| Wednesday, December 13, 2023 |
| Multiple faculty, staff appreciation nights scheduled for December and January | |
 | All faculty and staff members are invited to the following four basketball games at a discounted price for Faculty/Staff Appreciation Nights. Bring your family on Dec. 13 and 14 for Christmas at The Hump and take pictures with Santa. Faculty/Staff Appreciation Nights include: Wednesday, Dec. 13: Men's basketball vs. Murray State: $5 tickets: General-admission tickets in Sections 111 and 112. Thursday, Dec. 14: Women's basketball vs. Jackson State University: $5 tickets: General-admission tickets in Sections 111-114. Thursday, Jan. 4: Women's basketball vs. Vanderbilt University: $10 tickets: General-admission tickets in Sections 111-114. Wednesday, Jan. 10: Men's basketball vs. the University of Tennessee: $10 tickets: General-admission tickets in Sections 214-224. Purchase discounted tickets at www.HailState.com/BKBFacultyStaff. |
| NASA Stennis Engineers Share the Stage on Test Day | |
 | The last Wednesday in November proved to be a full-circle moment for two engineers at NASA's Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Josh Greiner heard a familiar voice on the headset as he prepared to conduct an RS-25 engine test on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Nov. 29. It was Peyton Pinson, speaking from the same nearby test complex building where he and Greiner once shared a cubicle as interns seven years earlier. As Greiner listened in, Pinson announced he would conduct a hot fire on the E-1 Test Stand for commercial company Launcher Space in 30 minutes. "It was a pretty cool moment," Greiner said. "We used to sit there and look at the test conductor kind of in awe and were amazed they could keep up with all these different console operators at the same time. Now, we both are part of the test team and both part of the rotation that gets to conduct tests." Pinson and Greiner arrived at NASA Stennis in May 2016 to participate in the NASA Pathways work study (co-op) program. Pinson was a mechanical engineering major at Mississippi State University in Starkville. Greiner, still unsure of what direction he wanted to go in the field, was majoring in aerospace engineering at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. He ultimately finished with a mechanical engineering degree and credits his work study experience for providing clarity for his future. inson and Greiner spent multiple semesters soaking up knowledge from the experienced, diverse workforce at the south Mississippi NASA center. They rotated throughout the center complex where teams fulfill NASA and commercial space company test needs. |
| New terminal complex at Starkville airport awaits grant funding | |
 | Plans for a new $11.4 million terminal complex at Starkville's George M. Bryan Field Airport aim to address the airport's evolving needs and position it competitively among other university-adjacent airports in the Southeastern Conference, according to Board Engineer Carey Hardin. Hardin emphasized the need for expanded facilities at the Starkville Rotary Club on Monday, especially with SEC sports teams frequenting the airport for games. "The great thing about this terminal is that it won't be over the top," Hardin told The Dispatch in a phone interview Tuesday. "But it will meet the need out there that already exists and the needs in the coming decades." The current terminal at George M. Bryan Field is 1,300 square feet. The new two-story building will offer 12,000 square feet of space and will include the construction of a new access road, terminal parking lot and a ramp extension to the terminal as well. Hardin said the new terminal will create space to employ more airport staff and accommodate people coming and going from the airport. It will also assure George M. Bryan Field is on par with similarly sized airports in the SEC while serving a good impression to visitors, Hardin said. "Any town that has a major university, it really has an impact on air travel," Hardin said. "Unless you hang out at an airport, you don't see the folks that... have the potential to make decisions that really affect economic development in an area." The airport primarily caters to general aviation flights including private, recreational and smaller charter flights, Hardin said. It also hosts flights related to Mississippi State University activities like game day travel. |
| MSU employee was stabbed in front of her children | |
| An alleged stabbing Monday afternoon on Mississippi State University's campus appears to have stemmed from a domestic dispute. Gavin Sudduth, 38, of Starkville has been charged with aggravated domestic violence and child endangerment, according to MSU Chief Communications Officer Sid Salter. A female MSU employee suffered non-life-threatening injuries after being stabbed in her car near Herbert Hall, a residence hall on the east side of campus, around 3:50 p.m., Salter said. Four of the victim's children were in the car at the time of the alleged stabbing, Saler said, resulting in the child endangerment charge. Salter said the victim and Sudduth knew each other and characterized the attack as "a domestic incident." Sudduth has no known ties to the university. The victim was taken to OCH Regional Medical Center for treatment. None of the children were injured. Campus police officers arrested Sudduth "within minutes" of the attack, Salter told The Dispatch Monday evening. |
| New military supercomputer named after Mississippi Medal of Honor recipient | |
| A brand new supercomputer unveiled by the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) in Vicksburg has been dedicated in honor of a Medal of Honor recipient from Mississippi. The HPE EX 4000 was named after Corporal William "Kyle" Carpenter during a ceremony held at the organization's Information Technology Laboratory. ERDC is home to some of the world's largest unclassified supercomputers. The latest supercomputer can perform nine quadrillion calculations per second and is fully equipped to enhance ERDC's support of the U.S. Department of Defense's most demanding computational challenges. "With 277,248 AMD compute cores and 563 terabytes of memory, this new supercomputer will significantly enhance our ability to support the DoD's most demanding computational challenges," David A. Horner, director of ITL, said. "This acquisition marks a major accomplishment for our laboratory." Named "Carpenter" in recognition of the Flowood native and youngest living Medal of Honor recipient, the system was displayed to the retired Marine on Tuesday. ERDC's first supercomputer arrived in 1990 and the Defense Department formed the High Performance Computing Modernization Program two years later. Since then, ITL has fielded some of the largest and most powerful supercomputers in the world. |
