| Monday, May 6, 2024 |
| Driverless electric shuttles coming to MSU this fall | |
 | Driverless shuttles will be the newest way for Mississippi State University students to get to class this fall when an electric, autonomous shuttle system comes to campus. Partnering with Beep Inc., a autonomous mobility solution company based in Orlando, MSU will launch a pilot project in September, testing out two driverless shuttle buses that will carry passengers to key points on and near the campus. "Mississippi State is known for its technology," Thomas Perkins, assistant director of transit services, told The Dispatch. "It made sense for us to jump into this pilot program, and try to figure out if that can be done in more of a rural setting as opposed to a major metropolitan area." Each shuttle will seat up to 11 passengers, including one attendant who will be able to drive the vehicle in case of emergencies, Perkins said. The program is currently in a development phase in which two routes are being mapped out using three-dimensional scans, light detection and ranging for precise measurements. The shuttles, equipped with AI-enabled remote human supervision, will run on a schedule, similar to the Starkville-MSU Area Rapid Transit (SMART) bus system on campus. Beep Inc. has launched similar pilot programs at other college campuses, including the University of North Carolina Charlotte campus. The MSU program will be the first of its kind in the state and in the Southeastern Conference. |
| Electric-autonomous shuttle system debuts at Mississippi State this fall | |
 | Mississippi State University (MSU) will introduce an electric-autonomous passenger shuttle system pilot program to the campus and community this fall. With deployment by Beep, Inc., the system will be the first of its kind in the state and in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Officials said it's designed for safety, sustainability, accessibility and efficiency. Two shuttles, each seating up to 11 passengers, including an attendant, are slated to be available for riders in September as part of a pilot project to evaluate how the autonomous vehicles complement other modes of campus transportation. Two routes are planned to shuttle students between the core of campus and key housing points, as well as popular entertainment destinations. "We are excited to announce this special project which is going through several layers of approval, including the Mississippi Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration," said Jeremiah Dumas, MSU executive director of transportation. "Safety is the highest priority, as it is with any method of transportation." Beep will provide the autonomous mobility solutions, services and electric vehicles to MSU throughout the tentative pilot period of September 1 through November 30. |
| Davidson to receive honorary degree from MSU-Meridian | |
 | Mississippi State University-Meridian will award its first ever honorary doctorate degree to Meridian businessman Martin "Marty" Davidson during spring commencement exercises next week at the MSU Riley Center. MSU President Mark E. Keenum will present the honorary Doctor of Public Service degree to Davidson, chairman of Southern Pipe & Supply Company, during MSU-Meridian's spring graduation at 11 a.m. Thursday, May 9. Altogether, 200 undergraduate and graduate MSU-Meridian students will receive degrees during the ceremony. "Mr. Davidson is a visionary business leader, a pillar of his community and major benefactor of Mississippi State University," Keenum said in a news release. "This is the highest recognition that our university can bestow upon an individual, and Mr. Davidson is most deserving." Davidson currently serves as president of The Riley Foundation, which has been a major supporter of Mississippi State and its Meridian campus. The partnership between the foundation and the university has led to the development of the downtown Riley Campus and MSU-Meridian's Health Sciences Division. "I just want this world to be a better place when I leave it than when I came into it," Davidson said. "If I have done that, it will have been a life well lived." |
| MSU researcher develops new detection and monitoring methods for cardiovascular disease | |
| A Mississippi State University researcher is developing new, more affordable methods for early detection and monitoring of cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in the U.S. Amirtahà Taebi, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, is using the human body's vibrations to develop noninvasive diagnosis methods for cardiovascular disease using smartphones and low-cost sensors with a focus on health equity in the Taebi Lab at MSU. Work in the lab is directed toward low-income populations and underrepresented minorities, those usually more affected. "One American dies from a cardiovascular disease every 34 seconds," Taebi said. "If you place your hand on your chest, you will feel vibrations as a result of your heart pumping blood to different organs in your body. We can measure those vibrations using sensors." The lab is studying these cardiovascular-induced vibrations to see what cardiovascular events are represented by each vibration waveform. He said that by analyzing the heart's vibrations, his team aims to address questions regarding heart function and detect any signs of cardiovascular disease in people who may need medical attention. |
| 200 dogs race through Starkville for second annual derby | |
 | In Starkville on Saturday, 200 dogs raced in the streets of the Cotton District. The majority of dogs that raced were wiener dogs, but there was also a pretenders race for other breeds. Alden Thornhill, the event organizer, said there were even 250 dogs on the waitlist to race. The event also included 100 local vendors. Maggie Mae, from Woodstock, Georgia, is the grand champion of this year's Starkville derby. All the proceeds went to the Oktibbeha County Humane Society, with the total amount raised still being calculated. Thornhill says this year was even bigger than the last. |
| Hurricane Preparedness Week underway in Mississippi | |
 | Gov. Tate Reeves has declared May 5-11 as Hurricane Preparedness Week in Mississippi. The Republican governor along with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) are encouraging residents to utilize this week to prepare for what's expected to be another memorable Atlantic hurricane season. "Over the last few years, our state has confronted many natural disasters including hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods," Reeves said. "It is critical to have a plan before severe weather strikes. It can make a difference in keeping you and your family safe. I hope Hurricane Preparedness Week can help raise awareness about the upcoming hurricane season and encourage Mississippians to take the necessary steps to prepare." According to the busiest seasonal outlook ever released by Colorado State, the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season could include 23 named storms with 11 of those possibly becoming hurricanes and at least five of those becoming major hurricanes. Hurricane season begins on June 1. "Don't wait for a tropical storm or hurricane to move into the Gulf of Mexico to prepare," MEMA executive director Stephen McCraney said. McCraney added that every Mississippi family should have a fully stocked disaster supply kit with necessities like water, non-perishable food, flashlights, batteries, a radio, etc. Homeowners should also make sure they have proper insurance if a home is in a special flood hazard zone. |
| Terberg Taylor gifts PACCAR, TCW with terminal tractor | |
| The addition of specialized vehicle manufacturer Terberg Taylor to the Golden Triangle's industrial landscape opens new doors for collaborations between local companies. In celebration of its recently opened manufacturing facility in Lowndes County, the company gifted its neighbor PACCAR and TCW with one of its first U.S.-built terminal tractors. "Servicing the PACCAR engine plant's needs with a terminal tractor built across the street at the new Terberg Taylor facility makes perfect sense from a community partnership perspective," Ben Banks, vice president of operations for TCW, said in a press release Wednesday. "We're honored to be able to put this first truck through its paces and excited to see what additional value and efficiencies this will bring to all three parties." Terberg Taylor manufactures terminal tractors that are used to move semi-truck trailers to and from loading docks while PACCAR builds diesel engines. Both companies have plants off Charleigh Ford Road west of Columbus. TCW is the transportation company that ships PACCAR products. Golden Triangle Development LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins said collaborations between companies like this one are a benefit for the regional business sector. |
| Mississippi Legislature approves $7.86 billion budget for state agencies | |
 | The Mississippi Legislature has passed a budget to fund the state for Fiscal Year 2024-2025 with nearly $7.9 billion for state agencies, departments and projects. The final funding approval represents a more than $200 million increase in state financial support from FY 2023-2024, which was $7.615 billion. Among the top issues this session were a massive increase K-12 education spending and an influx of money in state support for the Mississippi Department of Transportation. Here are some of the big numbers from the $7,866,399,797 total budget and who got shorted as compared to last year. The Institutions of Higher Learning did not receive a boost in funding to lead the state's eight public universities. The IHL will get about $874 million this coming fiscal year, showing a significant drop from the $934 million it received last year. The Mississippi Department of Education will receive $3.312 billion, a more than $300 million increase from FY 2023-2024. Most of those additional funds come from the Mississippi Student Funding Formula, which replaced the state's previous funding model for K-12 Education, the Mississippi Adequate Education Formula. |
| Amphitheater gets $1 million more from state; Legislative bills also provide funds for MSU, MUW, MSMS facilities | |
