| Thursday, January 11, 2024 |
| MSU natural resource faculty, staff honored for excellence | |
 | Several Mississippi State University faculty and staff in the College of Forest Resources are entering the spring semester with new awards following the college's annual recognition ceremony at the close of 2023. Dean Wes Burger said the college, as well as the university's Forest and Wildlife Research Center, of which he serves as director, "accomplish great things in natural resource teaching, research, and service because of the extraordinary faculty and staff we have." "The College of Forest Resources is the only nationally accredited educational program in the state for educating and developing future leaders in natural resources. MSU is among the top research universities nationally, reporting $300 million in research and development expenditures in the latest National Science Foundation report. MSU is ranked 14th in the nation in natural resources and conservation research," Burger said. |
| MSU announces new five-story residence hall | |
 | Mississippi State University announced its plans to build a $100 million residence hall. Azalea Hall is scheduled to open ahead of the fall 2025 semester. The five-story, 159,000-square-foot facility will have more than 400 beds. It'll also feature private, single-room living areas. The site is between Ruby Hall and the Old Main Academic Center. |
| Charlestowne Hotels Year in Review: 2023 Highlights Include New Portfolio Additions; Leading Industry Accolades | |
 | After significant internal and portfolio growth in 2022, leading hospitality management company Charlestowne Hotels once again celebrates a successful year bookended by exciting expansion, numerous accolades for its properties and executives, and advances in its corporate structure and technology. "Charlestowne's 2023 growth was characterized by deeper expansion into the Midwest and college towns, heightened work with soft brands, and the growth of our revenue and marketing services for properties around the country. We also continued to transform our corporate structure and redefine our leadership model, launching a refreshed website to introduce our new VPs and directors and showcase the forward-thinking work we're doing to provide our partners with best-in-class service," said Kyle Hughey, CEO of Charlestowne Hotels. Portfolio growth continued in 2023, with highlights including: Little Mod Hotel (Charlottesville, VA): Charlestowne's 13th property in a university market, Little Mod is a 20-room hotel situated in a 1960s revitalized building, charming guests with nostalgia, groovy furnishings, whimsical F+B offerings, and an unapologetically hip vibe. Starkville, MS: Charlestowne also took over the management of three best-in-class properties at Mississippi State University: Comfort Suites Starkville (which has now been converted to an independent hotel under Charlestowne's management), Courtyard by Marriott Starkville, and Hampton Inn Starkville. |
| Mary Means Business: Moving to Starkville, we've got some pizza news. | |
 | Moving to Starkville, we've got some pizza news. Stromboli's Italian Eatery, 408 University Drive, is officially back in business. The 20-year-old restaurant closed last April, but announced Sunday night on Facebook it would have a soft reopening with a menu featuring the classics, such as the hot chick calzone, one-topping pizzas, chicken ranchero pizza, cookie dough bites and more. The pizza news continues in Starkville. Godfather's Pizza, 401 University Drive, officially closed late last year. Godfather's first opened in Starkville in January 2022 at the Midtown Development. The property manager could not be reached by press time. I was hoping the restaurant closed simply for the holidays, but the corporate office confirmed it has closed permanently. Moving all the way to downtown Starkville, Proof Bakery, 109 W. Main St., is in danger of closing permanently. Owner TJ Manna announced online the brick-and-mortar store will close "until further notice." Manna said she is still taking custom orders through text and folks can keep up to date with Proof and its future on social media. Moving over to Highway 12, we're starting to see some changes to vacant buildings. Starkville's newest breakfast joint is making some headway on the former Chicken Salad Chick building at 602 Hwy. 12 E. City Planner Daniel Havalin said Big Bad Breakfast has started its demolition process. |
| Bush joins Ward 1 alderman race | |
| The contest for Starkville's open Ward 1 seat now has two candidates. Timothy Bush, 57, filed qualifying paperwork Wednesday, City Clerk Lesa Hardin confirmed. The deadline for candidates to qualify is on Jan. 22 and the seat will be decided in a special election on Feb. 13. The winner will replace Ben Carver, who resigned Jan. 2 to represent District 1 on the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors. Kim Moreland, a general contractor and member of the planning and zoning commission, has also qualified for the race. Bush said he is a customer service supervisor at Mississippi State University, a role he's held for 24 years. He is a U.S. Navy veteran and an associate minister at Starkville's Second Baptist Church. Landscaping issues, speed zones and more connecting roads to make Starkville even more attractive to businesses are on Bush's priority list. "I have been wanting to run for years," he said. "Waiting on the right time (and) the right voice from God to tell me to move. This is the time the Lord spoke. I also want to continue to build on what Ben Carver has done in the ward." |
| Starkville Police Department earns reaccreditation | |
| The Starkville Police Department earned re-accreditation from the Commission of Law Enforcement Agencies and the Mississippi Law Enforcement Accreditation. The department has received accreditation from the Commission since 2012 and the Mississippi agency since 2007. The department has to comply with 216 different law enforcement best practices standards to receive accreditation. The goals for both agencies are the same. They want to strengthen crime prevention, form management procedures, establish fair practices, improve service delivery and boost citizen confidence. |
| Health officials ask Mississippians to prepare for upcoming cold snap | |
| Mississippi is in store for a round of severely cold weather and the state health department is urging folks to take safety precautions ahead of time. According to the National Weather Service, residents of north Mississippi could face single-digit temperatures next week. Meanwhile, those in the central and southern parts of the state are expected to see low temperatures in the teens. The conditions run the risk of causing power outages, frozen pipes, iced-over roads, and possible dangers to individuals' health. With that in mind, the Mississippi State Department of Health is offering some advice to have people as prepared as possible. In the event of a power outage, experts recommend for folks to stock up on canned goods and other items that do not require refrigeration. To prepare for frozen pipes or even a boil-water alert, residents are encouraged to have safe water for drinking, cooking, and personal hygiene -- including bottled, boiled, or treated water. Health concerns always arise during excessively cold temperatures. The MSDH is advising residents to watch for signs of hypothermia and frostbite -- a feeling of "pins and needles" followed by numbness. Avoiding outdoor elements and consuming warm beverages that do not contain alcohol or caffeine are the best ways to prevent hypothermia and frostbite. |
| Inflation Edged Up in December After Rapid Cooling Most of 2023 | |
 | Inflation firmed up at year's end, after the pace of price gains fell by nearly half in 2023. The consumer-price index climbed 0.3% in December from the prior month and increased 3.4% from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Thursday. That compares with November's 0.1% monthly gain and marks an acceleration from that month's 3.1% annual increase. Core prices, which strip out volatile food and energy items, rose 0.3% in December from the prior month -- the same monthly increase as November and slightly faster than would be consistent with the Federal Reserve's long-term inflation target of 2%. Core prices increased 3.9% from a year earlier, a modest slowing from November's 4% annual increase. Thursday's report isn't likely to change the Fed's near-term policy outlook. Overall inflation is well down from 6.5% at the end of 2022, and wages have grown, meaning many consumers are seeing their dollars go further. However, pockets of fast-rising prices remain, such as those for auto insurance and repairs. The rapid cooling of core price increases over the past year has raised hopes of a soft landing, where inflation can be tamed without a surge in unemployment or a recession. Core inflation is often viewed as a better predictor of inflation's future path than the overall numbers. "The progress on inflation since June 2022 has been remarkable," said David Kelly, chief global strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management. "The bottom line is that the most likely path for inflation from here is not upwards or sideways but rather down." |
