| Thursday, March 27, 2025 |
| MSU's T.K. Martin Center hosts Express Yourself! Art Auction | |
 | Mississippi State's T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability is hosting its fourth annual art show and auction in early April to benefit its art program for individuals with disabilities. The Express Yourself! Art Auction "In Bloom" takes place April 4, 3-6 p.m. at the center on 326 Hardy Road. Participants in the art program will have pieces available for purchase, such as greeting cards, prints, paintings and ceramics. The event also includes a silent auction and light refreshments. The auction is the primary fundraiser for the Express Yourself! program, which includes a weekly program for children, individual lessons for all ages and a summer camp. "We are excited to showcase our artists' work and greatly appreciate the community's support, as this event serves as one of our largest fundraisers for the program," said Kasee Stratton-Gadke, executive director of the Mississippi Institute on Disabilities, which houses the T.K. Martin Center. "Each original piece purchased benefits the artist and the program with sales split between each." |
| Studio 9 Interview: MSU sorority hosting Tim Tebow lectureship | |
 | Video: The Delta Gamma sorority at Mississippi State University will host Tim Tebow at Humphrey Coliseum on April 7. |
| Dems argue experience vs. change for Starkville mayor | |
 | Starkville's three Democratic mayoral candidates took the stage again Monday night for one of their last opportunities to make their cases ahead of Tuesday's primary election. Incumbent Mayor Lynn Spruill, Former Fire Chief Charles Yarbrough and Starkville High School Teacher Brenna Betts all spoke at a candidate forum hosted by the Starkville Daily News at the Greensboro Center. Spruill said that she has large projects still underway that she would like to see through, but also argued that the city has been doing well under her leadership and would continue doing well if she's reelected. "The city of Starkville is home to me, and I'm extremely interested in her progress," she said. "We've done some remarkable things over the last 10 years. We haven't rested." Spruill also emphasized the importance of the city's ongoing wastewater management improvements, slated to finish in 2027. While people coming to the Golden Triangle for work want to live in Starkville, she said, the city's housing base can't keep growing until its new wastewater facilities are complete. |
| Spruill outraised opponents by 10 times, most from her own pocket | |
| Incumbent Lynn Spruill has outspent her opponents more than 10 times combined ahead of Tuesday's Democratic mayoral primary. Spruill reported $45,349 in fundraising in the mayor's race since Jan. 1, according to campaign finance documents she filed with the city clerk's office by Tuesday's deadline. Her opponents Brenna Betts and Charles Yarbrough raised only $3,551 and $1,100 respectively in that period. Candidates are required to file campaign finance reports periodically and itemize contributions and expenses in excess of $200. Only candidates in contested party primaries were required to report this period. More than half of the money Spruill raised is her own, making a $10,000 donation to her own campaign Feb. 28 and a $15,000 donation March 4. |
| $12M-plus Iuka inland port upgrade will help waterway traffic get to Gulf of Mexico | |
 | Gov. Tate Reeves has announced a new $12 million initiative to upgrade the Yellow Creek State Inland Port in Iuka. The investment, which is $12,857,143, is meant to modernize the multimodal commerce along the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway and strengthen Mississippi's waterway network, which spans 17 states and 14 major river systems, according to a statement from Reeves. "This investment is a vital step in modernizing our port infrastructure and ensuring that Mississippi remains competitive in the global marketplace," Reeves said in his statement. "By renovating and expanding a key inland port, we are not only doubling its operational capacity but also reducing shipping costs and increasing efficiency -- benefiting local businesses, creating jobs, and further solidifying Mississippi's economic future." Funding for the project came from Appalachian Regional Initiative for Stronger Economies. ARC is investing $9,000,000 which is being matched by $2,500,000 from the Mississippi State Multimodal Infrastructure Fund and $1,357,143 from the Yellow Creek State Port Authority. |
| Nissan Frontier named state's 'coolest' | |
 | The Nissan Frontier has been named the "Coolest Thing Made in Mississippi" for winning the 2025 Mississippi Makers' Challenge hosted by the Mississippi Manufacturers Association. The award recognizes the Frontier for its craftsmanship and innovation. The vehicle is manufactured at Nissan's Canton facility, and is powered by engines built at Nissan's powertrain plant in Decherd, Tennessee. "The rugged appearance, strong V6 engine, and capability are what makes the Frontier super cool. However, it is Nissan employees' dedication and passion that make our vehicles really stand out," said David Johnson, senior vice president, Manufacturing, Supply Chain Management and Purchasing, Nissan Americas. "Their hard work has made the Frontier a great product, and we are proud to be part of Mississippi's vibrant manufacturing community." This year's competition received 70 nominations for Mississippi's manufacturers, highlighting the diversity in the state's manufacturing sector. The Frontier advanced through four competitive rounds of public voting to claim the top spot with more than 41 percent of the vote in the final round. |
| Trump places 25% tariff on imported autos, expecting to raise $100 billion in tax revenues | |