| Mississippi Ag chief, lawmakers targeting foreign farm ownership | |
| Mississippi officials are calling attention to the growing amount of foreign-owned farmland in the state, although it makes up less than three percent of the state's agriculture and forest land. The amount of Mississippi farmland owned by foreign, nonresidents grew by over 100,000 acres from 2011 to 2021, according to a November report, totaling over 700,000 acres now. The report was written by a recently formed committee of Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner Andy Gipson; Attorney General Lynn Fitch; Rep. Angela Cockerham, I-Magnolia; Sen. Brice Wiggins, R-Pascagoula; Rep. Bill Pigott, R-Tylertown; Sen. Chuck Younger, R-Columbus; and three private sector appointees. The report calls for the Legislature to create an enforcement mechanism for already-existing rules on land ownership. Foreign-owned farmland makes up 2.6% of the state's total, slightly less than the national rate of 3.1%. The Netherlands is by far the top among the abroad landowners in Mississippi, with about 350,000 acres, according to the report. German and British owners each account for another 60,000 acres, roughly. Gipson told Mississippi Today that those countries are likely responding to European regulations around fertilizer and dairy cows, leading them to buy forest land in places like Mississippi. "I think that a lot of this activity, that has increased in the last 10 years, is happening because people around the world understand that the greatest physical asset in the state of Mississippi is our farmland," said Gipson. |
| Agriculture lawmakers, lobbyists quietly challenge China hawks on trade | |
 | Congress' China hawks are meeting rare pushback in their campaign to crack down on Beijing -- farm district Republicans and agriculture lobbies increasingly alarmed that Congress might just blow up American farmers' largest export market. Lawmakers and influential agriculture lobby groups led a campaign to soften the language in a high-profile new report this week from the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, prompting the panel's leaders to pull back from an explicit call to revoke normal trade status for China -- a move that would likely mean significantly higher tariffs on a wide swath of Chinese products. Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), the influential China hawk who heads the China Select Committee, acknowledged to reporters Tuesday that there was "robust debate on this issue." The dust up over the report language highlights how, despite general agreement on the need to be "tough on China," the GOP and Congress remain deeply divided on the policy specifics as they gear up for the 2024 election. Republicans, in particular, remain at odds over how to confront Beijing, especially when it comes to the risks for U.S. farmers and rural communities -- a key GOP constituency. Some rural Republican lawmakers have already raised concerns about former President Donald Trump's plans to slap new tariffs on China if he's reelected next year, which they warn could lead to a new wave of Chinese retaliation on U.S. exports. But they and other business-friendly lawmakers have largely raised those warnings in private, wary of being painted as soft on China by members of their own party. |
| Illegal amounts of THC found in legal cannabis products across state | |
 | A Jackson-based cannabis testing lab announced Tuesday that potentially deadly toxins have been detected in over-the-counter cannabis products widely available throughout Mississippi. Employees and scientists at Steep Hill Mississippi, a cannabis testing lab, said that some cannabis products contain much more tetrahydrocannabinol, commonly referred to as THC, the psychoactive component in marijuana, that federal law allows. Specifically, they tested products containing Delta 9 THC, the most common type of THC found in cannabis plants, according to the health and wellness publication Healthline. The scientists discovered some products had 30 to 40 times the amount of THC allowed; some had 12-14% Delta-9 THC, Osbon said. They also found some products contained pesticides such as bifenazate, myclobutanil, metalaxyl, malathion, chlorantraniliprole, diazinon, spinosad and permethrins. Cliff Osbon, president and co-founder of Steep Hill Mississippi, said those products would have failed the Mississippi Department of Health's standards of medical marijuana by containing pesticides. Kelly Williams, the founder and CEO of medical marijuana dispensary Kelly's Green located in Rankin County, spoke at the press conference, saying she was "shocked and concerned" when showed Steep Hill's test results. "These findings undermine patient access to safe and effective medicine, which in-turn undermines the entire medical marijuana program," Williams said. |
| Occupational licensing boards and commissions are under the microscope in Mississippi | |
| Just because you're trained to do a certain job doesn't mean you can start right away. Several professions require a license in Mississippi. "When government is standing in the way of people working, we've got a problem," explained Secretary of State Michael Watson. There's a total of 29 occupational licensing boards and commissions in Mississippi, and Secretary of State Michael Watson's office is splitting that list up to put a microscope on the red tape they put between people and a license. "Let's just take the average. You got roughly 600 regulations that you as a small business person, if you're working in one of these areas, one of these boards or commissions, you got to overcome 600 regulations just to operate to open your doors," added Watson. "That's time-consuming [and] it takes a lot of money. So we want to do all we can to cut those." Watson's office visited one of those boards last week, and they didn't have enough people there to do their business. "This is the second time this board did not make quorum," explained Watson. "And we had a number of licensees or prospective licensees that have been waiting for months for the license, and that's bad." Sen. Jeremy England says he thinks licensing is an issue the Legislature should keep a close watch on each year. "Everybody talks about how important workforce development is," noted England. "But what we don't realize is once we get people through certain programs, they may have trouble getting their license." |