| The Mississippi legislature has appropriated money for a wide range of projects in the Golden Triangle as it wraps up the 2024 session this weekend. Either the state budget, Senate Bill 2468, or the bond bill, House Bill 1983, will provide funds for the Terry Brown Amphitheater and the Starkville Main Street project along with 20 other projects in Lowndes, Oktibbeha and Clay counties. Both bills passed both chambers Friday. The Senate bill will provide $3 million for the Starkville Main Street project. It will also appropriate $1 million for work at the Terry Brown Amphitheater. That project was shut out of the appropriation in last year's session. The Senate's budget includes a combined $23.5 million for the new College of Architecture and Design building and renovations at Bost Extension Center and Dorman Hall at Mississippi State. The House's bond package includes $3.46 million for facilities at Mississippi University for Women. "That's the amount we were expecting," MUW President Nora Miller said. The bond package also will provide $1.5 million for Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science, short of the roughly $90 million it requested for facility improvements. Starkville Mayor Lynn Spruill said she is "delighted" with the appropriation and that the funds could put the estimated $10 million project into motion. |
| Mississippi's 2024 legislative session is over. Here's what passed and what didn't | |
| Mississippi's extended legislative session has officially come to an end. Lawmakers on Saturday put the gavel to rest, ending more than four months' worth of debating over prospective bills and approving a $7.9 billion budget to cover operations statewide. While some hot-ticket items among voters -- including Medicaid expansion, restoring Mississippi's ballot initiative process, and legalizing mobile sports betting -- did not come to fruition this year, the 2024 session was not without action. In his first term as House Speaker, Republican Jason White made it his mission to do away with the oft-criticized Mississippi Adequate Education Program in favor of a new funding formula for public education. His persistence ultimately led a hesitant Senate to give in and pass the Mississippi Student Funding Formula. The new formula is expected to provide public schools with more money per pupil based on the number of students coming from low-income households, who have special needs, and other factors intended to up the funding for districts with the largest needs. The legislature also took a step in addressing what Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and others consider to be a $25 billion issue with the public employees' retirement system (PERS). Gov. Tate Reeves has until May 8 to sign Senate Bill 3231 into law. The bill puts a halt to the pending 2% rate increase for PERS employers that was expected in July 2024. Lawmakers intend to adjust the process by which future employer rate increases can be made, allowing a 0.5% increase this summer and each year after through 2028. |
| Mississippi Legislature completes 2024 session after passing budget | |
| The 124-day 2024 Mississippi legislative session is finally over. The last thing lawmakers did before gaveling out before 9:30 Saturday morning was to pass a nearly $7.9 billion budget Friday, outlining funds for state agencies, departments and also providing many local projects throughout the state, as well as returning voting rights to someone previously convicted of a felony. As lawmakers were preparing to pack their bags, briefcases and even a few tokens from this year's session, Sen. Joey Fillingane, R-Sumrall, presented one final bill on the floor to restore voting rights to an individual, closing the session by giving a person who was previously convicted of a felony back their suffrage. The man, from Fillingane's district in Walthall County, had been convicted of grand larceny in 1977. In the House, Rep. Charles Young, D-Meridian, gave an unexpected speech to his fellow lawmakers. In his own words, he said that while the day was one filled with joy, it was also a sad occasion for lawmakers as they went their separate ways. "Today is the day that all of us always look forward to, but today is the day that all of us dread because the person sitting next to you, and the people sitting around you have become your family. And today is the day that we part," Young said. |
| Legislature, flush with cash, passes budget, completing work for 2024 session | |
| The Mississippi Legislature completed its work for the 2024 session on Friday with the passage of a $7 billion state budget -- 5.8% larger than the budget it passed last year. The $7 billion reflects the amount spent on recurring expenses. The budget last year, including one-time funds, COVID-19 federal relief funds and other one-time money for specific projects, actually was more than the budget passed this year. The completion of the budget late Friday ended the bulk of lawmakers' work for the 2024 session, but legislators will return briefly Saturday to take care of procedural issues. Plus, the Legislature might reconvene on May 14 to deal with any veto from Gov. Tate Reeves. One of the final actions on Friday was approving a massive bill that provides state money for projects throughout the state. The legislation funds tourism projects, work on local governmental office buildings and other projects for individual legislators. The total amount of the projects was $227.4 million. In the past, projects were often funded by borrowing. But in recent years, thanks in large part to an infusion of federal COVID-19 funds and other federal funds, Mississippi, like most other states, has been flush with cash, allowing those projects to be funded with cash instead of long-term debt. |
| Legislature passes transgender bathroom restriction bill | |
| The Mississippi Legislature passed a bill to restrict which bathrooms and dorms transgender people can use on the state's college campuses. After efforts to restrict legal recognition of transgender people and keep them from using all state-controlled gender-assigned facilities that match how they identify, such as bathrooms, locker rooms and college dorms had died Monday, both chambers came to an unenthusiastic compromise, said Judiciary A Chairman Joey Hood, R-Ackerman. "I think we go and pass this legislation, because we're going to have all the other challenges that are going forward," Hood said. "I think this will allow for your work and allow at least for legislative intent from this body." The House and Senate both voted earlier this week to suspend the rules of the Legislature to continue negotiating Senate Bill 2753, dubbed the SAFER Act. That continued dialogue concluded with a bill that will restrict transgender people to using gender-related facilities that match the one that they were assigned at birth. According to the bill, which goes into effect July 1, people who violate the new law can be sued for damages by those who feel their privacy within the gender-specific facility was violated. One House member on Thursday asked if there would be an issue with schools not following the new law. Hood said any college institution found actively violating SB 2753 would be dealt with in the future. |
| From dummy bill to Hail Marys: How Mississippi's Medicaid expansion efforts failed | |
| As the 2024 Mississippi legislative session gaveled open in January, it appeared to be the start of a new era. Many Capitol observers expected it to mark an end of several years of intense GOP in-fighting between the House and Senate -- led by former Speaker Philip Gunn and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, respectively. It also appeared a boon for an issue that had loomed for a decade over Mississippi's poor, sickly population and struggling hospitals: Medicaid expansion and the billions of federal dollars available to address this, but for red-meat Republican "anti-Obamacare" politics led by Gunn and Gov. Tate Reeves. Newly-elected House Speaker Jason White said Medicaid expansion would be on the table in his House and vetted with pragmatism, not politics. This appeared to align with Hosemann's stated openness to such policy. For years he had been the lone statewide Republican leader to even leave the Medicaid expansion door open, and he had suffered political slings and arrows from Gunn and Reeves and others in his own party. He had to fend off a serious primary challenge from the right last year that appeared to have tacit approval from Reeves. Now it appeared two like-minded, reasonable Republican politicians would come together, eschew the far-right politics that had hamstrung efforts to address the state's health care crisis for years and work something out. That didn't happen. |
| State leaders cosponsor bill stripping some arrested protesters of federal student loan relief | |
 | Sen. Roger Wicker (R) and Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) have announced their support for a bill condemning protestors at university campuses. On Friday, both Mississippi leaders showed their support of S. Res. 670, a resolution introduced by Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) which does the following: condemns "the rise of antisemitism on campuses of institutions of high education across the United States" and "administrators who have enabled ongoing antisemitism" and urges the Department of Education to "take actions to ensure that institutions of higher education are complying with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and that students, including Jewish students, are not experiencing discrimination in violation of such Title VI." The pair also joined in cosponsoring a bill deemed the "No Bailouts for Campus Criminals Act" (S. 4240), introduced by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on Thursday. The act would make any individual who is convicted of a state or federal offense in connection with a campus protest ineligible for any federal student loan relief. "The Biden student loan forgiveness scheme is already audacious, but allowing pro-Hamas and other student lawbreakers to benefit would be an outrage for taxpayers, who are already left holding the bag to pay off these loans," Sen. Hyde-Smith added. |