 | President Donald Trump said he was placing 25% tariffs on auto imports, a move the White House claims would foster domestic manufacturing but could also put a financial squeeze on automakers that depend on global supply chains. "This will continue to spur growth," Trump told reporters Wednesday. "We'll effectively be charging a 25% tariff." The tariffs, which the White House expects to raise $100 billion in revenue annually, could be complicated as even U.S. automakers source their components from around the world. The tax hike starting in April means automakers could face higher costs and lower sales, though Trump argues that the tariffs will lead to more factories opening in the United States and the end of what he judges to be a "ridiculous" supply chain in which auto parts and finished vehicles are manufactured across the United States, Canada and Mexico. Trump has long said that tariffs against auto imports would be a defining policy of his presidency, betting that the costs created by the taxes would cause more production to relocate to the United States while helping narrow the budget deficit. But U.S. and foreign automakers have plants around the world to accommodate global sales while maintaining competitive prices -- and it could take years for companies to design, build and open the new factories that Trump is promising. "We're looking at much higher vehicle prices," said economist Mary Lovely, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. "We're going to see reduced choice. ... These kinds of taxes fall more heavily on the middle and working class.'' |
| European and U.K. Trade Groups Call for Solution to Avert U.S. Auto Tariffs | |
 | Trade groups representing the auto sector in the European Union and the U.K. Thursday called on leaders to find a resolution to the planned U.S. tariffs on auto imports. President Trump's 25% tariffs on all vehicles imported to the U.S. will hurt global automakers as well as U.S. domestic manufacturing, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association said Thursday. Tariffs won't just impact imports into the U.S., a penalty that American consumers are likely to pay, but the duties on automotive parts will also hurt automakers producing cars in the U.S. for export markets, said the trade group, which is known as ACEA. "European automakers have been investing in the U.S. for decades, creating jobs, fostering economic growth in local communities, and generating massive tax revenue for the U.S. government," ACEA Director General Sigrid de Vries said. ACEA said that European manufacturers export between 50% and 60% of the vehicles they make in the U.S., making a substantial positive contribution to the U.S. trade balance. Rather than imposing additional tariffs, the SMMT said leaders should be exploring ways to create opportunities for both British and American manufacturers as part of a mutually beneficial relationship, benefiting consumers and creating jobs and growth across the Atlantic. |
| Women's rights advocates celebrate as Gov. Reeves signs paid parental leave bill into law | |
| A bill that will allow state employees to stay home with newborns or newly adopted children without suffering financial detriment was signed into law by Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves on Tuesday. House Bill 1063, dubbed the "Mississippi State Employees Paid Parental Leave Act," glided through its originating house in a 114-0 vote. After the Senate amended the bill to lower the leave period from eight to six weeks and passed the measure on a 35-15 vote, the House again unanimously approved the legislation 118-0 before Reeves signed it into law. The bill, which will go into effect on January 1, 2026, will offer paid parental leave to employees who have worked with a state agency for at least one calendar year. Eligible employees, designated as the primary or secondary caregivers of a child, will be entitled to six weeks off work while being paid 100% of their salaried earnings. While Mississippi public schools will not be legally required to offer paid parental leave to their employees, under the legislation's text, the bill authorizes both public K-12 schools and junior college districts to adopt the policy. All state agencies will be required to abide by the policy. |
| Bill changing certificate of need law heads to governor | |
| A bill cleared the Legislature Wednesday that will make it easier for medical facilities to make capital improvements and require the state's only academic medical center to seek state approval before opening educational facilities outside of Jackson. The legislation, which passed the House of Representatives with a vote of 113-3, will next go to Gov. Tate Reeves' desk, where he has the option to sign it into law, allow it to become law without his signature or veto it. The bill also mandates that the Mississippi State Department of Health study dialysis and geriatric psychiatric units in small hospitals, and uncompensated care rates in psychiatric hospitals. These studies could lead to further reform of the state's certificate of need law in coming years, said Chair of the Public Health and Human Services committee Rep. Sam Creekmore, R-New Albany, who authored the House's proposal. "To start that process, is to me, very positive," said Creekmore, who commended both chambers of the Legislature for working together to pass the bill. Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory, spearheaded the reforms on the Senate side. The bill also seeks to create a level playing field between the University of Mississippi Medical Center and other health care providers. For years, UMMC has been exempt from certificate of need requirements for facilities or equipment that is used for educational purposes. |
| Revision of presumptive Medicaid eligibility for pregnant women goes into law without Governor's signature | |