| Hinds County Election Commission hears criticism from public after Election Day ballot shortages | |
| On Election Day, ballot shortages were reported in Hinds County which prompted lawsuit filings that ultimately landed the issue in front of the Mississippi Supreme Court. The lawsuit aimed to extend voting time from 7:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. While originally granted by a Chancery Judge in Hinds County, a Supreme Court special appointed judge overruled the order but maintained that state law allows anyone in line by 7:00 p.m. be able to cast their vote regardless of wait time. Tuesday, the Hinds County Election Commission met for their monthly meeting on December 12 in which a packed room of residents and advocacy groups waited to express their concerns to the elected officials. The public comment period opened with representatives from advocacy groups such as One Voice, Mississippi Votes, the Poor People's Campaign, and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Many of the groups and individuals, including the Southern Poverty Law Center, mentioned that issues with ballots were reported during the Democratic Primary in the district earlier this year. They believe those reports went unattended to by election commissioners. Monica Taylor, a Hinds County resident who was directly impacted by the shortages, said when she arrived at her precinct, she was told they were out of ballots. When she inquired as to when there would be more, she indicated she was met with "no urgency" by the poll workers. "I didn't see any urgency about the situation. My grandfather is in the Civil Rights museum. This is what he fought for, so I'm not a person that you can tell 'we don't have any ballots' and think I'm going to walk away," said Taylor. |
| Hinds County Election Commission agrees to explain ballot shortages in future public meeting | |
| After hearing from about 50 frustrated voters for more than an hour on Tuesday morning, the Hinds County Election Commission agreed to meet publicly with a coalition of civil rights groups to explain why the county ran out of ballots during November's statewide general election. The five-member commission, all of whom are elected Democrats, committed to conduct a public meeting on Dec. 18 at 1 p.m. in Jackson to answer questions about how widespread election problems occurred in the state's most populous county. "We did make a mistake," Commission Chairwoman Yvonne Robinson Horton said on Tuesday about the Election Day issues. During Mississippi's Nov. 7 general election, several Hinds County voting precincts ran out of ballots throughout the day. The county is majority Black and is a Democratic Party stronghold. Mississippi is a "bottom-up" state when it comes to election administration, and state law dictates that county election commissioners are responsible for distributing enough ballots to polling precincts. Several voters and former county office candidates thanked Robinson for her apology, but believed it was not enough. Instead, they demanded the board outline concrete steps to ensure the ballot shortage issues do not occur in future elections. |
| Window rapidly closing for deal on appropriations framework | |
 | Congress appears poised to leave town before Christmas without a topline spending agreement, which could doom the chances of getting full-fledged fiscal 2024 appropriations bills done in January. If there's no deal on spending limits this week, lawmakers will essentially be out of time to work out the details of the 12 annual appropriations bills by Jan. 19, the first of two deadlines set in the last continuing resolution. The next deadline is Feb. 2, leaving little time to complete the last, larger batch of bills, particularly with the House scheduled to be in recess the week of Jan. 22. House Republicans remain far apart from both parties in the Senate and House Democrats on the total allocations appropriators have to parcel out to the dozen subcommittees so they can wrap up their bills. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is pushing for the overall $1.59 trillion level set in the text of the debt limit law or as close to it as possible, tossing aside some if not all of the $69 billion in extra nondefense spending agreed to in a "side deal" in those negotiations. "What we also agreed to was what is written in the law, which is the [debt limit law] numbers on topline," Johnson said Tuesday. "The Senate has been projecting and writing well above that, to, I don't know, billions of dollars. That's not what the law says." Eliminating the side deal would cut nondefense spending by around 9 percent below fiscal 2023 levels on average, a nonstarter for Democrats. And the Senate wants to spend even more than that pact envisioned, having added almost $14 billion in emergency spending to the fiscal 2024 appropriations bills, $8 billion of which is for the Pentagon. |
| Supreme Court agrees to rule on FDA's approval of abortion pills sent by mail | |
 | The Supreme Court said Wednesday it will decide whether to put stricter limits on abortion pills that are now the most common method for ending early pregnancies. The justices voted to hear the Biden administration's appeal and reconsider rulings by conservative judges in Texas who disagreed with the Food and Drug Administration's view that mifepristone is safe and effective and may be dispensed widely. At issue are FDA regulations in 2016 and 2021 that extended the time for using the pills from seven weeks to 10 weeks of pregnancy and allowed for dispensing the medication without requiring one or more visits to a doctor's office. Currently the pills may be dispensed through a pharmacy or sent through the mail. Since the drugs were first approved by the FDA in 2000, they have been used by more than 5 million women in this country and even more around the world, government lawyers said. The FDA case will be heard in the spring, and it is the most significant abortion case since the court's conservative majority struck down the constitutional right to abortion in 2022. If the court were to rule for antiabortion advocates who sued in Texas, it would limit the legal use of abortion medication to seven weeks of a pregnancy and require patients to make one or more visits to a doctor. |
