certificates for employees, but starting in January will offer this same benefit to their spouses and children through a collaboration with edtech platform Guild Education. Chipotle began offering debt-free degrees to its workers in 2019, but in April expanded the program to 10 colleges and 100 different degree programs including those in agriculture, culinary, and hospitality, also in partnership with Guild. The moves come as surveys show that nearly 30% of hospitality workers are looking to leave the industry and find jobs in other fields as a result of the upheaval from the pandemic. "The war for talent is so fierce that compensation can't be the only differentiator between us and another company," says Tamla Oates-Forney, Waste Management's chief human resources officer. "We had to find a way to show that working for us goes beyond the paycheck." |
| NIH says 75 grantees have been removed due to harassment complaints | |
 | The National Institutes of Health says that 75 principal investigators have been removed from grants due to sexual harassment and other hostile workplace claims in the last three years. Separately, the National Academy of Sciences says that it has removed two members due to sexual misconduct. Prior to 2018, no PI had been removed from an NIH grant for sexual misconduct. The National Academy hadn't removed any members for this reason, either, prior to this year. The Me Too movement and specific campaigns against sexual harassment and assault in the sciences pushed these organizations to consider behavioral misconduct as seriously as research misconduct. But it took years in some cases for these consequences to play out. The NAS removed astronomer Geoff Marcy, for instance, late last month, for violating Section IV of its Code of Conduct, which prohibits "all forms of discrimination, harassment and bullying" in professional encounters, "especially when they involve power differentials, as these behaviors have adverse impacts on the careers of scientists and the proper conduct of science." The decision followed an internal conduct review process. Several survivors of sexual misconduct in the sciences said last week that they welcome these actions by the NAS and NIH. At the same time they emphasized the costs of the reporting process -- beyond the actual harassment they experienced -- in time, energy and emotion. |
| International students face a rocky road to campus this fall | |
| As America's mass vaccination efforts enable much of the country to lift coronavirus restrictions, colleges and their students are preparing for in-person learning this fall. But it's doubtful whether international students in countries still ravaged by the pandemic will be able to get to U.S. campuses in time. Despite a returning desire to study in the U.S., many international students could face policy-related challenges and be dissuaded by the perception that America is no longer welcoming to foreigners. The current challenges with international recruitment may have a negligible long-term effect on well-known research institutions, which will likely continue to find ways to bring in students once the restrictions are removed and vaccinations are distributed more widely, said Steven Bloom, assistant vice president of government relations at the American Council on Education. But the issues could have a longer-lasting impact on the many smaller, less-known institutions that rely on international students to maintain enrollment and tuition revenue, he said. "Among the sea of challenges that they've had to confront in the COVID-era, this is just one more significant challenge," Bloom said. |
| Why Young Adults Are Among the Biggest Barriers to Mass Immunity | |
 | Bridget Burke, 22, a college student in Michigan, said she was unsettled by rumors that Covid-19 vaccines could affect her reproductive health. Bryson Hardy, 19, a fiber optic cable splicer from Georgia, said he was not worried about contracting the virus and had no plans to get vaccinated. And Cinda Heard, 27, an in-home health care assistant in Missouri, said she feared potential side effects from the vaccine and got a shot only because her employer required it. As the country's vaccination campaign slows and doses go unused, it has suddenly become clear that one of the biggest barriers to mass immunity will be persuading skeptical young adults of all backgrounds to get shots. Federal officials expressed alarm in recent days about low vaccination rates among Americans in their late teens and 20s, and have blamed them for the country's all-but-certain failure to reach President Biden's goal of giving 70 percent of adults at least an initial dose by July 4. But the straightforward sales pitch for older people -- a vaccine could very possibly save your life -- does not always work on healthy 20-somethings who know they are less likely to face the severest outcomes of Covid. As public officials race to find ways to entice young adults to get vaccinated, interviews across the country suggest that no single fix, no easy solution, is likely to sway these holdouts. Some are staunchly opposed. Others are merely uninterested. And still others are persuadably skeptical. But pretty much everyone who was eager for a vaccine already has one, and public health officials now face an overlapping mix of inertia, fear, busy schedules and misinformation as they try -- sometimes one person at a time -- to cajole Gen Z into getting a shot. |