| Legislation meant to conform Mississippi's Medicaid provisions regarding presumptive eligibility for pregnant women to federal regulations has gone into law without the signature of Governor Tate Reeves (R). As previously reported, presumptive eligibility refers to the process of granting Medicaid services to those who may qualify before their eligibility is verified by the program. A similar bill -- HB 539 -- passed the Legislature in the 2024 session and was signed into law by the Governor. State Rep. Missy McGee (R), Chair of the House Medicaid Committee, said that when last year's bill was sent up to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, a few issues were found that conflicted with federal law, such as a timeframe conflict concerning how long presumptive eligibility lasts and whether the mother-to-be has to show proof of income. Thus, this year's measure -- HB 662 -- removed language that requires women to show proof of income to align with federal guidelines, a discrepancy lawmakers said they learned about over the summer. McGee added that the new legislation only requires the patient to attest to their income because Medicaid will be the agency to determine proof of income. Discussion this session centered on whether proof of pregnancy would be included in the bill, but McGee said the doctor already performs that test. |
| Trump endorses Hyde-Smith for re-election in 2026 | |
| President Donald Trump (R) rolled out a number of mid-term endorsements on Wednesday night across social media, with Mississippi U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith among those receiving the president's backing. "Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith is 100% MAGA, and doing a fantastic job representing the Incredible People of Mississippi!" Trump wrote. "An Original Member of my Mississippi Leadership Team, Cindy has been with us from the very beginning. In the Senate, Cindy is fighting hard to Secure our Border, Grow the Economy, Champion our Amazing Farmers and American Agriculture, Support our Brave Military/Veterans, Promote Energy DOMINANCE, and Defend our always under siege Second Amendment." President Trump went on to say, "Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election -- SHE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!" The state's junior senator has received Trump's backing in her previous campaigns as well. Mississippi's Senate seat is one of 35 seats in the chamber up for election in the 2026 cycle, which includes special elections in Florida and Ohio. Of those, 23 are currently held by Republicans, meaning Democrats would need to win a net of four seats to take control of the Senate majority in 2027. |
| GOP lawmakers turn up the pressure on Hegseth | |
 | Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is under close scrutiny as Republican lawmakers criticize his handling of sensitive military information in a group chat with other administration officials that inadvertently included a journalist. Republican lawmakers have stopped short of calling on Hegseth to resign, but they're warning that his decision to share sensitive details about a pending military strike against Houthi rebels in Yemen over Signal, a commercial app, is a clear "strike" against him. "I think they should make sure it never happens again. I wish they'd tell us, 'It will never happen again.' It's the first strike in the early stages of an administration," said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "Don't let it ever happen again." "I don't know how many strikes you get. In baseball you get three. Maybe this is worth two," he added. "If mistakes like this continue to happen, we'll deal with them as it happens. My hope and my expectation is that it won't." GOP senators are questioning Hegseth's judgment in the whole affair. And while White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday sought to draw a distinction between "war plans" and "attack plans" in criticizing The Atlantic's reporting, Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) told reporters that the information, however it might be described, should have been classified. "The information as published recently appears to me to be of such a sensitive nature that, based on my knowledge, I would have wanted it classified," Wicker said at the Capitol. |
| The country's most powerful institutions are bowing to Trump. The Atlantic just backed him into a corner. | |
 | Over the past two months, President Donald Trump and the people in his orbit have used bullying, misdirection and brute force to bring some of the nation's oldest and most powerful institutions to heel. That playbook didn't work on The Atlantic. The magazine, loathed by Trump and his allies, on Wednesday morning published the entire group chat conversation among top administration officials about a military operation in Yemen. In doing so -- after press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the magazine "we object to the release" -- Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg and national security reporter Shane Harris effectively stood up to an administration that has largely grown used to getting its way -- and dared a White House with limited options to make the next move. "There is a clear public interest in disclosing the sort of information that Trump advisers included in nonsecure communications channels, especially because senior administration figures are attempting to downplay the significance of the messages that were shared," the reporters wrote. It was a remarkable rebuke of Trump, who since Inauguration Day has embarked on a revenge tour, tearing through the federal government, elite universities, news organizations and law firms he sees as enemies. And it left the president, unable to flex his typical levers of power, with limited options -- with the most straightforward way out being something he is loath to do: apologize. |
