| Monday, May 20, 2024 |
| Starkville businesses see fewer customers during summer breaks | |
 | Mississippi State's spring semester has come to a close, seniors have graduated and many students have moved home for the summer. With many of the students leaving, local shops and restaurants may experience a decrease in foot traffic. Social Media and Design Associate Brikley Spencer at Maroon and Co. said they try to provide incentives to shop during the summer. "We definitely see a decrease in business and to kind of compensate for that we'll provide more sales, advertise more deals and promotions to bring people in especially during orientation and game weekends and stuff like that," Spencer said. Although there is a decrease, Little Dooey owner Bart Wood said it is not as bad as it used to be. "We do have a slow down, however, it is not as bad as it used to be say 15 years ago. Now, with the Cornerstone Park opening up with the softball and baseball tournaments each weekend a lot of people are still coming to Starkville during that void when Mississippi State is shut down and a lot of the kids are gone for the summertime and whatnot. That and I think with Mississippi State also they have clinics and they have camps so it's always bringing a lot of people to the Starkville area," Wood said. |
| IHL Board approves 2 new healthcare schools at MSU-Meridian | |
 | The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) approved Mississippi State University's (MSU) proposal to establish two new schools in downtown Meridian. On Thursday, May 16, the IHL approved the School of Health Professions and the School of Nursing, which will be located on the MSU-Meridian Riley Campus. "I am grateful to the Board of Trustees for recognizing the vital partnership between MSU, the regional medical community and the civic and governmental leadership in Meridian and Lauderdale County that will transform healthcare opportunities and the quality of life throughout our state," said MSU President Mark E. Keenum. "This is the realization of a vision for this community that will endure and grow." The MSN program is the state's first accelerated, direct-entry nursing program. It received IHL Board approval earlier this year to begin admitting students this August. According to MSU, the program allows college graduates holding non-nursing degrees to enter the nursing profession as candidates for registered nurse licensure. |
| MSU, Noxubee Refuge hosted special needs adults | |
 | An underserved community spent a day enjoying the outdoors at the Sam D. Hamilton Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge in early May as Mississippi State University Extension Service personnel hosted 20 adult residents of care homes. Jim McAdory, MSU Extension agent in Winston County, coordinated the May 1 event with help from several other Extension agents and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff. The goal was to allow this population to experience the outdoors, complete with a hot dog lunch at the end of the event. "This is a pilot project that could be replicated across the state, partnering with state and federal agencies when we can as our missions are similar," McAdory said. Residents of care homes in Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Choctaw and Winston counties came to the Refuge to learn about nature and spend a day outdoors. The goal was to create an enrichment day for the special needs adults. "In Extension, everybody is our client, but these are underserved clientele we haven't tapped into," McAdory said. "We've got to be a part of all parts of the community." Although McAdory headed up the day's activities, he was assisted by many others, including Crayton Coleman, Darrell Banks and Thad Moody, Extension agents in Noxubee, Choctaw and Oktibbeha counties, respectively and Reid Nevins, Extension specialist at the Center for 4-H Youth Development. |
| FAA reauthorization bill includes over $12 million to support Mississippi airports | |
 | President Joe Biden (D) has signed legislation that reauthorizes the Federal Aviation Administration and provides funding for aviation systems and airport infrastructure, among other provisions. H.R. 3935 passed the U.S. Senate 88-4 last week before being sent to the U.S. House of Representatives, where it passed by a vote of 387-26. Mississippi's full federal delegation voted to approve the legislation. Included in the bill was over $12 million to support Mississippi airports through the Airport Improvement Program. Below is an estimate of how much federal funding applicable airports will receive annually, as noted by the office of U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R), including Golden Triangle Regional Airport, $1.3 million. Wicker's office also said the bill included several provisions that would help rural communities and support the growing unmanned aerial systems (UAS) industry in Mississippi. Other assistance benefiting Mississippi that the legislation provides includes: Language authorizing the continuation of the Center of Excellence for Unmanned Aircraft Systems, housed at Mississippi State University, through 2028. A provision to establish ASSUREd Safe, a national credentialing authority for first responders' usage of UAS, which would be housed at the Center of Excellence for Unmanned Aircraft Systems at Mississippi State University. |
| Drone symposium mulls challenges, benefits of unmanned aircraft | |
 | From war zones to grocery deliveries, autonomous and piloted drones are invading the public sphere, but legal concerns for uncrewed aircraft are still hovering overhead, industry experts said April 30 at the inaugural Mississippi Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Symposium. Industry and legal experts from across the country gathered at the University of Mississippi to discuss the legal, commercial and public opportunities in the world of drones. The symposium was hosted by the School of Law in collaboration with the Mississippi State University Raspet Flight Research Laboratory and the Mississippi Enterprise for Technology. The drone industry in the United States has grown exponentially since 2016, when the Federal Aviation Administration eased regulations regarding drone piloting, and required potential drone pilots to acquire a pilot's license. Alongside their commercial uses, drones are used for geological surveys, inspections of infrastructure and in assessing storm and natural disaster damage around the world. "We're even using UAS in search and rescue," said Griffin Sekul, uncrewed aircraft system coordinator for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. "We're able to get into places we wouldn't be able to get to and see the things that we wouldn't be able to otherwise." |
| Will solar flares destroy modern civilization? Nah | |
| David Wallace has been a longtime member of the PES Transformers Committee, whose job is to develop and update standards and guidelines for electrical transformers and associated components used within electric power systems around the world. He's currently a professor of electrical engineering -- and manager of the High Voltage Laboratory -- at Mississippi State University. Dr. Wallace talks with EarthSky's founder Deborah Byrd about the many studies done -- and steps taken -- to protect Earth's power grids in the event of large solar flares and accompanying geomagnetic storms. Will these storms destroy modern civilization? No. Watch the video above for a discussion, or read the transcript below. Edits in the transcript by EarthSky. |
| 41 new police cameras proposed for Starkville | |
| A fight breaks in the Cotton District with several parties involved. Many more are witnesses. No one calls 911 while the fight is in progress. Starkville Police Department first finds out about it on social media. By the time officers respond, all parties have left the scene. A police camera captured the fight, but no one was monitoring the feed at the time. "Had we been more proactive on this ... we're probably able to deploy officers to the individuals that were involved," Police Chief Mark Ballard said Friday during a board of aldermen work session at City Hall in which he showed video footage of the fight. "... The last thing you want is for individuals to think they can fight on our institutions, leave and show back up on a Friday night and fight again." He quickly turned to another example, also caught on police video, where a couple started fighting in a parking lot. Someone was monitoring the feed at SPD, and a patrol officer nearby responded quickly, breaking up the fight and making arrests. Ballard wants the quicker response to be the norm, but that means more cameras and the staff to monitor the feeds 24/7. He and city Information Technology Director Joel Clements pitched a comprehensive security plan Friday that would add 41 cameras and eight license plate readers to SPD's surveillance force over the next two years. It would also grow the monitoring staff from one to three. The cameras cost $205,000, Clements said, and recurring costs for camera connectivity, storing footage and using the plate readers would run almost $83,000 per year. |
