| Wednesday, March 19, 2025 |
| Education: Charting safer waters: MSU breaks ground on seafood testing facility | |
 | Mississippi State University officially broke ground March 10 on the Northern Gulf Aquatic Food Research Center, a first-of-its kind facility in Mississippi dedicated to aquatic food safety, quality assessment, processing and product development. The ceremony, hosted by the Jackson County Economic Development Foundation, or JCEDF, recognized more than five years of collaborative work with MSU on the multimillion-dollar facility. Construction of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, or MAFES, research center is a combined investment of $3 million from the federal RESTORE Act and $865,000 from the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, or GOMESA, as well as $4 million from the state to cover fixed equipment including walk-in coolers and freezers and fume hoods for the laboratory. "Mississippi State University is uniquely charged with serving the entire state of Mississippi, and we are very proud of the work we are doing on the Coast," MSU President Mark E. Keenum said. "We are grateful for the investments and the outstanding partners who have made the Northern Gulf Aquatic Food Research Center possible. It's a great example of what we can accomplish by working together to sustain and grow economic opportunities in our state and nation while being good stewards of our abundant natural resources." |
| Local Farmer and Agricultural Director discuss industry impact | |
 | From what you eat to what you wear, someone somewhere put in the work for you to enjoy it. On Tuesday, March 18, was National Agriculture Day. According to the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce, agriculture is the state's number one industry. Alex Thomasson is the director of the Agricultural Autonomy Institute at Mississippi State University. He said new technology is constantly advancing the industry. "We've got much more data now that really requires artificial intelligence to be able to analyze that type of data. And I think this propelling us to a new agriculture of the future that's focused on autonomous systems," said Thomasson. He said the lack of available labor is part of the reason why they're using more autonomous machinery like drones. "They tend to not get tired. They tend to be able to work at night. They don't get sleepy. And so, autonomous systems can do those things that people usually don't want to do," said Thomasson. He expects future jobs in agriculture to be higher-paying and require more education to manage new technology and machines. |
| Aberdeen senior prepares for MSU ACCESS Program | |
 | Last month, a TikTok video went viral of Aberdeen High School senior Mylan White opening his acceptance letter for Mississippi State University's ACCESS Program, which helps younger people with intellectual or developmental disabilities. "We did the video and, of course, were all excited and the next thing I know, people started sharing it and it reached all the way to Jackson and I had people contacting me from North Dakota. So many alumni from Mississippi State have reached out, and he has been gifted his first cowbell and a box of MSU items. Everyone is so excited and happy that a child on the autism spectrum has been accepted in to this program at a college," said Mylan's mother, Tashanda White. "It touched my heart that so many people were supportive of not only Mylan but the actual program because there aren't many programs in our area like that." During Mylan's junior year, Tashanda did a Google search for college-level special education programs and was caught by surprise about the ACCESS program, given she was enrolled in graduate school at MSU. After calling the next day, she registered for a preview day, which was being held the following weekend. Mylan's sister, Mia, who is a seventh-grader, is interested in following in her family members' footsteps and attending MSU after graduation. |
| Oak Ridge Associated Universities elects new board members, adds new institutions | |
 | Oak Ridge Associated Universities announced the election of new members to its board and to its joint board/nominating committee and welcomed four new institutions to its 161-member university consortium. The announcement was made March 4. Lara Ferry, vice president for research at Arizona State University, was elected to the ORAU board of directors representing the Council of Sponsoring Institutions and will begin serving in June, according to an ORAU news release. Re-elected to the board representing the council are Julie Jordan, vice president for research and economic development, Mississippi State University, and Robert Nobles, vice president for research administration at Emory University. ORAU also announced the addition of the following universities to its consortium as sponsoring institutions: Saint Louis University, Texas Southern University, University of California, Davis, and University of Nebraska Medical Center. "Adding four new members to our University Consortium this year demonstrates that the value proposition for members continues to be as strong as ever," said Andy Page, ORAU president and CEO. |
| Prioritizing involuntary immobility in climate policy and disaster planning | |
| Mississippi State University's Narcisa Pricope and colleagues write in Nature Communications: Globally, populations are increasingly located in areas at high risk of climate change impacts. Some populations lack the agency to move out of harm's way, leading to involuntary immobility. The climate risks these populations face are insufficiently addressed in climate policy and disaster planning. While policy and planning should be data-informed, the lack of appropriate data should not limit governments and institutions from taking action to reduce the risk of involuntary immobility. Incorporating involuntary immobility within the broader sustainable development goals of climate action and safe, orderly, and regular migration may substantially reduce the risk of involuntary immobility. ... Building on a World Cafe, a large group exploratory dialog (see Methods), we develop a set of general principles by identifying the key socioeconomic drivers of involuntary immobility that make marginalized populations even more vulnerable to natural hazards and climate change impacts. |
| Starkville moves forward with Main Street Revitalization Project | |
| The project to revitalize downtown Starkville is officially underway after five years of planning, setting construction to begin in May and last approximately a year and a half. The pedestrian-focused project aims to enhance downtown's accessibility and appeal. Plans include adding street lights, increasing the size of the sidewalks and incorporating more rails, stairs and benches to offer support and rest areas for pedestrians. Phase 1 of the project has secured $9.5 million in funding from state and federal sources. Phase 2, expected to follow its completion, will require an additional $3 million. A major goal of the revitalization is strengthening the connection between downtown and Mississippi State University. Spruill often references this vision with the phrase, "From City Hall to Lee Hall." A primary concern about the construction period revolves around the stores on Main Street that will potentially have their storefronts blocked off by construction. The Greater Starkville Development Partnership plans to promote the stores online during the construction period, assuring the public that the businesses are still open and can be accessed while construction crews work on downtown Starkville. |
| Starkville forming new 10-year parks plan with public input | |
