| Wednesday, February 19, 2025 |
| Former NFL star Ndamukong Suh to speak at Mississippi State | |
 | Former NFL star and Super Bowl champion Ndamukong Suh has been announced as the keynote speaker for the annual summit held by Mississippi State University's Athlete Engineering Institute. Themed "Becoming Elite," the summit will be held April 15-17 at The Mill at MSU Conference Center. The event, now in its fourth year, brings together professionals from medical, military, industry, academic, and human performance fields to discuss the best ways to improve athletic performance. "I'm speaking at the Athlete Engineering Summit to tell my story about becoming elite but, more importantly, to emphasize the importance of the people who serve as the support system in my life." Reuben Burch, associate vice president for research and executive director for MSU's Athlete Engineering Institute, will host the summit alongside Andrea Hudy, a strength and conditioning coach with stops at the University of Kansas, University of Texas, and University of Connecticut. "We have people that work toward the same goal of keeping everybody happy, healthy, and productive but in different sectors," Burch said, previewing the lineup of attendees. "Mississippi State is hosting this because there's only one Athlete Engineering Institute in the world and it's here at Mississippi State." |
| Student Association election results announced; runoff extended to Thursday | |
| On the steps of Lee Hall, the Student Association general spring election results were announced Tuesday night, with Bryce Helton and Kylie O'Connor to face Cameron Cummings and Karolina Heathcock in a runoff election. The runoff will occur on Thursday because no individual ticket received 50% of the total vote. Helton-O'Connor received 40.92% of the vote, while Cummings-Heathcock earned 29.62%. The remaining candidates, Howell-Wamble and Marlow-Harvey, received 18.61% and 10.83%, respectively. In the uncontested races, sophomore business administration major Mary Walker Foster was elected as SA treasurer and sophomore industrial engineering major Abigail Spreen was elected as SA secretary. The results for campus-wide senators and senators representing individual colleges were also announced. The runoff election for president and vice president will take place on Thursday, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Students can vote through Cowbell Connect. |
| Department of Music at MSU announces lineup of spring events, audition dates | |
 | Mississippi State's Department of Music is hosting a variety of concerts this spring, showcasing the talents of its students, faculty and guest artists. Select events are ticketed to provide much-needed resources for creative programming, guest artist honorariums, technical and academic support services, and sheet music. For box office information for each event calendar listing, visit www.music.msstate.edu/events. A complete listing of the Department of Music's spring events is available at www.music.msstate.edu/events. |
| Mississippi weather: When will extreme cold warning and cold weather advisory lift? | |
 | Parts of Mississippi are still getting the last of a few flurries from a snow storm that's hit the central U.S. and will continue moving toward the eastern seaboard this week. The weather system brought an Arctic air blast from the polar vortex that will stay for a few days, and much of Mississippi will be under a cold weather advisory Wednesday and into Thursday. Forecasters at weather.com said more than 100 record lows could be set, including along the Gulf Coast. National Weather Service data said some snow was still falling around Memphis and Greenwood as the system rolled out of the state Wednesday morning. Some areas of the Magnolia State will be under extreme cold warnings. Wind chills as low as 10 degrees below zero could affect parts of North Mississippi, East Arkansas and West Tennessee. Wind chills could drop temps to the teens or single digits in other parts of the state, leading the National Weather Service to issue cold weather advisories. |
| Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann collapses on Mississippi Senate floor | |
| On Wednesday morning, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann was seen collapsing at the Senate podium, appearing to be unconscious as he fell while presiding over the chamber. As seen on the Senate floor video stream, a number of lawmakers and aids rushed to the podium to assist the chamber president, calling for medical personnel to come to the scene. Sen. Josh Harkins, R-Flowood, quickly spurred a motion for the floor to recess as Hosemann was being cared for. Sources told SuperTalk Mississippi News that Hosemann "appeared to be conscious" shortly after the incident. Hosemann's office said a statement on the incident will be released shortly. |
| Governor calls Senate tax reform a non-starter | |
| We've been working to keep you updated on the proposed plans at the State Capitol that could change the way you pay taxes. Just last week, we showed the comparisons between the House and Senate plans. Now that the Senate is showing its cards on tax reform, the divide is being made clear. Governor Tate Reeves gave an endorsement of the House tax plan during his State of the State address. The Senate plan stops shy of full elimination of the income tax. The governor said in a social media post that makes it a "non-starter" for him. House Ways and Means Committee chairman Rep. Trey Lamar says it's not just a line in the sand for Reeves. "Yeah, not eliminating the income tax is a non-starter for the House, as well," said Rep. Lamar. "That's a key proponent of our proposal." However, Senate Finance Committee chairman Sen. Josh Harkins says they're not opposed to getting to elimination at some point. "I think we're just taking bites of the apple like 41 other states that have an income tax have done," said Harkins. Lamar says there are a few things they're willing to work with the Senate on but they won't agree to a plan that doesn't end in doing away with the income tax. Meanwhile, the Senate says they wanted to cut taxes immediately and consistently. "It's a responsible tax cut that puts more money back in the hands of taxpayers," added Harkins. |
| Senator Wiggins questions Auditor's spending, attempts to reduce department budget by $2 million | |
| During Tuesday's Senate Appropriations Committee meeting, one senator offered an amendment to cut the State Auditor's Office special funds budget by $2 million following the payment for a report the agency said was targeting "waste, fraud and abuse" in state government. The bill, SB 3047, intends to set the total appropriation for the Department of Audit at about $14 million, Senator John Polk (R) explained during the meeting. Of that total, roughly $5.2 million was from special funds, according to the bill. State Senator Brice Wiggins (R) took issue with the Auditor's office contracting with Boston Consulting Group for $2 million. Auditor Shad White (R) has defended the contract as necessary to identity questionable spending practices in state government. According to Senator Polk, the invoice for the consulting work "has already been paid." Polk noted that the Auditor "escalated his own budget to do that." "The agency took upon themselves to escalate the special fund authority?" Wiggins asked, to which Polk replied, "That's correct." "Well, have we done anything in this bill to reimburse the taxpayers of Mississippi?" Wiggins continued in his inquiry. Polk responded by saying, "We have not." Wiggins then submitted an amendment to take $2 million from the State Auditor special funds "to reimburse the taxpayers of the State of Mississippi." Senator Wiggins' amendment to the Auditor's budget ultimately died after a lengthy discussion. |
| Legislature sends governor bill allowing direct wine shipment to Mississippi homes | |
| A bill to legalize direct shipment of some wines to Mississippians' homes will soon be considered by Republican Gov. Tate Reeves. After supporters fought for over a decade to get the Legislature to agree to the proposal, both chambers finally approved Senate Bill 2145. This bill allows citizens to order specialty or rare wines that cannot be purchased at Mississippi package stores. Mississippi is one of only a handful of states that doesn't allow direct shipment. House State Affairs Chairman Hank Zuber, R-Ocean Springs, told House members on Tuesday that some Mississippians circumvent state law by ordering wine from other states or countries, having it shipped to a friend's house in another state and driving over to pick it up. "Make no mistake, this is happening now, and we are not collecting the tax revenue," Zuber said. If signed into law by Reeves, the legislation would enact a 15.5% tax on direct wine shipments and put a cap of 12 cases per year that a person can order. |
| 'Intoxicating hemp' ban bills pass Senate, House. Bills aimed at convenience store products | |