| A group of Republicans has united to defend the legitimacy of US elections and those who run them | |
 | It was Election Day last November, and one of Georgia's top election officials saw that reports of a voting machine problem in an eastern Pennsylvania county were gaining traction online. So Gabriel Sterling, a Republican who had defended the 2020 election in Georgia amid an onslaught of threats, posted a message to his nearly 71,000 followers on the social platform X explaining what had happened and saying that all votes would be counted correctly. He faced immediate criticism from one commenter about why he was weighing in on another state's election while other responses reiterated false claims about widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election. "It's still the right thing to do," Sterling told a gathering the following day, stressing the importance of Republican officials speaking up to defend elections. "We have to be prepared to say over and over again -- other states are doing it different than us, but they are not cheating." Sterling, the chief operating officer for the Georgia Secretary of State's Office, is part of an effort begun after the last presidential election that seeks to bring together Republican officials who are willing to defend the country's election systems and the people who run them. They want officials to reinforce the message that elections are secure and accurate, an approach they say is especially important as the country heads toward another divisive presidential contest. |
| Gen Z activists look to shake up the anti-abortion movement | |
 | Hayden Laye joined protesters outside the Supreme Court last month as the justices weighed a case that could change access to abortion pills. An LGBTQ advocate and proud Democrat, he wore a blue shirt and waved a small rainbow flag. Laye was there as part of the push to end abortion in America. "We stand up for the less fortunate than us and the most vulnerable," Laye said of like-minded Democrats. "We stand up for those being affected by climate change. We stand up for the single mother and we also need to stand up for preborn children because they don't have a voice." Laye said he's heard plenty of people tell him that his positions are incompatible. "Unfortunately, when people tell me that I can't do something, I normally go and do it," he told The Hill. Laye, a recent high school graduate in South Carolina, is the development coordinator of Democrats for Life of America and is on the Rainbow Pro Life Alliance board. He is part of an often overlooked coalition of young voters who are pushing the anti-abortion movement to expand its tent and tap into the growing political power of Gen Zers. Younger anti-abortion activists are pushing a more positive message focused on supporting pregnant women, and debating how to make space for a more diverse and less religious generation in what has long been a Christian-dominated movement. |
| Methodists end anti-gay bans, closing 50 years of battles over sexuality for mainline Protestants | |
| It took just a few days for United Methodist delegates to remove a half-century's worth of denominational bans on gay clergy and same-sex marriages. But when asked at a news conference about the lightning speed of the changes, the Rev. Effie McAvoy took a longer view. "Oh, it didn't take days, honey," she said. It took decades of activism for a change that was "so very healing," said McAvoy, pastor of Shepherd of the Valley United Methodist Church in Hope, Rhode Island. A member of the Queer Delegate Caucus at last week's UMC General Conference in Charlotte, she was grateful to be part of the historic moment. The reversals can be seen as marking the end of a half-century of epic battles and schisms over LGBTQ involvement -- not only in the United Methodist Church but in U.S. mainline Protestant denominations overall. Those are the tall-steeple churches in myriad town squares and rural crossroads, traditionally "big-tent" and culturally mainstream congregations -- some predating America's independence. The nation's largest Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal and Lutheran denominations have all now removed barriers to LGBTQ participation in the pulpit and at the altar. But this comes amid long-term declines in membership and influence. |
| DEI is getting a new name. Can it dump the political baggage? | |
 | Last year, Eli Lilly's annual shareholders letter referenced the acronym for diversity, equity and inclusion 48 times. This year, "DEI" is nowhere to be found. In March, Starbucks got shareholder approval to replace "representation" goals with "talent" performance for executive bonus incentives. At Molson Coors, "People & Planet" metrics have displaced environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals, and the acronym DEI has disappeared altogether. Amid growing legal, social and political backlash, American businesses, industry groups and employment professionals are quietly scrubbing DEI from public view -- though not necessarily abandoning its practice. As they rebrand programs and hot-button acronyms, they're reassessing decades-old anti-discrimination strategies and rewriting policies that once emphasized race and gender to prioritize inclusion for all. Johnny C. Taylor Jr., chief executive of the Society for Human Resource Management, said that practitioners of DEI and its antecedents traditionally have focused on improving representation for historically marginalized groups, believing that "the magic bullet was diversity." "We underestimated that inclusion was the real challenge," Taylor said. "Now people are saying, 'Not only should we probably call it something different, we should probably evolve it.'" This shifting landscape is forcing companies and consultants to adapt on the fly, with many acting preemptively to guard against the legal threats that have led some firms to recast or discard race-based initiatives. They're renaming diversity programs, overhauling internal DEI teams and working closely with lawyers. Some are moving away from using racial and gender considerations in hiring and promotion, and toward approaches that focus more on inclusion. |
| Protests at UM draw national attention, campus-wide response | |
 | The events of Thursday's protests at the University of Mississippi have garnered attention at the campus, state and national levels as videos of protesters and counter-protesters circulate on social media. Approximately 30 pro-Palestine protesters gathered in the Quad on Thursday, May 2. The protest, organized by a group called UMiss for Palestine, was met by hundreds of onlookers -- one of which made monkey motions and noises at a Black protester while others chanted, "Lock her up." A video of an interaction between counter-protesters and graduate journalism student Jaylin R. Smith has gotten more than 3 million views on the social platform X. The video, originally posted by senior journalism major Stacey Spiehler, depicts an unidentified counter-protester jumping up and down and making hooting noises as Smith walks up to them. It also shows Smith and the counter-protesters inching closer together before being separated by the University Police Department officers and Brent Marsh, assistant vice chancellor, dean of students and a member of the First Amendment Support Team. Chancellor Glenn Boyce made the following statement. "From yesterday's demonstration, university leaders are aware that some statements made were offensive, hurtful, and unacceptable, including actions that conveyed hostility and racist overtones. While student privacy laws prohibit us from commenting on any specific student, we have opened one student conduct investigation. We are working to determine whether more cases are warranted," the statement read. "To be clear, people who say horrible things to people because of who they are will not find shelter or comfort on this campus. All of us have a responsibility to take seriously our commitment to upholding a safe and welcoming campus environment." |
| Ole Miss National Center for Narrative Intelligence finds its feet | |
 | Nine months into its existence, the University of Mississippi's National Center for Narrative Intelligence has moved out of the planning phase and into implementation. First approved in August 2023 by the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, the NCNI hosted its first ever summit Feb. 20-21, and co-directors Andrea Hickerson and Wesley Jennings are now seeking funding and soon, staff. After spending months scheduling weekly meetings and Zoom calls to find partners for the center and gauge interest in it, they're finally able to start searching for a director, and for research associates after that, Hickerson and Jennings said. "Even though we're at the beginning, the amount of interest in the center has been really surprising and encouraging," said Hickerson, who started at Ole Miss in 2022 when she took the position of dean for the School of Journalism and New Media. The center, and narrative intelligence broadly, is about the interplay between AI and human intelligence. AI can make sorting information quick and efficient, but you still need the human subject-matter expert to parse the results. With fears about disinformation and misinformation so common these days, "what we have to do here at the center is try to help people figure out what they can believe," Hickerson said. |
| Jackson State University 2024 Spring commencement ceremony | |
| Graduates spend hours studying, completing different assignments, putting in hard work, and waiting for this big moment to come. Some say the day was extra special to them because they didn't have the opportunity to have a formal high school graduation four years ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That's why walking across the stage for this graduation is something they will cherish forever. Family and friends proudly applauded the graduates during the ceremony. Some graduates show off their creativity with themed caps, which signifies another way of expressing their gratitude for this big day. "Shout out to Jackson State for giving me my four years! I love you all, but I'm ready to go," Alexandria Marzette said. Marzette received her degree in Health Physical Education. Something she did not get to do in high school because of the pandemic. "I'm really excited today because being the [a member of] the Class of 2024, we didn't get a high school graduation in 2020. So, I feel like for me, and a lot of my classmates... this is a really special day," Marzette said. Now, with her diploma in hand, Marzette says she's ready to embark on a new journey. |