| Leaders of Mississippi cities concerned about changes to PERS | |
 | The Mississippi Municipal League met at the Mississippi State Capitol on Wednesday to discuss changes to the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS). PERS has quickly become one of the most pressing issue among Mississippi lawmakers and their state-employed constituents. Members of the Mississippi Municipal League shared their concerns with the most recent updates to the contribution levels of PERS. In 2023, the PERS Board of Trustees lowered the annual percentage rate by just more than half a point. They also voted to implement an employer contribution increase of 5% phased out over three years, bumping employer contributions up from 17.4% to 22.4%. Greenville Mayor Errick Simmons said some towns cannot afford this. "For Greenville, Mississippi, we send PERS anywhere between $250,000 to $300,000 a month. That's $3 million. This increase will increase that in the neighborhood by about $260,000. The opportunity cost and continue the municipal services that we do day in and day out for our folks. Tell me, will I'll be elected again as mayor if I tell my folks, 'I've got to raise your taxes by 10 mils to cover up a PERS increase?' So, we got to get it right," said Simmons. The first employer contribution rate increase will begin on July 1, 2024. |
| Local mayors, city leaders asking for state's help with funding PERS increase | |
| The Public Employees Retirement System, also known as PERS. It's something you may or may not have heard of but it continues to be a hot topic. The Mississippi Municipal League met inside the State Capitol to address the issues it has with the recent changes being made to PERS. "Today, we say get it right, get it right, get it right," said Mayor Errick Simmons of Greenville. "The rate that we're paying now is helping to further put Greenville on the road to financial disaster." "In Hattiesburg, it's about one and a half million dollars, that we'll have to come up with for a three-year period, and that's a recurring cost the city will have to budget for every year," said Mayor Toby Barker of Hattiesburg. Barker joined dozens of other mayors expressing how they don't have the extra dollars to cover the costs. House Speaker Jason White said it's something the legislature will take a close look at this session. "Our approach to attacking tough issues whether it be the Public Employees Retirement System, or other policy initiatives, will require honest conversations that lead to adjustments made with a conservative mindset," White said in a statement. "After hearing feedback from city and county government officials, we intend to take a close look at the issues and challenges surrounding the long-term viability and sustainability of our state's retirement system. We as a legislature are focused on identifying the problems and hope that in collaboration with the PERS Board, come forward with solutions that honor the obligations to current retirees and create a sustainable model for future employees." |
| Young lawmakers pushing workforce development, grocery tax cuts | |
 | The Mississippi Future Caucus, a delegation of young legislators, is pushing for a reduction in certain sales taxes, more workforce development and keeping talented laborers in the state, said co-chairs, Reps. Jeramey Anderson and Shane Barnett. Anderson and Barnett were supposed to speak Wednesday afternoon at the state capitol, but the event was canceled that morning. In a press release issued Tuesday, Anderson, who represents Jackson County as a Democrat, said he wants to focus on creating more skilled workers to enter new positions, as well as work to provide internet access and technology to those who do not have it yet in the state. "The Mississippi Future Caucus presents a unique opportunity where the youngest members of the legislature can come together and get to know each other on a personal level and build bipartisan coalitions for our state's biggest problems," Anderson said. "This legislative session, we're excited to be working on issues impacting the next generation of Mississippians, such as workforce development and the digital divide." Barnet, a Republican representing parts of Greene, Perry and Wayne counties, said he hopes to work on legislation that would phase out the state's grocery sales tax, as well as ways to keep skilled laborers in Mississippi. The state's 7% grocery tax brought in about $424 million in tax revenue in the last fiscal year. |
| New organization pushes Legislature to restore ballot initiative | |
| Leaders of a recently formed organization hope they can finally convince a new slate of state lawmakers to restore a process for Mississippians to bypass politicians at the Capitol and place initiatives on a statewide ballot for consideration. A bipartisan group of political and business leaders from across the state created Ballot Access Mississippi, or BAM, to provide an outlet for voters to advocate the state Legislature to reinstate the initiative. "It's one of those things that everybody is for, but it's not the main focus of anyone right now," said Spence Flatgard, the chairman of the organization. "We saw BAM as a way to be helpful." The Mississippi Constitution explicitly gives citizens the right to place measures on a statewide ballot for consideration. But the Mississippi Supreme Court in 2021 struck down the state's initiative process because of a technicality over the number of the state's congressional districts. The leaders of the Capitol's two legislative chambers recently told the reporters they support legislation to restore the initiative. This year, Flatgard thinks BAM can break through a potential impasse by advocating for the initiative earlier in the session and having the organization's board members work directly with key legislative leaders. |
| Lawmakers could address campaign finance reform in 2024 session | |
| Last week, Secretary of State Michael Watson (R) previewed some of his legislative priorities after lawmakers gaveled in for the 2024 Legislative session. Included among the list is a comprehensive campaign finance reform initiative. "I'm a big proponent of making sure that people understand from where it is the money is coming, how's it being used, who it's going to and the timeline," said Watson. Secretary Watson said he was approached several years ago by members of the Legislature as to whether or not they could house a digital filing system for everyone within the SOS office. At the time, it was not feasible with a paper system, but moving toward a digital system could make it a possibility. "Number one, we need a new system here in our state. It will be costly, but we put that in our budget, and we will be asking the Legislature to help us with those funds. Number two, I think you saw last year, there were a lot of questions about enforcement mechanisms and whether or not it was being prosecuted," said Watson. Watson's reference to the 2023 statewide election cycle comes as various candidates, including Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann and Governor Tate Reeves, questioned the legality of their opponents' reported donations. Currently, candidates on the local level are often required to file reports with their Circuit Clerk's office. Paper filings would be labor intensive. Electronic filing would streamline the process. |
| Tate Reeves says he wants to address state's long-running 'Brain drain' struggles | |
 | Republican Governor Tate Reeves was sworn into his second term in office yesterday, marking the third consecutive Republican governor to serve two terms. Reeves used his speech to highlight a number of achievements made during his first term, and what he hopes to accomplish during his second. On a cold and windy day in Jackson, Reeves stood before a crowd of hundreds at the Capitol building and recounted some of his greatest challenges during the last four years in the state's highest office, such as a number of natural disasters and the COVID-19 Pandemic. He also reminded those in attendance of promises he made during his last inauguration speech in 2020, especially those surrounding efforts to increase workforce training and gains made in education and diversifying the state economy. "Four years ago I called for a pay raise for our teachers – we secured the largest pay raise in state history. Four years ago I said we would travel the world to bring more great companies to Mississippi. Together we've secured record breaking economic investment, which included the single largest economic deal in state history." All of those factors combined into what Reeves laid out as his goal for his second term: keeping Mississippians in Mississippi. "We are not pursuing test scores to beat Alabama, and we are not pursuing capital investment to have bragging rights over Arkansas," said Reeves. "We are pursuing excellence to secure permanence. For too many decades our most valuable export has not been our cotton, or even our culture, but our children." |