| Why retailers are rethinking self-checkout | |
| The discount retailer Dollar General is planning to spend an extra $50 million to staff up its stores before the end of the year -- stores where it had been cutting its labor costs by leaning heavily on self-checkout stations in recent years. In an earnings call last week, CEO Todd Vasos told investors the company had started to rely too much on the technology and it "should be using self-checkout as a secondary checkout vehicle, not a primary." It's the latest in a growing list of retailers -- including Walmart, Target and Costco -- that are pulling back on the self-service option. To be clear, some customers prefer self-checkout. It can be quicker and more convenient, says management professor Rita McGrath at Columbia. "But the dilemma is, eventually you get to the end of what you can do in an automated way, because that has to be very routine, right?" she said. But it doesn't take much to trip up the automation. "I mean, it's a robot it doesn't know what it's doing," she said. "Please rescan, the bag isn't there? Did you put it in your bag? By now I'm frustrated." And that frustration is becoming routine, as more parts of the customer experience become automated, says analyst Craig Le Clair at Forrester. "The pandemic pushed us down a digital transformation path that was so accelerated, that, there will be kind of a tech-lash," he said. |
| MCC receives five grants from AccelerateMS | |
 | Meridian Community College has won grants of more than $1.5 million through AccelerateMS, the state office of Workforce Development. These grants, made possible through state funding via AccelerateMS and the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery, will be pivotal in expanding and enhancing career pathway programs, benefiting students and the local community, said MCC President Dr. Tom Huebner. "This investment will empower us to equip our students with the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in today's rapidly changing job market. It is a testament to our commitment to providing education that prepares individuals for meaningful careers, and we are deeply grateful for this opportunity to make an even greater impact on our community," said Huebner. Lucy Lamberth, MCC director of Workforce Grants and Development, said grants received encompass a wide range of initiatives to strengthen the college's commitment to education and workforce development. The five grants include Nurse Navigator, Nursing Simulation Lab Expansion, Lineman, Kubota and Diesel Technology. |
| PEER report shows instances of grade inflation, mastery decline in Mississippi schools | |
| A recent finding by the Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review, or PEER, found instances of grade inflation in the subjects of math and English in a large portion of third through eighth graders in Mississippi. The findings came from a review of 30 of the state's 144 school districts conducted by GlimpseK12 for the 2022-2023 school year. Grade inflation occurs when students earn A's or B's in a subject but fail to earn a proficient score on assessment tests. As noted by PEER, grade inflation negatively impacts students because high grades give the impression to students and parents that students have mastered the required content, although subsequent state evaluation exams do not demonstrate that mastery. "Grade inflation contributes to a weak educational foundation that impairs the student's performance in future grades and on future evaluation exams," the report states. According to the report, eighth grade student scores in English Language Arts within the reviewed school districts saw the highest rate of inflation at 40 percent. Grade inflation pertaining to math was greatest in fifth grade students at 37 percent. The report states that when grade inflation is more than 25 percent, the school district should conduct systematic grading practice reviews. Emails requesting comments from the superintendents of four school districts that reported higher instances of inflation in third grade math -- Noxubee, Wilkinson, North Panola and Moss Point -- were not returned by press time. |
| Commission on Higher Education approves $2.12 billion budget | |
| In a pivotal move, the Alabama Commission on Higher Education (ACHE) has approved a robust $2.12 billion budget for the state's public higher education institutions for the fiscal year 2024-25. This approval, which occurred during the commission's recent quarterly meeting, marks a substantial increase of $135.81 million, or 6.84 percent, from the previous fiscal year. The ACHE's legal mandate includes presenting an annual Consolidated Budget Recommendation (CBR) for Alabama's two- and four-year institutions to both the governor and the state Legislature. Prior to this meeting, ACHE's finance committee conducted budget hearings, offering a platform for institutional representatives to voice their financial needs and challenges. The primary concerns highlighted during these hearings included escalating inflationary pressures, challenges in maintaining competitive employee salaries, and the need to address ongoing deferred maintenance issues. This year's discussions also emphasized the growing mandatory costs related to insurance premiums and retirement contributions. A notable factor contributing to financial strain has been the significant rise in property insurance premiums, driven by higher construction costs and ongoing supply chain difficulties. Jim Purcell, ACHE Executive Director, underscored the impact of inflation on campus operations across the state's colleges and universities. Stan Nelson, Chairman of the ACHE Finance Committee, echoed these sentiments, noting that the annual budget hearings consistently reveal common financial themes, with increasing mandatory costs being a recurrent topic this year. |