| Trump's Strategy for Signal Chat Fallout: Attack, Attack, Attack | |
| The White House is going to war over war plans, dusting off a familiar playbook that President Trump has used for decades to blunt controversies: attack, attack, attack. The president, senior advisers and top cabinet officials launched a campaign to dismiss one of the biggest crises of Trump's second term, as Washington grappled with the news that top administration national security officials discussed sensitive military operations on a nongovernment message app that included a prominent magazine editor. Trump has privately expressed frustration about the incident, people familiar with his thinking said, but he has made a strategic decision to paper over his annoyance and cede no ground in public. Instead, he has attacked the credibility of the Atlantic magazine and its editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, long a target of Trump's ire. And he has played down concerns from former administration officials, Democrats and some Republicans that the episode exposed serious national security vulnerabilities. The circle-the-wagons strategy is the same one Trump has used in past moments of crisis, dating back to his days as a real-estate developer in New York: Keep the fire aimed at the media, deny wrongdoing and raise questions about the validity of the allegations. The limits of the administration's deflection strategy became apparent as some Republicans and Trump allies pushed back against their approach. |
| RFK Jr.'s food stamp plan fuels tension with USDA | |
| Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s campaign to swiftly bar the use of food stamps to buy soda is fueling tensions between his team and the Agriculture Department, according to four people inside and outside government familiar with the dynamics. The Health and Human Services secretary wants the Trump administration to approve state petitions banning soda from the program for the first time. But he doesn't control the massive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is managed by the USDA. Aides to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins agree with Kennedy that federal aid should not be supporting a product they blame for driving obesity and other chronic diseases, according to the people, who were granted anonymity to describe the private deliberations. But they have questioned the feasibility of Kennedy's rapid approach and bristled at his encroachment into their territory. The behind-the-scenes friction represents an early flashpoint in the delicate partnership between Kennedy and Rollins aimed at fulfilling the Trump administration's vows to improve Americans' health through its "Make America Healthy Again" agenda. Kennedy and his advisers have eyed USDA warily since Trump picked Rollins to lead it, overriding their push for candidates more aligned with the MAHA movement. |
| RFK Jr. announces cut of 20,000 positions to Health and Human Services workforce | |
 | The Department of Health and Human Services is cutting nearly a quarter of its workforce and consolidating several of its departments, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Thursday. The moves will save the sprawling department about $1.8 billion annually, the agency said in a news release, by reducing staff from 82,000 to 62,000. Half of those employees took buyouts and early retirement, while 10,000 will lose their jobs. Kennedy announced he will reduce the HHS's 28 divisions to 15 and create a new Administration for a Healthy America that includes several core functions. The number of regional offices will drop from 10 to five, and the focus will be on "safe, wholesome food, clean water, and the elimination of environmental toxins" in an effort to "Make America Healthy Again," according to the news release. In an address posted to the social media platform X, Kennedy said that while HHS's budget had increased, so had rates of cancer and chronic disease, and American lifespans have dropped. Calling his agency a "sprawling bureaucracy," Kennedy said that as part of President Donald Trump's DOGE efforts, he would "streamline HHS" in what would be a "painful period" for the department. |
| Judge says Justice Department attacked her character to 'impugn the integrity' of US judicial system | |
| A federal judge accused the Justice Department on Wednesday of attacking her character in an effort to undermine the integrity of the judicial system, forcefully pushing back against the Trump administration's criticism of the courts for rulings that blocked parts of the president's agenda. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell's comments came in an order denying the Justice Department's bid to remove her from a case over an executive order punishing a prominent law firm. The Trump administration had asked for the case to be moved to another judge in Washington's federal court, accusing Howell of demonstrating "a pattern of hostility" toward the Republican president. "When the U.S. Department of Justice engages in this rhetorical strategy of ad hominem attack, the stakes become much larger than only the reputation of the targeted federal judge," wrote Howell, who was appointed to the federal bench by Democratic President Barack Obama. "This strategy is designed to impugn the integrity of the federal judicial system and blame any loss on the decision-maker rather than fallacies in the substantive legal arguments presented." "Adjudicating whether an Executive Branch exercise of power is legal, or not, is actually the job of the federal courts, and not of the President or the Department of Justice, though vigorous and rigorous defense of executive actions is both expected and helpful to the courts in resolving legal issues," she wrote. |
| Amy Arrington confirmed to IHL Board of Trustees | |