| Mississippi Sound Coalition disputes Army Corps of Engineers' Bonnet Carré Spillway findings | |
 | On Monday, the Mississippi Sound Coalition shared their rebuttal of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' position on the impacts of the 2019 Bonnet Carré Spillway opening. The Mississippi Sound Coalition is a collective of municipalities and non-profits that was formed after the opening devastated the South Mississippi ecosystem and economy. The coalition addressed the Harrison County Board of Supervisors claiming the Corps is in denial about the effects of freshwater intrusion from the spillway. "The Corps of Engineers position is the Bonnet Carré Spillway doesn't do anything that's not just 'minor' and 'temporary' in the Mississippi Sound. And even if it did, it's not their problem. In their communications to the National Marine Fisheries Service, they're not taking responsibility." Mississippi Sound Coalition attorney Robert Wiygul said. The coalition's rebuttal was also sent to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). In that response, the coalition said some of the key claims made by the Corps are "contrary to the available data and scientific literature." A federal court ruled in January of 2023 that the Corps violated federal law by not consulting with the NMFS about the opening. Members of the coalition said engineers and scientists with the University of Southern Mississippi and Mississippi State University will share more research to give further evidence of the destructive consequences of the spillway opening. |
| Pressure mounting on Austin as GOP senators launch inquiry | |
 | As the ramifications of Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III's failure to disclose his cancer surgery and subsequent hospitalization continued to reverberate through Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Senate Republicans opened a new inquiry into the matter, but lawmakers largely fell short of calling for his removal. Austin has been hospitalized since Jan. 1 due to complications from surgery to treat prostate cancer, his doctors disclosed Tuesday. But lawmakers were roiled by the revelation that the White House, Congress and many top military leaders weren't informed of Austin's initial Dec. 22 procedure, or of his subsequent hospitalization until days after his readmission to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. In the second such congressional inquiry in as many days, Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., led all 11 GOP panel members in a letter to Austin, seeking a full accounting of Austin's previous two weeks, and the role that Pentagon staff may have played in delaying the transfer of information. Wicker has called for a public hearing on Austin's situation, but his Democrat counterpart, Senate Armed Services Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I., said he was trying first to establish what happened, and also waiting for Austin to be released from the hospital. But, he added, a hearing was still a possibility. |
| Trump coasts in Iowa, as GOP debate turns into a 'dumpster fire' | |
 | First Chris Christie trashed Nikki Haley on an open mic as he dropped out of the presidential primary. Then Haley and Ron DeSantis spent the night bloodying each other on a debate stage in Iowa. And as the Republican presidential campaign turned fully toward the first caucus state on Wednesday, it could hardly have gone better for the frontrunner, Donald Trump. As he basked in the adulation of a friendly audience at a Fox News town hall, signing hats and shaking hands, two miles to the west, the former U.N. ambassador and Florida governor bludgeoned each other in a debate that became so personal and vitriolic they once again left Trump largely unscathed. "Pretty much a dumpster fire," quipped Doug Gross, a Republican operative who was chief of staff to former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad. "The Republicans are really savaging each other. I don't think it's helping either one of them." Fresh off a court appearance, Trump made the most of the time back in Fox News' warm embrace. He cleaned up comments he made in December about being a "dictator" for one day, saying, "I am not going to be a dictator." He said he has a vice presidential pick in mind. And his campaign was already predicting a big victory: "A win is a win," a top Trump adviser, Chris LaCivita, told reporters after the town hall. "But anything over 12 [points] I think is a great night." |
| More Teens Who Use Marijuana Are Suffering From Psychosis | |
| When Braxton Clark was in high school, he used marijuana to control his emotions. At 17, he used it every day. When he was 18, he had a psychotic episode after using cannabis and was admitted to a hospital. He spent the next three years sober. Then one day he tried cannabis again. Before long, he was back in the hospital. "I had lost my faculties. I wasn't making sense," said Clark, now 24. He has been sober a year and is thriving in college with the help of medication. Doctors have diagnosed him with a psychotic disorder, brought on by using cannabis. Braxton is among thousands of teenagers and young adults who have developed delusions and paranoia after using cannabis. Legalization efforts have made cannabis more readily available in much of the country. More frequent use of marijuana that is many times as potent as strains common three decades ago is leading to more psychotic episodes, according to doctors and recent research. "This isn't the cannabis of 20, 30 years ago," said Dr. Deepali Gershan, an addiction psychiatrist at Compass Health Center in Northbrook, Ill. Up to 20% of her caseload is patients for whom she suspects cannabis use triggered a psychotic episode. Rates of diagnoses for cannabis-induced disorders were more than 50% higher at the end of November than in 2019, healthcare-analytics company Truveta said this week. The trend is contributing to the broader burden of caring for people who developed mental health and addiction problems during the pandemic. |
| US School Shooter Emergency Plans Exposed in a Highly Sensitive Database Leak | |
 | Every year, hundreds of millions of files, personal records, and documents are accidentally exposed online. Owners of dating apps, colossal marketing databases, and even a spy agency have published information to the web by leaving it in unsecured databases. But the regularity with which these leaks happen doesn't make them any less alarming -- especially when the data is from thousands of schools. Thousands of emergency planning documents from US schools -- including their safety procedures for active shooter emergencies -- were leaked in a trove of more than 4 million records that were inadvertently made public. Last month, security researcher Jeremiah Fowler discovered 800 gigabytes of files and logs linked to school software provider Raptor Technologies. The firm provides software that allows schools to track student attendance, monitor visitors, and manage emergency situations. Raptor says its software is used by more than 5,300 US school districts and 60,000 schools around the world. The highly sensitive cache of documents included evacuation plans, with maps showing the routes students should take and where they should gather during emergencies; details of students who pose a threat on campus; medical records; court documents relating to restraining orders and family abuse; and the names and ID numbers of staff, students, and their parents or guardians. "This is the most diverse group of documents I've found," says Fowler, who detailed the findings for security firm vpnMentor. |
| Lowndes legislators fully back MUW name change | |
