| Thursday, August 22, 2024 |
| Mississippi State, Mississippi College partner for accelerated law degree program | |
 | Mississippi State students who aspire to become attorneys now have a new accelerated pathway into the legal profession thanks to a new university partnership with Mississippi College. Mississippi State and MC's School of Law formally signed an agreement Wednesday allowing qualified MSU students to enter MC's Juris Doctor program before fully completing an MSU bachelor's degree, accelerating the total length of undergraduate studies plus law school by one full year. MSU President Mark E. Keenum and MC President Blake Thompson signed the Memorandum of Understanding alongside MSU Provost and Executive Vice President David Shaw, MSU Executive Vice Provost Peter Ryan, MC Provost and Executive Vice President Mike Highfield, and MC School of Law Dean John Anderson. "Mississippi State and Mississippi College share similar values and a commitment to serve, and I'm so pleased we have been able to work with President Thompson and his leadership team to develop this accelerated academic pathway," Keenum said. "It's an exceptional opportunity for students, our institutions, and the state of Mississippi." |
| MSU students begin the fall semester | |
 | Mississippi State University students returned to campus on Wednesday for their first day of classes. From nervousness to excitement, students were ready to be on campus for the fall semester. The number of students enrolled for the year is not official yet, but that number is expected to be more than 20,000. To feed those students, MSU Dining Services will position rotating trucks at convenient spots around the campus. |
| Aurora Flight Sciences expanding in Columbus | |
| The Mississippi Development Authority announced Wednesday that aerosystems manufacturing company Aurora Flight Sciences is expanding in Columbus. The project is a $43.8 million investment that will create 63 new jobs by the end of 2025. Aurora Flight Sciences Vice President of Manufacturing Luke Colville said in a statement that the company is proud to bring this investment to the community. "Since coming to Mississippi in 2005, our manufacturing business has grown exponentially. This success would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of Aurora's team members here in Columbus," Colville said. "We are thankful for our incredible employees and for the continued support of local organizations such as the Mississippi Development Authority and Golden Triangle Development LINK." Governor Tate Reeves (R) stated that the investment by Aurora Flight Sciences is further proof that Mississippi is an outstanding location for cutting-edge aerospace manufacturing. "The Golden Triangle Region is a hotspot for aerospace excellence, and its skilled pipeline of experienced workers ensures companies like Aurora Flight Sciences remain at the forefront of the industry," Reeves said. |
| TVA could raise rates 5.25% to fund new plants with higher electric bills | |
| The Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors is expected to approve a 5.25% electric base rate increase -- the second rate increase in two years -- as the federal utility looks to meet growing demand by funding the construction of new power plants. The board will vote on the increase during its quarterly meeting Aug. 22. The increase would add an average of more than $4 to monthly electricity bills in the Tennessee Valley and likely would generate around $500 million in additional revenue for TVA. The 2023 rate increase is expected to generate $405 million by the end of the current fiscal year Sept. 30. In May, the TVA board approved spending $61 million of the rate increase revenue to extend the life of its nuclear plants, which supply nearly half its power. Alongside last year's increase, the board approved $15 billion over three years to build new power plants, mostly natural gas plants. The rate increases are partly a response to high inflation and interest rates for new construction. The board also is set to approve increasing the funding limit for TVA's New Nuclear Program. In February 2022, the board approved an initial $200 million for the program, which is focused on developing small modular nuclear reactors at the Clinch River Site in Oak Ridge. |
| Markets and households eagerly await Powell's hints about Fed rate cut | |
 | Financial markets, economic officials, businesses and households nationwide are eager for any hints about when the Federal Reserve will ease up on the economy and cut interest rates. This week could bring the surest signal yet, when Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell delivers what will be his most important speech of the year on Friday morning. Analysts broadly expect that long-awaited cuts will begin at the Fed's next meeting in September. Still, no one knows yet whether central bankers will opt for a more aggressive cut, out of fears that the job market is slowing too much, or simply lower rates by a more typical quarter of a point. Powell, though, is unlikely to give much in the way of detailed specifics, if his track record is any guide. Instead, he'll probably aim for carefully calibrated remarks that leave plenty of options on the table. With inflation ebbing to near-normal levels, Fed leaders are shifting their focus to other parts of the economy that could begin to buckle under the continued weight of high interest rates, which the central bank pushed up to combat rising prices. Powell's speech is the headline event of the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, an annual "who's who" of central bankers and economists in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. |
| Thune: One-year farm bill extension likely needed | |