| The city is launching a 10-year recreation plan that promises to reshape local facilities and programs to better meet the needs of the community. In partnership with the Sports Facilities Companies, the independent contractor that manages the city's parks system, a comprehensive study is underway, inviting residents to shape the future of their parks and recreational spaces. This new plan follows the success of the last 10-year recreation plan, posed in 2016, which saw the construction of the Cornerstone Park and improvements to the J.L. King Park, Needmore Community Center and McKee Park. "This is not a document that you just do because you do," Mayor Lynn Spruill said. "You do it because you want to take inputs. You want to follow it. You want to get better, and so that's what this master plan is for. It is not for a file drawer. It's not for us to look like we're doing something. It's for us to be doing something." Led by SFC, the study will unfold in four key phases with strong emphasis placed on community feedback. |
| MDOT announces changes to highway 25 intersection in Starkville | |
| The Mississippi Department of Transportation is replacing a temporary change with a permanent one in Oktibbeha County. MDOT is building a Restricted Crossing U-turn at the intersection of Highway 25 and Longview Road. That stretch of highway has been the scene of several awful accidents. The state transportation department says the restricted crossing helps reduce crashes. Construction should be complete this fall. |
| Demand for backyard chickens doubles amid soaring egg prices | |
| Terry Thomlinson, the Oktibbeha County Farmers' Cooperative pet manager, faced a problem this week. People were simply buying chickens too fast. "I would say we're putting out double the birds we did last year," she said Friday. "... It's been pretty frenzied this year, there's a huge rush on baby chicks and we can't ever be sure when they're going to get here." When she put out a group for sale March 12, the roughly 300 chicks were gone in an hour. The demand has been so extreme the co-op has had to change the way it sells chicks. In the past workers have simply put out chicks into the building's display enclosure as they arrive and sold them like any other product, but Thomlinson put out a video Friday announcing the co-op would now restrict chick sales to Friday mornings at 7:30 a.m. Selling an entire week's worth of chicks in one day gives workers a chance to check their vitals and look for leg disorders like splayed feet. It also gives every customer a fair shot at getting theirs, instead of random shipments dictating whether a given customer arrives at just the right time or too late to get any. Thomlinson said almost all the buyers were looking to keep the chickens for eggs, rather than have Eater pets. "I'd say that 90% of our purchases are for (food) production, not for the Easter surge," she said. "Of course we don't do any of the colored chicks or anything like that, our customers are truly interested in having their own backyard flock." The spike in demand comes as egg prices soar nationwide. |
| State prepares to apply for federal disaster aid after 'total devastation' over the weekend | |
| County officials are continuing to tally damages throughout Mississippi, hopeful that the aftermath will qualify the areas for federal disaster assistance. Gov. Tate Reeves said during a press conference Monday afternoon that the state will apply for aid through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but that more assessments are needed first. The governor added that, based on previous experiences, there is a "high likelihood" the state will qualify for FEMA's Individual Assistance, which provides resources directly to disaster victims. Reeves said he's "hopeful" the state will also receive Public Assistance, which funds recovery for public buildings and infrastructure. Seventeen tornadoes landed in the state between Friday and Saturday, according to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. In total, 23 counties took damage, Reeves said during a press conference at the Tylertown Baptist Church in Walthall County. Seven people died in Walthall, Covington and Jefferson Davis counties, and 29 were injured in those places as well as Pike County. Reeves said on Sunday that 217 people were displaced from their homes. The governor also confirmed that three people who were initially missing have been found alive. |
| Legislation to create AI task force awaits Governor's signature | |
| Legislation to create an Artificial Intelligence Regulation (AIR) Task Force to examine ethical standards, privacy issues, and possible use of AI within state government is sitting on Governor Tate Reeves' desk. The measure, SB 2426, has bipartisan support in both chambers. Under the 9-page bill, the seven-member task force will report its findings to the Legislature on an annual basis until 2027. The group will focus on how AI can improve several areas in the state, including workforce development, elementary and secondary education, health care, private businesses, data processing, and private and public colleges and universities in Mississippi. However, the bill states that the Legislature "acknowledges that artificial intelligence cannot replace human creativity and involvement" and so it promotes "responsibly using AI tools and systems while aligning and adhering to the state's long-term policies, goals, values and missions while maintaining citizen trust and balancing the benefits, risks and potential dangers of artificial intelligence." State Rep. Jill Ford (R), House Technology Committee Chair, told Magnolia Tribune that Mississippi stands to benefit tremendously from AI by leveraging its potential to enhance industries such as agriculture, manufacturing, health care, and logistics. "AI can revolutionize precision agriculture by optimizing crop yields and resource management. In manufacturing, AI-powered automation will improve efficiency and product quality. |
| Senate and House pass revised plans to eliminate income tax, increase gasoline tax | |
| The GOP-controlled House and Senate passed competing "compromise" plans on Tuesday to eliminate the state income tax and raise gasoline taxes -- but the Senate only narrowly passed its plan with the help of four Democrats. The proposals advanced by each chamber continue a debate over the potential risks and rewards of drastically altering the tax structure in the poorest state in the country as federal spending cuts loom. Tuesday's Senate vote raises the question of whether that chamber could pass a more aggressive income tax elimination proposal even if the Republican Senate leadership reaches an agreement with House leaders. Experts have told Mississippi Today that deep federal spending cuts, along with the elimination of the state income tax, could reduce Mississippi's ability to fund services. Some also warn the shift to a more regressive form of taxation would hit poor and low-income Mississippians hardest. Mississippi is perennially among the most federally dependent states, receiving nearly a 3-1 return for every dollar in federal taxes it pays. Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have expressed fear of the economic impact of federal cuts. |
| National Ag Day this year deemed a historic one | |
| Young agriculture enthusiasts joined Ag Commissioner Andy Gipson Tuesday outside the Mississippi State Capitol to recognize National Ag Day. Gipson, along with lawmakers and farmers, also planted the first-ever state blueberry orchard. Mannsdale Upper Elementary School teachers and former students from the fourth-grade class that led the charge in designating the blueberry as the official state fruit also helped plant bushes. |
| Data centers bring billions to Mississippi. Are the investments worth the risk? | |