 | The Mississippi Senate confirmed Amy Arrington on March 26 for a seat on the Board of Trustees of Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL). Arrington was appointed in February by Governor Tate Reeves (R-Miss.) to fill the unexpired term of Trustee Jeanne Luckey, who died on November 7, 2024. Arrington will serve through May 7, 2027, as a trustee from the Second (Southern) Supreme Court District. "We are grateful to the Senate for confirming Amy Arrington for the IHL Board of Trustees, and look forward to her insight and experience as we debate issues before the Board," said Dr. Al Rankins Jr., commissioner of higher education. "Trustee Arrington joins a strong Board of Trustees, comprised of dedicated individuals from across Mississippi who share a common focus on the excellence of our state's public university system." Arrington currently serves as chief legal officer for Hattiesburg Clinic Professional Association. Prior to that, she worked as assistant director for the School of Health Professions at The University of Southern Mississippi, where she also taught undergraduate and graduate courses in health law, management, and policy. |
| University seeks private partner to alleviate student housing shortage | |
 | The University of Mississippi is evaluating bids from private developers for construction of dramatically expanded student housing. The project aims to add 3,500 on-campus beds by 2029 to accommodate growing student enrollment at the university. This project is a shift from the university's previous plans, announced in August 2023, to construct three new residence halls on the former Kincannon Hall lot. According to a university request for proposals (RFP) obtained by The Daily Mississippian, the new plan still includes the construction of student housing at the former Kincannon site but adds student housing projects in the following locations: a currently undeveloped site next to West Row near the UM School of Law, the current South Parking Lot on Athletics Lane and another site next to the South Campus Recreation Center. The first residences are expected to be completed by summer 2027 and the last no later than summer 2029. The issue with the initial Kincannon plan was affordability. "We started (the Kincannon) process in earnest roughly three years ago, in discussions and then some concrete planning," Provost Noel Wilkin said in an interview with The Daily Mississippian. "We put it out for bids -- the bids came back at more than what we could afford. And so we had to pivot." After choosing a developer, the university will present a pre-development agreement to the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning -- the governing body that approves all construction projects at the university -- in April or May. |
| East Mississippi Community College hosts white coat ceremony for nursing students | |
 | Nurses are the backbone of the healthcare industry. That's why new hands in the field are always welcome. East Mississippi Community College held its White Coat Ceremony this week. A graduation ceremony for students receiving associate degrees in nursing. As part of the ceremony, students are draped in white lab coats and are told to read a student nurse oath aloud. Jamonicia Johnson, the director of the EMCC nursing program, said this oath is the verbalization of what the white coat ceremony is meant to symbolize. They are obligated to serve the public with a patient-focused approach in mind. "We want to remind them that when they're going to the clinical practice, they are still serving the public. And they're trying to keep health care human with the patient focus in mind. Sacrificing yourself to serve others. Nursing is a calling. It is not something that you just do. You get to do, you get to serve others. So nursing is a form of ministry," said Jamonica Johnson, Director of Nursing Program and Associate Dean of Health Sciences. |
| Iranian doctoral student at U. of Alabama detained by ICE | |
 | An Iranian doctoral student at the University of Alabama is reportedly being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A spokesperson for the university confirmed Wednesday that a doctoral student has been detained off campus by federal immigration authorities, but declined to name the student, citing privacy protections. A reason for the detention, or any legal proceedings, was not immediately clear Wednesday evening. The Crimson White, UA's student newspaper, reported that Alireza Doroudi, a mechanical engineering student, was detained by ICE at 5 a.m. on March 25 in his home. The newspaper reported that Doroudi entered the country in January 2023, and was notified a few months later that his F-1 student visa was revoked. Doroudi contacted UA's International Student and Scholar Services, who told him the notification "was not unusual or problematic and that he could remain in the U.S. as long as he maintained his student status." Someone with the name Alireza Doroudi is listed as "in ICE custody," according to the agency's website. The detention facility isn't listed. |
| Beshear vetoes bill Kentucky professors say erodes academic tenure at public universities | |
| Saying it "threatens academic freedom," Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear has issued a veto to a Republican-backed bill that some Kentucky professors warned would erode academic tenure at the state's public universities and colleges. Rep. James Tipton, R-Taylorsville, argued House Bill 424, was not about tenure in higher education but instead "employment contracts" between universities and academic employees. If it becomes law, the bill would give universities and colleges the ability to remove faculty members and presidents for not meeting "performance and productivity requirements" set by the institutions' boards. In his veto message issued Tuesday, Beshear said Kentucky should focus on ways to "attract, recruit and retain the best and brightest minds at Kentucky's universities and colleges," which includes having faith in "our university administrations and faculty to negotiate and offer competitive employment contracts." "In a time of increased federal encroachment into the public education, this bill will limit employment protections of our postsecondary institution teachers," the governor wrote. "This bill will limit Kentucky's ability to hire the best people and threatens academic freedom." |