| Prices of food, gas, and more surge as Fed sits still | |
 | Syndicated columnist Bill Crawford writes: The price of boneless, skinless chicken breasts has more than doubled since the beginning of the year and wing prices have hit records reported the Wall Street Journal. The average price for a pound of bacon jumped 7% since January reported NBC News. Beef prices have also surged. Regular gasoline prices in the Gulf Coast area are up nearly $1 over last year according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Tom Kloza at the Oil Price Information Service believes that come this fall drivers could pay the highest gasoline prices in nine years. The average price for used vehicles hit an all-time high in May according to Kelley Blue Book. The average new car price jumped 7.9% in May according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Airline fares increased 7% and car and truck rental prices jumped 12.1% reported CNN. Timber prices have increased over 250% during the past year reported Business Insider. Overall, year over year inflation hit 5% in May, up 8.2% over three months according to the BLS data. Meanwhile, interest rates for CDs (at record lows) and money market funds scarcely budged. And mortgage rates just creeped up a little. Huh? Normally such inflation would send interest rates soaring. Indeed, that's the way a free market system works. But not now, because the Federal Reserve is stepping in to keep rates artificially low. |
| Lawmakers face historically impactful issues -- whether in regular or special session or both | |
| Bobby Harrison writes for Mississippi Today: Mississippians might need to buckle up for the next several months. The issues pending before the Mississippi Legislature could be some of the most impactful in recent history. Legalizing medical marijuana, spending hundreds of millions of dollars in unexpected federal funds and a major restructuring of the state's tax law are just some of the issues that the Legislature could consider in the 2022 session or perhaps a 2021 special session. It might behoove legislators and Gov. Tate Reeves to consider some of those issues in special session to ease a crowded regular session agenda. Presumably, legislative leaders are still working behind the scenes in an attempt to reach agreement on proposals to legalize medical marijuana and to reinstate the ballot initiative process. If that agreement can be reached, Reeves has indicated he would call a special session to address medical marijuana and the ballot initiative. But reaching that agreement could prove more difficult than on first blush. While most of the state's political leadership might agree that they want to legalize medical marijuana and reinstate the initiative process -- both of which were struck down in a recent landmark Mississippi Supreme Court decision -- the devil might be in the details. |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State prepares for rematch with Vanderbilt in all-SEC College World Series final | |
| In late April, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt met in Nashville, Tennessee, for a series that had all the trappings of a national championship. Both teams were ranked inside the top five, with the Bulldogs at No. 4 and the Commodores at No. 2. Each club had lost just one Southeastern Conference series more than a month into league play. And all three contests delivered, as none was decided by more than four runs. Mississippi State dropped Game 1 as Vandy's Kumar Rocker pitched a complete game, beat Jack Leiter in Game 2 and lost a close Sunday matchup to drop the series. Now, a little more than two months later, the two elite programs will face off again with those national-title stakes as real as can be. Just crank up the crowd and pour on the pressure when No. 7 Mississippi State (48-17) and No. 4 Vanderbilt (48-16) meet in the College World Series final beginning at 6 p.m. Monday. No more than 1,500 fans attended any of the three regular-season games at Hawkins Field in Nashville because of COVID-19 restrictions. But TD Ameritrade Park has an official capacity of 24,500 and can hold up to 35,000 fans, meaning there will be a significantly larger maroon and white presence in the stands. The Bulldogs hope those who make the trip will be rewarded with the first team national championship in school history. |
| Mississippi State's Christian MacLeod to start Game 1 of CWS championship series | |