 | The upcoming $10 billion Amazon data center in Madison County was hailed by Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves as "the largest economic development project in Mississippi history" when it was announced last year. It took eight months for that record to be tied. The new, co-title holder? Another data center project -- this time in Meridian, built by Compass Datacenters. Compass committed to building a $10 billion campus of eight data centers over the next eight years. New centers like these are being built in the South, and across the country. Tech companies need their raw computing power to fuel the current AI boom. State leaders that welcome the projects into their community brag of the billions of dollars in economic development they secured. Compared to other expensive-to-build worksites, like factories, data centers don't require many employees to run. And while they provide the computing muscle that supports high-paying tech jobs, those jobs are often located in other parts of the country and not where the centers are located. Communities must also contend with these centers' deep hunger for resources like power and water. For those with the land and resources to spare, a 10-figure investment pledge and the few permanent jobs that come with it are more than welcome. But some communities that are already straining for power or have a robust economy might decide the centers don't offer enough benefits to justify the costs. |
| Tariffs could pinch the already tight building industry | |
| Another indicator that economists pay attention to when looking out for a recession? Housing starts. When new residential construction is down and stays down, that can signal a slowdown. Now that's not a guaranteed predictor. ​But new building permits last month declined 6.8% compared to February of 2024. And builder confidence for new single-family homes is the lowest it's been in seven months. That's partly an interest rate problem, as we've talked about on this show before. But increasingly, it's also a tariff problem. A lot of construction basics could see new price pressures, said Chief Economist Ken Simonson with the Associated General Contractors of America. "The industry relies on a lot of Canadian lumber, on imported steel, aluminum and copper," which Simonson said is in the appliances, the electronics, the furniture, the lighting fixtures. And then there's specialty products. "Decorative tile comes in part from Italy and from Spain," said Simonson. "And so if we see tariffs on the EU, those might hit those particular products." Architect Dan Brunn also said the alternative he keeps hearing -- to buy American instead -- won't help much. Because even if, say, a stove is assembled here, he said the components inside come from overseas and face the same tariffs anyway. |
| Trump aides prep new tariffs on imports worth trillions for 'Liberation Day' | |
 | White House aides are preparing to impose new tariffs on most imports on April 2, laying the groundwork for an escalation in global economic hostilities that President Donald Trump has called "Liberation Day." Through his first two months in office, the president has raised tariffs on roughly $800 billion in imports from China, Mexico and Canada, although estimates vary widely. These tariffs have sent the stock market careening and raised the risks of a U.S. recession, while inviting retaliation against domestic industries by trade partners. Despite the blowback, senior Trump advisers are now publicly pledging to create a new tariff regime that would impose new duties on trade with most countries that trade with the United States. A person familiar with internal planning, speaking on the condition of anonymity to reflect private deliberations, confirmed administration officials are preparing tariffs on "trillions" of dollars in imports. The potential to more than double the scope of Trump's tariffs has alarmed economists and some congressional Republicans, while other White House allies are concerned about the logistical challenges of a complicated new import tax regime. However structured, the new tariff regime is likely to further rattle global markets and a domestic economy already shaken by Trump's sudden trade moves. |
| Democrats clashed over their shutdown strategy. But the party's identity crisis runs far deeper | |
 | Democrats have been sniping at each other in public since Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer helped pass a Republican spending bill that prevented a government shutdown. But the divisions in their party hardly began there. For months, Democrats have been struggling to coalesce behind a political strategy as they confront President Donald Trump and the Republican majorities in the House and the Senate. Behind closed doors at party retreats, think tank meetings and strategy sessions, Democrats have been having tense and searching conversations about ideology, policy and messaging as they urgently try to address what went wrong in last year's election. "I think we're in a place internally where we're having these family discussions and figuring out what the path forward is," said Rep. Maxwell Frost, a Florida Democrat and, at age 28, the youngest member of Congress. Democrats are facing stark dissatisfaction among Americans, including among the party's base. "The Democratic brand absolutely needs to change," said Rep. Seth Moulton, a Massachusetts Democrat. "We will not win with the status quo." Moulton said that Democrats must "be very public about" their reckoning. |
| Roberts rejects Trump's call for impeaching judge who ruled against his deportation plans | |
| In an extraordinary display of conflict between the executive and judiciary branches, Chief Justice John Roberts rejected calls for impeaching judges Tuesday, shortly after President Donald Trump demanded the removal of one who ruled against his deportation plans. The rebuke from the Supreme Court's leader demonstrated how the controversy over recent deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members has inflamed tensions over the judiciary's role, with a legal case challenging Trump's actions now threatening to spiral into a clash of constitutional powers. "For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision," Roberts said. "The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose." The rare statement came just hours after a social media post from Trump, who described U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg as an unelected "troublemaker and agitator." Boasberg had issued an order blocking deportation flights that Trump was carrying out by invoking wartime authorities from an 18th century law. |
| GOP lawmakers conflicted over Trump's clash with judiciary | |
 | Republican lawmakers are conflicted over how to respond to President Trump's confrontational standoff with the federal judiciary, which drew a rare public rebuke Tuesday from Chief Justice John Roberts. Trump and his allies are directing their attacks more frequently against judges who threaten to slow or block the president's ambitious agenda, putting GOP lawmakers in an uncomfortable spot. Republican officeholders are leery of criticizing Trump for fear of becoming the target of his wrath or a primary challenge, yet privately they worry about the president's efforts to expand his executive power, which could reverberate far into the future. While a few Republican senators and House members have publicly cheered the Trump administration in its battle with a federal judge who ordered it to halt the deportation of several hundred Venezuelans to El Salvador, many more are keeping quiet. Republican lawmakers have urged Trump to heed the federal court rulings he disagrees with and to challenge them in the appeals process instead of flouting court orders. The Republican strategist warned that Trump's battle with Republican-appointed jurists such as Roberts is a bad look for the president, politically. "Trump is once again breaking norms," the strategist said. "It does raise the visibility of [the issue] and I don't think it intimidates the judges, either. |