 | Separate pieces of legislation to ban intoxicating hemp products in Mississippi have passed both the House and Senate and will now be mulled over in the other chamber. By the legislative deadline to pass bills out of the chamber they were filed in, the House passed House Bill 1502, which would ban the currently unregulated sale of THC-derivative hemp products such as Delta 8, which is derived from hemp. Specifically, it would ban hemp products from having anymore than 0.3% of any type of THC derived from hemp, ban the sale of synthetic hemps such as Delta 8 THC and also require all hemp products be sold to people who are at least 21 years old. Hemp beverages would be excluded from the ban and actually codified into state law. The bill would also designate the Mississippi State Department of Health to regulate hemp products in Mississippi. Rep. Lee Yancey, R-Brandon, told the Clarion Ledger the bill was attempted last year but died in the Senate. At its core, the intent is to remove what he called dangerous products that are unregulated and untested from convenience stores throughout Mississippi where they are currently being sold. |
| Senate passes Miss. Dept. of Corrections appropriation topping $450 million | |
| The Mississippi Department of Corrections budget for Fiscal Year 2026 could total more than $450.5 million dollars, some $12.5 million less than the prior year, if the legislation passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee Tuesday morning becomes law. After questions ranging from the cost of aging facilities to reimbursement programs for medical expenses, the committee passed a bill that appropriates $419,769,725 from the general fund and another $30,739,901 from special funds. Mississippi has one of the nation's highest incarnation rates per capita. As of February 11, 2025, the state housed 19,174 inmates, according to MDOC. During committee debate, Senator Brice Wiggins (R) closely questioned Senator Scott DeLano (R), chairman of the Appropriations Committee's corrections subcommittee, about the corrections healthcare contractor. DeLano said the new contracts "were a little bit higher than we anticipated," adding, "There are some teeth put into his particular contract for performance and some opportunities for claw backs to come back into the general fund." DeLano said the additional $4 million for the contract award is for a shorter term than usual. "I expect us to have some changes in it next time we go out for bid," he said. |
| The USAID shutdown is upending livelihoods for nonprofit workers, farmers and other Americans | |
 | There's the executive in a U.S. supply-chain company whose voice breaks while facing the next round of calls telling employees they no longer have jobs. And a farmer in Missouri who grew up knowing that a world with more hungry people is a world that's more dangerous. And a Maryland-based philanthropy, founded by Jews who fled pogroms in Eastern Europe, is shutting down much of its more than 120-year-old mission. Beyond the impact of the Trump administration's dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, some 14,000 agency employees and foreign contractors as well as hundreds of thousands of people receiving aid abroad -- many American businesses, farms and nonprofits -- say the cutoff of U.S. money they are owed has left them struggling to pay workers and cover bills. Some face financial collapse. U.S. organizations do billions of dollars of business with USAID and the State Department, which oversee more than $60 billion in foreign assistance. More than 80% of companies that have contracts with USAID are American, according to aid data company DevelopmentAid. The Soybean Innovation Lab at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign -- a lab that works with processers, food manufacturers and seed and fertilizer companies to expand soybean usage in 31 countries -- is set to close in April unless it gets a last-minute reprieve. Peter Goldsmith, director and principal investigator at the Soybean Innovation Lab, said the group has helped open international markets to U.S. farmers and made the crop more prevalent in Africa. Goldsmith said innovation labs at other land grant universities also are closing. Without them, Goldsmith worries about what will happen in the countries where they worked -- what other actors may step in, or whether conflict will result. |
| USDA rushing to rescind mistaken firings of key bird flu response personnel | |
 | The U.S. Department of Agriculture is scrambling to rehire "several" fired employees who play a key role in the agency's response to bird flu, an agency spokesperson has acknowledged. NBC News first reported the story, quoting a USDA spokesperson, who it did not name, as saying the firings were accidental. "Although several positions supporting (bird flu efforts) were notified of their terminations over the weekend, we are working to swiftly rectify the situation and rescind those letters," NBC quoted the spokesman, whom it did not name, as saying Tuesday. "USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service frontline positions are considered public safety positions, and we are continuing to hire the workforce necessary to ensure the safety and adequate supply of food to fulfill our statutory mission." The news of the mistaken firings comes as President Donald Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, led by billionaire Elon Musk. slashes the federal workforce, including by laying off many employees throughout the government who had not yet completed their probationary hiring periods. Speaking to USDA employees as she took office Friday, Trump's newly confirmed agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins, said she was welcoming DOGE's efforts to streamline the department "because we know that its work makes us better, stronger, faster, and more efficient." |
| Agency firings prompt worries about preparedness, FDA inspectors | |
 | Ongoing firings at the Department of Health and Human Services and its subagencies will likely impact a sweeping number of agency functions ranging from pandemic preparedness to food and drug inspections, experts say. Just days after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was sworn in as secretary of Health and Human Services, the department began firing a host of employees. The layoffs, which occurred throughout the agencies, started on Friday, and some estimates put the number in the thousands. HHS confirmed on Friday that cuts were occurring but declined to provide details on which positions would be affected or how it was determined which positions would be cut. In an interview with Laura Ingraham on Thursday, Kennedy said that he would be "surprised" if staffing cuts at HHS reached 50 percent, noting that a cut of that magnitude would account for about 90,000 employees. In Congress, Democrats are pushing back against the staffing cuts. Some Republicans, including Sens. Katie Britt of Alabama and Susan Collins of Maine, have called into question Trump administration actions to cut how much the NIH will cover in indirect research costs. Few, if any, have addressed the staffing cuts yet. Mary Woolley, the CEO of Research!America, a nonprofit research advocacy group, said in a statement Friday that the group is "deeply concerned" that cutting staffing numbers will hinder medical progress. |
| After ceding power of the purse, GOP lawmakers beg Trump team for funds | |
 | Republican senators find themselves in an unusual position these days: begging Trump officials to release funds they themselves appropriated. Senators have in recent days made the case to Cabinet secretaries and other Trump officials to let money flow back into their states. They are trying to finagle exceptions to President Donald Trump's sweeping executive orders or cuts made by billionaire Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service that freeze hundreds of billions of dollars, including money for farmers and infrastructure projects. That push comes as the administration has also sought to fire a wide swath of federal employees -- some of whom live in red states. Even as many Republicans praise the ultimate goal of streamlining the federal government, some GOP senators spanning the ideological spectrum from Katie Boyd Britt (Alabama) to Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) have lobbied the Trump administration to reconsider its cuts or pauses to federal grants that support biomedical research and labs, or for programs supporting Native American tribes. It's a humbling turn of events for a body that has traditionally prized its power of the purse. The aggressive move to cut spending unilaterally "negates Congress's hard-won power over appropriations," said Jessica Riedl, a budget expert with the conservative Manhattan Institute think tank, who predicted lawmakers were "afraid" to more forcefully grab back their appropriations power given Trump's popularity with the GOP base. "Eventually Congress is going to have to take back its power of the purse rather than nicely asking the administration for favors," she said. |
| Trump moves swiftly on his agenda in a departure from his first-term stumbles | |