| Three charged with felonies following Starkville shooting | |
| Three Starkville men were arrested Friday on felony charges following a single incident where shots were fired. Starkville police officers, both on-duty and off-duty, heard gunshots in central Starkville around 12:25 a.m. Friday, May 17. The officers responded to South Montgomery Street, just south of Highway 12. Authorities determined that the shooting scene was located at the intersection of South Montgomery and Yellow Jacket Drive. A vehicle was damaged but there have been no reported injuries. Later that same day, police charged Marcuevas Guido with aggravated assault. As part of the investigation into the incident, Cedric Lucious was charged with disorderly conduct and possession of a stolen firearm. On Saturday, Cornelius Hendrix was charged with accessory after the fact. Authorities say the shooting remains under investigation and more arrests are expected. If you have any information, please contact SPD at 662-323-4131, Golden Triangle Crime Stoppers at 800-530-7151, or through our anonymous tip system on our website. Crime Stoppers may offer a cash reward. |
| Officials to break ground on Amazon Web Services Monday morning | |
| Officials will gather in Madison County on Monday morning for a groundbreaking ceremony for Amazon Web Services. AWS is investing over $10 billion into two hyperscale data centers, one at the Madison County Mega Site and the other on the Costas Property west of Tougaloo College and near County Line Road in Ridgeland. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signed legislation in late January, opening the door for the tech giant to locate in Mississippi. As part of the deal to bring AWS to Mississippi, lawmakers needed to appropriate $44 million for infrastructure costs while loaning the county $215.1 million to ensure the project gets done within the next five to seven years. The two data centers are expected to create over 1,000 jobs with at least 800 of the positions being permanent jobs that include an annual salary of $70,000. Shovels will hit the ground at 9 a.m. at the Madison County Mega Site located at 108 Walker Drive in Canton. |
| Local shrimpers say conditions not yet ideal for 2024 season | |
 | Over the weekend, many shrimpers living on the Mississippi Coast headed west to Louisiana after inshore shrimp season opened in that state last week. But for now, Mississippi waters remain closed, and local shrimpers say it may stay that way for a few weeks. Minh Troung often sells shrimp from his Le-Shrimp van on Beatline Road in Long Beach. He says for the second year in a row, the conditions for shrimping haven't been ideal. "The season is really bad. Maybe too much freshwater, too much wind before the opening, and the freshwater coming in pushes the shrimp out. Last year, we didn't have a good price either. Last year the price was low." Troung says he expects shrimp season to open in Mississippi around mid-June. He says last year he felt like the season opened too early. |
| Grand champion crowned the best in pork at barbecue world championship in Memphis | |
 | The World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest crowned a grand prize winner Saturday after hundreds of dedicated pitmasters sweated through smoke to be named the best in pork. The Shed BBQ and Blues Joint from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, won the whole hog division and was named the grand champion in Memphis, Tennessee. Considered one of the premiere cooking competitions in the U.S., the contest dates back to the 1970s. But as the so-called culinary sports expanded beyond local home cooks, the competition has become fiercer than ever. More than $150,000 in prize money was awarded in numerous categories for the 129 cooking teams from 22 states and four foreign countries that competed in one of three main categories of ribs, shoulder and whole hog. There also were ancillary competitions like hot wings, poultry, beef and seafood. But in Memphis, pork is always the main event. Winners Brad Orrison and Brooke Lewis, siblings from Ocean Springs, have been competing for 17 years with The Shed BBQ and Blues Joint team, named for their restaurant. They now have won the grand championship three times. "It's the Super Bowl of swine. This is the trophy that everybody wants," Orrison said. |
| Speaker White forming committee to tackle income tax elimination | |
| Given the Legislature's focus during the 2024 session, a casual observer might mistakenly assume expansion of Medicaid was the most popular policy backed by Republican voters in a GOP dominated state. However, a Mason-Dixon poll released by Magnolia Tribune in March showed 81% of Republican Primary voters surveyed opposed "Obamacare's Medicaid expansion," with 85% saying Governor Tate Reeves (R) was right to oppose the policy. Ninety (90) percent voiced opposition to the welfare expansion if able-bodied adults were not required to work. Lawmakers ultimately failed to find common ground on Medicaid expansion. Even now, talk of another attempt at expanding the program come January 2025 is swirling. With all of the energy dedicated to Medicaid expansion, a policy push to eliminate the income tax that began in 2021 under former Speaker Philip Gunn (R) and which saw the state move toward a 4-percent flat tax in 2022, fell by the wayside this session. Still, both Governor Tate Reeves (R) and new Speaker Jason White (R) continue to voice support for Mississippi becoming the tenth state to operate without an income tax. In a conversation with Magnolia Tribune on Wednesday, Speaker Jason White (R) said he plans to form a Select Committee on Tax Reform of 12-18 House members who will work through the fall in hopes of providing a recommendation to "move away from personal income tax and moving more toward a consumption model." Speaker White wants to eliminate the "tax on work" and focus more on sales tax, noting that also cutting the sales tax on groceries is a priority. In Mississippi, the sales tax on groceries is the same 7% charged on other consumer purchases. |
| Reeves celebrates Medicaid expansion dying as Hosemann questions governor's numbers | |
| Mississippi lawmakers were unable to come to terms on a plan to expand Medicaid during the recently ended session, and Gov. Tate Reeves wasted no time celebrating what he believes to be a victory. In a lengthy social media post following Tuesday's official sine die, the Republican governor who often refers to expansion of government-provided healthcare coverage as "welfare" or "Obamacare" blamed the media and national politicians for the idea even coming about. While Reeves went on to applaud 24 GOP senators he said "courageously opposed" Medicaid expansion, no vote count from the 2024 session reflects that many Republicans being against any Medicaid-related measure. According to the only vote the Senate held to actually expand coverage, 16 Republicans dissented while 20 were in favor. Paired with 16 Democrats, the total number of yeas could have been enough to override a hypothetical veto. Shelby Wilcher, communications director for Reeves, explained in a text message on Friday afternoon that the governor's number came from a silent count his office compiled as discussions on Medicaid expansion were being held in conference. Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann disagreed, saying his office conducted its own poll amongst senators and had enough Republicans in the Senate willing to move forward with a compromise plan before Democrats in the House withdrew their votes. |
| Former Mississippi Democratic Party Chair no longer seeking reinstatement | |