| Double amputee graduates from Jackson State University | |
| A Jackson State student and member of the Sonic Boom of the South is paving the way for future Tigers with disabilities. Jahkee Johnson was born with a disease called tibial hemimelia. His mom was forced with the tough decision to move forward with a double amputation surgery when Johnson was just 9 months old. Fast forward to now -- Johnson spent 4 years at Jackson State University. He also played the trombone as a member of the Sonic Boom of the South. "Somebody come behind me and do better man pave the way even further, make sure you go even further with it. Make sure you show there's no limits. You are your own limit and your mindset is your own limit. Don't let anybody set those limits for you," Johnson said. Johnson is graduating with a bachelor's degree in science and health and physical education and recreation. He's going off to be a recreational therapist at Georgia Regional Hospital and says he will continue to stay involved with kids with disabilities. |
| Dr. Parrott gives update on Belhaven University | |
| Dr. Roger Parrott, President of Belhaven University, spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson Tuesday, April 9, 2024. Dr. Parrott gave an update on the university, which has grown immensely over the last few decades under his leadership. Dr. Parrott spoke of the fast pace of change in our society and the challenges that presents education leaders. "Education is changing very rapidly and the problem with education is our schools are not built for change," he said. One innovation that Parrott championed is allowing students to get a double major and allowing free tuition for a fifth year to accomplish that. This is particularly positive for art students, allowing them to major in what they love and yet have a backup major to enhance their employment prospects. Another innovation is a new data science degree. "It's a huge field for the future," he said. |
| 'Anybody can jump in': Belhaven business school encourages students to join Amazon program | |
| Belhaven University will be the first Mississippi institution of higher learning to provide students with an opportunity to obtain employment at the Amazon Web Services (AWS) facilities coming to Madison County. The private school in Jackson announced its participation in AWS Academy, a program built in April by experts at AWS that will provide the university with a cloud computing curriculum. This move comes after the online retail giant announced a multi-billion dollar plan to bring two hyper-scale data centers to central Mississippi -- one at the Madison County Mega Center and the other on the Costas Property west of Tougaloo College and near County Line Road in Ridgeland. The plan marks the largest-ever economic development project in state history and is expected to generate numerous data science-related job opportunities in the area. "Amazon wants qualified people. They need qualified people who can work with those servers and the data on them to either be data analysts or data storage specialists. They can be different kinds of application engineers," Belhaven's Dean of the School of Business and Program Director for Data Science Dr. Brett Andrews said on Good Things with Rebecca Turner. "They have 10 or so different certification pathways that you can get into with AWS." |
| More than 6,000 degrees awarded at U. of Alabama commencement | |
 | The University of Alabama awarded more than 6,000 degrees during spring commencement exercises May 3-5 at Coleman Coliseum. According to UA, the spring class of 2024 included 4,511 undergraduates, 1,360 master's degree or education specialist graduates and 138 doctoral degree graduates. UA's spring graduating class included students from 30 countries, 49 states and 64 of Alabama's 67 counties. The class had a grade point average of 3.51 on a 4.0 scale and almost 2,500 students graduated with honors. The graduating class also included 1,225 students who identify as minority, 769 first-generation college students, 26 active-duty military members, 46 students who identify as veterans and 504 graduates with multiple majors. The youngest student to earn a degree was 17 years old; the oldest was 80. A total of eight graduation ceremonies were spread out over three days at the coliseum. According to a news release, UA graduates with bachelor's degrees are projected to earn nearly $6 million in lifetime earnings, while those earning a master's degree could earn nearly $7.5 million. |
| Pro-Palestinian protesters, counter-protesters confront each other on LSU campus | |
 | A group of roughly 100 pro-Palestinian LSU students held a protest on campus Friday, but soon encountered a similarly large group of heckling counter-protestors. Wearing raincoats and holding umbrellas in a steady drizzle outside Patrick F. Taylor Hall, the protesters gathered around noon and held up signs and chanted slogans like "LSU don't hide, you're supporting genocide" and "disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest." At first a handful of counter-protesters appeared, holding up an American flag and chanting "USA." But the group steadily grew, and began trying to drown out the protesters with their own shouts. Some of the shouts mocked the protesters' weight, and others told the students to "get out of our country." By the time the protesters reached the front of the Student Union building, the crowd had grown to roughly 200 people. The crowd of counter-protestors began singing the national anthem as protesters chanted "Israel bombs, LSU pays, how many kids will you kill today?" Several counter-protestors made vulgar comments about protestors' gender or sexual orientation. At one point, eight LSU Police officers lined up to separate the two sides. The entire demonstration at LSU lasted a little more than 2 hours and did not turn violent. |
| The Adults Are Still in Charge at the U. of Florida | |
 | Ben Sasse, president of the University of Florida, writes in The Wall Street Journal: Higher education has for years faced a slow-burning crisis of public trust. Mob rule at some of America's most prestigious universities in recent weeks has thrown gasoline on the fire. Pro-Hamas agitators have fought police, barricaded themselves in university buildings, shut down classes, forced commencement cancellations, and physically impeded Jewish students from attending lectures. Parents are rightly furious at the asinine entitlement of these activists and the embarrassing timidity of many college administrators. One parent put it bluntly: "Why the hell should anybody spend their money to send their kid to college?" Employers watching this fiasco are asking the same question. At the University of Florida, we tell parents and future employers: We're not perfect, but the adults are still in charge. Our response to threats to build encampments is driven by three basic truths. First, universities must distinguish between speech and action. ... Second, universities must say what they mean and then do what they say. ... Third, universities need to recommit themselves to real education. |
| Friday night protest draws crowd from UGA to steps of Athens-Clarke City Hall | |
 | A protest in support of Palestinians in the Israeli war against the Hamas began quietly before sundown Friday with prayer on a green space of the University of Georgia campus and it ended loudly under dark skies on the steps of the Athens-Clarke County City Hall. About 60 people representing Jews who are opposed to the war being waged in Gaza gathered outside the UGA administration building for a "solidarity Shabbat," a traditional day of celebration for Jews. When the service neared an end, one organizer, Sydney Benatory, called for an end to the "genocide" in Gaza and she urged support of UGA students who have been banned from campus following their arrest during a small campus protest on Monday. This quiet protest, which included the sharing of drink and bread for a ceremonial nod to Shabbat, ended after about an hour. Many then joined another group, "Athens Against Apartheid," which gathered at the UGA Arch. Here the protest swelled on the sidewalk outside the Arch and across Broad Street at the College Avenue intersection. Speakers used bullhorns as speeches were raised alternately on both sides of the street that was busy with Friday night motorists and visitors. The protest, while loud and exuberant, was peaceful and only a few hecklers surfaced during the evening. |
| U. of Tennessee Advisory Board discusses parking changes students will face, campus updates, free speech | |
| Parking changes are coming to the University of Tennessee for students in the fall of 2024. On the morning of May 3, 2024, the UT Advisory Board met to discuss campus updates, including student protest responses, construction and parking changes. The changes in parking will directly affect students in the coming academic year. The changes come after analyzing this year's parking situation. The changes, which Chancellor Donde Plowman stressed were not final solutions, respond to the fact that the growth in student demand for parking space has exceeded the number of parking spaces. Fifty-three percent of students purchase permits, and the number of people trying to park on campus has caused issues for students in the past. The changes do not forbid first-year students from bringing cars but are meant to discourage them. They are not planning "yet" to ban first-year students from bringing cars. The meeting also briefly addressed the university's response to pro-Palestine demonstrations happening on campus over the last few days. Plowman read aloud a statement released to the UT community that morning. Also shown was UT's system Neutrality Policy, which stresses that employees of the university should be careful to not make "statements on disputed political, moral, and religious topics" on behalf of the university. This policy is not intended to limit employee's personal speech. |