| Months into his first term as president, Donald Trump was furious with the snowballing Russia investigation and ordered White House counsel Don McGahn to make sure that special counsel Robert Mueller got fired. "Mueller has to go," McGahn recalled Trump saying. "Call me back when you do it." But McGahn didn't do it, and Trump didn't even bring it up the next time they saw each other. Such incidents were common during Trump's initial experience in the White House, where officials would soften or ignore his most outrageous decisions and the president seemed unwilling to enforce his will. It's hard to imagine the same thing happening during Trump's second term. Instead of repeating his laissez-faire attitude toward his own administration, the Republican president is asserting control at every opportunity, backed up by loyalists at all levels of government. Despite occasional disorganization and confusion, there's a headstrong determination to push through any obstacles. Trump doesn't just want to change course from Joe Biden's presidency, his team is holding back congressionally authorized funding championed by his Democratic predecessor. Not only did Trump officials tell the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to stop working, his team set up a tip line so people could report unauthorized actions taken by staff at the agency. Trump wasn't satisfied with simply firing all the board members at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He made himself chairman. This time, Trump seems to be saying, his orders will not be ignored. This time, there will be follow through. |
| Trump Torpedoes Senate Border Effort, Urges GOP to Back 'Big, Beautiful' House Bill | |
 | President Trump said he wants border spending, tax relief and spending cuts passed in one bill led by House Republicans, undercutting the Senate's efforts to quickly pass a narrower measure and throwing another wrench into what has become a messy effort to advance his agenda. In a social-media post, Trump dug in behind a plan to combine all of his legislative priorities and a debt-ceiling increase -- into a single "big, beautiful bill." Republicans have been playing chicken on the dueling approaches for weeks. Trump's one-bill push came just days before the Senate was set to vote on jump-starting a bill focused on border and defense spending. The Senate plan would leave until later the tax portion, which would extend 2017 tax cuts and aim to fulfill Trump campaign promises such as no taxes on tips. Trump threw cold water on the budget blueprint devised in the Senate under Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) and said that a separate House approach was preferable because it "implements my FULL American First Agenda, EVERYTHING, not just parts of it!" Graham's plan calls for $342 billion in new spending over four years, paired with an equal amount of spending cuts. Senate Republicans argue that they are funding immediate priorities and that they need more time to work on complicated tax policy before the Dec. 31 deadline when tax cuts from 2017 are set to expire. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R., Mo.), who has been lobbying for a single package, immediately seized on Trump's remarks as validation of his own strategy. |
| Trump's Pivot Toward Putin's Russia Upends Generations of U.S. Policy | |
 | For more than a decade, the West has faced off against the East again in what was widely called a new cold war. But with President Trump back in office, America is giving the impression that it could be switching sides. Even as American and Russian negotiators sat down together on Tuesday for the first time since Moscow's full-fledged invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago, Mr. Trump has signaled that he is willing to abandon America's allies to make common cause with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. As far as Mr. Trump is concerned, Russia is not responsible for the war that has devastated its neighbor. Mr. Trump is in the middle of executing one of the most jaw-dropping pivots in American foreign policy in generations, a 180-degree turn that will force friends and foes to recalibrate in fundamental ways. Ever since the end of World War II, a long parade of American presidents saw first the Soviet Union and then, after a brief and illusory interregnum, its successor Russia as a force to be wary of, at the very least. Mr. Trump gives every appearance of viewing it as a collaborator in future joint ventures. "It's a disgraceful reversal of 80 years of American foreign policy," said Kori Schake, who is the director of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute and was a national security aide to President George W. Bush. |
| Elon Musk looks beyond Washington toward Wisconsin | |
 | A group with ties to Elon Musk is pouring more than $1 million into Wisconsin's upcoming Supreme Court race -- a sign that even as Musk races to overhaul Washington, his influence extends beyond it. Musk has directly boosted the Republican-backed candidate in the Wisconsin race on his powerful X platform. And a Republican-aligned group, Building America's Future, is spending at least $1.5 million in the state, with ads set to start running later this week. Musk has donated to the group in the past, and it has backed some of President Donald Trump's controversial Cabinet picks. The new rush of money comes as Democrats put up strong performances in small-bore special elections since Trump took office. The high-stakes Wisconsin bellwether race will be the biggest test yet for both parties -- and for Musk, who spent millions of dollars to help Trump win the election and is now looking to influence politics in the states. It's officially a nonpartisan race, but the Supreme Court weighs in on major questions including redistricting, abortion and labor rights. Democrat-aligned Susan Crawford faces GOP-backed Brad Schimel, and the outcome will determine whether liberals or conservatives control the state's highest court. The engagement from Musk and money from Building America's Future are part of a broader national interest in the Wisconsin election --- and state Supreme Court races across the map. As more and more political fights are decided by the courts, parties and outside groups see state court elections as increasingly potent centers of power. |
| MUW's Music Therapy Clinic hosts Little Music Makers | |
 | For its 5th semester, Mississippi University for Women's Music Therapy Clinic is hosting Little Music Makers. Musical therapy uses music for whatever needs an individual or a group may have. This 12-week program hosts children four and younger each Tuesday from 9:30 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. For Carmen Osburn, Musical Therapy is a passion she loves to share with others. One of her favorite parts is the Little Music Makers group. And these children are learning much more than how to carry a tune. They are strengthening their cognitive skills. "We work on developmental milestones, sharing, passing things around a circle, starting and stopping, impulse control, emotional expression, we work on academic skills like colors and animals and physical skills, motor skills, head, shoulders, knees and toes, that kinds of thing. And it's just really a fun time and a good way for the parents to bond with their kids musically," Osburn said. The activities are adaptable for children of all developmental levels and inclusive for those with special needs. |
| University delays opening until 10 a.m. | |
 | The University of Mississippi's Oxford campus delayed opening today, Feb. 19, until 10 a.m due to winter weather that swept through the area last night. A university release directed students to check Blackboard for updates from their instructors on how the delay may impact their courses. They also directed employees who live in vulnerable areas to discuss flexible options with their supervisors. OUT Buses will begin operating at 9:30 a.m. Regional campuses are also on a delay, unless the host campus is closed. Students should check the respective host campus website for updates. |
| Ole Miss research uses AI to make infrastructure more resilient | |
| From predicting potholes to designing more durable concrete, artificial intelligence is paving the way for smarter infrastructure, a University of Mississippi researcher says. Ali Behnood, assistant professor of civil engineering, has dedicated more than 10 years to this field of study. He has contributed to more than 60 published research articles about the role of artificial intelligence in sustainable infrastructure. "The goal of our team in the NextGen Infrastructure Lab is to move toward the next generation of sustainable and resilient infrastructure," he said. "We're trying to optimize the use of recycled materials, industrial by-products, renewable resources and alternative sustainable materials in construction while reducing not only physical cost, but labor costs, energy costs, environmental impact costs and lifecycle maintenance expense as well." State and local governments spent more than $206 billion on maintaining the nation's roads in 2021, and the U.S. Department of Transportation in 2023 reported nearly $1 trillion in backlog repairs and maintenance needed for roads and bridges. Optimizing asphalt mixtures could reduce maintenance costs and extend the lifespan of these roads. |