 | The former chair of the Mississippi Democratic Party said this week he is no longer seeking reinstatement after an appeal submitted to the Democratic National Committee's Credentials Committee was denied last month. The committee threw out the appeal from former state party chair Tyree Irving to be reinstated after he was voted out of office in July 2023 for alleged "long standing and repeated actions of malfeasance and misfeasance." His appeal was thrown out during the DNC's April meeting. The decision came less than two months before the state party holds an election to elect a new chair. "The Credentials Committee voted unanimously (25-0) to recognize State Representative Cheikh Taylor as permanent chair," The committee wrote in a press release issued last month. "Taylor was elected by a 2-1 vote by the State Executive Committee at a July 2023 meeting and has served as chair since then. In addition to filing the challenge with the national party, Irving also took the extraordinary measure of suing his own party in Hinds County Chancery Court in connection with his removal." The lawsuit referenced is still pending further action in the Hinds County Chancery Court. That suit was filed in September 2023 and in it, Irving claims the state party violated its constitution several times in the course of ousting him, appointing Taylor and making several position changes within the party. He has also requested a restraining order on all party business until he is reinstated. |
| It's House farm bill markup week | |
 | House Ag Chair Thompson released the House farm bill draft Friday, ahead of the committee's long-awaited markup set for this Thursday. The bill includes a raft of bipartisan priorities, like boosting farm safety net programs and a host of Democratic-led policies. But it crosses several of senior Democrats' red lines, setting up a political showdown over the must-pass package. Now, some of the few rural Democrats left in the House are under growing pressure from senior Democrats to oppose the bill in markup, as Meredith has reported. A group of frontline Ag Democrats met Thursday to consider farm bill approaches and "discuss policy options" a day after senior Democrats pressed them to oppose the House bill in a closed-door meeting. Senior Democrats are coordinating amendments to strip out the climate and nutrition pieces of Thompson's plans they oppose. "We'll see what amendments come forward," Thompson told MA. "I will tell you, though, that their ideas are already baked into this markup. And we've done a nice job of being very transparent." Senate Ag Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) is trying to rally House Ag Democrats around her rival proposal. Stabenow said Friday that Thompson's bill "clearly crosses" Democrats' "bright red lines." (Remember, Stabenow has warned she will block any farm bill that touches climate or nutrition programs.) |
| Biden team braces for upcoming trials of Hunter Biden | |
 | At 8:30 a.m. on June 3, Hunter Biden is scheduled to report to Courtroom 4A in Wilmington, Del., facing his most dire legal peril to date and the possibility of a federal conviction on charges that he lied about his drug use when he purchased a firearm. The next day, President Biden is scheduled to depart for Paris on a foreign trip that could not come at a worse personal moment. It sets up what could be a tumultuous month for the president, with his son scheduled to undergo two federal trials -- one in Delaware and one in California -- as the president takes two foreign trips, hosts a fundraiser with former president Barack Obama and holds a critical debate with his opponent Donald Trump. Biden has increasingly expressed deep concerns about his son, worrying about him on a daily basis, partly reflecting a feeling of responsibility for, in a sense, putting Hunter in this situation, aides say. Biden launched his 2020 presidential campaign at a time when his son was in the throes of a major drug addiction, and Hunter now faces constant, often humiliating, scrutiny because his father is president. The legal vise tightening around Hunter Biden has also aggravated tensions between White House advisers and Hunter Biden's legal team, and it has renewed concerns over how and whether some of Hunter's lawyers will be paid. Those close to the Biden family worry that, after years of relative stability in his life as a recovering addict, Hunter now faces the real possibility of a federal conviction that could result in a prison sentence. |
| Trump at NRA convention floats 3-term presidency | |
| Former President Donald Trump on Saturday floated the idea of a third term if he wins in November. "You know, FDR 16 years -- almost 16 years -- he was four terms. I don't know, are we going to be considered three-term? Or two-term?" Trump quipped at the National Rifle Association annual meeting, speaking before a crowd of gun rights supporters. Some in the crowd shouted in response: "Three." It's not the first time Trump has mentioned extending his stay in the White House, an idea he suggested while on the campaign trail in 2020. His latest remarks provide more fodder for the Biden campaign, which seized on the comments as it tries to paint Trump as a threat to democracy and institutional norms. But Trump has more recently shut down the proposition of seeking a third term, which is barred by the Constitution. And he told Time magazine in an April interview that he wouldn't be in favor of challenging the 22nd Amendment, enacted after FDR's presidency: "I wouldn't be in favor of it at all. I intend to serve four years and do a great job. And I want to bring our country back. I want to put it back on the right track. Our country is going down. We're a failing nation right now. We're a nation in turmoil," he said. During a meandering speech in Dallas, Trump addressed thousands of gun rights supporters on Saturday. The former president spoke about guns and the Second Amendment, but also tackled immigration, foreign policy, the economy and abortion. He at one point slammed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as "radical left," while continuing his attacks on Biden and CNN about the debates. |
| Tuscaloosa Mercedes-Benz workers reject United Auto Workers union bid | |
 | Workers at Tuscaloosa County's Mercedes-Benz plants voted against joining the United Auto Workers union by a margin of 12 percentage points, 56% to 44%. After a week of open voting on the assembly plant at Vance, and the battery plant in Woodstock, Friday afternoon the unofficial running tally on the UAW's site showed 2,045 "Yes" votes to join the union compared to 2,642 "No" votes. Earlier in the day, workers were expecting a close vote, but were optimistic for victory, despite Alabama's long-standing negativity toward unionizing, and despite anti-union rhetoric from Gov. Kay Ivey and others. Rick Webster, who works on body fit-and-finish, said the Mercedes-Benz union drive wasn't a political issue, and didn't originate from outside. "This is about the Mercedes workers coming together to negotiate with Mercedes management," Webster said. "We built this. UAW didn't build this." The UAW did assist, however, budgeting about $40 million for a Southern drive, in a region long known as oblivious if not hostile to unions. Before Alabama, that push saw some success. Last month, nearly three quarters of the workers at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted to join the UAW. Many experts believed that win marked a change in labor's fortunes in the South, a region that has historically resisted unionization. The loss deals a setback to the UAW and its aggressive campaign to organize workers at foreign-owned auto plants in the South. |
| Raisi's Death Threatens New Instability for Iran | |
 | The sudden death of Iran's president, Ebrahim Raisi, opens a new chapter of instability just as the increasingly unpopular Islamic Republic is engaged in selecting its next supreme leader. Mr. Raisi, 63, had been considered a prime candidate, especially favored by the powerful Revolutionary Guards. Even before the helicopter crash that killed Mr. Raisi, the regime had been consumed with internal political and religious struggles as the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, 85, the longest-serving head of state in the Middle East, is in declining health. But given fears of instability at a time when the Islamic Republic is facing internal protests, a weak economy, endemic corruption and tensions with Israel, analysts expect little change in Iran's foreign or domestic policies. Mr. Khamenei has set the direction for the country, and any new president will not alter it much. The system is "already on a trajectory to make sure that the successor of the supreme leader is completely in line with his vision for the future of the system," said Ali Vaez, the Iran director at the International Crisis Group. He described "a pretty hard-line vision" in which key areas of foreign policy, like support for regional proxy militias and developing components for a nuclear weapon, are not going to change. Whoever is chosen as the next president, Mr. Vaez said, "has to be someone who falls in line with that vision, a subservient figurehead." |