| Senate Republican Whip John Thune said Wednesday that another one-year farm bill extension will likely be needed amid the ongoing partisan gridlock over current proposals. Passing an extension would enable lawmakers to "start fresh" in a new Congress next year, Thune told reporters in his home state at DakotaFest in Mitchell, South Dakota. Thune ranks second in the Senate GOP leadership and is a leading contender to replace Mitch McConnell as Senate GOP leader. Thune said he has not seen any signals from Senate Ag Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., indicating she intends to move a bill through committee, or from Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., about putting a farm bill on the floor. "I just don't see any evidence that any of that's happened," Thune said. "I wish it were otherwise, but it seems to me that we do another year, another extension, and this gets punted to January." Last fall, lawmakers extended the 2018 farm bill by one year. Authority for some programs is set to expire as soon as Sept. 30. Lawmakers would need to act on extension by the end of the year to avoid triggering laws dating back to 1938 and 1949 that would force USDA to take steps in 2025 to dramatically raise the price of milk, wheat and other commodities. What the farm bill process could look like next year will depend on the outcomes of this November's election. Republicans have a shot at winning back control of the Senate. If that happens, Arkansas Republican John Boozman would become chair of the Senate Ag Committee and could pursue a different farm bill than the one proposed by Stabenow this spring. |
| Farmers look to Washington for inflation pressure relief | |
| Will there be a new Farm Bill this legislative year? Will the Federal Reserve finally cut interest rates when they next meet in September? Will the presidential election yield new trade policy? These are just a few of the questions top of mind for Brian Duncan, the president of the Illinois Farm Bureau and a farmer himself. "Well, we're still out here taking care of our land and our livestock," he said. "Things are good right now, from a weather standpoint. From a market standpoint, for agriculture, it's a little challenging." Duncan spoke with "Marketplace" host Kai Ryssdal about some of these challenges. The following is a transcript of their interview. |
| Senate Democrats argue majority is still in their reach in November | |
 | Senate Democrats, told for most of this cycle they will likely be serving in the minority next year, said this week they see similarities between their candidate matchups in November and when they expanded a narrow majority in 2022. "We have been very fortunate on the Democratic side," Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, told reporters on Wednesday. "We've had great candidates, great incumbents that are running for reelection or are running ... and they are running against Republican candidates who are flawed and in some cases extremely flawed." He pointed to races last year in Pennsylvania, where then-Lt. Gov. John Fetterman defeated television personality Mehmet Oz for an open seat that had been held by a Republican, and in Georgia, where Sen. Raphael Warnock defeated former football star Herschel Walker. Democrats have argued that like Oz, Republican Senate candidates this year including Dave McCormick in Pennsylvania and Erik Hovde in Wisconsin have loose ties to their states. "If you look at Republicans' recruitment for their candidates, they tend to recruit folks who are very wealthy and who can self-finance," Peters added. "But the problem is they also tend to have fairly tenuous relations with the state that they're actually running in." Still, Democrats face an uphill climb to keep the Senate. |
| From cybercrime to terrorism, FBI director says America faces many elevated threats 'all at once' | |
 | The country is facing heightened threats from many corners at a time when law enforcement agencies are struggling, FBI Director Christopher Wray said in an exclusive interview, adding that he is "hard pressed to think of a time in my career where so many different kinds of threats are all elevated at once." Wray spoke Wednesday with The Associated Press while visiting the Minneapolis field office to talk about partnerships between law enforcement agencies and also with other entities. His remarks come as the FBI confronts heightened concerns over terrorism, both domestic and international, as well as Chinese espionage and intellectual property theft and foreign election interference. "I worry about the combination of that many threats being elevated at once, with the challenges facing the men and women in law enforcement more generally," Wray said at the office in the suburb of Brooklyn Center. "And the one thing that I think helps bridge those two challenges is partnerships. That's how we get through. It is by all working together." Wray's assessment of an elevated threat landscape is consistent with alarm bells he has sounded for months. Soon after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas in Israel, Wray began warning that the rampage could serve as an inspiration to militants, "the likes of which we haven't seen since ISIS launched its so-called caliphate years ago." |
| Rep. Bennie Thompson speaks at DNC, urges Americans to 'choose democracy' | |
| The insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, headlined the conversation on night three of the Democratic National Convention, with Congressman Bennie Thompson taking centerstage to discuss. Thompson, who co-chaired the select committee investigating January 6 and former Republican President Donald Trump's alleged role in the attack, spoke to thousands inside the United Center in Chicago on Wednesday. The lone Democrat in Mississippi's congressional delegation touched on his real-time thoughts during the attack and what his goals were in leading the committee. "On January 6, like most of my colleagues, I had one goal: to uphold the votes of the American people. The cornerstone of American democracy. But as you witnessed, let me remind you that the members of that violent mob had another goal. They wanted to stop the peaceful transfer of power for the first time in American democracy. Thank God they failed," Thompson said as the crowd erupted into cheers. "Because in this country, we settle our differences at the ballot box, not through violence," he continued. "It took a long time to get here, and we are not going back." |
| Trump campaign opening campaign HQ in Tupelo | |