| Donde Plowman responds to demonstrations on UT campus: 'It's about use of property' | |
 | University of Tennessee at Knoxville Chancellor Donde Plowman says she wants to protect free speech on campus. Her main issue with the pro-Palestine demonstrations that happened May 2 was more about "use of property," she said. Plowman addressed the demonstrations during and after the UT Knoxville Advisory Board meeting May 3. Before that meeting, she emailed a statement to the campus community, which she read aloud to board members. Demonstrations began May 1 at the Torchbearer Statue before moving to the College of Law lawn. Students and community members came back to the lawn May 2 and stayed until after 9 p.m., which is when UT administrators said they had to leave. Local law enforcement arrested and later released nine demonstrators who remained on the college's lawn. Officers also set up fencing around the property. After the UT Advisory Board meeting, students and community members began gathering in front of the Student Union around 12:20 p.m. for what they called a "spontaneous study session." "Free speech is absolutely a high, important priority for us. We've just established the Baker School and the Institute for Civics. We're always going to protect people's right to speech. We want every view in the world expressed, people to feel safe and comfortable expressing their views. What happened last night, I don't see as about free speech. It's about use of property," Plowman told media May 3. ... We're going to apply the rules the same way for everyone. A group cannot decide to just take over this part of the campus and start hanging out there indefinitely, sleeping there." |
| U. of Missouri to award over 5,500 degrees, prepares for crowds | |
 | More than 5,500 students will receive degrees next weekend during the University of Missouri's 14 commencement ceremonies. MU will also award four honorary degrees. The recipients were chosen by the UM System Board of Curators for their accomplishments and contributions to society, said Christopher Ave, MU's director of news and information. They are Marcia Chatelain, author and professor at the University of Pennsylvania; Sarah Elizabeth Leen, photojournalist and co-founder of the Visual Thinking Collective; Gilbert Ross, faculty member at the MU School of Medicine; and Don Walsworth, former member of the Board of Curators and CEO of yearbook company Walsworth. "I'm so proud of our graduates for their hard work and commitment to excellence," UM System President and MU Chancellor Mun Choi said in a news release. "Mizzou prepares students for great careers and to lead our state, nation and the world. I look forward to seeing how the Class of 2024 will make a difference for our society." The celebratory weekend brings an influx of crowds to Columbia. Megan McConachie, Columbia's Convention and Visitor Bureau communication and outreach supervisor, said the extra graduation attendees have an economic impact on the city. "When they spend the night in our hotels, shop in our stores, dine in our restaurants, that's the part of tourism that really helps sustain and improve our quality of life throughout the rest of the year," McConachie said. |
| Police raid UVa encampment, arrest anti-war protesters | |
| Days of quiet, peaceful protest came to a chaotic and violent end Saturday afternoon as Virginia State Police stormed an encampment of anti-war protesters at the University of Virginia. State police sporting tactical gear and riot shields moved in on the demonstrators, using tear gas and sheer force to disperse the group and arrest the roughly 15 or so at the camp, where for days students, faculty and community members had sang songs, read poetry and painted signs in protest of Israel's ongoing war in the Palestinian territory of Gaza. As of press time Saturday evening, those protesters that had not been taken into custody had been pushed away from the plot of land by the University Chapel where they had been based and into street, where a flood of supporters were pouring in. What had started as a quiet and rain-drenched protest of a meager 15 Saturday morning was a vocal and angry crowd of nearly 100 Saturday evening. After days of an almost picnic-like protest and minimal police presence, the sudden and swift arrival of the militant Virginia State Police appears to have been in direct response to the protesters' decision to pitch tents on UVa Grounds Friday evening ahead of rain. The quiet encampment had received little attention from students throughout most of the week. But on Saturday, as authorities created a line around the encampment, a huge crowd gathered around to witness the police response. |
| Fraternity Members at UNC Go Viral -- and Reap Donations -- for Guarding the Flag During Protest | |
 | The members of Alpha Epsilon Pi and Pi Kappa Phi at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill gained nationwide attention -- and over a half-million dollars in donations -- this week when, amid a chaotic and increasingly intense pro-Palestinian protest, several of the chapters' members gathered around a campus flagpole to keep the American flag off the ground. Protesters had previously taken it down and replaced it with a Palestinian one. The incident sparked a rapturous response among some conservatives. Current and former Republican staffers organized the fund-raising effort on the fraternity members' behalf, though it's unclear how much of the money will actually go to the organizations. Several of the fraternity members who huddled around the flag on Tuesday have said they acted in the name of patriotism -- not in explicit support of Israel or against Palestine -- by keeping the American flag attached to its post and preventing it from touching the ground. "For me, protecting the flag was not about taking a stance within the ongoing Israel-Palestine discourse," Alex Jones, a member of Pi Kappa Phi who held up the flag, said in a statement shared on X. "I recognize the pain and suffering experienced by both sides of that conflict. But my decision yesterday to protect the flag of the United States was not about any other nation." |
| 55 years after Reagan took on Berkeley, Newsom stays in the background amid roiling campus protests | |
 | In May 1969 a National Guard helicopter hung over the campus of UC Berkeley, spraying protesters with what The Times then described as "heavy clouds of tear gas." It was the sixth consecutive day of campus demonstrations over plans to develop the land known as "People's Park." An ambitious governor who would go on to become president had called in 2,300 National Guard troops and hundreds of Highway Patrolmen. They brought shotguns, rifles and bayonets. The problems, then-Gov. Ronald Reagan said in a feisty televised appearance, all started because universities "let young people think they had the right to choose the laws they would obey, as long as they were doing it in the name of social protest." Reagan was unapologetic in his response to protests on the campus, which was also home to large demonstrations against the Vietnam War. He called student protests "orgies of destruction." Almost exactly 55 years later, California campuses are again overwhelmed by student uprisings and police crackdowns, including violent clashes last week at UCLA. This time, over the Israel-Hamas war. And another ambitious California governor is responding with a very different approach. Gov. Gavin Newsom has lingered in the background as universities grapple with student protests, which have led to at least 200 arrests at UCLA, three injuries at UC Berkeley and forced classes to move online at Cal Poly Humboldt. While he's met privately with law enforcement officials and university leaders, Newsom has yet to speak to the news media about the unrest. |
| Baby Boomer Professors Join Student Protests, Risking Arrest and Violence | |
| More university professors are joining the demonstrations roiling college campuses, both to voice support for Gazans and to defend their students' right to protest. Faculty, many of whom are in their 60s and 70s and came of age during the era of Vietnam War protests, are pushing back against university presidents, accusing the leaders of heavy-handed and inconsistent crackdowns on free speech, and warning against a wave of authoritarianism some say has been creeping onto campuses for years. Professors in leadership positions are guiding calls for votes of no-confidence, spearheading classroom walkouts and visiting encampments alongside students. Many are facing punishment from police and their employers. In recent days, police have arrested professors during demonstrations at schools including Washington University in St. Louis, Emory University and the University of California, Los Angeles. At the University of Texas at Austin, more than 700 faculty signed a letter pushing for the school's president, Jay Hartzell, to resign. The letter says he needlessly put students, staff and faculty in danger by calling in law enforcement to campus. Pauline Turner Strong, a professor of anthropology and women's and gender studies at UT Austin, said the show of force by police at a recent demonstration she attended was greater than other times since she started teaching there in 1993---except when there was an active shooter on campus. In that case, "we really felt like we were being protected from an active threat," she said. "In this case, it feels like the police are the actual violent threat." A spokesperson for the University of Texas said a host of weapons have been confiscated from protesters, and that both staff and police officers have been physically assaulted and threatened. |
| A Weekend of Arrests and Commencement Disruptions | |