| Mississippi Researchers Investigate Growing Tick-Borne Allergy to Red Meat | |
| Mississippians are no strangers to ticks, but residents of the Magnolia State may be surprised to learn that these pesky parasites are capable of spreading a food allergy that makes red meat particularly hazardous. The allergy, known as alpha-gal syndrome, affects hundreds of thousands of Americans and is particularly prevalent in the southeastern United States, where ticks thrive due to the warm, humid climate. University of Southern Mississippi researchers are among the many clinicians and scientists working to understand the allergy, which can prompt anaphylactic reactions to foods like beef, pork or lamb. It can also cause reactions to products made from mammals, including gelatin and some pharmaceuticals, including snake antivenoms. Dr. Shahid Karim, a Southern Miss biology professor, studies ticks and the numerous diseases the tiny arachnids can spread to their hosts. He began studying alpha-gal syndrome in 2015 after hearing about it from a colleague. |
| State Treasurer visits Meridian Community College Workforce Development Center | |
 | State Treasurer David McRae visited and toured the Meridian Community College Workforce Development Center Tuesday. This is part of a tour the Treasurer is doing around the state of Mississippi, promoting the state's career and college savings plan, and their emphasis on the "career" part of the plan. McRae said he's impressed with the good work happening at MCC, and he's proud to be offering programs to help students in trade programs as well as Mississippi's four year colleges. "What I've seen is a great drive by community colleges to help vocational training, to help young men and women find jobs. As I was touring today, the main question I kept asking, do all these kids have a job upon completing the program? The answer was yes, they have a job, and I think every parent wants their kid to graduate from whatever program they're in and have a job, and these are great paying jobs as a result," said McRae. |
| Thompson named 2025 Humanities Teacher of the Year at MCC | |
 | Meridian Community College English instructor Amanda Thompson has been named the college's 2025 Humanities Teacher of the Year, and as part of the honor, Thompson will present the talk, "Stories that Save Us: Teaching Elie Wiesel and the Holocaust," on Friday, Feb. 21, at 9:30 a.m. in McCain Theater on the MCC campus. Thompson, who has taught at MCC for 12 years, will explore the impact of Wiesel's little-known story "The Watch," and how it helps students connect with the Holocaust on a personal level. Her passion for teaching the Holocaust stems from Wiesel's fears that future generations would forget its history. "He wrote in 1970 that adolescents were beginning to dismiss the past. His words haunted him, and they should haunt us," Thompson said. "By teaching this history, I ensure my students cannot say they have never heard of Auschwitz." She hopes her presentation will show how literature connects people to experiences beyond their own. A Starkville native, Thompson earned her undergraduate degree in secondary English education and a master's in English from Mississippi State University. Before joining MCC, she taught high school English at Northeast High School and worked as an adjunct instructor at Mississippi State University-Meridian. |
| Tenured university professors would face review, possible termination under Kentucky GOP bill | |
| Kentucky colleges and universities could get a new avenue to fire professors under proposed legislation that passed out of a House committee on Tuesday. Republican Rep. James Tipton from Taylorsville is the chair of the House committee on postsecondary education, and the sponsor of House Bill 424. He said his bill is not an attack on tenure, but an opportunity to terminate employees who fail to meet certain performance standards. "There are many protections that tenure offers professors, like freedom of speech, academic freedom. This in no way impacts that," Tipton said. Several professors and college students who attended the meeting opposed the bill, saying they believed it is an attempt to weaken faculty protections under tenure. They urged lawmakers to vote no. State laws already allow universities to fire professors for "incompetency, neglect of or refusal to perform his duty, or for immoral conduct." Savannah Dowell, a junior at the University of Louisville said she perceives the bill as an attack on the state's postsecondary institutions. She said tenure is critical to maintaining the academic integrity of Kentucky colleges. "Faculty are already leaving our institutions under an increasingly hostile political environment, and further barriers to tenure would deter the highest quality faculty from seeking employment here in Kentucky," Dowell said. "I cannot tell you just how much our universities would suffer under this bill." |
| 'We're bringing 'Bridgerton' to Knoxville': Era-based TV craze helps fund English scholars at U. of Tennessee | |
 | The University of Tennessee at Knoxville, amidst modernizing its campus for the future, has leveraged a resurging interest in one of the English department's most-examined historical periods to serve students a grand night out, with a side of scones and scholarships. Two hundred and fifty years since the birth of Jane Austen, the English novelist is still popular among young literary scholars -- so much so that the English department revived an elegant ball in her honor, with net proceeds going toward scholarships for first-year English majors. "It's just one of those events where you see the happiness of people, and you see the joy," Gerard Cohen-Vrignaud, director of undergraduate studies in the English department, said about the Jane Austen Regency Ball. "Reading is kind of a solitary act, and the ball really allows us to see how much we share this with other people -- this love for these texts and for this period that Austen's novels take us to. I really just like that communal energy." The ball took over one floor of the James D. Hoskins Library with era-inspired decorations, live music and a "caller" to teach guests dances from the Regency Era (1811-1820 and considered more broadly as 1795-1837). The immersive experience staged actors around the library with unique scripts tailored to each day of the weekend event Feb. 15-16. |
| Bills flesh out Arkansas governor's higher-education overhaul proposal | |
| Arkansas lawmakers filed two identical 122-page bills late Monday afternoon seeking to enact the governor's higher-education overhaul plan. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced her Arkansas ACCESS proposal on Friday, but the bills weren't filed until about 5 p.m. Monday by Republicans Sen. Jonathan Dismang of Searcy and Rep. Matthew Shepherd of El Dorado. As expected, the bills address higher-education funding, admissions policies, course credit and scholarships. They also would prohibit diversity initiatives and so-called "indoctrination" and allow the revocation of tenure for professors who receive less-than-adequate performance evaluations. Institutions of higher education also would not be allowed to grant excused absences for students to attend political protests, advocate for social or public policy or to try to influence government policy. The legislation also forbids colleges, universities and two-year programs from authorizing student walkouts for any of those purposes. The same prohibitions would apply to high school students, according to the bills. In its length and complexity, Arkansas ACCESS -- which stands for acceleration, common sense, cost, eligibility, scholarships and standardization -- mirrors Sanders' LEARNS Act omnibus bill in 2023. |
| U. of Missouri rolls out new 'surge pricing' parking | |
 | The University of Missouri is rolling out its new demand-based parking plan with informational sessions for faculty and staff and a five-day pilot test of expanded shuttle routes. The new plan will divide MU's parking lots and structures into pricing tiers based on demand for location, with rates ranging from $10 to $105, according to previous Missourian reporting. It will also expand MU's shuttle services for faculty, staff and students. For faculty and staff who wish to change their parking location, a first-come, first-served "parking permit election period" will be held April 14 to 18. In this period, MU employees may request changes to their current parking locations and review rates associated with new lots. Faculty and staff who have existing permits and aren't interested in moving will be guaranteed a space in their original location. Under the new plan, MU will also expand shuttle services with new routes and more frequent shuttles. There will be a minimum of seven shuttles in service between 5 a.m. and 8 p.m. running every 15 to 20 minutes, said MU spokesperson Travis Zimpfer. |
| National Science Foundation fires roughly 10% of its workforce | |