 | Local GOP volunteers will open a Donald Trump presidential campaign headquarters in Tupelo Thursday. It will be on the north side of the building at 850 North Gloster St. Candace Hunt, president of the Lee County Republican Women's club, said the office will be staffed by members of the LRCW and the Lee County Republican Executive Committee. The office will be open Tuesday through Thursday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., and on Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. through the remainder of the election season. The primary purpose of the office is the sale and distribution of campaign materials, including t-shirts, stickers, hats, flags and yard signs. Money raised from the sales will be used by the LCRW club to help with the campaign. "We've had a lot of requests for merchandise and signs, so we wanted to go ahead and get it started as soon as we could," Hunt said. |
| Call him Coach: Tim Walz, governor and congressman, chooses a folksier intro to voters | |
 | Call him Coach. Never mind that Tim Walz has been governor of Minnesota for the past five years and a congressman for a dozen years before that. As he seeks a promotion to vice president, he chose a folksier introduction Wednesday to Americans who had no idea who he was until Kamala Harris picked him as her running mate two weeks ago. Not a pol, not at heart. Instead, a husband and father, a deer hunter and a car guy, a social studies teacher and a basketball coach from the Gopher State who helped turn his high-school team from losers to state champions. "I haven't given a lot of big speeches like this, but I have given a lot of pep talks, so let me finish with this," Walz declared to cheers as he accepted the vice-presidential nomination on the third night of the Democratic National Convention. "It's the fourth quarter. We're down a field goal, but we're on offense and we've got the ball." With that, he said, Democrats could "block and tackle" down the field for the next 76 days of the campaign and "turn the page on Donald Trump." It was hard to miss the intended message about who he was: He was introduced on stage by 15 guys, now young men, whom he had coached on the Mankato West High School football team. Some of them sported faded red football jerseys from those days, now straining at the seams. |
| A slower, wizened Clinton sinks his fangs into Trump | |
 | Bill Clinton served as Barack Obama's economics explainer-in-chief in a memorable speech a dozen years ago at the Democratic convention in Charlotte. On Wednesday, the Big Dog, a little older and his bark more faint, sunk his teeth into another favorite topic and savaged Donald Trump as a narcissist obsessed with himself. "Let's cut to the chase: The stakes are too high and I'm too old to gild the lily," Clinton said in his twelfth convention address, which he peppered with references to his advancing age. "I actually turned 78 two days ago. And I'm still not quite as old as Donald Trump." Clinton has long compared himself not to a dog, but to a racehorse, with his party the stable-keeper. Every two years, he would joke, they let him out of the barn for another lap around the track. Clinton was noticeably slower on Wednesday, but he still seemed to relish getting off his lines about Trump, whom he described as "a paragon of consistency." Trump, Clinton said, is still divisive, still casting blame, still belittling other people. Clinton contrasted Trump's self-centeredness with what he described as Harris's inclusive vision for the country. "The next time you hear him, don't count the lies. Count the 'I's,'" he said, adding, "When Kamala Harris is president, every day will begin with 'you, you, you, you." The audience inside the United Center listened respectfully as Clinton, whose clout and standing within the party has diminished, continued to lay into Trump while returning to the contrasts with Harris. |
| Possumtown Book Fest set for Saturday in Columbus | |
| A new book festival will bring Mississippi authors and readers together in Columbus this weekend. The Possumtown Book Fest, organized by the Friendly City Books Community Connection, a special project of the CREATE Foundation, is set for Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Columbus Arts Council. The inaugural festival will feature more than 20 Mississippi authors across panels hosted every hour. Each panel will discuss a different genre of books ranging from cozy mystery to Southern foodways to historical fiction. The keynote panel at 4 p.m. will feature Oxford authors Ace Atkins and Michael Farris Smith. Each of the day's sessions, which are free and open to the public, will have space for 75 to 100 people, said Emily Liner, founder of both Friendly City Books and the Friendly City Books Community Connection. Other sponsors include the Friendly City Books Community Connection, the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library System, Friends of the Library, the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Mississippi University for Women Foundation. Event partners include the Columbus Arts Council, the Mississippi Book Festival and Rooted Magazine. |
| Radio show kicks off fall season with new executive director | |
| The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour, Oxford's music and literature program, kicks off its 27th year on the air with a new executive director and lots of surprises. The season premiere is set for 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 5 at Oxford's Powerhouse Arts Center. Admission is free. Lucy Gaines of Oxford has been named the long-running show's new executive director. A Jackson native, Gaines received her MFA in Documentary Expression from the University of Mississippi Southern Studies program in 2024. Her previous positions include assistant directorships at the Oxford Film Festival and the Oxford Conference for the Book. Guests for the Sept. 5 show will include science fiction novelist Tobi Ogundiran with Memphis songwriter Mark Edgar Stuart and blues musician Peggy "Lady Trucker" Hemphill Lesueur. The show is hosted by Jim Dees with Paul Tate and the Yalobushwhacker Big Band featuring the Thacker Horns and guest vocalist, Mary Frances Massey. The show will be broadcast live (and every Thursday in Oxford until Thanksgiving) on WUMS, 92.1 FM (online at http://myrebelradio.com/). In Mississippi, the show can also be heard on air and online every Saturday night at 7 p.m. on Mississippi Public Broadcasting (MPB). |
| College advisor accused of enticing child, police say | |