| Hill Republicans already hated the 'idiotic' call to impeach judges. Then Trump jumped in. | |
 | Hard-right House Republicans have a new project -- impeaching federal judges who have questioned President Donald Trump's powers -- and it's quickly turning into the latest headache for Speaker Mike Johnson. The push to remove jurists who have sought to halt Trump's firings of federal employees, access to sensitive government systems and deportations of alleged foreign gang members has virtually no chance of succeeding, given the 67-vote requirement in the Senate for removal. But it is nonetheless quickly turning into a major distraction for House GOP leaders after Trump himself called on social media Tuesday for the Washington-based judge who ordered the grounding of some deportation flights to be "IMPEACHED!!!" It threatens to sap political capital and antagonize key GOP blocs just as Johnson is hoping to put Trump's sweeping domestic policy agenda into overdrive. In the Senate, which would be required to take up any impeachment as soon as articles come over from the House, Republicans have previously greeted the idea with disdain. "Idiotic," said Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) when asked about the proposed judicial impeachments earlier this month, before Trump weighed in. "You don't impeach judges who make decisions you disagree with, because that happens all the time," Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said around the same time. "What you do is you appeal, and if you're right, then you're going to win on appeal." |
| Musk effort to dismantle USAID likely violated Constitution, judge rules | |
| A federal judge has rebuked Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency for their efforts to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development, declaring that Musk's effort to erase the agency likely violated the Constitution in "multiple ways." But the ruling Tuesday from U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang appears to permit the Trump administration to ratify and maintain the draconian cuts -- as long as they are ordered by USAID's official leadership, rather than by Musk or his allies at DOGE. In a 68-page opinion accompanying his injunction, Chuang said Musk and DOGE appeared to have violated the Constitution's separation of powers when they "effectively eliminated" USAID and left the aid agency unable to perform even its basic, legally required functions. The ultimate impact of the judge's order remains unclear because it was directed solely at Musk and DOGE personnel, so it's possible other Trump administration officials could simply reissue any orders initially given by DOGE members. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is currently acting as the head of USAID. But the ruling is the latest rebuke by the courts of the sweeping efforts by DOGE to slash and reconfigure the federal bureaucracy without congressional approval. |
| How Trump and Musk made federal employees America's favorite punching bag | |
 | Gerald Krygier is cheering from the sidelines as Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency takes a chainsaw to government bloat. A secondary teacher from Fort Collins, Colorado, Krygier says the government moves too slowly, employs too many people and squanders his tax dollars. Despite some early missteps, he's confident that Musk can root out wasteful spending and make government more efficient, just like Musk claims he did after taking over the social media platform X. As for the tens of thousands of government employees fired or in limbo, Krygier doesn't have much sympathy for them. "It's nothing personal," he said. "It's just business." Federal workers are bristling at comments from the White House disparaging their contributions. They say they took pay cuts to serve the American people and performed vital functions. Some say they didn't write policies, they just carried them out. How did federal workers become the nation's favorite punching bag? From the conservative grassroots Tea Party to the MAGA movement, Americans have long expressed deep resentment about the power that the government has over their daily lives. Anger over federal overreach swelled during the COVID-19 pandemic as mask requirements and vaccine mandates clashed with individual liberties, said Don Kettl, professor emeritus and former dean of the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland. Trump is stoking that populist stance to root out ideological opposition to his agenda and undercut public employee unions, a key base of political support for Democrats, Kettl said. |
| Trump's transactional diplomacy is reshaping U.S.-Taiwan relations | |
 | For decades, the U.S. has played an important role in maintaining the delicate relationship between Taiwan and China, which considers Taiwan to be a part of its territory and has vowed to pursue unification by force, if necessary. But President Trump's "America First" ideology and use of tariffs as an economic weapon suggest the administration may be rewriting the rules of the U.S.-China-Taiwan playbook to suit his transactional style. As is true in much of the world, long-held understandings, meant to preserve peace, are suddenly up for negotiation. Although the U.S. does not recognize Taiwan as an independent nation, it has been contractually obligated to support the island's defense program with weapons sales for years. It's part of an official policy known as "strategic ambiguity," intended to deter China from launching an attack and Taiwan from formally declaring independence. Trump has not said whether the U.S. will defend Taiwan in the future, but he has complained about the relationship, and his administration has said that Taiwan should raise its defense budget to 10% of its gross domestic product. Chieh-ting Yeh, director of the think tank US Taiwan Watch, said that since Trump took office, his conversations have shifted from a focus on shared values such as democracy and human rights to bargaining ability. |
| Inside the 24-Hour Scramble Among Top National Security Officials Over the J.F.K. Documents | |
 | President Trump's national security team was stunned and forced to scramble after he announced on Monday that he would release 80,000 pages of documents related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy with only 24 hours' notice. Administration officials had been working on releasing the records since January, when Mr. Trump signed an executive order mandating it. But that process was still underway on Monday afternoon when Mr. Trump, during a visit to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, said the files would be made available the next day. By Tuesday evening, when about 64,000 files were made public -- fewer than Mr. Trump had estimated -- some of the country's top national security officials had spent hours trying to assess any possible hazards under extreme deadline pressure. For decades, historians and conspiracy theorists alike have clamored for more information on Kennedy's death. A 1992 law required the government to release documents related to the killing within 25 years, except documents that could harm national security. Kennedy's assassination has long fueled conspiracy theories, including some that Mr. Trump himself has indulged. He has also used the interest around the assassination when it was politically expedient. |
| Mississippi School for Math and Science Could Move From Columbus to Starkville | |