| Mississippi State head coach Chris Lemonis has decided that Christian MacLeod will start on the mound for Game 1 of the national championship tonight -- and with the start comes a chance of redemption for the third-year freshman. MacLeod, who has started 18 games this year, gets one last chance as the No. 7 seed Bulldogs (48-17) play No. 4 Vanderbilt (48-16) today at 6 p.m. to open the College World Series championship series at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2. MacLeod (6-5, 4.61 ERA) will look to rebound from his previous CWS start, a 1 1/3 inning performance last Tuesday night where he allowed four runs on five hits and two walks to Virginia before being pulled after only 35 pitches. It was his worst and shortest outing of the season, and he's ready for one last chance. "I'm definitely ready to get out there and bounce back," he said. "Obviously I wasn't happy with how I pitched against Virginia. I didn't have my best command but this is a great opportunity to bounce back and I'm thankful for another opportunity to go out and pitch, especially for a national championship. It means the world to me." |
| Mississippi State announces pitching plan for College World Series final vs. Vanderbilt | |
| The College World Series final will start with Mississippi State's long-time No. 1 guy on the mound. Mississippi State coach Chris Lemonis announced Sunday that he will start left-hander Christian MacLeod in Game 1 of the College World Series final against Vanderbilt on Monday. MacLeod (6-5, 4.61 ERA) will be on regular rest, not having pitched since Monday against Virginia. "He's fully rested," Lemonis said. "He pitched really good against Vanderbilt early in the year; at least for three or four innings he was really good. He's a good matchup for us, and man, we're behind him. So we need him to go out there and pitch and compete for us." MacLeod struggled in his previous start against Virginia. He allowed four runs on five hits and two walks in 1⅓ innings, throwing only 35 pitches as Virginia attacked him early in the counts. MacLeod hasn't posted a quality start since his last outing of the regular season; his ERA since the start of the SEC Tournament is 10.67. In his one start this season against Vanderbilt, MacLeod had an interesting outing. Through three innings, MacLeod looked untouchable, giving up no runs on one hit and one walk with seven strikeouts. Then the fourth inning came. Vanderbilt beat MacLeod for four runs on three hits and three walks, chasing him from the game before he could escape the inning. MacLeod is the only starter Lemonis was ready to announce. He said his starting pitcher for Game 2, and for the if-necessary Game 3, are to-be-announced. |
| Mississippi State baseball draws Vanderbilt. Again. This time for a College World Series title | |
| It just means more all over again. Mississippi State advanced to the College World Series final for the second time in program history Saturday night, beating Texas with a 4-3 walk-off win. Now the Bulldogs (48-17) have a date with a familiar foe, starting a series against SEC rival Vanderbilt (49-16) on Monday (6 p.m., ESPN2) needing two wins to bring home the first championship in program history. Fourth-seeded Vanderbilt took two out of three games from No. 7 Mississippi State in Nashville from April 23-25, besting the Bulldogs 6-2 and 7-4 with a 7-4 win sandwiched in between. "We played well against Vanderbilt at their place earlier in the year," Mississippi State coach Chris Lemonis said. "Like I told our guys last night, for Mississippi State to win there, you have to earn it. Playing Vanderbilt, one of the top if not the top program in college baseball the last five years, we have to go against the best, and that's the way we want it." Mississippi State probably will face projected top-five pick Jack Leiter in Game 1. The Bulldogs bested Leiter in April, tagging him for four runs in five innings on six hits and three walks. The Bulldogs didn't fare too shabby in the third game against Vanderbilt either, chasing starting pitcher Patrick Reilly with two hits and four walks in just a third of an inning. But relief pitcher Chris McElvain stabilized the Commodores pitching, and Vanderbilt put up multiple runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to come back and beat the Bulldogs. This year will mark the fourth time both teams in the College World Series final come from the SEC. |
| 2013 MSU pitcher hopes this year's team can finish job | |
| Even Ben Bracewell's teammates know by now. When the former Mississippi State standout, now a pitcher for the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators, watched his old college club fall behind Texas on Saturday in the College World Series, his fellow players -- even Florida Gators and Oklahoma Sooners -- knew the deficit was only temporary. "They'll probably come back in the eighth and tie it up or take the lead," they told Bracewell. It was the fifth, as it turned out, as Mississippi State evened the score and the ninth when a walk-off single gave the Bulldogs a 4-3, booking their ticket to the CWS finals for the second time in school history. The first occasion, of course, was 2013. Bracewell, then a senior reliever, was on that team. And he sees plenty of similarities between the two -- with one key difference. The previous Bulldogs squad to make it this far lost, dropping both games in the best-of-three final to UCLA. Bracewell thinks this year's squad can go out on top with the first team national title in Mississippi State history. "They've done everything that they need to do to take one more step beyond what we did," Bracewell said. So Bracewell (and, by now, the rest of the Aviators) know Mississippi State is never out of a game. It's the same feeling the pitcher got in 2013, when his team went 3-0 in bracket play, beating Oregon State twice and also defeating Indiana. |