| The first time District 37 Rep. Andy Boyd heard the name "Mississippi Brightwell University," he said it did not set off any fireworks for him. Then it started to grow on him. "I got up this morning thinking, 'You know, I kind of like it,'" Boyd, R-Columbus, told The Dispatch on Tuesday. Mississippi Brightwell University was announced Monday as the proposed new name for the Mississippi University for Women. The announcement capped a two-year process to choose a name that is more reflective of the school's co-ed student body with hopes it will boost enrollment numbers. The new name needs legislative approval to become effective in July. While a bill has yet to be filed, members of at least Lowndes County's delegation said they are united in seeing it through. "Our legislative delegation has met with the administration of the W, and we did make a commitment to support this," District 39 Rep. Dana McLean, R-Columbus, said Wednesday. "My personal views on the name are not important, but it's, 'What can I do to help the university?' and, 'How can I help the university move forward into the future?'" Sen. Chuck Younger, R-Lowndes County who represents District 17, plans to sponsor the bill in his chamber to change MUW's name. He likened the effort to the legislature changing the state flag in 2021, retiring the version that included the Confederate battle emblem in its canton. "It will be more inclusive to change the name, and we should've done it a while back," he told The Dispatch. "You're going to have your naysayers, but change is good sometimes. I feel like this change will be good for the W. |
| University researchers: Black carbon found at dangerous levels across Mississippi | |
| Two University of Mississippi researchers have found dangerously high levels of black carbon at several Mississippi locations, according to research published in the fall in the journal Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health. Black carbon, commonly referred to as soot, is a contributing factor to global warming and poses health risks to populations exposed to it. The small air pollutants are released by activities such as driving vehicles, burning wood or fossil fuels, and some manufacturing processes. Researchers Courtney Roper, assistant professor of environmental toxicology, and postdoctoral research associate Hang Nguyen found that black carbon levels in Mississippi exceed health recommendations in Hernando, Grenada, Jackson, Hattiesburg, Pascagoula and Gulfport, six locations surveyed by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. "What we found in adults with that level of exposure to black carbon is above the EPA's recommended threshold," Roper said. "At all six locations, it was above the EPA's threshold of what is a normal cancer risk." Jackson, the state's largest metropolitan area, had the highest concentration of black carbon at 2.04 micrograms per cubic meter. |
| Hattiesburg's 'Freedom Summer' brought to life in USM photo exhibit | |
 | Images of the history made during Hattiesburg's "Freedom Summer " will be on display starting later this month at the University of Southern Mississippi's Gallery of Art and Design on the Hub City campus. The gallery will host the work of noted photographer Herbert Randall taken during a critical juncture in the American Civil Rights Movement. The photos will be available for viewing from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the following dates: Jan. 22 through Jan. 26; Jan. 29 through Jan. 31; Feb. 1 and Feb. 2; and Feb. 5. This exhibit marks the 60th anniversary of Freedom Summer, when state residents, college students and organizers from across the country came to Mississippi, including Hattiesburg, to secure voting rights for African Americans. "Most of these photographs had never been seen until Randall donated them to USM," said Mark Rigsby, USM Museum of Art/Gallery of Art and Design director. Other examples of Randall's work are in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Library of Congress and other prominent American museums. "One of the strengths of USM Special Collections is its extensive material on the civil rights movement," said USM Professor Lorraine Stuart, who heads up the school's Special Collections. "More than 100 collections document some aspect of the movement. Among them, Herbert Randall's photographs are some of the most frequently used." |
| A sign of progress': Auburn honors trailblazers on 60th anniversary of integration | |
 | Just over 60 years ago, Harold Franklin Sr. walked through the doors of the Ralph Brown Draughon Library on Jan. 4 at 2:20 p.m. to register for classes in Auburn University's Graduate School. Since that day, hundreds of thousands of Auburn students have gone through the class registration process, but in that moment Franklin become Auburn's first-ever Black student, officially integrating the university. Auburn honored that moment and the progress that has been made in the 60 years since with a ceremony at the Mell Classroom Building on Tuesday. Dr. Harold Franklin Sr. died in 2021, but his son Harold Franklin Jr. was on-hand to commemorate his father's achievement. As he sat in the front row, hearing from the likes of Quentin Riggins, the first Black president pro tempore of the AU Board of Trustees, and Thom Gossom Jr., one of Auburn's first Black football players, he was filled with pride. "It's almost like a little reunion now. I've been coming so much lately since he passed," Franklin Jr. said. "It fills my heart with joy, because I've met so many great people, and they seem to be so genuine in the change." "Dr. Franklin's integration of Auburn University set in motion change that continues to advance this institution," Taffye Benson Clayton, vice president and associate provost for inclusion and diversity, said. "To this very day, Auburn is a better institution because of Dr. Franklin's bravery 60 years ago." |
| U. of Montevallo business school dean steps down, interim named | |
| The University of Montevallo appointed Lynne Richardson interim dean of the Michael E. Stephens College of Business for the next two years. The news comes as the previous dean steps down after about six months after being appointed in July. Stepping down from the dean position is Amiee Mellon, who will return to her full-time faculty position as an associate professor of marketing. Richardson will lead the college through its AACSB accreditation process and assist with the search for a new dean who will lead the college starting in January 2026. "I'm excited to return to my alma mater to serve as interim dean of the Stephens College of Business," Richardson said. "While I've stayed connected with Montevallo since graduation in a variety of ways, this role gives me a new way to serve the institution that gave me my start." Richardson has served as dean of several business schools during her career in higher education, including the University of Mary Washington, Iona University, Mississippi State University and Ball State University. She spent most of the past two decades as a business school administrator. Throughout most of her professional career, Richardson has been active in AACSB International, which accredits and provides professional development services to business schools in about 100 countries. She has served two terms on the AACSB Board of Directors, including on the Finance and Investment Committee, served on more than 30 peer review teams and founded the organization's seminar "Lessons for Aspiring Deans." |
| Gov. Kemp proposes spending $50 million to create a separate UGA medical school | |
 | Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp proposed spending $50 million to create a separate medical school at UGA during a speech at the Georgia Chamber of Commerce at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. Currently, a partnership with the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, which began in 2009, is housed at UGA, where students can attend a four-year medical program. Kemp also proposed the creation of a new public dental school at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, in addition to the current Dental College of Georgia at Augusta University. "With these new assets on the way, we will further address the growing need for health care professionals in our state," Kemp said. Rep. Houston Gaines posted on X in response to the UGA medical school proposal, saying: "The funding process will begin in this year's state budget -- I look forward to supporting this historic initiative." There are currently five medical schools in Georgia: Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, Morehouse School of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Mercer University School of Medicine and Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine - Georgia Campus. |
| Florida welcomes students fleeing campus antisemitism, with little evidence that there's demand | |
 | Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis this week directed the state's universities to make it easier for out-of-state students facing antisemitism and other religious harassment in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war to transfer to Florida campuses. DeSantis' directive on Tuesday piggybacks on blowback some Ivy League leaders have faced in response to how they're handling antisemitism and anti-Israel protests on their campuses. The governor's office said there has been an increase in inquiries about transferring, without providing any numbers to back that up. "With leaders of so-called elite universities enabling antisemitic activities, rather than protecting their students from threats and harassment, it is understandable that many Jewish students are looking for alternatives and looking to Florida," DeSantis, who is campaigning for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, said in a statement. The order referred to all students facing religious harassment, and when asked if it included Muslims, Christians and others, a spokeswoman for the board governing Florida's university systems, said Wednesday it covers any student fearful of religious persecution following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel. However, neither she nor the governor's office said how many students had made inquiries about transferring. College campuses across the U.S. have been roiled by protests since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, and university presidents have been caught in the crosshairs. |
| Diversity remains a goal despite DEI's departure at Texas A&M | |
 | Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives at Texas A&M University officially ended Jan. 1 in compliance with a new state law that may adversely affect faculty recruitment. Senate Bill 17 was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott on June 17, 2023, and went into effect at the beginning of this year. The new law prohibits all state public institutions of higher education from establishing or maintaining a DEI office; considering DEI during the hiring process for faculty, staff and contracted workers; or requiring faculty and staff to attend DEI training. In preparation for the law's Jan. 1 effective date, Texas A&M President Mark A. Welsh III announced on Sept. 7, 2023, that the university's office of diversity would be closed, hiring practices and training would be updated, and policies would undergo revisions. Welsh concluded his letter announcing the changes by reaffirming that diversity would still play a critical role at Texas A&M, despite the law. Kevin McGinnis, the former vice president of the Texas A&M Office of Risk, Ethics and Compliance who retired at the end of 2023, said the announcement of SB 17 was somewhat surprising and the university immediately began working to become compliant. Even though the office of diversity closed, McGinnis said the university was successful in reassigning any affected staff and that faculty involvement in the office had always been a secondary assignment. |
| U. of Missouri launches new campus safety app as students return from winter break | |
 | University of Missouri students returning from winter break will come back to a new, connected safety system. MU released a new app over the break, Mizzou Safe, which allows students, faculty and staff to have a unified safety portal and faster response from the MU Police Department. The app provides safety features that allow for real-time emergency and non-emergency reports to the MU police, according to an MU news release. "The Mizzou Safe app is a tool that will allow those who download it to have access to safety resources the University of Missouri Police Department already offers, at their fingertips," said MU Police Department Major Scott Richardson. "With the app's call and text to 911 emergency features, locations services are enabled allowing the dispatchers to see the user's location and send first responders immediately. This feature will allow for us to reduce response times and get the help that people need to them more quickly." He said it is common for students, employees or visitors to not know their exact location while in a dangerous situation due to various circumstances, like being in an unfamiliar place or feeling overwhelmed in the situation. "With Mizzou Safe, we're adding a great tool to our safety toolbox," Interim Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Angela King Taylor said in the release. |
| A Year Later, Did Our ChatGPT Advice Get It Right? | |
 | Soon after OpenAI launched ChatGPT -- a generative artificial intelligence chat bot with the potential to seemingly answer any question under the sun -- academia panicked. In the following year, ChatGPT drew comparisons to the calculator, Wikipedia and the cellphone, illustrating the initial alarm and eventual symbiotic, if begrudging, relationship with higher education. Since then, adoption of ChatGPT and other AI tools has surged. Reports show more than half of college students using generative AI, while faculty members are, slowly but surely, upping their familiarity. Two months after ChatGPT's launch, Inside Higher Ed consulted with 11 academics on navigating this new terrain. A year ago, we shared their advice, advocating for a balance of action, patience, optimism and caution. Now we revisit most of them to see if their advice still holds true, what has evolved and what faculty members can do in 2024. Answers below have been edited for length and brevity. |
| 3 policy developments college leaders should keep an eye on this year | |
| Higher education has taken center stage for policymakers in 2024. The Biden administration has been overhauling higher education regulations, from placing greater restrictions on career education programs to attempting once again to clear debts for certain student loan borrowers. On top of that, federal lawmakers have recently proposed their own legislation to reshape higher education policy, including a new bipartisan bill that would expand Pell Grants to programs as short as eight weeks. And the presidential election is likely to sharpen focus on higher education policies. "Education does trend in polls as one of the top topics for voters," said Barbara Mistick, president of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, to a gathering of private nonprofit college leaders. "You're going to hear a lot of noise around K-12, but you're also going to hear a lot of noise around higher education." Below, we're rounding up several new policies -- new FAFSA rollout, overtime rule, and Title IX regulations -- highlighted during the presentation, which was part of the Council of Independent Colleges' annual Presidents Institute, which brings together hundreds of higher education leaders. |
| How Colleges and Universities Nationwide are Commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. | |
| As Dr. Martin Luther King Day approaches this year, colleges and universities across the nation are gearing up once again to celebrate and honor the life and legacy of the civil rights leader. With programming ranging from panels and performances to service in the community -- and much more in between -- many institutions are planning to commemorate the occasion for longer than just the one day itself. The MLK Day programming schedules for several schools span multiple days full of various events, recognizing the numerous facets and aspects of the Civil Rights Movement. Penn State, for instance, has events lined up for a number of its campuses. For many of them, the school has scheduled a "day of service," wherein students, faculty, and staff can volunteer in their community. This is in addition to several marches and film screenings, including the online screening of several short films around the theme of waste and labor. "King recognized that the work of the civil rights movement increasingly needed to be connected to the work of the labor movement -- since without safe, well-paying, meaningful work all other human rights are in jeopardy," according to the website. "Sixty years later, sanitation workers and those who work with waste and recycling remain vulnerable to unsafe and low-paying work, despite their integral role in keeping society running." |
| $100 million gift from Lilly Endowment to United Negro College Fund will support HBCU endowments | |
| The United Negro College Fund announced a donation of $100 million from the Lilly Endowment Inc., the single largest unrestricted gift to the organization since its founding 80 years ago. The gift announced Thursday will go toward a pooled endowment for the 37 historically Black colleges and universities that form UNCF's membership, with the goal of boosting the schools' long-term financial stability. HBCUs, which have small endowments compared with other colleges, have seen an increase in donations since the racial justice protests spurred by the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota. Michael Lomax, president and CEO of UNCF, said donors today no longer question the need for HBCUs and instead ask how gifts to the schools can have the largest impact. The chairman and CEO of the Lilly Endowment said the gift continues the organization's history of supporting UNCF's work. "The UNCF programs we have helped fund in the past have been successful, and we are confident that the efforts to be supported by this bold campaign will have a great impact on UNCF's member institutions and their students' lives," N. Clay Robbins said in a statement. Lomax said he hopes other philanthropies will take note of the trust Lilly put in UNCF's vision by making an unrestricted gift. "They're trusting the judgment of the United Negro College Fund to make a decision about where best to deploy this very significant and sizable gift," Lomax said. "We don't get a lot of gifts like that." |