 | The National Science Foundation fired 168 employees on Tuesday. According to an NSF spokesperson, the firings are to ensure compliance with President Trump's executive order aimed at reducing the federal workforce in the name of efficiency. Prior to the firings, about 1,700 staff worked at NSF, managing their $9 billion federal budget that funds research on everything from astrophysics to civil engineering. Staff were called to an emergency meeting at 10 a.m. ET, held on Zoom and in person, where they were told by Micah Cheatham, NSF's chief management officer, that they'd be terminated by the end of the day, without severance. According to sources who were present, NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan, who ordered the firings, did not attend the meeting. "Firing talented people, including scientists, who have already invested a year or two with the agency is a waste of resources," says Neal Lane, who served as director of the NSF from 1993 to 1998. "The U.S. needs more scientists, engineers and other technical talent. These firings will cause many of them to leave the field." With fewer staff, grant reviews and awards will slow down or stall out, employees told NPR. Ultimately, that will delay new discoveries that could improve people's lives or scientists' understanding of the natural world. "These arbitrary firings and failure of leadership directly impact the agency's ability to evaluate and fund good science," says Mary Feeney, a public policy researcher at Arizona State University. |
| National Science Foundation Fires 168 Workers as Federal Purge Continues | |
 | The National Science Foundation fired nearly 170 workers in a Zoom call on Tuesday morning as part of the Trump administration's agenda to reduce the federal workforce. The terminated workers, who were told their employment would end at 5 pm EST today, included those still under probation, but also workers who had already completed the requisite one-year probationary period to become permanent workers and at-will workers who were considered permanent employees. Earlier this month, however, these permanent workers were suddenly told by NSF that their one-year probationary period should have been two years and they were no longer safe from being terminated. The Trump administration has ordered federal agencies to fire nearly all probationary employees who had not yet gained permanent status, thereby receiving civil service protections. But NSF workers who believed they were safe suddenly found themselves without jobs today. Many of the people terminated on Tuesday work as program managers and experts who make decisions about funding by aligning research proposals with the right program and matching those proposals to the most qualified reviewers to assess them and make recommendations. "It is hard to imagine this being accomplished successfully with automated algorithms," one fired program manager told WIRED. "With fewer program officers to steward the evaluation process, the overwhelming concern is that it will become harder to identify and support the transformative but unconventional projects that could otherwise be game changers in terms of advancing scientific progress in the USA." |
| Science under siege: Trump cuts threaten to undermine decades of research | |
 | "This is simply the end." That was the five-word message that Rick Huganir, a neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, received from a colleague just before 6 p.m. two Fridays ago, with news that would send a wave of panic through the scientific community. When Huganir clicked on the link in the email, from fellow JHU neuroscientist Alex Kolodkin, he saw a new National Institutes of Health policy designed to slash federal spending on the indirect costs that keep universities and research institutes operating, including for new equipment, maintenance, utilities and support staff. "Am I reading this right 15%??" Huganir wrote back in disbelief, suddenly worried the cut could stall 25 years of work. In 1998, Huganir discovered a gene called SYNGAP1. About 1% of all children with intellectual disabilities have a mutation of the gene. He's working to develop drugs to treat these children, who often have learning differences, seizures and sleep problems. He said his research is almost entirely reliant on NIH grants. The search for a cure for these rare disorders is a race against time, because researchers think treatment will be most effective if administered when patients are children. "We're developing therapeutics for the kids and may have a therapeutic that could be curing these kids in the next several years, but that research is going to be compromised," Huganir said in an interview, estimating that scientists in his field could start a Phase 1 clinical trial within the next five years. "Any delay or anything that inhibits our research is devastating to the parents." From cancer researchers to those working in maternal health, Huganir's predicament is familiar to many scientists across the country right now. |
| Federal Funding Uncertainty Prompts Hiring Freezes | |
 | Facing financial unknowns associated with President Donald Trump's attempted overhaul of higher education -- including proposed caps on federal health research funding -- universities are scrambling to minimize the financial fallout. Even some of the wealthiest universities in the nation have already frozen hiring, paused graduate admissions and taken other actions as officials estimate the potential damage if the National Institutes of Health plan to cap reimbursements for indirect research costs moves ahead. Currently the Trump administration's plan to cap indirect expenses at 15 percent of direct research costs is on hold after a federal judge blocked the move amid a legal challenge. The administration has justified the move as a major cost-saving initiative, but it's sent shock waves through institutions that rely heavily on this funding. As research universities brace for potential financial impact, the most common action seems to be freezing hiring or requiring additional approvals for bringing in new faculty or staff. North Carolina State University announced a hiring freeze last week in a message from executive vice chancellor and provost Warwick Arden, citing the impact of Trump's executive orders and other guidance, the potential shutdown of the federal government on March 14 and other state financial challenges. |
| Department of Education contract cuts spur 'chaos and confusion' | |
 | More than a billion dollars of government contracts at the Department of Education has been cut, a move the Trump administration argues gets rid of "woke" wasteful spending as others sound the alarm on educational research and learning outcomes for students. Most of the cuts happened to the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), which focuses on research and how schools can operate and teach kids better. In addition, on Monday, the department announced $600 million in cuts to what it called "divisive" teacher training grants. "It's devastating for, well, certainly the education research and development community. In my work, we do a fair amount of projects with education researchers, people who innovate and create new educational tools, and we are hearing from that community that this is just chaos and confusion," said Tasha Hensley, policy director for the Learning Agency, an education research group. The cuts began on Feb. 11 at the IES, which administers the National Assessment of Educational Progress and focuses on education research. But advocates say babies are getting thrown out with the bathwater. The concerns come as the recent Nation's Report Card showed fourth and eighth graders are still struggling in reading and math, with the gaps between high achieving and low achieving students growing. |
| Higher Ed Policy Groups Push Back on Trump's Anti-DEI Guidance | |
| Higher education groups including the American Council on Education, EdTrust and the American Association of University Professors are urging colleges and universities to stay calm and not overreact to the latest guidance issued by the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights late Friday. The Dear Colleague letter, signed by Craig Trainor, the office's acting assistant secretary, outlined a sweeping interpretation of the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which struck down affirmative action in admissions. The new letter declared all race-conscious student programming, resources and financial aid illegal and threatened to investigate and rescind federal funding for any institution that does not comply within 14 days. But policy experts have been quick to assure institutions that the letter does not hold the same power as legislation, a court ruling or even executive regulations. "To be abundantly clear, Dear Colleague letters are not law. They are simply statements of intent by executive agencies about how they intend to interpret the law," Ted Mitchell, president of ACE, told an audience of nearly 5,000 stakeholders who tuned in to an ACE live policy briefing Tuesday. "And so overcompliance, anticipatory compliance, pre-emptive compliance, is not a strategy. The strategy needs to be much more considered, much more nuanced," he added. A footnote within the letter affirms this, saying, "This guidance does not have the force and effect of law and does not bind the public or create new legal standards." ACE leaders also noted that even if colleges attempted to scrub all race- or ethnicity-based programming, affinity groups and scholarships, it would be impossible to do so in such a short time frame. |