| Texas students sued to keep their drag show on campus. They won. | |
| Sophia Ahmed delivered the news on Monday with a two-word message in all capital letters: "WE WON." A court had ruled that the annual, on-campus drag show she and classmates at Texas A&M University had organized could still happen this Thursday. Since May, the students had booked a theater, selected performers and started selling tickets -- plans the university system interrupted last month by banning drag events on its campuses, citing President Donald Trump's "Day 1" executive order on gender ideology. A week later, the Texas A&M student group hosting "Draggieland" sued, putting the fate of the drag show in the hands of a federal judge. Blocking the show "because it offends some members of the campus community is precisely what the First Amendment prohibits," U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal wrote Monday in a ruling that temporarily lifted the university system's ban. After the decision came down, Ahmed, president of the group hosting the show, the Texas A&M Queer Empowerment Council, spread the word to fellow organizers. Preparations -- and ticket sales -- resumed. Doors will open Thursday at the university's Rudder Theatre in College Station. In Texas and across the country, conservative lawmakers have targeted drag performances in recent years as part of a larger effort aimed at restricting LGBTQ+ rights. |
| U. of Notre Dame commencement departs from presidential tradition | |
| Neither U.S. President Donald Trump nor Vice President JD Vance will deliver the commencement address for the 2025 graduating class at the University of Notre Dame -- signaling a departure from the tradition of the revered Catholic institution. Since the 1970s, Notre Dame has routinely invited newly inaugurated presidents to deliver the university's commencement address. However this year, rather than hosting a political figure, Joint Chiefs of Staff Acting Chairman Adm. Christopher Grady will deliver the address. In total, six United States presidents have delivered commencement addresses at the university while in office: Eisenhower in 1960, Jimmy Carter in 1977, Ronald Reagan in 1981, George H. W. Bush in 1992, George W. Bush in 2001, and Barack Obama in 2009. Former Vice President Mike Pence delivered the 2017 commencement speech. Trump was traveling to Saudi Arabia at the time, although former Notre Dame President Father John Jenkins said that Trump had not been invited after his first inauguration because he did not meet "a certain bar in terms of just moral decency," which prompted the Pence invitation instead. |
| Duke University Wants No Part of 'The White Lotus' | |
 | The third season of HBO's "The White Lotus" has featured -- spoilers ahead -- adultery, a stolen firearm, an incestuous threesome, a dead body in the water, fake friendships and white-collar crime. So it might not be entirely surprising that real-life officials from Duke University are troubled that the school has played a supporting role throughout the season. One of the show's leading characters, Timothy Ratliff, a wealthy businessman and Duke alumnus played by Jason Isaacs, is on vacation in Thailand with his family. But things go south in a hurry when he learns that he is being investigated for his part in a shady financial deal. Mr. Ratliff copes by stealing lorazepam, an anti-anxiety medication, from his wife's cache of prescription drugs. The pills leave him in a zombielike state. Later, after filching a handgun from one of the resort's security guards, Mr. Ratliff appears to contemplate suicide -- while wearing a Duke T-shirt. Frank Tramble, the vice president for communications, marketing and public affairs at Duke, said in an email that the university did not approve of the use of its "marks" in the program. "Duke appreciates artistic expression and creative storytelling," Mr. Tramble said, "but characters' prominently wearing apparel bearing Duke's federally registered trademarks creates confusion and mistakenly suggests an endorsement or affiliation where none exists." But while Duke officials may be annoyed with the school's portrayal in the show, the law is most likely on HBO's side, said Jeanne Fromer, a professor who specializes in intellectual property law at the New York University School of Law. |
| Is the FAFSA Poised for Another Fiasco? | |
 | Last year the financial aid world was thrown into chaos after a newly overhauled Free Application for Federal Student Aid launched with glaring technical errors and user issues. Now, government officials and financial aid professionals say the Trump administration's mass layoffs and spending cuts at the Education Department are threatening to cause a repeat. The administration has said it is committed to maintaining the federal aid form, one of the department's congressionally mandated responsibilities. Acting under secretary of education James Bergeron assured higher education officials in a March 14 letter that "no employees working on core functions of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid were impacted by the [reduction in force]." So far, despite laying off half of the department's workforce, they have avoided cuts to the team that works directly on the form, headed by a newly created FAFSA program executive director. But remaining Office of Federal Student Aid staff, college-access advocates and financial aid officers say that deep cuts at FSA, which oversees the FAFSA, could undermine its capacity to fix technical issues as they arise, field questions from families still wary from last year's botched rollout and manage the third-party contractors responsible for much of the form's functionality -- all issues that plagued the department last cycle. |