| 'You Hand Them a Knife': After Claudine Gay's Ouster, Historians Worry About Weaponization of Plagiarism | |
 | The American Historical Association may be dedicated to studying the past, but its annual meeting last week exhibited a deep anxiety over the present. Lectures on the Cold War and the Holocaust were sandwiched between sessions lamenting political attacks on the profession, such as state-legislative efforts to scrap tenure and restrict teaching about race and gender. The cherry on top: Claudine Gay had just stepped down as president of Harvard University after a month of intense scrutiny over accusations of plagiarism in her research as a political scientist. In interviews at the San Francisco conference, historians were less than thrilled that citations, footnotes, and quotation marks were becoming the new fronts in the culture wars. "Well, I wish people would comb through my work," said Robert W. Cherny, an emeritus professor of history at San Francisco State University and one of 3,000 meeting attendees. "But not with that in mind." The plagiarism accusations were first reported by conservative media outlets in December after Gay was widely criticized for her lawyerly answers in a congressional hearing about antisemitism. Asked if calling for the genocide of Jews violated Harvard's rules of bullying and harassment, she responded, "It can be, depending on the context." She later apologized. At the very least, historians conceded, recent events reinforce the need for diligent citation and quoting practices. "I think that plagiarism should be called out, because I think we need to be reminded that we have to work hard not to do it," said Samuel Truett, a historian at the University of New Mexico. "I also freak out all the time that I might be plagiarizing something that I'd forgotten to cite, so it's stressful. But I think it's important for us to be always carefully watching." |
| House Investigations of Harvard, Others Mark a 'Watershed Moment' | |
| When a congressional committee announced late last month that it wanted documents and emails that would reveal how Harvard University responded to accusations of plagiarism by its then president Claudine Gay, the demand set off alarms in higher education circles. "The idea that the House of Representatives has the legal or moral authority to investigate the internal proceedings of a private university is outrageous," said Ethan Ris, associate professor of higher education administration at the University of Nevada at Reno. In the same month, Republicans on the House Education and Workforce Committee launched investigations into antisemitism at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology -- inquiries that could grow in number and scope to include every aspect of an institution. Essentially, House Republicans have declared everything that happens on campuses fair game for oversight, as evidenced by the plagiarism review. That declaration worries experts who fear the investigations could undermine the system of higher education, infringe on the independence of colleges and universities and threaten their federal funding. The committee's work represents a significant shift in how Congress deals with institutions, they say, and is part of a broader attack on higher education -- though committee leaders say it's not a radical departure. "It's a function of the times and it's the culture wars playing out on campus," said Terry Hartle, a senior fellow at the American Council on Education who spent years as the chief lobbyist for higher education. "I'd never thought I'd see the day when plagiarism would become weaponized." |
SPORTS
| Men's Basketball: Mississippi State finds resolve, outlasts No. 5 Tennessee for signature win | |
| The ball sat on the rim seemingly forever, hanging in the balance just like Wednesday night's game. Tolu Smith knew he'd be going to the free throw line one way or the other. He received the pass from Cameron Matthews near the right block, and with his Tennessee counterpart, Jonas Aidoo, having fouled out, Smith instead was matched up with Tobe Awaka -- who was playing with four fouls himself. He backed the ball out as he approached the rim, then drew contact from Awaka as he put up the shot, which got the friendly roll and dropped through the net. Mississippi State's centerpiece, in just his third game this season after returning from a foot injury, had delivered a signature moment for the Bulldogs with 14.7 seconds left. When MSU came up with one more defensive stop, head coach Chris Jans had his biggest win to date as the Bulldogs knocked off the No. 5 Volunteers, 77-72, for their first top-5 win in 21 years. "There was a brief moment where I thought about calling a timeout," Jans said. "There was enough time that we could have called timeout and reset the situation and made sure we had the pieces on the board in the right spot. But it worked out this time." |
| Tennessee basketball couldn't stop Tolu Smith. That's the Vols' issue. | |
 | Tobe Awaka stood tall, Santiago Vescovi collapsed and Tolu Smith was trapped. The Mississippi State forward didn't care, bumping through Vescovi and ignoring Awaka's physical presence. Tennessee basketball couldn't stop Smith at the start of the game and it sure couldn't stop him then in the final seconds. That was the reality for the Vols on Wednesday: They were powerless to stop the elite forward. "Tolu Smith had his way with our post guys," Vols coach Rick Barnes said. "He got his position where he wanted it. He did what he wanted to do." Smith was the problem as No. 5 Tennessee (11-4, 1-1 SEC) squandered its seven-game winning streak in a 77-72 loss to the Bulldogs (12-4, 1-1). The bigger problem is that this happened again. It happened twice in Honolulu and then in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Tennessee faced a top-tier big man for the fourth time this season. It has lost all four games. Awaka walked off the court with 14.7 seconds to play. He had fouled out, joining Jonas Aidoo who fouled out with 4:55 to play. Smith, whose three-point play fouled out Awaka and snapped a tie game, was the reason for it all. He drove into and through Tennessee's two interior options. "They have got to be able to guard other people's post players," Barnes said. "We've got to do that. I know we are more than capable of doing that but we've got to prove we can do it." "You can't let them have their way at the rim," Barnes said. "What Tolu did, he really controlled and set the tone for the whole game." |
| Mississippi State basketball's blueprint for March Madness? Follow script vs Tennessee | |
 | D.J. Jeffries was dripping in a combination of sweat and celebratory water as he sat down to meet the media following Mississippi State basketball's 77-72 win against No. 5 Tennessee on Wednesday at Humphrey Coliseum. Even with a few moments to catch his breath while he and freshman teammate Josh Hubbard awaited Tolu Smith's arrival, Jeffries was still struggling to gather himself. As the trio finally came together to field questions, Jeffries -- who had a career-high five steals in the thrilling victory -- still wasn't composed. "You can have that," Jeffries told Smith through a heavy sigh after the first question was asked. It was a sign that Jeffries fulfilled the mentality coach Chris Jans looked to implement against a Tennessee program known for its tough style of play under veteran coach Rick Barnes. The Volunteers wear teams down. Even after trailing by as much as 15 in the first half, Tennessee was built to make things interesting. MSU saw a similar battle unfold last season, when a nine-point first half lead quickly dissolved into an 11-point home loss against UT. This time, the Bulldogs showed the program has taken a step forward in toughness even after being regarded as one of the nation's top defensive teams last season. Mississippi State beat Tennessee, one of the nation's top programs across all metrics, at its own game. |
| Mississippi State trying to build on Sweet 16 run | |