 | Last week's intense tumult over the war in Gaza quieted a bit over the weekend, as numerous colleges and universities shifted into commencement mode and kept a tight rein on their physical campuses to try to minimize the opportunity for conflict. Not every place succeeded. Several institutions -- the Universities of Virginia and of Southern California, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago -- called in reinforcements from law enforcement to break up protest encampments they declared to violate their policies or local laws. And the combustible mix of Middle East politics and graduation ceremonies resulted in conflict at other institutions, leading to protests at two Midwestern universities and canceled commencement speakers at the University of Vermont and Dickinson College. Officials at USC said Sunday morning that its public safety department, with the help of the Los Angeles Police Department, had cleared a pro-Palestinian encampment in the center of campus in the pre-dawn hours. The Los Angeles Times reported that officers in riot gear cleared the encampment with no arrests made and no apparent violence. University and law-enforcement officials gave protesters several warnings and chances to leave before they began pushing the remaining protesters toward a campus entrance. |
| Antiwar protesters are ready to hunker down past graduation | |
 | Don't expect summer break to lower the political temperature among American college students protesting the Israel-Gaza war. While police have shut down some encampments ahead of graduation ceremonies -- moves that temporarily dismantled the most eye-catching platforms for pro-Palestinian messages and criticism of college presidents -- activists at some schools say they're planning to carry on well past graduation. "I don't have any expectation that things are going to slow down," Ember McCoy, a doctoral candidate and demonstrator at the University of Michigan, said in an interview from an encampment in the heart of the school's Ann Arbor campus. "Both locally, state, and nationally, there is valid and continued pressure on politicians to respond to Palestine -- and there's a lot that can happen between now and November that I hope folks are paying attention to." Protests are almost certain to continue dividing Democrats and serve as fodder for former President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers suggesting that President Joe Biden is presiding over a lawless America in the run-up to the November election. The pressure on campuses also ensures university presidents will stay within the scrutiny of Republicans on Capitol Hill, where multiple committee chairs are launching probes into research grants and the tax-exempt status of some colleges. Three school presidents, including the University of Michigan's, are expected to testify later this month. |
| Activist Groups Trained Students for Months Before Campus Protests | |
| The recent wave of pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses came on suddenly and shocked people across the nation. But the political tactics underlying some of the demonstrations were the result of months of training, planning and encouragement by longtime activists and left-wing groups. At Columbia University, in the weeks and months before police took down encampments at the New York City campus and removed demonstrators occupying an academic building, student organizers began consulting with groups such as the National Students for Justice in Palestine, veterans of campus protests and former Black Panthers. They researched past protests over Columbia's expansion into Harlem, went to a community meeting on gentrification and development and studied parallels with the fight over land between Palestinians and Israelis. They attended a "teach-in" put on by several former Black Panthers, who told them about the importance of handling internal disputes within their movement. "We took notes from our elders, engaged in dialogue with them and analyzed how the university responded to previous protests," said Sueda Polat, a graduate student and organizer in the pro-Palestinian encampment. Though there isn't a centralized command overseeing the student movement opposing Israel's invasion of Gaza, there are connections between longstanding far-left groups and the protesters. |
| Universities Face Misinformation Amid Pro-Palestinan Protests | |
| False reports about a raised Palestinian flag at Harvard University. A misinterpretation of Muslim students gathering at the University of California Los Angeles. Conflicting stories about a bike lock used during an occupation at Columbia University. As the pro-Palestinian protests continue, universities are contending with fake, conflicting and confusing reports about events on and off campus. Videos and photos of the protests have flooded social media sites, and some are altered or given misleading labels or headlines. "I've definitely seen fake accounts and networks of fake accounts pushing narratives," said Darren Linvill, co-director of the Media Forensics Hub at Clemson University. "Bad actors are trying to exacerbate this issue; from the perspective of state actors, it's ripe to drive a wedge into." The question of whether institutions should interact with the rise in misinformation, if it all, is also a divisive topic. Experts are torn on whether a university should address misinformation about events on their campuses. Linvill said universities, at the very least, need to put correct information on their websites to dispel false reports. "They want this to go away and want no one to talk about it, but that ship has sailed," Linvill said. "You always want to be putting out the truth. I think sitting there and letting others tell your story often goes wrong." |
| Six months out from the election, Wisconsin students weigh voting for Biden | |
 | It's a sunny morning at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire as around a dozen young organizers talk politics at the student union. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., is leading the discussion from the head of a conference room table laid out with Biden campaign information, buttons and posters that read "Students for Biden Harris." "You all will really decide this election in this state," Khanna said. "So let me ask, what is your advice on what all of us should be talking about? Issues that you think appeal to young people here on this campus?" It was the first in a series of five listening sessions Khanna held with students from different universities across Wisconsin, focused on reelecting President Biden. The tour was coordinated by the Biden campaign and marked another concerted effort to appeal directly to young voters, a group they're heavily investing in nationwide. In Wisconsin, the campaign has been working with the state Democratic party to organize across college campuses and online. But the president has continued to struggle with low approval among voters under 45, particularly Gen Z and younger millennials -- the same age groups that decidedly voted for him four years ago. In Wisconsin, where Biden defeated former President Donald Trump by just under 21,000 votes last time, Democrats are banking on student support again. |
| Conservative courts poised to block new transgender student protections | |
| More than a dozen Republican-led states have sued the Biden administration over new Title IX regulations that add protections for transgender students, setting up a legal battle with the White House over enforcement of the decades-old civil rights law and increasing the likelihood that the measures will be blocked in court before taking effect this summer. "The timing and the sheer number of courts that have been invoked here sort of stack the odds against the Biden administration because there are just so many hoops to jump through," said Josh Blackman, a professor at South Texas College of Law Houston. "You have to basically beat every single one of them to win," he said. "And if any one of them vacates the rule, under the general understanding today, that vacates it nationwide." "I'm sure they were ready for it," Blackman said of the Biden administration's anticipation of legal action against the new regulations. "They knew this was coming; it wasn't a surprise." Three of the four lawsuits challenging the Biden administration's new regulations were filed in the 5th Circuit, the nation's most conservative federal appeals court. Preventing the new regulations from taking effect would deal a significant blow to LGBTQ students, especially in the South, where most of the lawsuits were filed, said Brian Dittmeier, director of public policy at GLSEN. |
| A seat at table for Democrats might have gotten Medicaid expansion across the finish line | |
| Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison writes: The Mississippi Capitol is 171,000 square feet, granted a massive structure, but when it comes to communication between the two legislative chambers that occupy the building, it might as well be as big as the cosmos. Such was the case in recent days during the intense and often combustible process that eventually led to the death of Medicaid expansion and with that the loss of the opportunity to provide health care for 200,000 working poor Mississippians with the federal government paying the bulk of the cost. Democrats in the state House came under intense pressure and criticism for blocking a Medicaid expansion compromise reached by Republican House and Senate negotiators. First of all, it would be disingenuous to argue that Democrats, who compose less than one-third of the membership of either chamber, blocked any proposal. Truth be known, Republicans should be able to pass anything they want without a solitary Democratic vote. But on this particular issue, the Republican legislative leadership who finally decided that Medicaid expansion would be good for the state needed the votes of the minority party, which incidentally had been working for 10 years to pass Medicaid expansion. The reason their votes were needed is that many Republicans, despite the wishes of their leaders, still oppose Medicaid expansion. |
| Hosemann whiffs on Medicaid | |