| The future of the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science is again in question as state officials consider moving it from its current location on the Mississippi University for Women campus to Mississippi State University. The Mississippi Department of Education invited both MUW and MSU to submit proposals to expand MSMS. Both schools submitted proposals by the Feb. 25 deadline. In its proposal, Mississippi University for Women highlighted the strengths of its 37-year partnership with MSMS. Mississippi State University Vice President for Strategic Communications Sid Salter said the university did not lobby for an examination of its ability to house MSMS but did accept the opportunity to showcase what they could do to enhance the school. "In our RFP response, we laid out the fact that we have a more robust offering of science and mathematics-based degrees, which is one key difference, and we have more expansive laboratory facilities," Salter said. "Then just the difference in the size of the two institutions, the number of mathematics and various fields of sciences, the professors that we have (and) the scholars that we have makes a good argument for Mississippi State's ability to not only replicate what MUW has done but to build upon it rather substantially." |
| Community Read author to discuss memoir at The W Thursday | |
| From a child on welfare to a Harvard graduate to a gang member's girlfriend to a candidate for the U.S. Congress, Alejandra Campoverdi has lived what she calls "a life of contradictory extremes." Campoverdi will bring her story to Columbus Thursday for "An Evening with Alejandra Campoverdi," where she will discuss her book, "First Gen: A Memoir," in Poindexter Hall at Mississippi University for Women. Since fall 2024, "First Gen" has been the focus of The W's Community Read program, which aims to bring the community together for a shared learning experience. "We are thrilled to be hosting Alejandra Campoverdi on campus," Rachel Damms, co-chair of the Community Read program, said in a press release. The Community Read essentially functions as a community-wide book club. Each fall, a book is selected and readings and events are hosted throughout the year. The program is sponsored by The W, the city of Columbus, the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science, Columbus-Lowndes Public Library and Friendly City Books. |
| Mock sit-in canceled at Alabama college due to fear of violating DEI law: Lawsuit | |
 | The effects of an Alabama anti-DEI law have cascaded beyond the classroom and are affecting the lives of many students and professors, according to six plaintiffs behind a federal lawsuit suing the University of Alabama System board of trustees and Gov. Kay Ivey. The lawsuit is an attempt to roll back the impact of a state law that bans colleges from promoting "divisive" concepts. It comes amid a national effort by President Donald Trump to stop colleges from continuing DEI practices. Plaintiffs say normal educational activities, such as a mock sit-in for a class project, have been stifled by an administration afraid of running afoul of the state law. "Campus, as a whole, feels sort of resentful toward the state for the bill," Isabella Campos, a plaintiff and a political science student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, told AL.com. Plaintiff Miguel Luna, a junior studying political science and history at UAB, told AL.com that the lawsuit isn't about pushing an agenda. "We're just trying to ensure that everyone has a seat at the table and that we can all be equitable in how we're moving," Luna said. |
| Louisiana's higher education employees could see better retirement prospects | |
| The Louisiana Legislature will consider a wish list of retirement reforms college and university faculty and staff have suggested, all aimed at keeping tenured professors and critical employees from leaving the state. House Bill 24 by Rep. Tony Bacala, R-Prairieville, incorporates most of the recommendations put forward by a Louisiana Board of Regents' task force, which was created by a resolution Bacala sponsored in the 2024 legislative session. Reforming the optional retirement plan in the Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) has been a long-desired goal of many in higher education who view updating the plan as vital to recruitment and retention. Nearly 7,000 public college and university faculty and staff members have enrolled in the state's "portable" or optional retirement plan, which allows them to take their accrued benefits with them if they choose to leave Louisiana for another job. In exchange for that portability, employees lose out on more lucrative benefits available through a fixed, pension-style retirement plan offered to most state employees. But as professors earn tenure and key personnel stay in place longer, the limited ability to switch over to the fixed benefit plan with a higher payout makes Louisiana less attractive for employees who want to finish their careers here. |
| U. of Tennessee exploring Oak Ridge student housing to be closer to leading lab | |
 | The one-of-a-kind relationship between the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and Oak Ridge National Laboratory could become even deeper with a project to develop temporary student housing in the Secret City, bringing students closer than ever to the laboratory. UT System President Randy Boyd announced the project as part of his major goals and objectives for 2025. The temporary housing will be for students to bridge the physical gap between the flagship campus near downtown Knoxville and ORNL. "We have all of these great students driving from Knoxville to Oak Ridge to do work at the lab. Many of them, that's their only place to work," Boyd said during his presentation to the Board of Trustees on Feb. 28. "Wouldn't it be great if they had a common place to live two miles, five miles from the lab?" UT has around 130 students working at the lab now, Boyd said, and he hopes that number will increase to around 500 students within the next three to five years. The temporary housing facility would help to ease the travel burden for those students. |
| U. of Texas System bans drag shows in campus facilities | |
| The University of Texas System announced Tuesday its universities are banned from sponsoring drag shows or hosting them in their facilities, a few weeks after the Texas A&M System's board of regents approved a similar ban. "If the board of regents needs to take further action to make this clear, we will do so," UT System Board of Regents Chair Kevin Eltife said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that this is a measure "to comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws and executive orders, including any restriction on the use of public funds." Eltife declined to say what specific laws they were seeking to comply with, but the move appears to be in response to recent executive orders issued by President Donald J. Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. In January, Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to take all necessary steps to ensure funds are not used to promote gender ideology. A few days later, Abbott directed state agencies to reject efforts "to distort commonsense notions of biological sex." |
| He was NC State's first Black student body president. Now, he'll serve as chancellor. | |