| Here are the 2024 Mississippi college application deadlines | |
| As graduation season is fully underway, many are contemplating not only what their academic future looks like, but where it will take them. Many high school graduates, college graduates, and adults in the workforce have known the answers to those questions for months, if not years. Others have been recently led to go back or go to another school. While some limitations on scholarship availability exist for the upcoming fall semester, many colleges and universities in Mississippi allow prospective students to still apply and register for classes. The following deadlines and fees represent costs for in-state students applying for undergraduate programs. Some schools offer ways to waive the application fee. Visit each school's website for more information on how to apply. |
| U. of Mississippi buys Scruggs home | |
| The University of Mississippi has purchased the former home of Dickie and Dianne Scruggs. Located on Faulkner Woods Place, the 10,176-square-foot home sits on about 9 acres of property on the campus's border. The university purchased the home and the surrounding acreage for $10 million. A recent appraisal showed the property being worth more than $17 million. The Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning approved the purchase and naming of the home, "The Scruggs Home at Ole Miss" during its April meeting. "This property offers a rare opportunity to acquire nearly 10 acres bordering our campus and the grounds of Rowan Oak," said Jacob Batte, director of News & Media Relations for the university. "The opportunity became even more attractive when the Scruggs agreed to sell the home to the university for 60 percent of the appraised value, which yielded an in-kind donation of almost $8 million to the university." Batte said how the house and property will be used by the university still "remains to be determined." During the meeting, the IHL also approved the exterior design for a new 1,331-space parking garage on campus. The new garage has a $50 million budget. |
| Unique academic center working to keep sports, entertainment crowds safe | |
| The National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security at the University of Southern Mississippi is a one-of-a-kind academic center whose mission is to keep fans, players and performers safe from threats such as severe weather, active shooters, cybercrime, drone intrusion and severe weather. The center, dubbed NCS4, was established in 2006 to support the sports and entertainment industries through training and education, research and outreach initiatives. NCS4 partners with professional associations, government agencies and academic programs to develop training and resources that address the full range of potential threats. "The threat environment continues to evolve for sports and special events, so preparing for all hazards is critical in planning efforts," said Stacey A. Hall, NCS4's executive director and professor of Sport Management. "The center was established soon after the 9/11 attacks, and terrorist acts remain a real threat in this space, among other emerging threats." Outreach achievements include compiling industry best practices and hosting the annual conference and exhibition. The 15th annual event will be held in July in Phoenix. |
| USM-Hattiesburg High STEM collaboration receives award | |
| The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) and Hattiesburg High School (HHS) have been working together for the past two years to encourage high school students with an interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to pursue these fields. The collaboration has earned the Mississippi Association of Partners in Education's (MAPE) highest recognition, the 2024 Governor's Award of Distinction. The Mississippi Base Pair Consortium (MBPC)-Hattiesburg is a university-school partnership and mentoring program that includes faculty and staff from across the university working with HHS students; additional support comes from Dr. Robin Rockhold at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC). Center faculty and staff spend two days a week in the HHS science lab working alongside students; then, the high school students come to USM and work in its labs with scientists and university students. |
| Most Mississippi universities raise tuition for 2024-25 school year | |
 | On May 13 , Delta State University President Dan Ennis laid out a restructuring plan that he hopes paves the way for a more sustainable future for the school in Cleveland. In it, Ennis is planning on cutting 21 degree programs, while adding just four as he hopes to get the school right side up in regard to revenue. Delta State's enrollment has been in decline in recent years. It had a high-water mark of nearly 4,500 students in the mid 1980s. However, the Bolivar County school along U.S. 61 had an enrollment of just 2,700 for the 2023-24 school year. On May 16, Delta State made another bold move. It became the only public university in Mississippi that did not raise its tuition going into the 2024-25 school year. "I think a lot of people think it is counterintuitive that one day I am announcing budget cuts because we don't have enough money, but by the end of the week we aren't raising tuition," Ennis told the Clarion Ledger. "However, it is all connected." Ennis said that in year's past, leaders of the university tended to raise tuition on students during tough times instead of making the more difficult decision of cutting staff or programs, or both, as he did earlier this week. In the long run, raising tuition, Ennis believes took away one of the main advantages Delta State historically had on larger institutions. Lower tuition on a smaller campus with smaller class size had been the calling card for the school through its golden years of the 1980s. "Raising tuition is a good short-term response, but not a great long-term response," Ennis said. |
| A family affair: Mother, 2 daughters earn degrees in same year | |
| May has been a busy month for the Magee family. In the span of just two weeks, Tonya, Tylah and Tia Magee, mother, and daughters, respectively, have earned diplomas. Tonya received a doctorate in educational administration from Jackson State University; Tylah earned a Bachelor of Science in nursing from Alcorn State University; and Tia graduated with her high school diploma from River City Early College, while also earning an associate's degree from Hinds Community College. "It's been a whirlwind," Dr. Cedric Magee said. "But I am extremely proud of my wife and daughters. They really worked hard." When Tonya decided to go back to school, she said, there were no plans made for all three to graduate at the same time. "It just happened that way," she said. Tylah referred to the triple graduations as "one big coincidence." "Like my mom said, it wasn't' supposed to happen. I just so happened to graduate college a little bit earlier due to my dual enrollment and my mom just so happened to be finishing up her doctorate in May. And Tia just so happened to finish high school," Tylah said, adding, "I told my dad, 'Your girls are doing high things right now.'" Tia will attend Jackson State in the fall and study environmental engineering. |
| A Growing Number of Community Colleges Are Building HBCU Pipelines | |
 | Zaria Miller always wanted to end up at a historically Black college or university. But her home state of Michigan doesn't have one. Miller said she was looking for a sense of community. "I wanted to see people who look like me thrive. I wanted to have a college experience where I knew I could feel comfortable in my own safe space, with other people who look like me." Miller enrolled at Washtenaw Community College, and while searching online for campus events, she stumbled upon its HBCU Pathway program, designed for community college students like her, eager to transfer to HBCUs. Launched in fall 2021 with three HBCU partners, the program now has transfer agreements with seven HBCUs across four states: Alabama, Ohio, Mississippi and Louisiana. Miller transferred to Jackson State University through the program in 2023. She said attending panels focused on HBCUs at Washtenaw introduced her to Jackson State alumni who eased her transfer process by giving her a sense of what to expect. Despite jitters about moving states and campuses, she told herself, "If they can do it, I can do it." Eric Reed, dean of student access, success, equity and inclusion at Washtenaw Community College, said community colleges and HBCUs are natural partners because of their "longstanding history of common values." |