| The Greenwood Commonwealth's Tim Kalich writes: It was not Delbert Hosemann's finest hour. The two-term lieutenant governor should have been able to get Mississippi across the finish line to Medicaid expansion, but he didn't. He had the timing and the momentum to make it happen. The Legislature -- after a decade of digging in its heels against a golden opportunity to help the uninsured, the state's hospitals and the state's economy -- was open to seriously discussing Medicaid expansion for the first time. A coalition of groups covering some of Mississippi's most influential sectors -- clergy, health care and business -- had all endorsed expansion and made their presence known at the Capitol. It was also the first year of a new term, when normally most of the big items gets tackled, before lawmakers get cautious as they start worrying about their next election. But the effort died, putting off for yet another year doing what 40 other states have done, some of which need the extra federal help a lot less than does Mississippi. ... By remaining one of the holdouts on Medicaid expansion, Mississippi reinforces the narrative that it will continually work against its own best interests. |
SPORTS
| Unpacking Mississippi State baseball's series vs Alabama, including Bulldogs' hosting hopes | |
 | Mississippi State baseball continued its ascension toward an NCAA tournament hosting bid with its weekend series win against No. 17 Alabama at Dudy Noble Field, though the three-game set ended on a sour note for the No. 21 Bulldogs. After winning the opening game 13-3 in seven innings Friday and clinching the series with an 8-1 win the next day, they dropped the finale Sunday 10-5. "It's on me," coach Chris Lemonis said after the game. "It's my job to motivate them and make sure they understand that. It is a frustrating day not to come out and be locked in like we should." Still, Mississippi State (32-16, 14-10 SEC) improved its RPI into the top 20 -- a metric system used to help determine the NCAA tournament field. As the Bulldogs collect SEC wins, their hopes of playing postseason games in front of home fans increase. Here's what we learned about Mississippi State against Alabama (29-18, 10-14) before the Bulldogs open a series at Arkansas on Friday (6:30 p.m., SEC Network+). Sunday didn't go as planned for the Bulldogs, but they were in position for a sweep -- something that has become a regular occurrence when Khal Stephen and Jurrangelo Cijntje start the opening two games. Stephen allowed three runs in five innings Friday, marking his shortest outing since his SEC debut against LSU on March 16. However, with MSU earning the run-rule win, Lemonis had to turn to his bullpen for only two innings. |
| State Takes Final Series Behind Faapito's Samoan Heritage Day Home Run | |
| With her family in attendance as No. 20/19 Mississippi State celebrated her culture on Samoan Heritage Day, Matalasi Faapito hit a two-run homer to lift State to a 2-1 victory to win the series against No. 14/12 Georgia. Faapito has now homered on Samoan Heritage Day in back-to-back seasons, and her blast provided all the runs State (33-17, 12-12 SEC) would need. Aspen Wesley did the rest in the circle, allowing one run on four hits while striking out eight. "Mata really had good at-bats for us last weekend in Missouri off the bench. We knew she was a good match-up against some of the pitchers today," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "Mata is all about the team, everything she does. Every decision she makes whether she sees the field or not, she is going to be all in for the team and really one of the most positive people in that dugout. For her to have her big moment, on Samoan Day, the game-winning home run for us, it's just really special and I am really proud of her. You just always love when a player like that, who does everything the right way and works hard and is ready for a moment gets a chance to come through." The complete-game victory was Wesley's 14th win of the year and her 12th complete game. Her nine wins in SEC play tied the MSU school record that was most-recently accomplished in 2012 by Stephanie Becker. With the win, the Bulldogs secured their first .500 season in conference play since 2007 and their highest seed in the SEC Tournament since it moved to its current format. |
| Softball: Wesley spins another gem, Mississippi State takes series against Georgia | |
| Samantha Ricketts had a good feeling about Matalasi Faapito. The fifth-year senior, in her third season at Mississippi State after transferring from New Mexico State, was a true two-way player in her first year as a Bulldog in 2022, hitting 14 home runs and driving in 40 runs. But she entered Sunday's regular-season finale with just 13 at-bats all year, the majority of them as a pinch hitter. In likely her final game at Nusz Park, though, Faapito drew the start at designated player and in the cleanup spot -- on Samoan Heritage Day, no less. With two outs and a runner on in the bottom of the first inning, Faapito battled to a full count against Georgia right-hander Shelby Walters, and on the ninth pitch of the at-bat, she turned on a pitch on the inner half of the plate and launched it over the left-field wall for a two-run home run, her first long ball of the season. The blast gave MSU all the runs it needed as Aspen Wesley held Georgia to four hits in a 2-1 victory, giving State its first Southeastern Conference home series win of the season. "My role has changed a lot this year," Faapito said. "Coach Ricketts always has my best interests, and when I'm going up to bat, there's nothing that's holding me back. I just know I have to do it for my team, and today was a special day." |
| Ricketts, Mississippi State offer Samoan softball players a place to explore their identity | |
| It started back in 2015, when Samantha Ricketts had just become an assistant coach for Mississippi State. Ricketts and her younger sister Keilani both starred at Oklahoma, and in doing so, they helped put Samoan and Polynesian softball players in the spotlight. After two years playing professionally and stints on the coaching staff at Oklahoma and Wichita State, Ricketts arrived in Starkville before the 2015 season, and her heritage helped draw Sarai Niu, a first baseman from San Diego, far away from home to Mississippi. "The start of our Samoan pipeline was Sarai Niu," Ricketts said. "It was just a connection that we had built up through the recruiting process. She knew that I had Samoan blood as well, and at the time, it was my family and my sister playing college softball, and the name was out there and it was putting the Polynesian softball players in the media a little bit more." Niu was a four-year starter for the Bulldogs from 2016-19, and she helped recruit outfielder and fellow Southern California product Chloe Malau'ulu to MSU three years behind her. Malau'ulu became a starter as a sophomore and was a key part of the Bulldogs' 2022 team that reached the program's first-ever super regional, putting up a .332/.422/.539 triple slash with 12 doubles and eight home runs. The pipeline grew stronger after Ricketts was named head coach in July 2019. Before that, though, Niu and Malau'ulu had helped bring on board one of the most prolific power hitters in program history in Arizona State transfer Fa Leilua, also from Southern California. In just three seasons at MSU -- one of which was the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign -- Leilua hit 51 home runs while batting .352 and slugging .752. |
| State Headed Back To The Sweet 16 | |
| It would be hard for Hollywood to script a better ending to Nemanja Malesevic and Carles Hernandez's storied careers at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre. The Mississippi State senior duo won their final two singles matches at home mere minutes apart to clinch the Starkville Regional championship 4-0 over No. 37 Middle Tennessee and send the 15th-ranked Bulldogs back to the Sweet 16 for the fifth time in the last six seasons. "I'm really proud of the seniors being the last two to make a push," said head coach Matt Roberts. "I'm happy for 'Memo' and Carles and all they've done for the program. Now it's onto the next step of the journey for this year." The Bulldogs advance to take on top-ranked Ohio State in the Columbus Super Regional next Saturday at 11 a.m. CT. |
| Men's Tennis: Bulldogs breeze through Starkville regional, advance to round of 16 | |
| The opponents were the same, and so were the results. A year after Mississippi State defeated Alabama State and Middle Tennessee on home courts to reach the NCAA super regionals, the Bulldogs followed the same path and did it again this weekend. No. 16 seed MSU shut out the Hornets 4-0 in the first round Friday, then did the same to the Blue Raiders on Saturday. The wins put the Bulldogs (19-7) back in the round of 16 for the fifth time in the last six seasons. "I was happy with how our guys were super focused," head coach Matt Roberts said. "Great body language and had a good sense of urgency on all courts. We knew Middle Tennessee is a good team; they beat us early in the year. We had to come out here really focused, playing our game, stressing ourselves, and the guys did really well on every court." MSU now has the ultimate test ahead -- a trip to Columbus, Ohio to face No. 1 seed Ohio State on Saturday with a trip to the NCAA Championships in Stillwater, Okla. on the line. |
| No. 22 Women's Golf Set for Bermuda Run Regional | |
| Postseason play is upon us as Mississippi State travels to Bermuda Run Country Club for the Bermuda Run Regional in North Carolina on May 6-8. The appearance at the Bermuda Run Regional is the fourth time in four years that the Bulldogs have made the tournament under coach Charlie Ewing, the longest streak in program history. In the past two seasons, State has advanced past the regionals to the Championship rounds. Last season, the Bulldogs took home the team trophy at the NCAA Westfield Regional, the first NCAA Regional title in program history. The Bulldogs enter as the four seed in a loaded field that contains six conference champions. Those conference champions include No. 3 Wake Forest, No. 10 Texas, Delaware, Charleson Southern and Navy. The rest of the field includes No. 15 Ole Miss, UCF, South Florida, Tennessee, Oregon State and North Texas. State will start the day on hole 10 along with UCF and South Florida. They will begin at 7 a.m. CT and continue in intervals of 11 minutes. The reigning back-to-back SEC Individual Champion, Julia Lopez Ramirez, will play in the top spot for the Bulldogs. Lopez Ramirez sports a 70.24 stroke average in stroke play, third-best in the SEC. |