| Oxford Police Department has arrested and charged a man accused of enticing a child. On August 20, the OPD received information from a citizen about a possible crime. After receiving the information, officers began looking into the complaint. After further investigation, officers arrested Michael Anthony Smith, 37, for enticement of a child. He has been booked and will have a bond set at a later date. Smith served as an advisor for the University of Mississippi. The University of Mississippi released the following statement: "The university learned of the arrest late yesterday, and the employee has been placed on leave and is not allowed on campus. The university will provide no further comment at this time." |
| UMMC launches free tele-mental health clinic for public university students | |
 | The Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC), in collaboration with the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL), launched a new telehealth clinic to offer public university students free mental health services. UMMC will also provide therapy support for students and create a statewide medication management service via tele-mental health. Officials said the UNITE Clinic, short for the Universities Network for Integrated Telemental Expansion, provides therapy support and medication management services to students 18 and older who are enrolled full-time at the University of Mississippi, Mississippi State University, Delta State University, Jackson State University, University of Southern Mississippi, Alcorn State University, Mississippi Valley State University, Mississippi University for Women and, most recently, the University of Mississippi Medical Center. "We've done everything we can to operate the same way as the university counseling centers that students are already accustomed to, so they don't have to readjust," said Conner E. Ball, programming and policy director for the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior. "UNITE cuts out the waiting period by making it easy for students to self-refer and self-schedule. They don't have to go through a scheduler, and they can make same-day appointments." |
| USM removed the word 'diverse' from its mission statement. Faculty reps weren't consulted | |
| The University of Southern Mississippi has removed the word "diverse" from its mission statement and "inclusiveness" from its vision statement, surprising many faculty who did not know an update was in the works until it was approved without public discussion by the university's governing board last week. The changes have nothing to do with the political headwinds facing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in higher education, a university spokesperson told Mississippi Today. Instead, the administration made the updates as part of the university's new strategic plan ahead of re-accreditation. Jeremy Scott, a physics and astronomy professor who leads USM’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, said the changes did not seem substantive, though he was concerned about the university becoming a tool for political grandstanding. More troubling, Scott said, was the process. “It was an affront to shared governance,” he said, referencing the idea in higher education that faculty and the administration collaborate on significant decisions. “I have to say that as the AAUP president.” As of Wednesday, the faculty senate executive committee was still working to learn more about the changes, according to a statement provided by its president, creative writing professor Josh Bernstein. |
| Mississippi Senate candidate running 500 miles as part of campaign | |
| U.S. Senate candidate Ty Pinkins is literally running for office. Pinkins, who is challenging incumbent Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, started a jogging journey of 500 miles in the northern part of Mississippi back in April and has so far run to 48 municipalities. With each stop, he's taken time to speak to voters about their concerns and what can be done in Washington to ease those worries. "This run is not just about miles," Pinkins said. "It's about taking strides toward a Mississippi where everyone has access to affordable healthcare, where economic opportunities are abundant, and where women's rights are fully respected and protected. Each step brings us closer to that vision." If all goes as planned, Pinkins will reach the 500-mile milestone in Hattiesburg on Monday, Aug. 26 – which is also proclaimed across the U.S. as Women's Equality Day. To celebrate, he will be hosting a press conference at Shoemaker Square on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi. |
| U. of Alabama's class of 2028 forms script 'A' at Bryant-Denny Stadium | |
 | First-year students at the University of Alabama gathered Tuesday at Bryant-Denny Stadium for a special class photo. Members of the class of 2028 formed a UA's script "A" logo in the middle of the field as part of freshman convocation. The convocation is part of UA's Weeks of Welcome (WOW), a series of more than 30 events throughout August designed to "roll out the crimson carpet" for new and returning students. Classes at UA began Wednesday. The goal of WOW is to help students find resources, build a sense of community at UA and have fun. On Aug. 29, students can learn more about student organizations, UA departments and community vendors during Get On Board Day on the Quad. UA will also have a student tailgate event on the Quad on Aug. 31 before the Crimson Tide's home football opener against Western Kentucky. Looking ahead, UA will host Family Weekend on Oct. 11-13 when Alabama will play South Carolina. Family Weekend is designed for parents to reconnect and spend time with their UA student, experience UA's gameday traditions and explore Tuscaloosa. |
| Demolition of Tuscaloosa News for Saban Center Could Begin Soon | |