| Ed. Dept.'s Broad DEI Warning Puts College Leaders in 'Enormously Complicated Situation' | |
 | The Department of Education's recent Dear Colleague letter calling for the elimination of all race-conscious initiatives in higher education leaves college leaders with the difficult decision to determine in just two weeks which diversity efforts on their campus could be deemed exclusionary. Friday's letter interprets the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling prohibiting the consideration of race in admissions to include other initiatives, such as the use of race in hiring, student housing, scholarships, financial aid, graduation ceremonies, and student life. The Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights said colleges must comply with these new rules by February 28, after which OCR will begin citing noncompliant colleges and rescind federal funding. Higher-education lawyers say that the letter is not a legal order and may face challenges in federal court. The OCR's letter itself states that its guidance "does not have the force and effect of law and does not bind the public or create new legal standards." But the letter also threatens imminent enforcement of the Trump administration's broad interpretation of federal law. The letter also lets colleges know how OCR will investigate civil-rights complaints on college campuses. Colleges shouldn't ignore the department's threat of pulling federal funding over race-conscious initiatives, lawyers said. "We have always advised our clients to take action when a federal agency asks them to," Cori Mishkin, a higher-education lawyer with Reed Smith LLP, said. "That's part of the legal requirement of receiving federal funding." |
| Uncertainty of Trump 2.0 reminds some college presidents of pandemic | |
| It's been a rough few weeks for college presidents -- rough enough they braved a big D.C. snowstorm to join forces in droves in the nation's capital. They roamed the halls of Congress last week, urging lawmakers to set aside partisan politics and support higher education after President Donald Trump's first month brought a chaotic whirlwind of executive actions their way. The White House has jeopardized billions of dollars in federal higher education funds. Scientists have been stopped from continuing lab work. Research programs have been scrapped. Contracts to publish key federal data about students were yanked overnight. Executive orders have led schools to scrub web pages and abandon outreach, for fear they might violate the president's directives to ban diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI. There's little precedent for such upheaval in the history of American higher education. Yet the tumult reminds some college presidents of the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. The unpredictability and wide-reaching impact of COVID-19 sparked similar anxiety among some students and faculty directly impacted by them, said Félix Matos Rodríguez, the chancellor of The City University of New York, at a conference panel Wednesday at The Kennedy Center. "The COVID example has been on my mind a lot," he said. |
| N.Y.U. College Republicans President Resigns After Remarks About Barron Trump | |
| The New York University chapter president of the College Republicans resigned this week, yielding to pressure from the national organization after she was prominently quoted in a Vanity Fair profile saying that Barron Trump, President Trump's youngest son, was "sort of like an oddity on campus." In the profile, published on Feb. 12, Kaya Walker, the chapter's president, suggested that the president's son, an 18-year-old freshman at N.Y.U., did not appear to be assimilating into campus life and was reclusive. "He goes to class, he goes home," she told the magazine. In the interview, Ms. Walker questioned whether the university, a liberal bastion in Greenwich Village with many famous Hollywood graduates, was the right fit for Mr. Trump's son. And, according to the magazine, she recalled how a professor had joked about his presence at N.Y.U. -- "he doesn't really belong here." Will Donahue, the president of the College Republicans of America, said in a statement on Tuesday that Ms. Walker had not obtained prior authorization from the national organization before speaking to Vanity Fair. Chapter presidents, he said, must get clearance before "engaging with media outlets known for editorial biases against conservative voices." Since his enrollment in 2024 at N.Y.U., where he is a first-year student at the Stern School of Business, Barron Trump has been a focus of intense fascination. In contrast with some of his half siblings, he is not active on social media and rarely makes public statements. |
| Ed Blum Takes a Victory Lap | |
| Edward Blum isn't quite a household name. But at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., he's a minor celebrity. The conservative think tank has played host to an array of high-profile politicos, pundits, journalists and businesspeople over the years: Bill Gates, Mike Pence, Jordan Peterson, the Dalai Lama. Blum, who took affirmative action to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2023 and won, spoke at the institute earlier this month about his decades of legal activism. It was something of a homecoming for the president of Students for Fair Admissions, who lives in Florida but has been a visiting fellow at AEI since 2005. It was also, in many ways, a victory lap. Since the court ruled in his favor in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and the University of North Carolina, Blum's vision of what he calls a "colorblind covenant in public policy" has been ascendant, and in the new Trump administration, Blum's zealous opposition to race-conscious programs has become a domineering force driving education policy. Over the weekend, the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights issued a letter outlining an expansive interpretation of the SFFA ruling and its plans to enforce a ban on all race-conscious programming in higher ed; colleges that don't comply in 14 days could lose their federal funding. Blum, who spoke with Inside Higher Ed before the OCR letter was published, believes that affirmative action has long been unpopular -- winning the public relations battle, he said, was "the easiest part of my job." Still, he said the political, legal and cultural backlash against affirmative action and DEI over the past few years was affirming. |
| US appeals court blocks Biden-era student debt relief plan | |
| A U.S. appeals court ruled on Tuesday that Democratic former President Joe Biden's administration lacked authority to pursue a student debt relief program designed to lower monthly payments for millions of borrowers and speed up loan forgiveness for some. The St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with seven Republican-led states that sued to block the U.S. Education Department's program, whose future was already in doubt with President Donald Trump back in the White House. The three-judge panel held that the Education Department exceeded its authority by trying to use a Higher Education Act provision that allows for income-based loan repayment plans to adopt debt forgiveness on the scale provided by Biden's Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan. That program was designed to provide more generous terms than past income-based repayment plans, with monthly payments dropping for some borrowers to as low as $0. It also provided debt forgiveness for some smaller loans in as few as 10 years, compared to the 20- or 25-year timeline under earlier rules. U.S. Circuit Judge L. Steven Grasz, appointed by Trump during his first term in office, said the Higher Education Act's text made clear that Congress only authorized repayment plans that lead to actual repayment of student loans. Grasz, whose opinion was joined by two fellow Republican-appointed judges, said the Biden administration had "gone well beyond this authority by designing a plan where loans are largely forgiven rather than repaid." |
| Legislature offers different fuel tax hike plans to maintain state road and bridge integrity | |
| Columnist Sid Salter writes: Both the Mississippi State Senate and the Miss. House of Representatives have passed measures designed to increase funds to maintain the state's roads and bridges. The plans differ in that under the Senate proposal, an additional 3 cents per year for 3 years (9 cents total by 2027) indexed for inflation. Senate leader estimated the increase would generate about $212 million a year for MDOT. On the other end of the State Capitol, House Bill 1 also contained new revenue for roads and bridges by adding a 5-cent sales tax on top of the excise tax. (This means that on a $3 gallon of gas, a consumer would pay 36.8 cents in federal and state excise taxes, plus 15 cents in sales tax by 2026). The estimated additional MDOT revenue under the House plan is between $300-$400 million. Lawmakers have come to this fork in the state's roads before. There's not a lot of serious debate that the state's roads and bridges need more maintenance and construction funds, and that current federal and state fuel tax revenues aren't working as fuel consumption decreases with improved mileage and the evolution of electric vehicles. The federal and state fuel tax system is failing on several fronts ... One key factor for rural Americans is the lack of public transportation as an alternative to driving. |