| What's to come for SEC football teams and their nonconference schedules? | |
| Some athletic directors have a big board, a la an NFL Draft war room, where they map out their future football schedules. Others keep lists on their laptops or phones. Joe Castiglione, who has been Oklahoma's athletic director since 1998, is a little more old school: He keeps a calendar book in his desk. "It's handy. I have quick access to it," Castiglione said. These days, Castiglione tends to reach for that book less frequently. Or at least he's writing opponents in pen much less frequently. The Sooners scheduled aggressively out of the Big 12. They want to keep doing that in the SEC. But like everyone, they're treading cautiously because they're in the land of unknowns. Will teams have three or four nonconference games come 2026? Will it be good for College Football Playoff selection to play tougher games, win or lose, or will those games just add an unnecessary potential loss? And what will conference affiliation look like? Florida State and Clemson are suing the ACC. Those are two programs that schedule SEC teams, and whatever happens with them, it could have a domino effect on the ACC and conference realignment in general. Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek and Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne each described nonconference scheduling as a "holding pattern" until the conference figures things out. "I think everyone's in somewhat similar boats," Yurachek said, "where you have your three or four games slotted in for the next three or four years, and then beyond that you may not be scheduling as many in advance until you see how not only our conference schedule turns out but how college football shakes out in the future." |
| Alabama alum Mike Riley named to College Football Playoff selection committee | |
 | Veteran football coach Mike Riley has been appointed to the College Football Playoff Committee, it was announced Friday. The 70-year-old Riley spent more than 40 years in coaching, with stops at Oregon State and Nebraska as well as stints with the NFL's San Diego Chargers and USFL's New Jersey Generals. He replaces Pat Chun, who stepped down from the CFP committee after becoming athletics director at Washington. "We are pleased to have Mike join the committee," CFP executive director Bill Hancock said. "He has significant experience as a player and coach, and he loves college football. He will bring a unique perspective to the committee. Plus, he is a delightful human being." The first College Football Playoff Committee rankings for 2024 will be released in late October or early November. The playoff takes a 12-team format for the first time this season, with the national championship game set for Jan. 20 in Atlanta. |
| Texas A&M athletics, Adidas have begun five-year, $47 million deal | |
 | The Texas A&M athletic department has entered into a new five-year equipment and apparel contract with Adidas worth more than $47 million over the course of the deal, according to the contract which was obtained by The Eagle via an open records request. The contract's term began on July 1, 2022, and runs through June 30, 2027. The parties operated on a term sheet for approximately a year of the deal as they continued to iron out the final contract, which was finalized on Aug. 18, 2023, according to former A&M athletic director Ross Bjork. "In the market of sports apparel and college athletics, it's really a top-15 deal," Bjork, who was a part of the negotiations, told The Eagle. "In a suppressed market, with Under Armour being out of the market, there's two players: it's Nike and Adidas. And when we went through the negotiation, it was clear that Adidas was the best option, financially -- equipment, apparel, all the components that they do from a marketing standpoint. And they've just been a good partner here at A&M." A&M will receive $3 million per year in base compensation, plus $6 million in products. In addition to the $47 million, Adidas will provide A&M $1 million a year for mutually agreed upon marketing initiatives. |
| FSU Seminoles Eye $327M From Revenue Bonds Amid ACC Fight | |
| The Florida State University athletic department is looking to raise $326.6 million from an upcoming bond offering as administrators speak openly about the Seminoles falling behind financially. A preliminary offering statement, posted this week via Florida's Division of Bond Finance, says the purpose of the revenue bonds is to finance renovations to the school's football stadium and the construction of a new football operations facility. The combined cost of those two projects, the statement says, is $372.3 million, with $233.7 million attributed to the Doak Campbell Stadium renovations and $138.6 million to the new football building. The work is expected to be completed in August 2025. The bonds, to be issued as early as next week by the State of Florida Board of Governors, are backed by revenue generated by the Seminoles, including conference payouts, ticket sales, annual booster donations and sponsorships. The $326.6 million is broken into two series -- a $291.6 million Series 2024A and a $35 million taxable Series 2024B -- and would join roughly $111 million in other athletics bonds, also tied to Seminoles revenue, with payments that are still outstanding. The offering comes as Florida State examines its future as one of college sports' most valuable brands. The school is currently suing the ACC to try to leave the league without cost, and is in talks to bring on outside capital from private equity, two moves that could help address what FSU administrators say is a widening financial gap between the schools in the two richest conferences (the SEC and Big Ten) and everyone else. |
| NC bill would require matchups against state schools in football, men's basketball | |
| A bill has been filed by North Carolina legislators to ensure the state's biggest schools play each other in football along with men's and women's basketball. The legislation, House Bill 965, acknowledges the economic benefits when Division 1 schools in the UNC System play against one another. It comes as the ACC is adding three schools to the conference with no regard to geography: Cal, Stanford and Southern Methodist University. The new schedules create fewer guaranteed matchups with local schools. The bill would require "high-enrollment" schools with at least 30,000 in total enrollment to do the following: Every academic year, play at least one home or away game against another high-enrollment initiation and an eligible constituent institution that does not fall under the high-enrollment designation. Every six years, play at least one home and away game against each eligible constituent institution that is not a high-enrollment institution. A high-enrollment school would alternate home and away games that are scheduled against the same eligible constituent institution that is not under high enrollment. The bill's sponsor is Union County Rep. David Willis, who is an Appalachian State grad. |
| Rece Davis details how changes in college football will impact other sports | |
| Between conference realignment, NIL legislation and revenue sharing, college football is going through a metamorphosis. During an appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" earlier this week, ESPN's Rece Davis addressed if and how these changes will affect other college sports. "It's going to affect it some," Davis said. "Where you're ultimately going to see it affect things is I think you'll see sort of a reconfiguration of some of the non-revenue sports, in terms of who they play against. Then, each school or each conference will have to decide how to divide the money or how to let schools participate in other sports in affiliation with other conferences. "It just doesn't make much sense for USC, for instance, in baseball to come play a Big Ten schedule when they probably have better competition by playing Fullerton and Irvine and Pepperdine, all right there in their backyard; not to mention, UCLA and Cal and Stanford and the Arizona schools." |
| Union-Free NCAA Collective Bargaining Idea Gains Backers | |
| Last week saw bold headlines from national media about settlement talks between the NCAA, Power Five conferences and attorneys for the more than 14,500 players represented by the class action lawsuit House v. NCAA. There are reports of a multibillion-dollar deal that would include compensation to players for lost telecast, video game and NIL opportunities and a revenue-sharing model so athletes at major programs would receive a cut going forward. A settlement in House, which is scheduled to go to trial next January, would spark a new world order for college sports. There's a not-so-tiny problem: Any restrictions on how much revenue college athletes receive going forward would be subject to antitrust challenge. As Sportico explained, those restrictions are tantamount to price-fixing in that the NCAA, conferences and schools are competing businesses joining hands to set limits on athlete pay. Unless borne through collective bargaining -- more on that below -- caps and barriers are fair game for lawsuits. There's no shortage of plaintiff-side antitrust litigators who could, and almost certainly would, challenge them. Maybe the limits would withstand litigation, maybe they wouldn't. It would take years to find out. But if revenue caps and other labor restraints -- such as on transferring, NIL collectives or athlete discipline -- are bargained with a college players' union, antitrust concerns will greatly diminish. Under the non-statutory labor exemption, wages, hours and other working conditions are generally exempt from antitrust scrutiny when negotiated by management and labor. That raises another conundrum. It could be years before there's a wide-scale college players' union. Under labor law, unions must be composed of employees. |
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