| Vandy unhappy how it made CWS finals but ready for Bulldogs | |
| Awkward is the only way to describe Vanderbilt's appearance in the all-SEC College World Series finals beginning Monday night against Mississippi State. The Commodores were supposed to play North Carolina State in a winner-take-all bracket final Saturday and found out 12 hours before the start the Wolfpack had been removed from the tournament because of COVID-19 protocols. The game was declared a no-contest. "We certainly sympathize with their team, their fan base, too, understanding that we don't know the level of hurt that they are exposed to right now, but we certainly recognize it," Vandy coach Tim Corbin said Sunday. "None of us wish to be in this particular position. We certainly would want to play them on the field or have played them on the field, but we didn't. So we are in the situation where we move forward." Vanderbilt is the reigning national champion, having won the CWS in 2019. There was no tournament last year because of the pandemic. The No. 4 national seed Commodores (48-16) are at this point after winning two elimination games, most recently 3-1 Friday against an N.C. State team that had only 13 players available. The No. 7 Bulldogs (48-17) played two bracket finals against Texas, winning 4-3 on Saturday on Tanner Leggett's walk-off base hit. |
| How Vanderbilt baseball is approaching Mississippi State matchup in College World Series final | |
 | Asked twice about what he saw from Vanderbilt baseball's opponent in the College World Series final, Kumar Rocker gave the same answer: "Mississippi State doesn't like to strike out very much." Indeed, the Bulldogs' Luke Hancock ranks ninth in the country in at-bats per strikeout with 14. Of Mississippi State's nine most-used offensive starters, all average one strikeout or fewer per game started. For comparison, just three of Vanderbilt's nine regular offensive starters in the College World Series strike out less than once per start (CJ Rodriguez, Enrique Bradfield and Javier Vaz). That lineup against Vanderbilt's pitching staff, which ranks second nationally in strikeouts per nine innings, sets the stage for an intriguing battle of strengths in the best-of-three national championship series beginning Monday. The Bulldogs' pitching staff, while not statistically as strong as the Commodores' in other categories, is the only group that strikes out more batters than Vanderbilt. "You go through their lineup, they are like us," Corbin said. "They have just got some really good players who compete really well. Their pitching staff is like ours. They have got quality starters. They have got quality arms out of the bullpen. They take care of the baseball. And they have been there. ... They may have a few more pieces that have been playing on the field than Vanderbilt, but at the same time, they have been to the College World Series before. They have experienced it and know what it feels like and know how to operate. Very good team." |
| How Tennessee native Luke Murphy became Vanderbilt baseball's bullpen ace in College World Series | |
| In 2011, Luke Murphy made his first trip to Omaha. He was there supporting his cousin, Will Clinard, who at the time was a Vanderbilt relief pitcher. The Commodores were new on the scene that year, making their first College World Series appearance. In 2019, when Vanderbilt won its second national championship, Murphy was there, too, as a member of the team but not the travel roster. After undergoing Tommy John surgery before appearing in a single game, Murphy paid his own way to Omaha and sat behind home plate as the Commodores defeated Michigan for the title. "I ... soaked in that experience," Murphy told The Tennessean. "So I was getting in those mental reps before the time occurred." Murphy's getting more than mental reps in 2021. He has emerged as the Commodores' most trusted reliever in Omaha entering the best-of-three national championship series against Mississippi State. His journey to the biggest stage in college baseball began on a much smaller stage in Tennessee, and came after a roller-coaster beginning much like the rolling hills of his hometown. Murphy is from Cross Plains, about 35 minutes northeast of Nashville. He dreamed of attending Vanderbilt, especially after Clinard went there. But in a town of about 1,800, you just don't face SEC-level talent each day. Murphy's high school, East Robertson, had just under 700 students among grades 6-12. And in 2018, Murphy was the only senior on the team. |