| Texas A&M approves Mark Welsh as university's permanent president | |
 | Mark A. Welsh III has been lucky to have a number of proud and memorable moments in his life. He said Tuesday ranks right at the top of the list. Welsh was named Texas A&M University's next president when the Board of Regents unanimously voted to approve him as the full-time president during a special meeting Tuesday. Welsh has served as A&M's acting/interim president since July 20 when he took over for M. Katherine Banks, who resigned amid a tumultuous summer on the main campus. Welsh, who was previously dean of A&M's Bush School of Government and Public Service since 2016, was named the sole finalist for A&M's open president position on Nov. 17. A mandatory 21-day waiting period had to pass before he was officially appointed into his permanent role. Welsh's salary will start at $1.1 million, per an A&M official. "This is pretty cool for me and not because it's a great accomplishment so much because I think there are a lot of people who can do this job," Welsh said after the vote. "It's just an opportunity to contribute to Texas A&M in a meaningful way and I love people who contribute in a meaningful way to Texas A&M." Before his time at A&M, Welsh had a four-decade career in the U.S. Air Force. He was a fighter pilot, a four-star general and later served as the Air Force's chief. Welsh also commanded the American Air Force in Europe and NATO's Air Command at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, and served as the CIA's associate director of military affairs along with being commandant of the United States Air Force Academy. |
| Lawsuit accuses A&M Corps of Cadets of hazing, seeks $1M | |
| A lawsuit filed by a Texas A&M University student claims that 10 students, who were Corps of Cadets members at the time, forcibly hazed and assaulted him in an on-campus dorm room when he was a member of the Corps in October 2022, according to court documents. The lawsuit, which was filed in Dallas County in October, is seeking over $1,000,000 for past and future medical expenses, and past and future physical and mental anguish from the 10 defendants, according to the lawsuit. In a statement to The Eagle, Kevin McGinnis, Texas A&M vice president and chief compliance, risk and ethics officer, said the university investigated the accusation but cannot comment on the outcome. "The institution was made aware of this situation, and action was taken accordingly. We are unable to disclose the outcomes of student conduct cases in compliance with Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act regulations," McGinnis said in a statement. "Nevertheless, I can say that this matter was handled in accordance with the rules and policies of the university. According to the lawsuit, the university conducted multiple investigations into the hazing and the victim was ostracized as a result, even though he had not initiated the investigations. In total, 10 defendants are named in the lawsuit. None of the defendants have been charged with any crime at the time of publication and the lawsuit, along with their names, are publicly available via Dallas County court documents. |
| U. of Missouri curators keep Mun Choi's salary increases under the radar | |
 | Three years after taking the dual role of University of Missouri chancellor and UM System president, Mun Choi's pay package has quietly approached $1 million through decisions made in a series of closed-door curators meetings. An attorney who works with Missouri open meetings law argued decisions on Choi's salary should be made in public. In 2020, the UM System Board of Curators voted to merge the two roles and extend Choi's employment contract with no pay increase. Choi's total pay jumped from about $670,000 to about $1 million since 2020, according to compensation surveys from the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development. "(Choi is) doing two jobs, and we had to adjust his salary accordingly," said Board of Curators chair Michael Williams. As of November, the curators were working on a new salary for Choi. Despite the raises, Williams said the university is saving "mid-six figures" with Choi in the dual role rather than paying two separate president and chancellor salaries. In the 2017 to 2018 budget year, MU's chancellor before Choi, Alexander Cartwright, was paid $485,000 in base salary while Choi was making a $530,000 base salary to serve as UM president, according to a UM System salary report. When determining how much Choi makes in both roles, "we look at the overall package," Williams said. |
| Nearly half of companies say they plan to eliminate bachelor's degree requirements in 2024 | |
| Forty-five percent of companies plan to eliminate bachelor's degree requirements for some positions in 2024, according to a Nov. 29 report from Intelligent.com. In 2023, 55% of companies removed degree requirements, particularly for entry-level and mid-level roles, the survey shows. Employers said they dropped these requirements to create a more diverse workforce, increase the number of applicants for open positions and because there are other ways to gain skills. "Due to the expense of attending college, earning a bachelor's degree is generally more difficult for people from traditionally marginalized groups and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds," Diane Gayeski, higher education advisor for Intelligent.com and professor of strategic communication at Ithaca College, said in a statement. "If a student's parents didn't attend college or if they are from outside the U.S., it can be much more difficult to know how to navigate applying to colleges and finding scholarships and other resources," she said. "Eliminating a bachelor's degree can open jobs up to individuals who weren't able to attend college." In a survey of 800 U.S. employers, 80% said they were "very likely" or "likely" to favor work experience over education when assessing job candidate applications. In addition, 81% said it's important for recent college graduates to have work experience. Among respondents who said they eliminated some degree requirements during the past year, the highest percentages tended to be in industries such as information services, software, construction and finance and insurance. |
| Why Harvard and Penn Took Different Paths With Their Presidents | |