| 150 new doctors graduate from William Carey's College of Osteopathic Medicine | |
 | Dozens of new physicians will soon be in residency all over the country, following Saturday's graduation of the College of Osteopathic Medicine at William Carey University. WCU's medial school saw 150 candidates walk the stage. "I'm very excited to be here," said graduate Eric Warren of Jackson. "I've always dreamed of this day and this is a huge day for me and my family." Saturday's ceremony marked the College of Osteopathic Medicine's 11th graduating class. "I am excited, nervous, but overall very good," said graduate Sonya Djikeng Atsagou of Houston, Texas. "I worked so hard for eight years to be here." The commencement address was given by Mississippi State Department of Health offcier Daniel Edney, a WCU alumnus. "I am excited that they are coming behind us," Edney said. "They are the future of the profession and one thing I will tell them is it's important in medicine that we look forward and we look forward to the advancements of medicine." |
| Texas A&M System's Title IX director suspended, job performance being investigated | |
 | Rick Olshak, the Texas A&M University System's Director of Title IX and Student Conduct Compliance, has been suspended with pay, an A&M System spokesperson confirmed to The Eagle on Friday. Olshak was hired by A&M in 2016. He is a member of the advisory board for the Association of Title IX Administrators. According to Olshak's personal website, his role "shepherds the review process for A&M System regulations governing civil rights compliance and also serves as a hearing officer, appellate official, investigator, and compliance reviewer." Olshak is also an adjunct faculty member at A&M's School of Law in Fort Worth. "Chancellor John Sharp has directed that Rick Olshak be suspended with pay in accordance with System policy while allegations about his job performance as a System employee are investigated," an A&M System spokesperson said in a statement. "Please note that the allegations under investigation do not include his private social media posts, as this activity is protected by the First Amendment." On May 1, Olshak was quoted in an article in The Battalion, A&M's student newspaper, that explained how A&M administrators planned to implement the Biden administration's new Title IX regulations and be in compliance before the Aug. 1 deadline. Since then, Sharp and the A&M System have said multiple times that A&M won't implement the new Title IX regulations until a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton against the Biden administration on these new regulations receives a ruling. |
| 'Notice Is Not Required': Letter Says UNC Chapel Hill Secretly Records Professors | |
| Larry Chavis, who's taught in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's business school for 18 years, received a letter April 22 from an associate dean revealing he was under review after the university "received some reports concerning class content and conduct within your class over the past few months." That was concerning by itself, Chavis said, but there was something else in the letter that's worrying other faculty members as well. The associate dean, Christian T. Lundblad, told Chavis that the review had begun prior to April 22 -- using a camera in Chavis's classroom. "We recorded and reviewed several of your class sessions on April 8th, 10th, 15th and 17th using the existing Panopto camera in the classroom," Lundblad wrote. (The company says its name derives from panoptic, defined by Merriam-Webster as "being or presenting a comprehensive or panoramic view," though others have noted its ominous similarity to a panopticon, an 18th-century design for a prison where guards could constantly surveil the inmates.) Chavis said these class cameras at Chapel Hill predate the COVID-19 pandemic, when colleges and universities nationwide invested in technology to offer remote education. The ubiquity of recording technology has previously raised worries among some faculty members about surveillance of not just themselves, but their students, too. Lundblad, who didn't provide an interview for this article, seemed to anticipate pushback over the secret recordings. He also indicated that Chavis hadn't been the only professor secretly recorded. |
| Computer-Science Majors Graduate Into a World of Fewer Opportunities | |
 | Computer science is hotter than ever at U.S. universities. But students graduating this month are discovering their degrees are no longer a surefire ticket to tech-industry riches. In fact, many are finding it harder than they ever thought it would be to land a job. Tech giants that were expanding aggressively just a few years ago now have less need for entry-level hires -- or are shedding jobs. They are also, increasingly, turning their focus to artificial intelligence, a technology many fear could reduce the need for coders. Postings on jobs website Indeed for software-development roles, a proxy for computer science, have dropped 30% from prepandemic levels. At the same time, companies have a burgeoning supply of new grads to choose from. The number of students in the U.S. majoring in computer and information science has jumped 40% in five years, to more than 600,000 as of 2023. The number of bachelor's degrees conferred in those majors topped 100,000 in 2021, according to the Department of Education, a 140% rise from 10 years earlier. Students who once had jobs and summer internships lined up by Thanksgiving are now broadening their searches. "When I tell people I'm in computer science, they're, like, 'Lucky you. You're going to make a lot of money. You can do anything you want,'" said Ben Riesett, a 22-year-old who graduated this month from Catholic University of America. "The truth is, when you start looking right now, it's impossible to get hired." |
| Colleges Are Swimming in Financial Uncertainty Amid the FAFSA Mess | |
 | The number of first-time and transfer students who have paid deposits to attend Coker University this fall is nearly 5 percent higher than at the same time last year. Normally, that would be great news. But Natalie Harder, president of the small private college in South Carolina, isn't certain that all those students will show up. "Our preliminary numbers are up," Harder said, "but to be frank, I don't necessarily trust them." May is traditionally when colleges gain clarity about their incoming classes. This year, those enrollment projections have a big asterisk. That's because the number of federal-aid applications is significantly lower than in past years, leading to fears that fewer students will go to college at all this fall. Instead of making financial-aid offers to students by early spring, along with offers of admission, most colleges have had to improvise, hoping that students would signal an intent to enroll without a complete understanding of how much they would actually have to pay. Now there is widespread uncertainty about how many of those students will show up for fall classes, said David A. Hawkins, chief education and policy officer at the National Association for College Admission Counseling, or NACAC. The situation could not only disrupt the educational journeys of students, but also lead to deep enrollment and budget shortfalls, especially at colleges that are heavily dependent on tuition. "Admissions offices are a little scared to believe their own numbers," Hawkins said. |
| Biden delivers high-stakes commencement address at Morehouse College | |
| President Joe Biden gave a high-stakes commencement speech to hundreds of young Black men at Morehouse College on Sunday, delivering a direct address to the constituency his campaign worries is shifting against him as he runs for reelection against former President Donald Trump. The Democrat focused parts of his speech laying out the stakes of the 2024 campaign to the graduates of the all-male historically Black college, saying he was determined to "root out systemic racism" while fighting the "extremist forces aligned against the meaning and message" of the school. And Biden spoke broadly about his handling of the Israel-Hamas war that led to threats of boycotts and protests of his speech, revealing that his own family is upset by the "humanitarian crisis" in Gaza that worsened after Israel launched its military campaign following the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas. The 27-minute speech was Biden's most significant public remarks to students since protests over the war in Gaza broke out in campuses around the nation last month. It was relatively well received at Morehouse, where some students and faculty had urged administrators to rescind the president's invitation to speak. Although there were no embarrassing scenes of mass disruptions during the graduation ceremony, there were quieter symbols of protest throughout the event. As Biden spoke, assistant professor Taura Taylor turned her back to the president while raising her right hand in a fist. A few students in one row sat with their backs to Biden while holding a Palestinian flag. |