| 'You can't create 18-year-olds': What can colleges do amid demographic upheaval? | |
| This is a moment for higher education 18 years in the making. By the latest estimates, 2025 will be the year that the number of high school graduates peak. The long-dreaded demographic cliff -- caused by declining birth rates starting in 2007 -- is coming. But the coming decline in traditional-aged college students might not be a "cliff," exactly, and it doesn't necessarily spell a disaster for the nation's colleges. In its latest forecasts of future high school graduate numbers, the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education described a more gradual drop over the next 15 years than the cliff metaphor suggests, though it also projected a slightly larger decline overall than previously expected. "The decline is coming," Patrick Lane, report co-author and WICHE's vice president of policy analysis and research, said during a February panel at an American Council on Education event in Washington, D.C. "Whether it looks like a cliff or sort of a slowly sliding downward trend ... that's the really big question." |
| University endowments can't replace federal funding | |
| Universities that rely on federal grants and funding have been hit hard by cuts to federal programs. Research funding for the University of Pennsylvania has reportedly been frozen, federal grants for Columbia University are being withheld and the National Institutes of Health -- by far the largest federal funder of university research -- announced last month that it would cut the rate it pays for university facility costs on the scale of billions. Some might say that these cuts are justifiable considering that universities often have large endowments and the schools can draw from those funds instead. However, those endowments are complicated, and as Elizabeth Popp Berman, a professor of organizational studies at the University of Michigan, argues, they can't make up the difference from lost federal funding. "The first thing to know about endowments is that they are actually tens of thousands of little specific funds. So when a donor gives money to the university, they give it with some specific intent in mind. So maybe it's for a particular kind of cancer research, or maybe it is for a particular scholarship. Then the university agrees to hold that money and is allowed to spend the interest on it effectively on those specific things," Berman said. |
| Fulbright Scholars Face Uncertainty About Visas, Funding | |
| As the academic year comes to a close, international students in the U.S. as part of the Fulbright program usually turn to their advisers at the Institute of International Education, the nonprofit that administers Fulbright programs, for help with immigration paperwork. That can include signing off on visa renewals, helping students get authorization to work in the U.S. after graduation and even booking plane tickets home for those whose scholarships include travel costs. But this year, those Fulbrighters -- the colloquial term for both international and American participants in the program -- are in limbo as the Fulbright Foreign Student Program advising team at IIE has been slashed from about 15 people to just one, according to one FFSP team member. Those cut are among the approximately 200 staff that have been furloughed from IIE as a result of the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs freezing all outgoing funding starting Feb. 13. At the time, the department said funds would be frozen for 15 days as it completed a review of the office's spending. Now, almost a month and a half later, the freeze remains in place. Every year, around 4,000 international students study in the U.S. through the FFSP program, plus another 900 scholars and instructors. |
| This Time, Higher Ed's Resistance to Trump is Being Led by Its Associations | |
 | As the Trump administration has issued a volley of executive orders and policy directives aimed at higher education over the past two months, the sector's fight back has been led not by individual institutions -- like often happened during his first term -- but by its acronym-heavy associations. One of the first legal challenges came about 48 hours after the administration announced that indirect-cost reimbursements from the National Institutes of Health would be capped at 15 percent. Various groups filed lawsuits: The first was from the Association of American Medical Colleges and related organizations.That was followed by another complaint from the American Council on Education (ACE), joined by the Association of American Universities (AAU), the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU), and a dozen institutions, which argued the policy was "flagrantly unlawful." Within days, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order nationwide. While it hasn't been an explicitly articulated plan, the approach of letting associations take the lead seems to have settled into a kind of consensus, even as critics bemoan the relative silence of college presidents. |
SPORTS
| Baseball: Bulldogs Back On The Road At No. 8 LSU | |