| In 1987, Kevin Howell became the first Black student body president of NC State University. Nearly 40 years later, he will be the university's first Black chancellor. The UNC System Board of Governors voted unanimously Tuesday to approve Howell to be the Wolfpack's next leader, ratifying system President Peter Hans' nomination. Howell will succeed Chancellor Randy Woodson, who will retire after 15 years at the helm of the Raleigh university. Howell, a Shelby native who studied political science at NC State, holds a law degree from UNC-Chapel Hill. He is not a career academic, marking another first for an NC State chancellor -- but representing a growing trend in higher education broadly and in North Carolina, notably with the appointment of career finance executive Lee Roberts as chancellor of UNC last year. Still, Howell will bring plenty of experience in university administration to his new role, having served for nearly two decades in leadership roles at NC State and in the UNC System. He also has experience working in state government and politics, serving as a liaison with the General Assembly for Gov. Jim Hunt and Gov. Mike Easley, both Democrats. "Kevin is the personification of what makes NC State an extraordinary institution," Hans said Tuesday, "the kind of place where a talented young man from Cleveland County can find a home, break ground as the first-ever Black student body president, and then choose to devote his life to the upkeep and uplift of public education." |
| Moody's Downgrades Sector Outlook to Negative | |
 | Moody's Ratings on Tuesday downgraded its outlook for the higher education sector from stable to negative due to recent and potential federal policy changes. The revised outlook comes as the Trump administration has gutted the Education Department via mass layoffs and sought to aggressively overhaul higher education with a flurry of executive orders that have destabilized certain funding streams. "Actions and potential changes include cuts to research funding, enforcement actions against diversity programs, staff reductions at the US Department of Education, uncertainty over federal student aid, and possible expanded taxes on endowments," Moody's analysts wrote in the report released Tuesday. "These factors are causing institutions to pause capital investments, freeze hiring, and cut spending." The report concluded that the outlook could revert to stable "if many of the federal policies and proposals are reversed or halted by judicial intervention or do not come to pass. Stronger-than-expected investment market returns and operating revenue growth could also lead to a revision of the outlook to stable." |
| International Enrollment's Precarious Moment | |
| Before Donald Trump entered the White House for his second term, international students and their advocates were anxious but hopeful. His first two months in office have dispelled much of their optimism. Over the past two weeks, federal immigration officials have revoked student visas, raided dorm rooms, arrested green-card holders and threatened to deport international students who participated in campus protests. They've also cut hundreds of millions of dollars in STEM research grants, which help fund many international graduate students' studies; many colleges are pausing admissions for affected graduate programs altogether. Now the administration is considering instituting a travel ban similar to the one implemented during Trump's first administration -- except greatly expanded, from seven countries to 43, according to an internal memo. The pool of U.S. international applicants has changed significantly since the pandemic. The volume of students from China has decreased while enrollment from countries like Bangladesh, Ghana and especially India -- which rose by 23 percent last fall -- has surged. International enrollment has also shifted from undergraduates to graduate students pursuing not just degrees but long-term research, work and life in the U.S. |
| Americans Demand Greater Accountability in Higher Education, Survey Shows | |
| American voters on both sides of the political aisle are hungry for more transparency and accountability in higher education, according to a new survey from Arnold Ventures released Wednesday. The nationally representative survey, which included 1,015 registered voters and was conducted from Feb. 10 to 13, shows an overwhelming demand for state and federal governments to more deeply assess the value of college degrees, share that information with students and then hold accountable those institutions that don't deliver strong student outcomes, according to a new release from the philanthropic group. Over all, 82 percent of respondents say student loans that take years to pay off, or cannot be paid off at all, are a significant problem for students. And 61 percent of voters -- including 75 percent of Republicans and 46 percent of Democrats -- say higher education needs major changes or a complete overhaul. "Earning a college degree remains the surest path to financial security and economic mobility. Yet within American higher education, students experience uneven outcomes, and public dollars are invested inefficiently," the group's release about the survey results said. "In an era where student debt continues to rise and concerns over return on investment in higher education intensify, this survey finds a shared demand among Americans for reforms that prioritize student success, financial security, and proper stewardship of taxpayer dollars." |
| Anti-Doxxing legislation is vexing in several state legislatures, including Mississippi | |
| Columnist Sid Salter writes: In 2019, Mississippi adopted legislation and then-Gov. Phil Bryant signed into law House Bill 1205 -- authored by Reps. Jerry Turner and Mark Baker -- that asserted privacy rights at the intersection of technology, privacy and political lanes. At the signing of the legislation, Bryant said: "In recent years, charitable donations have been weaponized by certain groups against individuals in order to punish donors whose political beliefs differ from their own. I was pleased today to sign House Bill 1205, which protects the free speech rights of Mississippians who generously make charitable contributions." Bill sponsors state Reps. Jerry Turner and Mark Baker wrote in an opinion piece published in The Washington Times that "most importantly, this law protects those who might have their private information targeted and revealed without their consent" and "providing restitution will rightfully combat the efforts of those interested in making your information public." Despite warnings of First Amendment concerns from some reputable national groups, Mississippi was an early adopter of such legislation. By 2024, some 20 states joined Mississippi in adopting the privacy legislation. In the interim came the rise of something called "doxxing." |
SPORTS
| Jeff Lebby breaks down first day of spring practice in year two | |
| A new season of Mississippi State football won't officially start for several months, but the unofficial start was signaled by the beginning of spring practice. Jeff Lebby's second Bulldog team took the field on Tuesday for practice one and it was a group that had a different look to it than the first. After taking in the over two hours of practice work, Lebby spoke to the media about his new roster and the importance of the weeks ahead. "I feel like over the last nine week, you talk about over 40 new players on the roster, our guys have tried like heck to get to know each other. Today, we could get out there and focus on ball. Our energy, our effort, our attitude today (was) really good. From a roster standpoint, where we are today compared to a year ago is completely different. Excited about getting pads on in a few days and getting to work." |
| Why Jeff Lebby, Mississippi State football will hold spring game despite tampering concerns | |