 | As they sat together at a House Committee hearing in Washington last week, Harvard University President Claudine Gay and University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill had a lot in common: both were relatively new, female presidents of wealthy, Ivy League universities. And both were under fire. They gave nearly identical, halting, answers in response to the question of whether calling for the genocide of Jews at their schools is protected speech. Both endured immediate calls for their removal from donors, alumni and students. Then their paths diverged. After the hearing, Penn trustees abandoned Magill, who resigned on Saturday. Harvard's governing body considered the situation in silence for a few days. On Monday night, they handed her a vote of confidence. The difference in the two presidents' outcomes boiled down to a handful of actions, variables and relationships that alone may not have mattered, but in conjunction made the difference between survival and resignation. Gay had at least three things going for her that Magill didn't, said Michael Poliakoff, the president and chief executive officer of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, a nonprofit that supports viewpoint diversity and the free exchange of ideas on college campuses. She is an insider who arrived at Harvard in 2006, later becoming a dean of the faculty of arts and sciences. Over her 17 years at the university, she forged deep social and professional ties with faculty and decision makers. Perhaps most critically for Gay, she leads an institution that considers itself first among equals. “I think Harvard’s arrogance is a real factor,” said Poliakoff. |
| Anti-DEI movement expands in politics, business and academics | |
| The backlash over diversity, equity and inclusion programs, or DEI, is sharpening in politics, business and academics. Diversity programs are being cut in business, pummeled by Republicans in politics and ridiculed in academia, where donors have pulled millions. College DEI programs support historically underrepresented students and faculty members, such as people of color, people with disabilities and veterans. Critics have argued for years that these programs make universities overly sensitive to only certain groups. They leapt to make that connection after university presidents hedged when asked how they would respond to hypothetical instances of antisemitism on their campuses. Billionaire hedge fund manager and Harvard alumnus Bill Ackman wrote an open letter to his alma mater calling for Claudine Gay to resign as president, and said the university's DEI office was a "major contributing source of discriminatory practices on campus." Ackman also suggested that Gay, Harvard's first Black president, was hired because of a DEI initiative. Civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton told AP, "Now we have one of the richest men in America attacking a Black woman whose academic credentials are impeccable." Gay's job is safe, Harvard's board said Tuesday. Penn alumnus and investor Ross Stevens, who pulled a $100 million donation from the university after former president Liz Magill's testimony, had withdrawn another donation from Penn's Wharton school earlier this year. According to the New York Times, Stevens "changed his mind because he thought the school was prioritizing DEI over enhancing the business school's academic excellence." |
| House Committee Advances Pell Grant Expansion | |
 | The House Education and Workforce Committee voted Tuesday in favor of a bill that would expand the Pell Grant to short-term career training programs that last between eight and 14 weeks, despite opposition from some higher education associations. To pay for the expansion, the bill proposes cutting off federal student loans, starting next July, to about 50 or 60 wealthy colleges and universities that are subject to the federal endowment tax. The American Council on Education and other lobbying groups wrote in a letter to the committee that this offset would "represent an unprecedented and harmful shift in federal financial aid." Some committee members raised concerns about the offset during Tuesday's markup. Virginia representative Bobby Scott, the committee's top Democrat and a co-sponsor of the bill, acknowledged the concerns and opened the door to rethinking the offset. He said he'll be looking for other ways to pay for the legislation, which authorizes $160 million in new spending over five years. "One of the challenges we have in this committee is that we have limited jurisdiction," Scott said of the offset. "We can cut school lunches, Title I formulas and other job-training programs. So we're kind of limited in what we can do." The bill passed out of committee 37 to 8 and will now head to the House floor for consideration, though the specific timing is unclear -- as is whether the legislation can pass the full chamber. The House will leave for its holiday break at the end of this week and return Jan. 9. |
| Senate Bill Would Tax Universities to Fund Israel, Ukraine and Border Security | |
| Republican senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas wants to levy a 6 percent tax on 10 universities' endowments to support Israel and Ukraine and fund border security efforts. The one-time tax, proposed Tuesday as part of the Woke Endowment Security Tax Act, would raise about $15.47 billion, according to a news release from Cotton's office. According to the release, the 10 universities subject to the tax would be: Columbia University, Cornell University, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, Stanford University, Washington University in St. Louis and Yale University. The bill doesn't list the specific institutions but creates two groups to levy the tax against, according to the news release. Those groups are secular institutions with endowments of at least $12.2 billion and secular institutions with endowments of at least $9 billion that also operate a "state contract college" as subject to the tax. The latter category seems aimed at Cornell, a private institution with contract colleges and schools that were created by New York lawmakers and receive state funds. The legislation would use the 2022 value of endowments to determine which universities would be taxed. "Many of America's so-called 'top' universities are failing to condemn antisemitism and violence against Jewish students on their campuses," Cotton said in a statement. "We should levy this tax on these schools' endowments. A tax on the billions of dollars these schools have amassed would be more than enough to pay for our aid to Israel or security for the southern border." |