| Renaissance: Stone Simmons has found a home at Mississippi State after Furman program cut | |
| In May 2020, with his players settling nicely into COVID-19 protocol after more than two months of the pandemic, Furman University baseball coach Brett Harker made a decision: No more team meetings unless it was urgent. The next day, Harker called a team meeting. Freshman pitcher Stone Simmons and his Paladin teammates didn't know how to take it. They knew something was up, but would it be bad news? Logging into the Zoom call, Simmons saw all his teammates, every coach on Furman's staff and several administrators they didn't know. Right away, the school staff got down to the point: Because of budget concerns, Furman's baseball program, along with its men's lacrosse team, had been eliminated, effective immediately. All the players on the call went quiet, processing the news. "I think it was a shock to just about everyone," Simmons said. But in a little more than a year, the right-hander has gone from a man without a baseball future to playing on the nation's biggest stage. Simmons announced his transfer to Mississippi State not two weeks after his world was turned upside down, and he hasn't looked back as he and the Bulldogs vie for a national championship at the College World Series. "Overall, it's been a great process, it's been a whole lot of fun, and I wouldn't trade it for the world," Simmons said. |
| Mississippi JUCO products make MSU's run to the College World Series final possible | |
| Parker Stinnet, Brayland Skinner and Tanner Leggett got their opportunities to make plays for Mississippi State this year. Especially Skinner and Leggett in the College World Series semifinals. MSU head coach Chris Lemonis call them the "JUCO Bandits". But before they were the JUCO Bandits there standout Rangers for Northwest Mississippi Community College. Former Rangers Skinner and Leggett combined for the game winnings plays to send Mississippi State into the College World Series finals against Vanderbilt. But in 2019 there were every day players for the NWCC team. Long time head coach Mark Carson describes Skinner who led the Rangers in stolen bases. We saw that translate into one of the biggest moments in MSU baseball history as he stole second base to put the game winning run in scoring position. Carson isn't surprised by Skinner's monumental play because of what he saw from him at NWCC. The walk off hero for the Bulldogs, Leggett, was an everyday shortstop in his two years at Northwest. The Central Hinds Academy product had to wait his turn and made just 19 starts this year but was ready when it mattered most. He drove in his junior college teammate in for the game winning run. Coach Carson loves that resiliency that Leggett displayed. We'll see if that JUCO impact continues as Mississippi State plays Vanderbilt for the national title this week. |
| Unlikely duo leads Mississippi State over Texas, punches Bulldogs' ticket to CWS final | |
| They were pouring out of the dugout by the time Brayland Skinner rounded third base, the crowd reaching peak volume as Skinner made the turn and headed home unchallenged. Skinner pumped his fist on his way into home plate, cast his helmet aside and let the mass of white jerseys envelop him. Across the diamond, Tanner Leggett crossed first base, although there was no need to go to second. In his first at-bat of the day and only his second in a month, the senior infielder had just delivered the base hit that sent the Bulldogs to the College World Series final. While pitchers Will Bednar and Landon Sims played big roles as usual, it was that unlikely junior-college duo who came up biggest for Mississippi State on Saturday night in a 4-3 walk-off win over Texas as the Bulldogs (48-17) knocked out the Longhorns (51-16). "I'm really happy for our kids," coach Chris Lemonis said. "I thought we got a great start from Will Bednar, Landon Sims did Landon Sims things, and my JUCO bandits did it there in the ninth." Seeing Skinner at second gave Leggett renewed faith in what he could do. He took a first-pitch fastball outside from Cole Quintanilla, took the second pitch for a strike and laced the third offering over shortstop Trey Faltine's glove. It landed in the gap in left-center, and Skinner scored easily. "What an opportunity," Leggett said. "Some people get nervous for that situation, but I pray for that situation." |
| Tainted? Asterisk? Forget it. CWS drama made State's route to a national title more difficult. | |
| Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: So there's a narrative making the rounds -- particularly on social media – that no matter who wins this College World Series, it's a tainted championship. You know why. It is because North Carolina State, a CWS semifinalist, got eliminated by COVID-19, and not on the field. You know the story. No reason to rehash it all. It's a terrible, horrible, awful, regretful thing that happened to the Wolfpack, who were a Cinderella story if there ever was on in college baseball. Chris Lemonis may have said it best. "Man, it sucks what happened," he said in a Sunday press conference. But don't try telling Lemonis or his Bulldogs that if they somehow defeat Vanderbilt – the defending national champion, after all – in a best of three championship series that Mississippi State's first-ever national championship would be stained, that there would be an asterisk beside it. Don't tell me either. That's just not right. If anything, North Carolina State's elimination from the CWS made State's road more difficult -- much more difficult, actually. Now, the Bulldogs will face well-rested Jack Leiter -- "the best arm the country," says State star Tanner Allen -- in the first game of the championship series. While State needed to use its ace, Will Bednar, to beat Texas Saturday night, Leiter and Vandy rested. To win the championship, State will have to go through both Leiter and Kumar Rocker, who probably will be the top two pitchers taken in the Major League draft next month. Tainted? An asterisk? Come on... |
| NC State's CWS Removal: The Timeline Of Events | |
| NC State is living a nightmare as Vanderbilt and Mississippi State prepare to play the CWS Championship Series beginning on Monday night. The last 48 hours have been a tumultuous time for college baseball, to say the least. NC State's incredible run came to end, and there's little doubt the Pack would've had a strong chance to win the program's first national title. However, as the college baseball world knows by now, their season ended after several players contracted COVID-19, and subsequent contact tracing declared their Saturday game against Vanderbilt a 'no contest'. NC State's removal from the College World Series has caused some serious vitriol toward the NCAA on social media and other avenues. And I get it. This is no way anyone's season should have ended, and it's by far the last way I want to see anyone's season ended. I was thoroughly enjoying NC State's CWS run. What an incredible, incredible run, and consummate 'team'. In the early morning hours on Saturday, the D1Baseball staff hit the phones trying to figure out exactly what had happened on Friday leading up to the NCAA's decision to declare Saturday's Vandy-NC State game a 'no contest' at 1:10 a.m. Sources close to the NC State program spoke to myself and Aaron Fitt early Saturday. And today, we got to the bottom of everything with Anthony Holman, the Managing Director of Championships and Alliances for the NCAA. We corroborated much of the timeline with NC State sources on Sunday, though those same sources said this issue between NC State and the NCAA is far from over, and that the lack of communication was a serious problem. |
| Three local cheerleaders make Mississippi State cheer team | |
 | From Warriors to Bulldogs, three local girls are heading to Starkville as part of Mississippi State University's all-girl cheerleading team. Half of the new members on MSU's all-girl cheer team come straight out of Oak Grove High School. "All-girl had 90 participants sign up and go through the first round...," said Chris Opheim, MSU head cheer coach. "We cut that down to under 40 for our in-person final round, and then we cut that down to 24. Out of that 24, 6 girls were new that were coming in from high school or transfer in and of those 6, half came from Oak Grove." Tate Woolbright, Mary Beth Kavanaugh and Shea Jorns all made the squad together. "It was crazy because it was all three of us and we all were telling each other we'll be happy no matter what the outcome is, but it won't be the same unless it's all three because we knew how hard not only each other but we pushed each other as a group," Jorns said. Although each girl had a lot of experience heading into the tryout, officials say making a collegiate cheer team is not an easy task. "We went through rounds of standing tumbling, running tumbling, stunting was the biggest aspect and the thing we put the most time into... was so many hours of stunting videos to send to them," Jorns said. During their time at Oak Grove, the girls won three state championship titles. |
| The Jay Johnson file: LSU's new baseball coach uses relentless preparation to 'empower' his players | |
| Every Monday morning for the last six seasons, Arizona's baseball coaches gathered in a conference room. Behind a retractable screen, about 30 feet of whiteboards stretched across one of the walls. The team's assistants sat there, watching, as Jay Johnson planned ahead with a dry erase marker. On the whiteboards, Johnson wrote down practice structures for the upcoming month, week and day. He specified what kind of batting practice the team would take that afternoon, depending on the opposing pitchers the next weekend. He updated future recruiting depth charts, and he detailed what Arizona needed to reach the College World Series, maintaining an organization method he used his entire coaching career. "Every square foot of that thing can be filled by the end of the meeting," said Ray McIntire, Arizona's director of operations from 2016-18. "Usually, we're just sitting there taking pictures of it trying to make sure we don't lose all the information." The whiteboards followed Johnson from his days as an assistant at Point Loma Nazarene and San Diego. They grew as he became the head coach at Nevada and then Arizona. Along the way, Johnson formed a reputation for crafting prolific lineups, recruiting highly-ranked classes and developing players, all of which attracted LSU during its recent coaching search. At the end of a month-long process, LSU signed Johnson, 44, to a five-year contract late last week. He succeeded coach Paul Mainieri, who retired after 15 seasons, making Johnson the school's fourth baseball coach since it became a national power. LSU will introduce him during a press conference at 4:30 p.m. Monday inside Alex Box Stadium. |