| Protesters Target Officials with Body Bags, Cockroaches | |
| While pro-Palestinian campus protests have been largely peaceful, recent incidents have raised concerns as demonstrators have appeared at official's homes and caused property damage. University of Michigan Regent Jordan Acker alleged threatening behavior by protesters who showed up at his private residence after 4 a.m. and "left a list of demands, including defunding the police," he wrote on X. According to the university, Acker was one of several regents targeted by protesters who have demanded colleges divest endowment funds from Israel, weapon manufacturers, and other companies profiting off of the war between Israel and Hamas. "Early this morning, more than 30 student protesters staged demonstrations at the private residence of at least one U-M Board of Regents member and went to several others' residences. Activities included placing tents and fake corpses wrapped in bloodied sheets on the lawn, marching and chanting, and posting demands on doors," officials announced Wednesday. A coalition of Michigan student groups wrote on social media that it was behind the protests. "There is no freedom of speech that includes showing up at someone's house at 4 a.m. dressed in a threatening manner. This isn't actually complicated or controversial," Acker posted on X. |
| Legislative responses to people held in jail too long | |
| Columnist Bill Crawford writes: Two recent editorials in Emmerich newspapers deserve our attention. Both dealt with people held in jail too long and the legislative responses this past session. A Greenwood Commonwealth editorial focused on indigent individuals held in jail without access to an attorney and decried the state's lack of resources to support public defenders. "Mississippi has a well-funded, well-coordinated system of district attorneys to handle prosecutions. On the defense side, though, it is a lowly paid hodge-podge of mostly court-appointed lawyers," the editorial said. ... The editorial pointed to one county where 44 people were held on criminal charges for an average of 223 days without a court-appointed attorney. Bills to help fix this problem got nowhere in the legislature this session. A McComb Enterprise-Journal editorial focused on the practice of putting mentally ill people who face no criminal charges in jail. Individuals going through a civil commitment for mental-health treatment can be jailed when county officials can find no other place to hold them. The editorial praised a new law intended to restrict this practice. |
| 2024 Mississippi legislative session not good for private school voucher supporters | |
| Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison writes: Despite a recent Mississippi Supreme Court ruling allowing $10 million in public money to be spent on private schools, 2024 has not been a good year for those supporting school vouchers. School-choice supporters were hopeful during the 2024 legislative session, with new House Speaker Jason White at times indicating support for vouchers. But the Legislature, which recently completed its session, did not pass any new voucher bills. In fact, it placed tighter restrictions on some of the limited laws the state has in place allowing public money to be spent on private schools. Notably, the Legislature passed a bill that provides significantly more oversight of a program that provides a limited number of scholarships or vouchers for special-needs children to attend private schools. Going forward, thanks to the new law, to receive the vouchers a parent must certify that their child will be attending a private school that offers the special needs educational services that will help the child. And the school must report information on the academic progress of the child receiving the funds. |
SPORTS
| Why Chris Lemonis believes Mississippi State baseball should host in NCAA Tournament | |
| Chris Lemonis, fresh off a 4-3 loss against Missouri, entered Mississippi State baseball's team room Saturday sporting his usual gameday attire. Wearing a maroon pullover with a matching hat, he sat down for a familiar press conference. Last year, donning an identical outfit, Lemonis discussed a loss against Texas A&M that ended the Bulldogs' regular season. This year, he did the same with the defeat against Missouri, but his words came with a different outlook. The defeat to the Aggies ended the Bulldogs' season short of the postseason for a second straight year. The loss against the Tigers (23-32, 9-21 SEC) only ends the regular season -- one he feels was good enough to bring a Starkville Regional back to the NCAA Tournament. "We finished fifth in the SEC – the hardest league in the country," Lemonis said. "We have the nicest facility, the biggest attendance. I think we've done (enough to host), we have an extra SEC win in the Governor's Cup (vs. Ole Miss) and we've got work still to do in the SEC tournament." "I think we have a great shot," he added. "It would shock me if we didn't." As Lemonis noted, the SEC has previously had as many as eight teams host in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. It's unlikely more than six host this year, but he feels at least the top five teams in the conference are worthy. |
| How Justin Parker helped fix Mississippi State baseball pitching | |
| Chris Lemonis has an office that adequately resembles a decorated career. From his start as an assistant at The Citadel to his national championship with Mississippi State baseball in 2021, his accomplishments are evident. But not lost in the coach's ascent, particularly with the Bulldogs, is the role his assistants have played. In 2019, hitting coach Jake Gautreau was named the nation's top assistant by D1Baseball. Two years later, as MSU made a run toward the first national title in program history, it was pitching coach Scott Foxhall who earned that title from the American Baseball Coaches Association. Justin Parker, who was hired in June from South Carolina to replace the fired Foxhall, may not be honored this season, but his role hasn't gone unnoticed. "He's done an amazing job with that pitching staff," Lemonis said earlier this month. "He's done a really, really good job." Mississippi State failed to make the SEC tournament in the two seasons following its national title. At the core of the Bulldogs' struggles was woeful play on the mound. MSU had an SEC-worst 6.05 ERA in 2022. That was followed up by a 7.01 ERA in 2023 -- again the worst in the conference. As No. 5 seed Mississippi State (36-19) prepares to open the SEC tournament Tuesday (8 p.m., SEC Network) against No. 12 seed Ole Miss (27-28) in Hoover, Alabama, pitching is at the heart of the Bulldogs' rise back to relevance. Behind a 4.21 ERA -- the fourth-best mark in the SEC -- MSU is in the conversation to host a regional for the NCAA Tournament. The pitchers who have made that possible often link their success to Parker's 11 months in Starkville. |
| What to know about SEC Baseball Tournament in Hoover: TV, times, tickets, parking | |
| It is once again SEC Baseball Tournament week in Hoover. The tournament gets started with four play-in games on Tuesday and continues with four game each day on Wednesday and Thursday before dipping to two games for Friday and Saturday with a championship game on Sunday. The championship game is set to be broadcast at 2 p.m. on ESPN2. Like a few other SEC tournaments this year, Tennessee will be the No. 1 seed. Arkansas, Kentucky and Texas A&M follow, earning byes to Wednesday, where double-elimination games start. Alabama, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Florida, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, LSU and Georgia will all play Tuesday in elimination games. Auburn and Missouri were eliminated and don't get to make the trip to Hoover. Tickets are being sold through the SEC Ticket Office. While reserved seats are sold out, general admission was still available as of Sunday. Parking surrounds the stadium at the Hoover MET complex, as you enter you will be directed to park in available parking spots. |