| A staple of the downtown Tuscaloosa cityscape will likely be gone before Spring after a committee of the city council recommended proceeding with its demolition to make way for the still-being-designed Saban Center. The council's projects committee met Tuesday afternoon and the biggest item on their agenda was the approval of a contract with Britt Demolition for the total demolition of the Tuscaloosa News building on Nick's Kid's Avenue -- what was once 28th Avenue -- just south of the Mercedes-Benz Amphitheatre. The gorgeous, 90,000-square-foot glass window-walled building is relatively new, completed in 2002 when the New York Times still owned the paper. Several corporate owners later, the space has been stripped of its printing press and staff operations moved off-site. Owner Gatehouse Media sold the building to the city for $8 million in 2019. Saban Center Director Audrey Buck said Tuesday that the building itself is still being designed - the scope of which has ballooned as $25 million in public funds and more than $15 million in private investment have been added to the project's more than $40 million budget from the Elevate Tuscaloosa tax plan. |
| GOP lawmakers praise U. of Kentucky for removing Office of Institutional Diversity | |
 | Republican lawmakers who sponsored anti-DEI bills earlier this year are praising the University of Kentucky for deciding to eliminate its Office of Institutional Diversity. The GOP-controlled state legislature this spring tried but failed to pass bills targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs -- commonly referred to as DEI -- on college campuses. UK announced its independent decision to dismantle its institutional diversity office Tuesday. In addition, the university will remove diversity training, and employees will not be required to write a diversity statement to be employed. Legislation targeting DEI efforts on college campuses has been proposed in 28 states since 2023, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, which has been tracking such legislation. Many conservatives, including in Kentucky, label DEI as discriminating against white conservatives and the latest form of institutions pushing "woke" ideology on students. Rep. Jennifer Decker, who sponsored the bill to defund DEI programs in public colleges and universities earlier this year, lauded UK for these changes. She had previously called such initiatives "failed policy," "misguided," and said such programs push colleges to be "more divided, more expensive and less tolerant." Republicans were poised to pass Decker's version of the bill, but ultimately chose not to do so on the final night of the regular session. |
| State legislatures push more college DEI office closures | |
| Within a week, the universities of Nebraska-Lincoln, Kentucky and North Carolina Charlotte announced they'd disband diversity and inclusion offices as students begin to return to campuses for the fall semester. These are among the latest of dozens of universities to close such offices or institute other anti-DEI measures -- often pushed to do so by state legislation. Some schools, like the University of Missouri in July, disbanded DEI offices preemptively. DEI centers were also closed this summer at Auburn University and the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Nearly 50 schools across the country have closed diversity-focused offices or multicultural resource centers, according to a Chronicle of Higher Education tracker. About a dozen others renamed DEI offices or merged them with other departments. In some of these cases, DEI work is being delegated to other offices like housing, health or student affairs, said Sean Edmund Rogers, dean of the University of Rhode Island's college of business. "Universities take cues from one another," Rogers said. Backlash against DEI in corporations and education followed its boom after the escalation of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020. |
| Georgia legislators hear pros, cons of semesters vs. quarters in university system | |
 | Georgia lawmakers heard the pros and cons Tuesday of the University System of Georgia's current semester system compared to the quarter system the state's public colleges and universities used until 1999. The university system made the switch from quarters to semesters primarily to align Georgia schools with most universities across the country, Dana Nichols, the system's vice chancellor for academic affairs and student success, told members of a House study committee meeting on the campus of Georgia Southern University in Statesboro. Besides making transferring to a Georgia university easier for the growing number of out-of-state students, the switch helped graduating students looking to enter the workforce, Nichols said. While students in other states were graduating in May, Georgia students under the quarter system typically weren't completing their degrees until June, she said. "The semester (system) graduates were getting to the job market before our graduates were," she said. Nichols said converting to the semester system also allowed students to spend more time on each course, increasing the depth of their learning. On the other hand, the quarter system lets students take more courses during an academic year, making it easier for double majors. Three terms of 10 weeks rather than two terms of 15 weeks also meant fewer breaks, Nichols said. |
| UT Creamery expands flavors, looks to celebrate 1-year anniversary | |
| With the one-year anniversary of the creamery planned for late Sept., Myra Loveday, the director for the Rocky Top Institute and an assistant professor of practice, shared what's been happening at the creamery and a glimpse of what's to come. The creamery is a joint effort between the department of Food Science in the Herbert College of Agriculture and the department of Retail Hospitality and Tourism in the College of Education Health and Human Science. The third tier is Rocky Top Institute, a two-year fellowship where students created the business plan and marketing. In addition, they also named flavor profiles and looked at the retail business. Food science students create the ice cream and learn about commercialization, and students from all majors are hired to scoop and sell the ice cream. The two colleges use this three prong approach to bring their product to the market through student experiential learning, meaning everything is 100% student run, setting it apart from other university creameries across the country. Loveday mentioned that the creamery has also partnered with UT Admissions so that every prospective student who is on an official tour gets a voucher for a free scoop in their swag bag. |
| SMU President R. Gerald Turner announces he'll take a new role after 30 years | |