SPORTS
| Men's Basketball: The Final Horn: No. 21 State 70, No. 7 Texas A&M 54 | |
| An absolutely dominant second half paved the way for Mississippi State as the No. 21 Bulldogs took down No. 7 Texas A&M 70-54 on Tuesday night in Starkville. MSU, after trailing by one at the half, outscored the Aggies 40-23 over the final 20 minutes to claim the massive victory. A 14-3 State run out of the intermission provided the Dawgs with a double-digit advantage and set the tone for the rest of the game. The Aggies did pull back to within four with about nine minutes left. However, State responded in a big way down the stretch, thanks in large part to the heating up of Claudell Harris Jr. Harris hit a trio of 3s and scored 12 of his 15 total points over the last 6:24 of action to give his team plenty of cushion on the way to the triumph. The win improves MSU to 19-7 overall this season and 7-6 in Southeastern Conference action. While it's easy to point to the late production of Harris, as well as Josh Hubbard's team-high 25 points, the Dawg defense made sure the MSU offensive performances stood up. State held A&M to just 28 percent shooting as a team in the second half. Mississippi State will look for a third straight win as the Bulldogs travel to face another SEC foe. MSU battles Oklahoma on Saturday, Feb. 22. Tip time at the Lloyd Noble Center is set for noon CT and the game will be televised by SEC Network. |
| Josh Hubbard leads No. 21 Mississippi State to 70-54 win over No. 7 Texas A&M | |
| Josh Hubbard scored 25 points, reserve Claudell Harris Jr. added 12 of his 15 points in the second half, and No. 21 Mississippi State beat No. 7 Texas A&M 70-54 on Tuesday night. The Bulldogs (19-7, 7-6 Southeastern Conference) began the second half with a 14-3 run to grab control en route to their first win this season over a top-10 foe. Although Mississippi State was favored by 2 1/2 points according to BetMGM Sportsbook, its fans nonetheless celebrated by storming the court. Zhuric Phelps scored 13 points for Texas A&M (20-6, 9-4). Wade Taylor IV and C.J. Wilcher each had 11 points, but Wilcher was scoreless after halftime. The Bulldogs trailed 31-30 at the break. Hubbard opened the second-half scoring with a 3-pointer and Mississippi State never trailed again. Free-throw shooting helped the Bulldogs stay ahead. Hubbard was 10 of 11 from the line and the team finished 17 of 20. The Aggies suffered their biggest loss in league play this season. They had won four of their first six SEC road games. Mississippi State is at Oklahoma on Saturday. |
| A return to Bulldog Basketball: Mississippi State knocks off No. 7 Texas A&M, 70-54 | |
| At halftime on Tuesday against Top 10 foe Texas A&M, Mississippi State saw a familiar scene play out. Once again, the Bulldogs were right there involved in a highly-competitive game against one of the top teams in the country. But what changed this time around was State's increased intensity on the defensive end. And that brought about a different result in the end. Josh Hubbard had a game-high 25 points and Claudell Harris added 15 off the bench to lead No. 21 Mississippi State to a 70-54 victory over No. 7 Texas A&M at Humphrey Coliseum. The Bulldogs used a 14-3 run early in the second half to grab control en route to their first Top 10 win of the season. RJ Melendez added 10 points for the Bulldogs, who improved to 19-7 overall and 7-6 in the SEC. "The guys don't listen to me often but it was the last thing we talked about before we went out (to start the second half)," Jans recalled. "I said I don't won't anyone in the locker room talking about what we should have did. I want you to leave everything you got on the court. We've been in these situations and we got to come out of this gate and play hard because they're (Texas A&M) is going to. I didn't want our locker room to be like that where we are talking about what we should have done. They just had a great intensity and it started on the defensive end." |
| Men's Basketball: Bulldogs ride stellar second-half defense to win over No. 7 Texas A&M | |
 | Mississippi State had seen three top-10 teams march into Humphrey Coliseum this season and dictate the pace of the game. The Bulldogs were not about to let it happen a fourth time. Locked in a tight battle with No. 7 Texas A&M throughout the first half Tuesday night, No. 21 MSU took control in typical Chris Jans fashion. The Aggies had twice as many turnovers as made field goals in the second half, and the Bulldogs finally picked up a signature win with a 70-54 victory. "That's just Bulldog basketball," said Cameron Matthews, who leads the Southeastern Conference in steals and tied a season high with six Tuesday. "That's how we had been playing in the past, these past two years (since) Jans first got here. That's what we'd been missing, what we'd been lacking these last few games. This game, we got back to what we're used to doing." The Bulldogs head back on the road Saturday to face Oklahoma for their first meeting with the Sooners in five years and their first trip to Norman since 1996. "We've had some wins since we've arrived (in 2022) against top-10 teams, but for this particular team, it was needed," Jans said. "You need validation. We can talk until we're blue in the face, but after you do that, I would expect to have a different bounce in their step come Thursday when we start practice." |
| Texas A&M men's basketball loses at Mississippi State | |
 | A sloppy second half cost the No. 7 Texas A&M men's basketball team in a 70-54 loss at No. 21 Mississippi State on Tuesday night in Southeastern Conference play. The Aggies (20-6, 9-4 SEC) were held to a season-low scoring total in their largest margin of defeat this year and had their five-game winning streak snapped by the Bulldogs (19-7, 7-6 SEC). Fans stormed the court after the game. A&M led 31-30 at halftime, but started the second half ice cold. The Aggies were outscored 14-3 in the first 9 minutes, 28 seconds of the second half, had a 5:13 scoring drought and turned it over six times as the Bulldogs built a double-digit lead. A&M came within four points at 46-42 with 9:04 to go, but couldn't inch any closer. The Bulldogs led by as much as 18 at 70-52 with 1:30 remaining. Mississippi State made seven of its final nine shots to turn a close battle into a convincing victory. "I thought the first half was probably more like what everybody probably anticipated, more of a rock fight," A&M head coach Buzz Williams told reporters after the game. "If you're outscored 17 points in the second half, there's probably some outlier stat. I think ours would be turnovers. And there's different types of turnovers, but a lot of our turnovers in the second half were live ball turnovers." "They were great on both sides of the ball," Williams said. "I thought their defense for sure helped their offense and I thought our offense really hurt our defense." |
| Mississippi State shows grit, dominates second half to knock off Texas A&M | |
| It wasn't always pretty -- few games against No. 7 Texas A&M are -- but No. 21 Mississippi State found just enough grit and points to pull off its second consecutive big win. Mississippi State held Texas A&M to a season-low in points for the Aggies and a field-goal percentage of 36 in a 70-54 win. Josh Hubbard led the Bulldogs with 25 points, and Mississippi State stifled Texas A&M in the second half to come away with the win. "We obviously knew exactly how they were going to play, and you don't have a choice at times," Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans said. "We talked a lot about that. We're going to have to get in the trenches. The second half, we talked about the trenches going deeper and we've got to keep diving in there because that's the way they're going to pull us down. You've just got to accept it at times and you've got to do your best to match what they're doing, certainly trying to exceed it." "I'm happy that we're starting to play our best basketball," Claudell Harris Jr. said. "We aren't there yet, but it's a good sign that we're making uphill climbs going into March, March Madness. We've just got to keep building on this momentum going forward." |
| Mississippi State vs Texas A&M: Final score in college basketball | |
| Mississippi State basketball had tried but failed numerous times this season to beat a top 10 opponent. It finally got one on Tuesday. The No. 23 Bulldogs (19-7, 7-6 SEC) took care of No. 7 Texas A&M with a 70-54 win at Humphrey Coliseum. They are now 1-5 against top 10 teams this season. MSU trailed by one point at halftime. Sophomore guard Josh Hubbard brought his best in the second half with 18 points, including the team's first eight points. He finished with a team-leading 25 points. Reserve guard Claudell Harris Jr. scored 12 points in the second half, including three 3-pointers. |