| Mississippi State, Ole Miss baseball set to meet in SEC tournament | |
| Mississippi State and Ole Miss baseball will add another page to the historic rivalry during next week's SEC tournament played at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama. MSU (36-19, 17-13 SEC) is the No. 5 seed in its first trip to the conference tournament since 2021. Mississippi State was locked into that spot with Florida's win against Georgia on Saturday. Ole Miss (27-28, 11-19), after getting swept by LSU, was locked into the final spot among the field. The game will be aired on SEC Network with first pitch coming approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of No. 8 seed Vanderbilt vs. No. 9 seed Florida. That game is slated to begin at 4:30 p.m. The winner of MSU vs. Ole Miss will face No. 4 seed Texas A&M on Wednesday. Tuesday's action is single elimination. The eight teams remaining Wednesday will be part of a double-elimination bracket. MSU and Ole Miss have split the four games in the rivalry this season. The Rebels took two of three in a mid-April SEC series at Swayze Field. However, the Bulldogs won the Governor's Cup in Pearl, Mississippi, on May 1. As a midweek game, that didn't count toward the conference standings. |
| Bulldogs Advance to the Fourth Round of the NCAA Championship | |
| After the third round of the NCAA Championships, the Mississippi State Bulldogs sit in 13th place at 21-over par. State will advance to Monday's fourth and final stroke play round as they made the 15-team cut. Low scores were hard to come by on Sunday, as 22 of the 30 teams in the field finished 10-over par or higher on the round. The Bulldogs performed the best on the front nine of the course, as they finished 3-over as they carded 10 of their 16 birdies on that portion of the course. State enters Monday's fourth round 11 strokes behind the eight-team cutline. The back-to-back SEC Individual Champion, Julia Lopez Ramirez, led the team on Sunday. Lopez Ramirez finished 1-over during the third round of play to move her total to 3-under par, the lowest score after 54 holes she has earned at the NCAA Championship. She carded a team-best five birdies on the day. She sits T10 headed into the final round of stroke play, nine strokes behind the leader from Texas A&M, Adela Cernousek. An NCAA Individual Champion will be named Monday during the final round of stroke play. Following Monday's fourth round, the second round of cuts will trim the field to eight. The final eight teams will compete in a match play tournament to decide a national champion. The final stroke play round of the NCAA Championship will be broadcast on Golf Channel and Peacock beginning at 5 p.m. CT. Live scoring is also available at golfstat.com |
| Roses and thorns: 5-18-24 | |
| The Dispatch writes: A rose to the Mississippi State women's golf team, which for the third consecutive year, advances to the national championship tournament. The Bulldogs backed up their first-ever Southeastern Conference title with a fourth-place finish at the Bermuda Run (N.C.) regional in North Carolina, which punched their ticket to the championship in Carlsbad, California, which began Friday. Charlie Ewing has now guided MSU to the biggest stage in women's college golf in each of his three full seasons as head coach. Ole Miss, which won the same regional MSU played, is also in the championship tournament field. |
| Three Bulldogs Set For NCAA Individual Championships | |
| No. 15 Mississippi State recently saw its season come to a close in the Sweet 16. But several Bulldogs are still swinging their rackets in the NCAA Men's Tennis Individual Championships. No. 47 Nemanja Malesevic and No. 48 Petar Jovanovic -- both All-SEC selections -- will represent MSU in the singles bracket which starts on Monday while Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez -- the 11th-ranked team in the nation -- compete in doubles beginning on Tuesday. The 2024 NCAA Tennis Championships are being held at the Greenwood Tennis Center and hosted by Oklahoma State. Matches will be televised on ESPN+. Jovanovic will kickoff Monday's action against Oregon's 67th-ranked Quinn Vandecasteele at 9 a.m. Jovanovic has won four of his last five matches and leads the Bulldogs with a 28-14 singles record this season with nine victories over ranked opponents. Malesevic takes the court Monday afternoon at 1 against No. 4 Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc of Florida State. Malesevic sports a 14-12 singles record this season with 11 of his victories coming at the No. 1 position during dual match play, including seven against ranked foes. Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez are set to face Harvard's 19th-ranked tandem of Daniel Milavsky and Cooper Williams on Tuesday. |
| SHS tennis courts being resurfaced in former student's memory | |
| The legacy of Natalie Williams, remembered for her vibrant personality and love for tennis, will soon be honored with fully renovated tennis courts at Starkville High School. In a collaborative effort, the Starkville Community Foundation, Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District and the city are contributing evenly to cover a $90,000 project to resurface the courts in memory of Williams, who passed away in August 2023, at age 14. SCF board member Alison Buehler said the idea came about when the foundation was looking for a project that would enhance the quality of life in Starkville. "The tennis courts had kind of been in the back of a lot of people's minds," Buehler said. "You can't host tournaments on them the way they are right now, so we've kind of lost our tennis culture." The foundation is an affiliate of the Tupelo-based CREATE Foundation that raises funds for projects and programs that help the community. Buehler floated the idea of starting the Natalie Williams Compassion Fund with the purpose of raising money to renovate the tennis courts. The foundation established the fund this year in Williams' legacy as a reminder to the community to practice kindness and foster a culture where children feel safe, accepted and supported, SCF's website reads. The community quickly came together, Buehler said, including the Starkville Tennis Association and parents of students who had participated in extracurricular activities with Williams, who was also in the band and on the cross country team. |
| Like to bike? Your knees will thank you and you may live longer, too | |
 | We are in the middle of National Bike Month, and cycling enthusiasts love to talk up the benefits of their favorite activity. "It's definitely my longevity drug," says Brooks Boliek, 65, an avid cyclist of many decades, who used to commute to his office on a bicycle. A substantial body of evidence supports the health benefits of cycling, everything from strengthening the immune system to boosting the likelihood of living longer. Now, a new study finds people who are in the habit of riding a bike are significantly less likely to have osteoarthritis and experience pain in their knees by age 65, compared to people who don't bike. The study, which was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, and published in the American College of Sports Medicine's flagship peer-reviewed journal, included about 2,600 men and women, with an average age of 64 years old. They were surveyed about their physical activity over their lifetime. As part of the study, researchers took X-ray images to evaluate signs of arthritis in their knee joints. "Bicyclers were 21% less likely to have X-ray evidence and symptoms of osteoarthritis compared to those who did not have a history of bicycling," explains study author Dr. Grace Lo of Baylor College of Medicine. The study can not prove cause and effect, given it was an observational study that assessed osteoarthritis at one point in time. But the findings, which are published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, validate the advice many health care providers give to patients about the benefits of cycling and other non weight-bearing exercises. |
| Auburn baseball wants increased NIL investment to solve pitching woes | |