| Year's donations to Arkansas Razorback athletics see 13% slump | |
| Contributions to the nonprofit foundation supporting Arkansas Razorback athletics declined for the 12-month period that ended June 30 of last year, a time period that included the first months of the pandemic. Total giving fell to its lowest level since fiscal year 2013 for the Razorback Foundation, and the organization's expenses were greater than revenue. Gifts to the Razorback Foundation -- either in the form of tax-deductible giving or made to secure tickets -- play a major role in funding University of Arkansas, Fayetteville intercollegiate athletics, including salaries paid to Razorback coaches and some administrators. The Razorback Foundation finished the fiscal year with contributions and grants totaling about $27.1 million, according to the organization's IRS return filed last month. The total was down about 13% from the previous year's approximately $31.2 million in contributions. Expenses for the 12-month period that ended June 30 were about $27.5 million, down from the previous year's total of $30.8 million. The foundation's assets fell to $62.4 million from $62.7 million a year earlier. To explain the dip, the foundation referred to "large lead gifts" the previous fiscal year in support of baseball and track-and-field facilities projects, according to a statement released by Meredith Pettigrew, the foundation's director of strategic communications and stewardship. |
| Kentucky NIL order: AD Mitch Barnhart has few answers on UK policy | |
| One day after Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive order allowing college athletes in Kentucky to start earning money off their name, image and likeness on July 1, there are still more questions than answers from the UK athletic department. "I think it's really important as we walk through this to understand what yesterday was and what yesterday wasn't," UK athletic director Mitch Barnhart said in a Friday afternoon news conference held via Zoom. "Yesterday was the first day. It sort of gave us the ability to step forward with policies and procedures. I think the journey is a long one." Even as UK athletes began posting solicitations for endorsement inquiries to their social media accounts Friday, the list of questions about how exactly those athletes will be able to cash in on college sports' changing NIL landscape is long. Does the university actually have legal standing to restrict what an athlete can and cannot endorse as outlined in Beshear's executive order? Who gets to make the decision of what endorsements are not acceptable? What punishments, if any, will there be for athletes who enter into endorsement deals not approved by UK? To those questions and more, Barnhart had few concrete answers. “To sit here and say that our parameters today answer all the questions forever would probably be really not a great place to start,” Barnhart said. “I think we gently begin to walk the journey.” |
| NCAA Leaders Still Divided on NIL Legislation as Solution Set to Pass Wednesday | |
| Last summer, almost a year ago, the NCAA's Division I conferences were more publicly divided than ever. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, some decided to play football. Others decided not to play football. And then some didn't really know what to do. Lines were drawn, both in the media and in private. Round and round they went in one of the more divisive and fractured situations in the organization's history. Surely, the association's decision-makers -- athletic directors, league commissioners and school presidents -- would never be so divided again on any topic. And then came this year, this summer and, even more specifically, this week. "Everyone has their own agenda," says one athletic administrator. The NCAA enters one of the more consequential weeks in its 115-year history, as it plans to take a proverbial wrecking ball to a portion of its own amateurism rules in permitting athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness (NIL) through endorsement deals, business ventures and public appearances. How do you both avoid lawsuits and a patchwork of rules? The answer is, you probably don't. "There is no perfect answer," says Gabe Feldman, a Tulane sports law professor who has been involved in this issue for years. |
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