 | More teams across college football are beginning to slash traditional spring games, but Mississippi State is still holding one. The Bulldogs' spring game is scheduled for April 19 at Davis Wade Stadium. "Our guys need to play," coach Jeff Lebby said Tuesday after MSU's first spring practice. "We've got such a new roster and different roster. There's been so much turnover. Our guys need to be in competitive situations and go play and be put in positions to make the play or guys not make the play. We need to be able to evaluate that for 15 true practices. The more game-type situations I think we can be in, the better for us." Mississippi State, which went 2-10 last season, added 24 transfers and signed 27 freshmen and junior college players. A handful of power conference teams such as Nebraska, Texas and Southern Cal have canceled their spring games. Other teams, like Ole Miss, have converted the spring game into a fan fest rather than an actual scrimmage or open practice. The teams have various reasons, but mostly stem from fears of tampering with the spring transfer portal arriving April 16-25. Injury risk is also a factor, and so are the finances of hosting a spring game. |
| Baseball: Dawgs Take Midweek Run-Rule Victory Over Jackson State | |
| Mississippi State opened its midweek contest against Jackson State with a seven-run first inning to get a jumpstart on an eventual 16-3 run-rule victory on Tuesday at Dudy Noble Field. Kevin Mannell recorded his first win with the Bulldogs after pitching two frames in relief for starter Noah Sullivan. Mannell struck out six batters, didn't issue a walk and gave up only one hit in his outing. Sullivan tossed three shutout frames, allowing only one hit. He struck out four Tigers. MSU out-hit Jackson State 13-6 with Reed Stallman leading State at the plate. Stallman got the big Bulldog first inning started with a three-run home run. Stallman ended his day 2-for-3 after adding a double later in the ballgame. Joe Powell also had three RBIs for the Diamond Dawgs with all of them coming on a three-run homer of his own. Mississippi State travels to Oklahoma to take on the Sooners for a weekend series. First pitch for Friday's series opener is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Saturday's contest is at 4 p.m. and Sunday's series finale is set for 2 p.m. All games will be streamed on SEC Network+. |
| Baseball: Bulldogs bang out 13 hits, walk 12 times in run-rule win over Jackson State | |
| Seven straight batters reached base for Mississippi State to start the first inning Tuesday evening against Jackson State, and they all came around to score. The Bulldogs needed to quickly erase the sting of being swept at home by Texas over the weekend to start Southeastern Conference play, and the seven-run first helped them accomplish that in a 16-3, seven-inning midweek victory over the Tigers at Dudy Noble Field. "These games, actually, they can be tricky sometimes," MSU head coach Chris Lemonis said. "Coming out after big weekends and playing midweeks, I was happy with our focus level and energy level. Getting a lead there lets you play a little more relaxed and lets a lot of guys play, which is good for the team." Lemonis would know about the pitfalls of midweeks -- his team lost four of them to inferior opponents last year, and even against Jackson State, the Bulldogs fell behind by five runs in the first two innings before putting up 13 in the third and cruising from there. MSU's two midweek losses this season have come against much stronger opposition, and there was no drama whatsoever this time around. |
| Stallman, Powell homers power Bulldogs past JSU | |
| Mississippi State was able to unleash some frustrations Tuesday night. Fresh off getting swept by Texas to open SEC play, the Bulldogs rolled past Jackson State, winning 16-3 in seven innings. A pair of three-run home runs by Reed Stallman and Joe Powell powered the MSU attack. Stallman's blast came in the third inning to begin the scoring, as he turned on a 2-0 pitch and sent it over the fence in right field. Gatlin Sanders had a two-run single later in the inning, and Dylan Cupp added a two-run knock as well to make it 7-0 after one frame. Powell's three-run bomb came in the fourth to make it 12-0. Cupp had two of MSU's 13 hits, and Stallman had two as well, including a double. The Bulldogs (14-7) also drew 12 walks on the night. Jackson State (13-6) finally broke through in the sixth with three runs. MSU responded in the bottom half, as Landis Davila singled home a run. Gehrig Frei drove home a run on a double down the left field line, and Davila scored on a passed ball to make it 16-3. Jackson State failed to score in the seventh, triggering the 10-run mercy rule. |
| Cam Matthews looking to close Mississippi State legacy strong in NCAA Tournament | |
| Standards and expectations have been changed over the last several years around Mississippi State basketball. The team missed the NCAA Tournament every season from 2010-2018 before Ben Howland finally got the Bulldogs back in the Big Dance. When Howland left, a new standard joined and Chris Jans has made it an expectation again to get to March playing in, arguably, the biggest tournament in sports. Most of the players on the Bulldog team have known nothing else than preparing for madness this time of year. Cameron Matthews is taking part in his third tournament in as many years, but he also knows tougher times. Some of those tough times included the Bulldogs in the Dance when they were in the First Four in 2023 and on the bubble last season. This year, Selection Sunday was much less stressful. "I'm proud of the fact that we've been able to do it three years in a row. That's what we talked about doing when I arrived. We talked about building a team each year to get in March Madness," Jans said. |
| 'A full circle moment': Starkville product Jackson finishes career at Mississippi State | |
| Trey Jackson's path to Mississippi State, his path back home, has been far from linear. The son of two first-generation college graduates, Jackson moved to Starkville in 2015 when his mother, Christine Jackson, took a job as the assistant athletic director of academics at MSU. Trey was entering eighth grade at the time, and before long he established himself as a star on the basketball court at Starkville High on a team that went a combined 56-3 over his junior and senior seasons, winning MHSAA Class 6A state titles in both years. "Winning my first state championship, definitely I'll always remember that," Jackson said. "That feels like a different lifetime ago, but at the same time, I don't forget any of the milestones that came before." Jackson said his role on the team is to support his teammates and give them advice and guidance on and off the court, drawing on his experience playing at different levels. "It's been great to have Trey (be) a part of our organization," Jans said. "He is responsible and trustworthy and comes to work every day and is ready to do whatever we need him to do. He definitely has responsibilities at various times in our practices. Not that it matters in the big picture, but it matters to me and hopefully matters to him, he's gotten a lot better. His game has improved." |
| Ole Miss, Mississippi State basketball teams all make March Madness | |
| Basketball fans across Mississippi are in for a busier March Madness than ever before. The NCAA tournament has arrived, and both men's and women's teams from Mississippi State and Ole Miss received at-large berths. That's never happened before in the now-58 combined March Madness appearances from the four programs. "I think it gives perspective of how special we've got of a product right now on a national stage within our own state," MSU women's coach Sam Purcell said. "And as much as we want to beat them, and they want to beat us, it's great for the people who live here. And then, most importantly, the future of men and women's basketball within the state that hopefully their lens continues to grow because they're watching great basketball here at the collegiate level." None of the Ole Miss and Mississippi State coaches have been in their positions for long though. It's been a collective and rapid rise over the last few years. Mississippi State's two coaches are both in their third seasons and have multiple NCAA tournament appearances. |