| R. Gerald Turner, SMU's longest-serving president, will step down from his role at the end of this school year after 30 years, he announced late Wednesday. Turner will be remembered for leading Southern Methodist University through exponential growth and multiple fundraising efforts for student scholarships, building upgrades and endowed faculty positions, university officials said. Under his leadership, the university bolstered its academic distinction and rebuilt its football program from a tarnished reputation. The university's current SMU Ignited campaign, for example, has reached 90% of its $1.5 billion goal. SMU supporters tout Turner's efforts to land the George W. Bush Presidential Center and to build up a $2 billion endowment. "It is best to transition out of the presidency when momentum is high, as it now is at SMU," he wrote in a letter that was sent to the SMU community Wednesday afternoon. A Texas native, Turner isn't walking away from SMU entirely. He'll remain active with the university as president emeritus by continuing "to support the development and external affairs of the university." Before coming to SMU, Turner was chancellor of the University of Mississippi, where he helped increase the school's endowment from $8 million to $64 million over nearly a decade. Before that, he was vice president of the University of Oklahoma and a social sciences professor at Pepperdine University in California. |
| Most community college students plan to get 4-year degrees. Few actually do | |
 | Ever since he was a kid, Tyre'k Swanigan dreamed of going to Indiana University. But after he graduated from high school, he decided to start at community college. He figured he could keep his full-time job and transfer to IU later to earn his bachelor's degree. At first, Swanigan, now 23, did well. Then, he said he heard from an IU recruiter that some of his community college credits might not count toward his degree. "I was like, why am I wasting my time at a two-year community college when I know that I need at least a bachelor's to do anything that I want to do?" said Swanigan, who wants to work in a leadership role at a school. Swanigan eventually withdrew from the community college. And he's not alone. Community college is often touted as an affordable start for students who want to earn bachelor's degrees. Yet only 13% of community college students actually go on to earn degrees from four-year institutions within eight years, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Education in 2023. Indiana has one of the lowest community college transfer success rates in the nation. "Most students leave empty-handed," said Huriya Jabbar, a professor of education policy at the University of Southern California. "There are bureaucratic hurdles. There are really opaque transfer policies. There's not enough information about ... which courses will transfer." |
| 68% of seniors say college has significantly boosted their ability to land well-paying jobs, poll finds | |
| Around two-thirds of incoming college seniors said college has significantly contributed to their ability to land a well–paying job, according to a new survey from job platform Handshake. A slightly higher share, 72%, said higher education has appreciably improved their ability to secure a meaningful job. And 85% of surveyed seniors said college significantly helped them understand their own career goals. College seniors also indicated that higher education has helped them beyond their career development. According to the survey, 88% said college significantly contributed to their personal growth. While Handshake's survey suggests most college students believe higher education boosted their professional and personal growth, those polled don't necessarily feel confident about their post-college plans. More than half of surveyed students, 57%, said they "feel pessimistic about starting their careers," according to the report. Nearly two-thirds cited competition for jobs as one factor contributing to their negative outlook. "Concerns about competition are largely justified," the authors of Handshake's report wrote. Job creation on Handshake's own platform is lower than it was last year -- aligning with national trends, according to the report. |
| Kamala Harris, the Divine Nine and Their Commitment to Black Excellence | |
 | Donna Jones Anderson and Vice President Kamala Harris didn't go to the same university. They weren't in the same sorority. They were in college years apart. But there is a kinship. The women are part of organizations that make up the Divine Nine, a group of historically Black fraternities and sororities whose members have reached the top echelons of corporate America and Congress and reshaped civil rights. "She's like a sister I'm extremely proud of," said Anderson, national president of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, a group that coordinates across the Divine Nine. Anderson is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, while Harris pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority during her time at Howard University. Often friendly rivals, the 2.5 million members of the nine Black Greek organizations are united and galvanized in new ways as they aim to send one of their own to the White House. "This is a journey that a lot of women have been looking for and are encouraged by and are supportive of," said Anderson, who joined Delta Sigma Theta in the 1970s while attending the University of Pittsburgh. Black students were prohibited from joining many historically white fraternities and sororities in the U.S. in the early 20th century and therefore created their own groups, said Cameron Beatty, associate professor with the higher education program at Florida State University. As these groups grew nationally, so did the affluence and power of their networks. More than 60% of current members of the Congressional Black Caucus are affiliated with Divine Nine, or D9, organizations. Three out of the four Black women who have served as chief executives of Fortune 500 companies belong to Black sororities. |
SPORTS
| State Soccer Set To Hit The Road For First Time In 2024 | |