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| Five Things To Know MSU-Murray State | |
| Mississippi State men's basketball heads into the home stretch of its non-conference slate as the Bulldogs square off with Murray State for the program's "Christmas At The Hump" matchup on Wednesday evening at Humphrey Coliseum. The Bulldogs (7-2, 0-0 SEC) put a two-game skid in the rear-view mirror with an emphatic 106-76 rout of Tulane at the Holiday Hoopsgiving event in Atanta over the weekend. The 106 points marked the highest total for a Coach Jans coached team, the highest total for State since a 103-81 win over BYU in 2018-19 and the highest total for the Maroon and White outside the state of Mississippi going back to a 105-68 victory over Florida in 1958-59. The Bulldogs also set several additional season watermarks headed by 31 assists on 41 made baskets (75.6 percent), canned 13 three-pointers and featured five players in double figures for the first time during the 2023-24 campaign. State has won seven of the nine meetings between the two schools, the latest a 78-61 victory, during the 2007-08 season. Charles Rhodes (22 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks), Jamont Gordon (15 points, 4 assists) and Barry Stewart (14 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals) were the top three scorers for the Maroon and White. Mississippi State is selling single game tickets and $96 mini plans for the 2023-24 campaign. Visit www.HailState.com/Tickets for more information. |
| Inside Zac Selmon's plan for improving Davis Wade Stadium, Mississippi State's facilities | |
 | During Mississippi State football's trip to South Carolina in September, athletics director Zac Selmon took in the environment around him. From the audio blaring through the speakers to the light show adding intensity to every energizing moment, Williams-Brice Stadium asserted itself as one of the top gameday atmospheres in the SEC. Selmon, who was hired as AD in January, watched closely with the understanding that MSU is looking to elevate its experience at Davis Wade Stadium. "When you go to South Carolina at night, you feel like you can feel the music beating off your chest," Selmon told the Clarion Ledger in an exclusive interview. "I know the capital investment that South Carolina made recently, and it's substantial. But it also takes years of planning." For Selmon, simply catching up to opponents isn't enough. "How do you take all that (you see) and make it authentically you, authentically Mississippi State and then set the standard so that when people come to Mississippi State they know this is how it's supposed to be done," Selmon said. "Philosophically, that's the goal." That's why Selmon, who was hired from Oklahoma's athletic department, says he paused the Davis Wade Stadium facility project. He wanted MSU to have a holistic approach. Rather than looking at the next improvement, he wanted future plans established as well. "We're trying to fit a lot of stuff in a short period of time but are really optimistic of the conversations we've had with our architects," Selmon said. The changes may come in phases, he said, but Mississippi State should be thinking multiple steps ahead. |
| Mississippi State's Watson named AP All-American | |
| Mississippi has one player on the Associated Press All-American team. Nathaniel "Bookie" Watson, a graduate linebacker at Mississippi State, was named to the AP's third team after a stellar 2023 campaign that included leading the SEC in both tackles (137) and sacks (10). The Maplesville, Ala., native added seven quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, a pair of pass breakups, and an interception. The All-American nod is the latest accolade to roll in for Watson as the team captain has also been named AP SEC Defensive Player of the Year and first-team All-SEC. He was also a finalist for the Butkus Award, given annually to the top linebacker in college football. With no eligibility remaining, Watson has officially announced his intentions to go pro. In a social media post on Nov. 29, he released the following statement: "It has truly been a long time coming but my time at Mississippi State has come to an end. 6 years ago, I came to Mississippi State as a teenager just wanting to play football, but as I leave Mississippi State, I leave as a man with two degrees and a lifetime of memories. I am so thankful for every person who has made this journey memorable. I can't thank my family, my teammates and coaches, and all the trainers for their support and love through everything. All the memories I have made and the lives I have impacted will be something I hold with me forever. I look forward to the next stage of my life and the journey this will be. Thank you for everything, Mississippi State!" |
| Sanderson Farms Championship host organization donates $1M to benefit Children's of Mississippi | |
 | Century Club Charities, the host organization of the Sanderson Farms Championship, set a record by donating $1 million from tournament proceeds to benefit Mississippi's only children's hospital. It is the 10th consecutive year the tournament's donation to Children's of Mississippi has been $1 million or more. The donation from proceeds of the state's only PGA TOUR event to Friends of Children's Hospital was announced at a news conference Tuesday, Dec. 12, at Children's of Mississippi's Kathy and Joe Sanderson Tower on the campus of the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Children's of Mississippi, which includes the children's hospital as well as clinics around the state, cares for nearly 200,000 children a year. Dr. LouAnn Woodward, vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine at UMMC, thanked Century Club Charities, Friends of Children's Hospital and Wayne-Sanderson Farms for their continuing support. Woodward praised the tournament for its connection to Children's of Mississippi's patients: "The Sanderson Farms Championship is an excellent golf tournament that stands on its own merits, but what makes it special is the connection with the children here. You will see during the week of the tournament the players and the PGA Wives Association members over here spending time with the patients and their families. When you're at the tournament, you see signs featuring Children's of Mississippi and our patients. All the visitors and spectators and everyone involved really get a sense of what this is all about." The 2024 Sanderson Farms Championship is set for Sept. 30-Oct. 6 at the Country Club of Jackson. |