| Softball: No. 18 Bulldogs Continue Eight-Game Road Trip With Stop In Birmingham | |
| No. 18 Mississippi State softball is headed back to the state of Alabama after its first ever series win in Tuscaloosa. This time the Bulldogs are headed to Birmingham for a rematch with the UAB Blazers on Wednesday evening. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. CT. The Bulldogs hit a then-season-high four homers the last time the two teams met in an 11-1 run-rule victory. Home runs have continued to be a key part of the Bulldogs' season as State already has 41 on the year, which ranks 17th nationally. With their 29th meeting all-time on Wednesday, UAB will become State's third-most-common non-conference opponent. When the teams met in February, MSU hit a then-season-high four homers, scoring eight of its 11 runs by leaving the year. The Bulldogs will stay the night in Birmingham following the game before flying to Chicago to face Northwestern in a three-game series this weekend. MSU then plays at Southern Miss on March 26 before returning to Nusz Park on March 28 to host No. 2 Texas. |
| How Southern Miss baseball's Davis Gillespie, defense topped Ole Miss | |
| Davis Gillespie's only hit Tuesday couldn't have come at a better time. In a tie game during the fifth inning, the left fielder sent a ball deep over the left field fence for a three-run home run to lift No. 19 Southern Miss to a 6-2 win over No. 18 Ole Miss at Trustmark Park. "I knew I had to get something in the air, and it happened to be a good pitch," Gillespie said. "I got it up in the wind, and it did his job from there." Two batters later, an RBI-double by Carson Paetow extended the lead to four runs for Southern Miss (14-6, 12-3 Sun Belt) to 6-2, but it wasn't over. Ole Miss (15-5, 1-2 SEC) twice loaded the bases late in the game. In the eighth, an opportunity was squandered with a strikeout from Southern Miss reliever Colby Allen. And with two outs in the ninth a self-turned double play from third baseman Drey Barrett ended the game. "My heart rate was going up a little bit, I ain't gonna lie to you," Southern Miss coach Christian Ostrander said. "But that's baseball; you got to navigate stuff. Getting the 27th out, it's hard to do. They weren't going to go down without a fight." Ostrander said it feels good anytime you can beat an in-state rival -- mainly when you lose the first matchup. Ole Miss downed Southern Miss 15-8 on Feb. 25 in Oxford. |
| Mississippi College hires Josh Brooks as head men's basketball coach | |
| Mississippi College did not have to look far to find a new men's basketball coach. Following the departure of Randy Bolden, who went 43-69 in four seasons, the Division II school in Clinton went 15 miles and pulled Josh Brooks from Division III Belhaven University in Jackson. Brooks, one of the more successful coaches in recent memory at Belhaven, hops up a level and looks to turn around a program that's in serious need of turning. And he's already familiar with the Choctaws, playing at Mississippi College before serving as an assistant coach from 2008-18. After leaving the bench at Mississippi College, Brooks accepted a prep head coaching position at Jackson Academy. There, he guided the Raiders to three state tournament appearances, including a runner-up finish at the overall state tournament in his final season. His success on the high school level led to Belhaven hiring him in June 2022. Brooks turned a losing Blazers squad into a 15-12 group in his first season. He then led Belhaven to back-to-back conference championship game appearances and 18-plus win seasons, becoming the fastest coach in program history to reach 50 wins. |
| Missouri women's basketball to hire former Tennessee coach Kellie Harper as new head coach | |
 | Missouri women's basketball has found its new head coach. Kellie Harper, the former coach at Tennessee and Missouri State, was announced as the Tigers' fifth head coach in program history Tuesday. She succeeds Robin Pingeton, who spent 15 seasons with the program and stepped away from the program at the end of the 2024-25 campaign. Harper, 47, was most recently the coach at Tennessee but was fired at the end of the 2023-24 season after four straight NCAA Tournament appearances. She made two Sweet 16s with the Lady Vols and two Round of 32 berths. Harper had a 108-52 overall record during her time in Knoxville. Before her move to UT, she was the head coach at Missouri State for six seasons, taking the Bears to five postseason appearances. She took Missouri State to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in the 2018-19 season when it also won the Missouri Valley Conference title. Harper, a native of Sparta, Tennessee, and former three-time national championship-winning UT point guard, also previously was the coach at NC State (2009-13) and Western Carolina (2004-09). |
| Does College Basketball Have a Gambling Problem? | |
 | One of the biggest betting events in American sports gets under way this week, as millions of college basketball fans fill out their March Madness brackets ahead of Thursday's tip-off. The problem for the NCAA is who else has been getting in on the action. Over the past two seasons, at least seven Division I teams have been implicated in unusual betting activity, people familiar with the matter said. Some of the suspicious wagers involve people connected to an ongoing federal investigation into a sprawling gambling ring that conspired with Jontay Porter to manipulate his performance in NBA games. On the college side, what started as a weird phenomenon involving Temple University last March has mushroomed into a larger cloud of suspicion that now looms over college basketball, as more programs have drawn scrutiny from sportsbooks, integrity monitoring services and the NCAA. Eastern Michigan, Mississippi Valley State, the University of New Orleans and North Carolina A&T have all had games flagged this season, people familiar with the matter said. The dragnet could expand to other schools as the federal investigation continues. NCAA president Charlie Baker says college athletes have told him they have been pressured by classmates or family members to manipulate their performance, including for minutiae such as not taking the first shot or missing a couple of free throws. He believes it would be better for everyone if players could simply respond that those bets are illegal. |
| Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin discuss possibility of future U.S.-Russia hockey games | |
| U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the possibility of U.S. and Russian hockey players being featured in games against each other during a phone call Tuesday, according to a readout of the conversation published by the Russian government. According to the release, "Donald Trump supported Vladimir Putin's idea to organize hockey matches in the USA and Russia between Russian and American players playing in the NHL and KHL." Russia and Belarus have been banned from international hockey competitions by the IIHF since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. The NHL said it had not been consulted on the possibility of Russia-U.S. games. "We have just become aware of the conversation between President Trump and President Putin," the league said in a statement to The Athletic. "Obviously, we were not a party to those discussions, and it would be inappropriate for us to comment at this time." Last month, the IIHF Council announced that Russia and Belarus would remain banned from IIHF competitions through the 2025-26 season. |
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