 | A few moments after a marathon finale ended and Auburn's vastly disappointing baseball season came to a conclusion, head coach Butch Thompson described it to the media as a learning year. But that only matters if he makes adjustments from it. The adjustments will come on the mound, where Auburn experienced an extremely trying year. Auburn finished with a 27-26 overall record and an 8-22 mark in the SEC. Pitching was the main culprit, and Thompson openly admits that. It finished the year with a 7.57 team ERA in SEC games, the worst number in the league. At one point midway through the SEC season, its team ERA in conference games eclipsed nine. There were very few reliable options for Thompson. "Just thought once we got to a certain level of depth in our pitching staff, there's a watermark or a level of acceptability in our league and I think we threw too many innings beneath that from a talent standpoint," Thompson said. In his season-ending press conference, Thompson made it quite clear that in a search to find answers, he's going to look elsewhere. Nor did Thompson rule out staff changes when asked Saturday night. Thompson made very clear his intentions to use the transfer portal. But he said he needs more financial support to do so. So Thompson said it's going to take a larger NIL investment than he's already had. |
| Sources: NCAA settlement plan in House v. NCAA case irks non-Power 5 schools | |
| As the NCAA continues to make steps toward the expected settlement of the landmark House v. NCAA lawsuit and other related anti-trust cases, there is pushback on how the NCAA plans to pay the expected $2.7 billion in back damages over the next decade, sources told ESPN. The NCAA sent out a four-page memo to all 32 Division I conferences this week detailing how the organization plans to cut back on distribution to leagues in six annual payout categories to pay the proposed $2.7 billion in damages. The memo detailed how the NCAA could split up an expected $1.6 billion that would come from reductions in NCAA distribution, sources told ESPN. The remaining $1.1 billion is expected to come from NCAA reserves, catastrophic insurance, new revenue and budget cuts, sources said. Of that $1.6 billion, nearly 60% is expected to come from leagues outside the Power 5 conferences that are named in the House lawsuit, sources said. (The NCAA is named, and all of the schools are members.) The other 40% will come from the power conferences. This has set off a flurry of upset commissioners and officials in those smaller-revenue leagues, including a series of meetings of the Collegiate Commissioners Association and the CCA22, which are the 22 leagues that don't have FBS football. |
| Key week arrives for college sports with House v. NCAA deadline | |
| Revenue sharing in college sports has always been discussed in private circles as a theory. But this week, the NCAA could agree to a settlement agreement in its ongoing litigation with House v. NCAA plaintiffs to reshape the model and install revenue sharing. Amateurism has been dead for years, however, this settlement would put the NCAA enterprise as many know it to bed. Lawyers have been working on the agreement for nearly nine months. The NCAA Board of Governors is expected to meet later this week. The Big Ten presidents plan to meet in person while leaders in the ACC, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC will also vote. The details of the settlement have brought disagreement, though. In an email Saturday morning to members, Big East commissioner Val Ackerman expressed "strong objection" to the NCAA's proposal on how it is determining back damages related to the consolidated settlement in a letter obtained by Yahoo Sports. Of the $2.77 billion expected to be paid in back damages to former athletes, the NCAA is expected to be responsible for 40% of the payout. The other 60% will come from a reduction in school distributions. Ackerman argued in her letter that the 22 non-FBS Division I conferences will be on the hook for a backpay agreement that will mostly be distributed to football players. If the NCAA and its conferences sign off on the broad strokes of the House v. NCAA settlement this week, attorneys will immediately start sketching the actual agreement. That will not be a quick process. |
| How the House v. NCAA settlement could reshape college sports: What you need to know | |
| The college sports model appears headed for a massive overhaul. This week, the NCAA and power conferences are expected to vote on whether to settle a federal class-action lawsuit that would cost them nearly $3 billion in damages and allow power-conference athletes to finally share in annual revenues. House v. NCAA seeks back pay for Division I college athletes who were barred from earning name, image and likeness (NIL) compensation prior to the NCAA changing its policy in summer 2021, while also pursuing a cut of future broadcast revenues for athletes at power-conference schools. As college sports face a reckoning on multiple fronts, and with the prospect of the NCAA owing as much as $20 billion in damages were it to lose the House case at trial, settlement efforts have intensified in recent weeks. In addition to more than $2.7 billion in NIL back-pay damages, a settlement would include a system in which roughly $20 million a year can be distributed directly from a power-conference school to its athletes, multiple people briefed on the negotiations confirmed to The Athletic. All indications are that the last vestiges of amateurism in college sports are coming to an end. "I expect the athletes who are generating the most money would get the greatest economic return," said Jeffrey Kessler, one of the lead lawyers representing the plaintiffs. "That's the economic competitive market we live in." |
| NCAA's settlement proposal facing 'strong objection' from Big East | |
| On the brink of a historic settlement decision, the NCAA is facing pushback from one of its most prestigious basketball conferences. In an email Saturday to her members, Big East commissioner Val Ackerman expressed "strong objection" to the NCAA's proposal on how it is determining back damages related to the consolidated settlement in the House, Hubbard and Carter antitrust cases. And she is seeking ways to "alter the plan that the NCAA and A5 have orchestrated," she writes in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by Yahoo Sports. The settlement, in the final stages of adoption, consists of three main concepts: back damages owed to former athletes ($2.77 billion); revenue-sharing for current and future athletes (upward of $22 million annually per school); and an overhaul of a variety of NCAA elements, including scholarship and roster limits, governance structure and enforcement arm. Under the formula, the Big East will be responsible for about $5 million to $7 million annually, or as much as $70 million over the next decade -- a figure that works out to about $600,000-$700,000 per school per year. While Ackerman and other non-FBS leaders plan to fight for a change in the formula, she is "unclear how much time or leverage" they have in such a battle with the leading defendants in the case: the high-revenue generating football powers in the Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, ACC and remaining and former members of the Pac-12. Power conference leaders are planning to vote and, in all likelihood, adopt terms of the settlement in independent meetings of their board of presidents and chancellors this week. Decisions are expected starting as soon as Tuesday and running through Thursday. |
| The Unusually Public-Facing Push to Settle House v. NCAA | |
| In a world where few things remain private, maybe it's no surprise the public is watching settlement talks for House v. NCAA and Carter v. NCAA play out in real time. Whether that makes a deal to radically transform college sports more or less likely is a jump ball. In recent weeks, NCAA president Charlie Baker has openly discussed ending a litigation that represents more than 14,500 college athletes and would enable conferences and colleges to share revenue with players. So too has players' attorney Steve Berman, who has offered detailed remarks, including about ways the NCAA could lower the risk of subsequent antitrust lawsuits. News organizations have published comprehensive accounts of proposed settlement terms leaked to journalists. The outspokenness of the settlement's central figures and the flood of leaks are unusual. Settlement discussions are ordinarily tightly kept secrets. That is especially true when, as in House and Carter, key topics involve complicated concepts that might be mischaracterized or misunderstood in a news story or podcast. College athletes and university leaders reading or listening along might become confused or believe they see a contradiction. Attorneys are usually concerned that settlement negotiations could be used against their clients in ongoing or future cases -- especially if talks break down. |
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