| Fresh off an impressive start to the 2024 season, the 20th-ranked Bulldogs are set to hit the road for the first time this year. The Bulldogs will travel to Charlotte, North Carolina, to face off against the Charlotte 49ers on Thursday, August 22, with kickoff scheduled for 6 p.m. CT at Transamerica Field. State (2-0-0) enters the matchup riding high after securing back-to-back home victories to open the season. The Dawgs began their campaign with a 1-0 win over Baylor, followed by a commanding 4-0 triumph against Northwestern State. Their early success has propelled them to the highest ranking in program history, climbing to No. 11 in the latest TopDrawerSoccer poll and No. 20 in the United Soccer Coaches rankings. Thursday's contest marks the first of two matches for the Bulldogs in the Tar Heel State this week. After facing Charlotte, State will head to Winston-Salem for a Sunday afternoon matchup with Wake Forest. Charlotte (0-2-0) is coming off a 3-0 loss to TCU, following a season-opening loss against UNC Wilmington, 2-1. The 49ers, however, showed marked improvement under head coach Brandi Fontaine in 2023, posting a 9-7-4 record in her second season at the helm. In their first year in the American Athletic Conference, Charlotte secured a 4-3-2 record, earning them a fourth-place spot in the AAC Preseason Coaches Poll for 2024. |
| SEC Reveals 2024-25 Women's Basketball Schedule | |
| The Southeastern Conference revealed further details of the 2024-25 Mississippi State women's basketball schedule with the announcement of game dates on Wednesday. In its 16th season of the 16-game schedule, the conference office previously released that the slate will consist of a single round robin home or away game for 14 opponents with a rotating home and away opponent that will finalize the remaining two games. Mississippi State drew Auburn for its rotating opponent, which is set to change annually, this season. Each team will have eight home and away games with two "bye" weeks that will consist of no midweek games. The SEC saw eight teams earn berths to the 2024 NCAA Tournament and 11 total advance to postseason play last season. With the addition of new members Texas and Oklahoma, Mississippi State will play 11 conference games against teams that made the NCAA Tournament. Bookended by single road games, Mississippi State's conference schedule alternates between pairs of home and away games. Mississippi State kicks off SEC action on the road at Kentucky (Jan. 2). |
| JT Ginn becomes 70th former Mississippi State baseball player to reach Major Leagues | |
 | The Oakland Athletics called up former Mississippi State pitcher JT Ginn on Tuesday, making Ginn the 70th Bulldog to reach Major League Baseball. Ginn is the second MSU player to be called up this season, joining infielder Justin Foscue, who debuted in April with the Texas Rangers. He was the 2019 National Freshman of the Year, going 8-4 with a 3.13 ERA in 86 1/3 innings that season. Ginn struck out 105 batters while issuing just 19 walks, and he also held opponents to a .220 batting average and just one home run. The Bulldogs were lucky to get Ginn on campus to begin with -- he was drafted 30th overall in 2018 by the Los Angeles Dodgers, but chose not to sign and honor his commitment to MSU. In 2020, Ginn started the season opener against Wright State but sustained a season-ending injury and underwent elbow surgery. Still, as a draft-eligible sophomore, he was selected by the New York Mets in the second round that year. In March 2022, the Mets traded Ginn to the A's as part of a deal for all-star pitcher Chris Bassitt, and he reached Double-A by the end of that season. He was promoted from Double-A to Triple-A earlier this year and is 15-16 with a 4.68 ERA across 263 2/3 innings in his minor league career. |
| To the Top Collective: Representing Southern Miss athletes' NIL | |
 | The University of Southern Mississippi is working on new ways to develop and promote its athletes' names, images and likenesses. An organization known as "To the Top Collective" is working to take Golden Eagle athletes to the next level, on and off the field. "We simply act as that agent for the student-athletes on their behalf and try to work with the businesses and figure out ways that they want to campaign and grow their businesses using the student-athletes in that regard," said Peter Boehme, To the Top Collective executive director. In the past, athletes' partnerships with businesses often started and ended with a few social media posts. Now, To the Top Collective is bridging the gap between athletes and local businesses. "Whether it be a meet-and-greet signing at their office, at their business to get people in the door, whether it be a revenue share opportunity or whether it be a menu item that they want to have for someone's name, image and likeness or name," said Boehme. Right now, 75 athletes are being represented by the collective. |
| Week 0 is here. Should college football move up its season for good? | |
| On Saturday, at noon ET, Florida State and Georgia Tech kick off the 2024 college football season from inside Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland. The international ACC showdown is one of four college football games played a week before the traditional Labor Day weekend kickoff -- a date known as "Week 0." The full smorgasbord of college games unfurls next week, featuring three top-25 matchups (Georgia-Clemson, Notre Dame-Texas A&M and LSU-USC) and two spicy in-state/border rivalry meetings (Miami-Florida and Penn State-West Virginia). But what if those games were this weekend? What if the start of the season began a week earlier? In the future, it could very well happen. In fact, not long ago, College Football Playoff leaders seriously discussed the prospect of shifting up by a week the entire regular season: Week 0 would become the new Week 1 and conference championship games would shift from the first weekend in December to the Thanksgiving week. Rivalry Week, traditionally played Thanksgiving week, would move to the third week of November. The goal: Free up the second week of December to play the four first-round games of the expanded playoff. For now, those games are scheduled for the third week of December, when at least two of those games will go head-to-head with the NFL. Is it realistic to shift up the entire regular season? Yes. Is it difficult to shift up the entire regular season? Also, yes. |