| Mississippi State to promote Courtney Williams to assistant GM | |
| Mississippi State is set to promote Courtney Williams to assistant general manager of the football team, Matt Zenitz of 247Sports reported. Williams was the director of scouting for the Bulldogs the past two seasons. Prior to arriving in Starkville, he was the assistant director of player development at Memphis. Williams helped Mississippi State bring in the No. 22 recruiting class in the country this past season according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. Additionally, the Bulldogs brought in 24 players through the transfer portal to rank No. 39 according to On3. Williams will work with Marc Votteler, who is the Mississippi State general manager, to oversee recruiting and roster management. |
| Softball: Bernardini's Career Day Brings State Victory Over Samford | |
| Morgan Bernardini had a career day, going a perfect 3-for-3 with two extra base hits and driving in four of No. 17 Mississippi State's runs in a 6-1 victory against Samford on Tuesday. Bernardini's day started with a single in the second inning, and she came around to score on Riley Hull's two-run single. From there, she did all the damage. An RBI double in the third extended State's (10-1) lead to 3-0. After Samford homered in the top of the fifth, Bernardini launched her first career homer to plate three more runs. "Big swing for Mo, first career home run which is always really special," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "It's just so satisfying to see a player like her be rewarded. She's just one of those young women who does everything right." Mississippi State will travel to Huntsville, Alabama, this weekend for the Rocket City Softball Showcase hosted by the Rocket City Trash Pandas, a Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. Cold temperatures in the forecast have already altered the event's schedule. MSU will now open the tournament on Friday at Toyota Field against Jacksonville State at 7 p.m. State plays a doubleheader on Saturday against Louisiana Tech at 1 p.m. and North Alabama at 7 p.m. The Louisiana Tech game has been moved to the campus of UAH at Charger Stadium. To close the weekend, the Bulldogs meet Miami (Ohio) at 10 a.m. on Sunday. |
| Baseball: Mississippi State Falls in Hattiesburg | |
| The Mississippi State baseball team hit the road for the first road test of the season when they traveled to Hattiesburg to face Southern Miss. The Diamond Dawgs came up short in the contest as they were defeated, 3-0. Lukas Buckner led the offense with a pair of hits, the first multi-hit game of his career. Hunter Hines and Nolan Stevens added the other pair of hits to the total. Charlie Foster earned the midweek start and punched out three while surrendering a single hit in two innings of work. Ben Davis grabbed three innings of relief work and struck out four. Evan Siary, Robert Fortenberry and Chase Hungate all earned an inning of work. Mississippi State is back for a three-game series against Missouri State at Dudy Noble Field. Friday's first pitch is set for 4 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday slated for 1 p.m. The series will be broadcasted on SEC Network+. |
| Legislation creating turkey stamp program in Mississippi picking up steam | |
| Hunters may soon be required to purchase a turkey stamp before killing the wild birds in Mississippi. House Bill 553, authored by Byhalia Republican Rep. Bill Kinkade, cruised through its originating chamber and has been referred to a pair of Senate committees for consideration. Meanwhile, Senate Bill 2280, authored by Bruce Republican Sen. Ben Suber, breezed through its chamber and is being assessed in the House Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks Committee. Both pieces of legislation establish a wild turkey stamp program, mandating hunters 16 and older to purchase a specific permit to hunt turkeys in the state in addition to other necessary hunting licenses. The Mississippi Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks would be tasked with launching the wild turkey stamp and its electronic equivalent. For Mississippi residents, the turkey stamp would cost $10. The cost goes up to $100 for non-residents looking to hunt the feathered game in the Magnolia State. "The money raised by that turkey stamp is designated to be used solely for turkey conservation within the state," Frank Dantone with Mississippi's chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation said on SuperTalk Outdoors with Ricky Mathews. |
| CFP Insider: What sources are saying about playoff change | |
| For the second time in four months, conference leaders from the SEC and Big Ten will meet in person to discuss common ground during a critical decision-making period in college athletics. Wednesday's meeting in New Orleans will include discussions about the House vs. NCAA settlement and future NCAA governance, but it will also include important conversations about the College Football Playoff and what the two most powerful conferences want it to look like moving forward. In less than a week, the CFP's management committee will meet in Dallas to begin a thorough review of the inaugural 12-team field. Athletic directors in the Big Ten and SEC will first have a chance, though, to express their preferences to their respective commissioners before the Big Ten's Tony Petitti and SEC's Greg Sankey meet with their FBS peers. "I would imagine that coming out of that Big Ten-SEC meeting that they will come to the table with proposed governance, proposed format -- all of that," one CFP source said. "I think that's everybody's expectation, but I don't expect anything radical that hasn't already been discussed." While there is no guarantee that any firm decisions will be made, ESPN spoke to multiple sources that included athletic directors, commissioners and CFP sources about what they might learn this week. |
| Women's basketball players formed an advocacy group. They can't get a meeting. | |
| For more than six months, dozens of Division I women's basketball players have been quietly forming a players association, hoping to gain a say in a massive era of change for college sports. To do so, they have joined the United College Athletes Association, a nonprofit focused on athlete advocacy -- and notably not a union, seeing that efforts to unionize college athletes have been unsuccessful to this point. Then in late January, the players sent letters to the commissioners of the Big Ten and the SEC requesting a meeting to discuss a potential partnership for rulemaking and related matters. In all, 120 players signed the letters. The association, which mostly includes players from the two power conferences, has at least one rep from every Big Ten team and a majority of SEC programs. Both conferences declined to meet. In a response to Andrew Cooper, a UCAA co-founder and former D-I runner, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey noted that his conference is in regular communication with the SEC Women's Basketball Student-Athlete Leadership Council, which participates in meetings with the conference office, athletic directors and other school administrators. Tony Petitti, the Big Ten's commissioner, wrote in his response: "Given the personal relationships on campus, we encourage athletes to communicate directly with their coaches and athletic staff, who then coordinate on issues of concern with the Conference." The women's basketball players were not satisfied with this result. |
| Tennis participation grows to more than 25M players in the US even as pickleball's popularity surges | |
| Tennis participation in the United States rose to 25.7 million players in 2024, the sport's fifth consecutive year of growth, the U.S. Tennis Association said Wednesday, citing an analysis of numbers drawn from two studies not yet fully released. The jump of 1.9 million players from 2023's total of 23.8 million participants represents an 8% increase and means one in 12 Americans played tennis last year, the USTA said. USTA CEO Lew Sherr said his group -- which oversees tennis in the country and runs the annual U.S. Open Grand Slam tournament -- aims to get the sport's total participants in the United States to 35 million by 2035, which he calls "a goal that is both actionable and achievable." To help reach it, the USTA on Wednesday pledged $10 million in grants in 2025 "to help build, refurbish and extend playable hours on courts across the United States." That is up from last year's commitment of $1.2 million, which covered more than 500 courts open to the public. This is all against a backdrop of the surging popularity of pickleball, which has jumped from nearly no presence in the U.S. to more than 13 million Americans over three years, with its participation figures growing more than 200% in that span. Players under age 25 drove 45% of the growth in tennis participation last year, while those under 35 accounted for more than 60%. |
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