| Mississippi State has never failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament with head coach Matt Roberts in charge. But as he enters his 10th season leading the Bulldogs, Roberts wants more, and he is not shy about his lofty goals. After MSU secured the No. 15 national seed in 2023 and won its regional in Starkville by defeating Alabama State and Middle Tennessee, the Bulldogs fell at No. 2 TCU in the round of 16, leaving a bitter taste in Roberts' mouth that still has not completely faded. "You want to be in those top eight seeds, so if you get through the first two rounds you can host a super regional," Roberts said. "That's our goal this year, to be here for three matches. We have to take care of the matches we need to take care of (and) pick off some teams ranked higher than us." MSU's season begins with a pair of home matches Sunday against Northern Illinois and Chattanooga, and then comes a big opportunity for a signature non-conference win against Florida State on Jan. 19. The Bulldogs' non-conference road trips will send them to Middle Tennessee, Memphis and Tulane, and SEC play opens in Starkville on Mar. 3 against Georgia. |
| Under new leadership, Bulldogs look to begin slow climb up SEC ranks | |
| Chris Hooshyar was happy at Auburn, and never set a specific goal to become a head coach in the Southeastern Conference. The native of Manchester, England had spent the last 10 years with the Tigers --- the first five as an assistant coach for the women's tennis team, the next five with the men --- and both teams experienced postseason success with him on staff. But Hooshyar had connections in Starkville with women's soccer head coach and fellow Englishman James Armstrong as well as men's tennis coach Matt Roberts. So when Daryl Greenan resigned last May after 14 seasons leading the Bulldogs' women's program, Hooshyar pursued the opening and landed his first head coaching gig. "Every time I had come across people who either went to Mississippi State or lived in Starkville, they talked so highly about the values and the people," Hooshyar said. "It's what made it appealing for me to do something that I hadn't done in 10 years, to actually leave and go check it out. And then when I came, I saw what everybody was talking about." MSU opens the season Saturday with home matches against Middle Tennessee and Jacksonville State and will take just two road trips in non-conference play, traveling to Memphis on Feb. 11 and Tulane and New Orleans on Feb. 23. The SEC opener is Mar. 2 at rival Ole Miss, followed by home matches the following weekend against Texas A&M and LSU. |
| Chiefs' Chris Jones could be calling Arrowhead Stadium home for final time Saturday night | |
| There was always the hope, and perhaps even the expectation, that Chris Jones would still be wearing a Kansas City Chiefs jersey this season when he walked out of Arrowhead Stadium following their victory in the AFC championship game last year. Jones was entering the final year of his contract, and his representatives had been talking with the Chiefs for more than a year about a long-term deal. The five-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle was coming off his finest season, matching a career high with 15 1/2 sacks, and was about to lead the Chiefs into the Super Bowl for the third time -- and win his second title. None of that worked out how anyone envisioned, though. And now Jones is much less certain about his future in Kansas City as the Chiefs prepare to play the Miami Dolphins on Saturday night in a wild-card playoff game. "If it is, it is. If it's not, it's not," Jones said. "You can't think about what-ifs. You can't think about the future. Things change by the day. You just got to roll with the punches in life. They give you lemons, make lemonade. Right now, we're trying to make lemonade out of this, man. We got an exciting Dolphins team coming. We're slowly knocking off the goals we had." The 29-year-old Jones is due to hit free agency, and while the Chiefs could conceivably use the franchise tag on him, the cost of that would be prohibitive. So the most likely scenario is that Jones signs elsewhere in free agency, and that means he could be preparing for his final walk out of the Arrowhead Stadium tunnel on Saturday night. He will no doubt be warmly received by Chiefs fans -- despite wind chills expected to be well below zero --- before taking on the Dolphins to kick off the postseason. |
| What's next for Alabama after Nick Saban's surprise retirement? | |
| Two days after Alabama's loss to Michigan in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, Nick Saban busily worked within his office in Tuscaloosa. He made calls to set up appointments, scheduled interviews with potential new staff members and carried out like usual in every other capacity. On Tuesday of this week, he interviewed coaches for open staff positions. And on Wednesday, he joined a call for SEC head football coaches. Later Wednesday, he informed his team of his resignation -- a proverbial grenade dropped on the college football world and one that leads to an inevitable next question: Who replaces the King? No one is Nick Saban, winner of seven national championships and 292 games in 28 seasons as a head coach, the last 17 in Tuscaloosa. But someone must slip into those giant shoes, must sit in the big chair, must follow -- arguably -- the greatest dynasty in college football history. After all, he won 87% of his Alabama games, with six national championships and nine SEC titles. Who even wants to do that? It's Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne's job to find out. Like any athlete director with a 70-plus-year-old football coach, Byrne has been preparing for this moment, likely already far down in his process -- whether that's vetting a list of potential candidates or even zeroing in on a select few names. Byrne, formerly at Arizona and Mississippi State, is notoriously private. He's cognizant of the outside world and its reporting and will almost certainly orchestrate a buttoned-up search -- as he's done in the past. He last hired a football coach in 2012 at Arizona: Rich Rodriguez. Before that in 2009 at Mississippi State: Dan Mullen. One of those had plenty of head coaching experience and the other had none. Byrne has already gotten ahead of the chatter in a statement released on his social media: "Next time I talk publicly will be to announce our new coach. If you don't hear it from me, don't believe it." |
| Auburn fans celebrate Nick Saban retirement by rolling Toomer's Corner | |
 | If there's any place that is the happiest about Alabama head coach Nick Saban retiring, it's Auburn. And celebrations are quickly happening in a way that could only happen at Auburn. After news of Saban's retirement broke Wednesday night, it didn't take long for those at Auburn's campus to celebrate their biggest rival's coach finally leaving college football. About an hour after the news, people began to roll Toomer's Corner, the famed Auburn tradition of throwing rolls of toilet paper on the oak trees there. It seems several Auburn students and fans were happy to celebrate, as rolls of toilet paper are constantly being rolled as the night goes on. The happiness about Saban's departure goes to show how deeply rooted the hate in college football rivalries can go. Saban went 12-5 against the Tigers as Alabama's head coach and the Crimson Tide are currently on a four-game winning streak against Auburn. At Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium, Saban went 5-4 with Alabama. While celebrations are taking place in Auburn, it is a much more somber scene about 125 miles west in Tuscaloosa. Outside of Bryant-Denny Stadium, people began to leave bottles of Coke and oatmeal cream pies near Saban's statue. A bottle of Coca-Cola was often on the podium when Saban would give press conferences, and oatmeal cream pies are a favorite treat of his. |
| Student-athletes report drop in binge drinking, use of narcotic pain medication and spit tobacco | |
| In 1985, the NCAA began conducting studies to examine student-athletes' use of drugs, alcohol and tobacco. The study's 10th and current iteration shows declines in the use of narcotic pain medication and spit tobacco, as well as binge drinking, among student-athletes. The Association-wide study administered by NCAA faculty athletics representatives began in October 2022 and concluded in June 2023. More than 23,000 student-athletes participated in the study. Results from the full study will be shared at the 2024 NCAA Convention in Phoenix. "This important research is part of the Association's continued efforts to support our membership in identifying student-athlete substance misuse trends," said NCAA Chief Medical Officer Brian Hainline. "Such information has been essential in developing substance misuse prevention education and harm reduction strategies and resources to best support our student-athletes' safety, well-being and performance." Self-reported cannabis use by student-athletes within the last year increased slightly to 26% in 2023 (22% in 2013 and 25% in 2017). Use of marijuana and other cannabis products was highest among student-athletes competing in men's sports, at the Division III level, and those who identified as attending college in a state where personal and medical use are legal. While the use of almost all tobacco and other nicotine products is down, vaping nicotine rose. Daily vape users increased from 0.8% in 2017 to 6.0% in 2023. Overall, NCAA student-athletes reported less use of alcohol, tobacco and recreational drugs than the general college student population surveyed by the American College Health-National College Health Assessment III (2023) and the Monitoring the Future Panel Study (2022). |