| Why PGA TOUR U is reshaping how Auburn develops, recruits its top-ranked golf team | |
 | It's a lonely game in the middle of the fairway, no caddy for guidance, only a small assortment of parents looking on from around the trees. It leaves a golfer with a club in their hand and a mind trying to compartmentalize their next shot, their opponent alongside them and how it all fits into the greater picture of that week's team competition. Then add the money on the line and the future's at play in a quickly evolving college golf world. It's changed the composition of what swirls through a golfer's mind and changed the job for Auburn head coach Nick Clinard. For all he's built during his 15 years here, he has not ever seen change like the last three years. The objectives are different now. He recruits golfers who plan to play professionally. But the road there is arduous and complicated. Developing golfers to take their next step was done so knowing the math just doesn't work in their favor. At least until 2020. While still a difficult process, the PGA Tour introduced PGA Tour University, meant to take advantage of an ever-growing talent pool in college golf during the sport's biggest wave of growth in interest and capital in decades. It's meant to provide both more and simpler options to reach the professional ranks. The priority for Clinard and his players is the team. But to say a team championship alone is a priority would be naive. College golf is evolving. |
| Florida AG investigating CFP over Florida State's exclusion | |
| Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced Tuesday that she is launching an investigation into the College Football Playoff selection committee over the decision to leave Florida State out of the top four. Moody said the state's antitrust division is sending a civil investigative demand to the committee for "more information about the nature of possible contracts, conspiracies in restraint of trade or monopolization of trade and commerce relating to anticompetitive effects of the College Football Playoff." Afterward, College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock issued a statement that read: "We will carefully review this demand for information, but it sure seems to be an overly aggressive reaction to a college football ranking in which some fans somewhere were bound to be disappointed." As part of the investigation, Moody wants communications between the SEC, ACC, NCAA, ESPN, Group of 5 and Power 5 conferences as it relates to deliberations, compensation of committee members, how individual committee members voted, the names of those present during any vote and information related to the software used to record votes, in addition to several other requests. |
| Lawsuit aims to eliminate all NCAA transfer restrictions, while some are pushing for a stricter policy | |
| Within the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of West Virginia and before presiding judge John P. Bailey, the NCAA's transfer policy is at risk of being canceled. A judge's ruling on Wednesday at 10 a.m. could at least temporarily lift the association's rules around second-time transfers, opening a path for athletes who have had waivers denied or whose waiver is outstanding to play immediately at their new schools. The hearing is the first step in a lawsuit filed last week by seven states that looks to eliminate the NCAA's transfer rules. The lawsuit is another example of a recent trend: Member schools aggressively pushing back on the very same rules that they helped create and pass. In this case, attorney generals from seven states are suing the NCAA at least partially over the organization denying a high-profile athlete at one of their state schools from transferring a second time and playing immediately. The latest legal challenge against the organization focuses, this time, not on athlete compensation like many of the other active cases, but on athlete eligibility -- it, too, a long-running criticism of the organization and its membership from... its own members or those connected to its own members. "We are the NCAA," said Jon Steinbrecher, commissioner of the MAC. |
| Biggest issue in NCAA? Good luck choosing just one | |
| There are no serious issues facing college sports these days, well, except for a potential employee or revenue-sharing model, a potential $4.2 billion damages bill for the NCAA, a reckoning over athlete rights and Title IX, ballooning coaching salaries and severance packages, athlete well-being in the age of cross-country conference travel, a patchwork of state NIL laws, escalating sports wagering issues and the NCAA's contention that it can't govern without being sued. Other than those minor peccadillos, it's all kumbaya, right? Given the number of existential issues at play, how there is no certainty that the NCAA's potentially ground-breaking reform proposal will ever be implemented, and how the enterprise's upper crust is printing money by the billions -- it's impossible to overstate the level of tumult that exists throughout college athletics. It is an industry on tilt. In recent weeks, On3's reporting team conducted exclusive interviews with more than 50 leading college sports voices -- commissioners, athletic directors, coaches, collectives, athletes, NIL and legal experts and others -- to gather insights on the industry's most consequential issues. As part of On3's State of College Sports project, we are publishing their responses, along with accompanying stories. Asked to pinpoint their biggest issue in college athletics, the wide array of answers underscores the extent of disorder that exists nationwide. "I've never seen anything like it in my association with college sports," said Tom McMillen, the former U.S. Congressman and CEO of LEAD1 Association, who has been involved in college sports since the early 1970s. |
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