| No Renegade, no Ramblin' Wreck, lots of ranch dressing: How FSU and Georgia Tech packed for Ireland | |
| In the lead-up to Saturday's kickoff between Florida State and Georgia Tech, both schools spent 17 months making spreadsheets, filling out documents and triple-checking customs regulations to make sure they packed all the essentials for their transatlantic trip. Uniforms? Check. Cleats? Check. Ranch dressing? Umm, check? The Ramblin' Wreck? Sadly, back in Atlanta. Renegade, Osceola and their flaming spear? If only that pesky quarantine issue had been solved. Even without their most iconic pregame traditions traveling with them to Dublin, Florida State and Georgia Tech will headline Week 0 with everything they need to play football thanks to an exhaustive behind-the-scenes effort that Georgia Tech director of football operations Josh Thompson describes as "not for the faint of heart." In all, the schools combined to bring 238 crates weighing more than 40,000 pounds -- packed and shipped on cargo planes last week -- filled with everything from game day equipment to sport medicine essentials, protein powder, snacks such as Goldfish and yes, condiments that are not available in Dublin. Beyond packing up all the necessary equipment, passports would have to be secured, multiple in-person site visits to the team hotel would need to be made (including food tastings) and communication with officials in Ireland would have to be precise. Nothing -- like assuming that an American biscuit and an Irish biscuit were the same -- could be left to chance. |
| Dartmouth basketball players union accuses school of unfair labor practices over refusal to bargain | |
| The union representing the Dartmouth men's basketball team filed an unfair labor practice charge against the Ivy League school on Wednesday because it has refused to negotiate with the players on a collective bargaining agreement. Service Employees International Union Local 560, which already represents some other workers at the Hanover, New Hampshire, school, said the failure to bargain was a violation of both labor law and the school's own code of ethics. "For nearly 60 years, Dartmouth has followed a tradition of bargaining fair and equitable union contracts with our local," union president Chris Peck said in a statement. "It is past time for Dartmouth administration to avoid the looming financial and legal liabilities by grasping this opportunity to show leadership, as the players have, and live up to its own rhetoric regarding the importance of both community and dialogue." A regional director of the National Labor Relations Board ruled in March that Dartmouth men's basketball players were employees of the school, clearing the way for them to unionize. The players then voted 13-2 to join SEIU Local 560. Dartmouth responded by announcing that it would not bargain with the players -- a tactic designed to force the case into court in the hopes that a federal judge would overturn the NLRB decision. "While we continue to negotiate in good faith with multiple unions representing Dartmouth employees, our responsibility to future generations of students means we must explore all our legal options for challenging the regional director's error -- which was contrary to every legal precedent," the school said in a statement on Wednesday. |
| NCAA Memo Fuels Questions About Big-Bucks NIL College Basketball Event | |
| The NCAA on Tuesday circulated a memo about its rules regarding men's basketball multiple-team events (MTEs) that appears to implicitly address -- if not cast doubt upon -- the new Players Era Festival in Las Vegas, which has agreed to pay $1 million to each of the NIL collectives of its eight participating teams. The festival, which is set to take place from Nov. 26-29 at T-Mobile Arena and/or MGM Grand Garden Arena, is a joint production of EverWonder Studio -- led by media executive Ian Orefice and financially backed by RedBird IMI -- and Seth Berger, the co-founder/CEO of AND1 and long-time boys basketball coach of Westtown School in Pennsylvania. Players Era was unveiled in May with heavy helpings of media fanfare and industry eyebrow hiking. It has the potential to be a transformative force that would further move the goal line -- or, as is the case, lower the basket -- of the NCAA's stated policy against NIL money being used as a form of pay-for-play. It could also be a spectacular flop. Or something in between. Despite being only three months away, the seemingly exorbitant first-time event has yet to publicly announce its sponsors, a broadcast or streaming partner or its schedule slate. EverWonder has, however, recently engaged marketing agency Intersport to handle the festival's operations, according to people familiar with the situation, while signaling that it will soon provide a public status update. |
| High School Football Welcomes Some New Recruits: Girls | |
| Football has long been the most popular high school sport. At the same time, girls' sports have boomed in the past half-century. Now, those movements are converging. A record 4,094 girls played on 11-player high school tackle football teams last year, according to data released this week from the National Federation of State High School Associations. All-girls' flag football is also thriving: The number of girls playing in high school more than doubled from last year, to nearly 43,000 players, making it the fastest-growing high school sport. What's behind this upturn? Changing sensibilities about what kinds of sports girls should play -- girls' wrestling is also surging -- are dovetailing with corporate interests eager to spread America's favorite game to a largely untapped market. Nationwide, the number of girls playing on tackle teams is still a tiny fraction -- less than 1% -- of the 1,031,508 boys who played on football teams. But it has more than doubled in five years. Flag football, meanwhile, is enjoying multiple tailwinds -- including from the biggest league of them all. The NFL has thrown its weight behind growing the sport, from youth leagues on up. The league was rewarded last October when the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics announced flag football -- for men and women -- would join its competition program. |
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