| NCAA President Charlie Baker: Nobody can say Michigan didn't win national title 'fair and square' | |
| NCAA President Charlie Baker says Michigan won the national championship "fair and square" and defended his decision to inform the school and the Big Ten during the season that the association's enforcement staff was investigating allegations of an in-person scouting and sign-stealing scheme. The top-ranked Wolverines beat No. 2 Washington to win the College Football Playoff on Monday night, capping a perfect season, the back half of which was shadowed by the NCAA investigation and led to the Big Ten's three-game suspension of Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh. In a meeting with reporters, Baker explained why the NCAA took the unusual step of informing parties involved in the investigation last October. "We were approached by a third party, who said they had evidence that Michigan was involved in a very comprehensive and unusual sign-stealing scheme," Baker said late Tuesday. That party was told they needed to come in person to NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis to present evidence to enforcement staff as part of a vetting process. "They did and they showed it to our infractions people and it was very compelling," Baker said, giving no details of the third party's identity. Baker said because of the potential to impact the outcome of games, the NCAA decided to contact the Big Ten and Michigan and share the first pieces of what it had received from the third party. |
| NCAA approves new NIL rules to help athletes 'protect themselves' | |
| The NCAA Division I Council voted Wednesday to adopt new rules designed to help athletes avoid unscrupulous agents and unfavorable terms in name, image and likeness contracts. Starting in August, the NCAA will provide athletes with standardized contract recommendations for NIL deals and aggregated data to help schools and athletes have a more realistic picture of the going rates for endorsement deals. The association also plans to create a voluntary registry of credible and trusted agents that will be based largely on feedback from the athletes who have worked with them in the past. "We don't want to do anything to get into the way of student-athletes trying to activate their NIL rights, but we do want to assist them in essentially protecting themselves," MAC commissioner and Division I Council vice chair Jon Steinbrecher said. The council voted on the new rules during the NCAA's annual convention this week. In addition, the council formally proposed new rules that, if passed, will be able to help facilitate deals between athletes and NIL collectives -- a move that would likely return some degree of control over roster management back to athletic departments and teams on campus. The schools, and any associated NIL collectives, will still be prohibited from negotiating deals with recruits or transfers before they enroll. |
| NCAA moves closer to allowing direct NIL payments to athletes | |
| NCAA president Charlie Baker expects the Division I Council to soon begin work building a framework around the radical proposal he announced last month that would permit schools to offer athletes more benefits. In a conversation with reporters, as well as his address to administrators gathered at the NCAA convention, Baker outlined the next steps for Project DI, the proposal he revealed in December that would allow schools to directly strike name, image and likeness deals and create a new subdivision for even more direct school pay to players. The Division I Board of Directors is scheduled to meet Thursday in Phoenix, where they are expected to review the proposal and charge the Council with creating recommendations related to the first two items of Baker's three-part plan, as Yahoo Sports reported last week. Baker's proposal would permit schools to (1) offer athletes unlimited educational enhancements and (2) make NIL deals with athletes. The third part of the plan, to be explored after the first two, calls for the creation of a new FBS subdivision in which schools will be required to put into a fund a minimum of $30,000 annually per athlete for half of a school's athletes. Asked if there's any reason the Council would not take on Project DI, Baker shook his head and said, "No." |
| NIL collectives register to lobby | |
| A newly formed coalition of college sports collectives has retained federal lobbyists for the first time as the nascent cottage industry for paying college athletes looks for a seat at the table to shape federal guardrails for how student athletes are able to benefit off their name, image and likeness. The Collective Association, which launched over the summer, comprises at least two dozen college donor collectives --- entities made legal under the NCAA's 2021 rules changes to allow athletes to profit off their fame that are often formed as tax-exempt charities to facilitate NIL payments to players. The coalition in November retained Tidal Basin Advisors' Jesse McCollum, a former longtime Democratic lobbyist for Nike, to lobby on NIL policy issues and issues related to designating college athletes as employees, according to a disclosure filed late last week. Tidal Basin Advisors retained Yong Choe, a former Rite Aid lobbyist who also served as director of business outreach and member services for the conservative House Republican Study Committee and worked for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, as a subcontractor on the account, separate filings show. Despite increasingly urgent calls for a federal NIL framework over the past year, collectives had been left out of official forums on NIL legislation until this past fall. After nabbing a meeting on the Hill with Senate Judiciary member Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Walker Jones, the head of the collective representing Ole Miss players and a TCA member, testified at an October hearing by the panel on the future of college sports. At the hearing, Jones took barbs from fellow witness and NCAA President Charlie Baker (and dished them back out), defending collectives' activity and painting the industry as having unique insights into the NIL marketplace and eager to collaborate on "well-informed and effective legislation benefiting collegiate student athletes first." |
| For 11th time, Capitol Hill to hold NIL legislative hearing | |
| Speaking to media members on Tuesday, less than 12 hours after winning the national championship, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh called for athletes to earn a share of the revenue they help produce. The College Football Playoff championship reeled in 25 million viewers Monday night as the nation saw the Wolverines win their first national title since a shared title in 1997. Harbaugh has used his platform for nearly two years to call for athletes to earn more than just NIL deals. He took a step further, too, calling for NCAA athletes to unionize. Surely, his vocal push for the NCAA to allow players to earn a share of the pie will be discussed next week on Capitol Hill. The House Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce will hold a hearing on NIL and college sports on Jan. 18, sources tell On3. "They're maximizing every single revenue source, but they're not sharing with the talent," Harbaugh said on Tuesday in Houston. Next Thursday will mark the 11th Congressional hearing to discuss NIL since 2020. Plus, it's the NCAA's first date with elected officials since Charlie Baker released a letter to his membership that outlined creating a subdivision of Division I that affords more freedom to craft policies and enables them to compensate athletes in innovative and consequential ways. Florida Rep. Gus Bilirakis, who has become one of the most vital figures in the fight for NIL reform on Capitol Hill, chairs the subcommittee. The Florida representative organized March's legislative hearing and has crafted his own NIL bill, the Fairness, Accountability, and Integrity in Representation (FAIR) of College Sports Act, which has been revised multiple times since it was first released in May. |
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