| For the second-straight week, Mississippi State finds itself on the road against a top 10 opponent. The Diamond Dawgs took on then 10th-ranked Oklahoma last weekend and are back in action at No. 8 LSU this week. The three-game series at Alex Box Stadium gets underway on Thursday at 7 p.m. on SEC Network. The perennial SEC baseball powers will continue their rivalry on Friday at 6:30 p.m. and wrap up the series on Saturday at 2 p.m with the final two contests streamed on SEC Network+. MSU will by vying for its third-straight series victory against the Tigers. Chris Lemonis' club took two games during their last trip to Baton Rouge against the eventual national champions in 2023 and also claimed a pair in last year's series in Starkville. The Bulldogs won the opener 10-4, were edged 9-8 in Game 2 before erupting for a 15-5 run-rule victory in eight innings in last year's series finale. Mississippi State maintains a 220-191 lead in the overall series that dates back to 1907. With the shortened week, State will switch up its pitching rotation against LSU. Junior right-hander Evan Siary will open the series on the mound. Siary has made six appearances and one start this season and sports a 2.25 earned run average with 15 strikeouts and three walks through 11 2/3 innings but has not factored into a decision. |
| Will LSU's Gavin Guidry be available to pitch against Mississippi State? | |
 | LSU junior right-hander Gavin Guidry will not be available to pitch on Thursday for the Tigers' series opener against Mississippi State, according to Wednesday's SEC availability report. Guidry has not pitched this season after suffering a back injury prior to LSU's second weekend series against Omaha. He has yet to pitch in a game this year after posting a 2.59 ERA last season. The Tigers could use Guidry out of the bullpen following last weekend's series defeat to Texas. In Saturday's loss to the Longhorns, LSU's bullpen surrendered nine hits, seven runs and two home runs. Sophomore right-hander Deven Sheerin was the only other Tiger listed on Wednesday's report. LSU coach Jay Johnson anticipates that Sheerin will be out for the season as he recovers from a torn ACL. LSU's series with Mississippi State begins on Thursday at Alex Box Stadium. First pitch is slated for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised on SEC Network. |
| Ron Polk Ring of Honor 2025: All-SEC/All-Region Mike Proffitt | |
 | The late Mike Proffitt was well known for his skill on the baseball field, the pitching mound in particular. He was a four-year starter, a two-time Southeastern Conference champion, an NCAA District/Regional champion, and the starting pitcher in Mississippi State's second game in Omaha, NE, at the 1971 College World Series, MSU's first ever appearance in the event. And, he would always remind you that as a green freshman in 1969, he'd struck out a shortstop from rival Ole Miss named Archie Manning. It's those collective talents and accomplishments that already had him in the Mississippi State Sports Hall of Fame 1993 class, and it's now earned him induction into the Ron Polk Ring of Honor, this year's ceremony on April 5 at Dudy Noble Field. Proffitt joins four-year teammate Ted Milton and former three-season Bulldog and 12-year Major League veteran Mitch Moreland in the seventh Ring of Honor class since 2019. But, Mike Proffitt was much more than that. His wife Harriet laughs that on his recruiting visit to State, the winning factor may have been Assistant Coach Tom D'Armi taking him fishing at a local lake. It's not known if D'Armi brought the papers along and had them signed before they got out of the boat that decisive day. But, appealing to two of his great loves, playing baseball and fishing, just may have been all the Birmingham, AL native needed to see. |
| Softball: Bernardini's Bat Lifts Bulldogs To In-State Victory | |
| No. 18 Mississippi State has made a habit of batting around lately and did so again on Wednesday on its way to a 9-1 victory at Southern Miss in five innings. It was MSU's 11th run-rule victory of the season. Morgan Bernardini drove in four runs on a pair of infield singles. Nadia Barbary hit a two-run homer, and Lexi Sosa scored two with a double. The remaining run came home on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch for Kiarra Sells, who leads the SEC with 12 hit-by-pitches this season. "I think everyone in the lineup is contributing. It's a different person in every game," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "There's just a lot of confidence, and they do a great job of relaying what they're seeing, what the plan is and any adjustments. I think we're just having good team at-bats, and it's just very contagious for us right now." Delainey Everett improved to 7-0 on the season, and she is now 11-0 for her career in the circle. Raelin Chaffin threw the final 2.0 frames, striking out three batters and allowing just one hit. |
| Softball: SEC Prepares For Fifth Annual 'All For Alex' Weekend | |
| The SEC softball community will again be united on March 26 when all 15 teams participate in the league's fifth annual "All for Alex" weekend to honor the legacy of Mississippi State's Alex Wilcox. Wilcox was a member of the 2018 Mississippi State softball team who inspired the nation with her courageous fight against ovarian cancer. That fight ultimately took her life in the summer of 2018. This weekend will be the second time that State has met Tennessee during "All For Alex" weekend, with the last coming in Knoxville in 2022. The Bulldogs will wear their white uniforms with teal lettering while the Lady Vols will be in teal jersey tops. All 15 SEC teams will wear teal uniforms or teal accents on Saturday. There are seven conference games scheduled, and Texas A&M will host Loyola Marymount. Additionally, multiple non-conference teams nationwide are expected to participate, including South Alabama where Wilcox's sister, Kassidy, played. The campaign is a joint effort of LSU head coach Beth Torina and MSU head coach Samantha Ricketts and was approved at the SEC coaches' meetings in the fall of 2019 before being put on hold when the 2020 conference season was canceled. This weekend Mississippi State will host No. 1 Texas, which has previously participated in All For Alex weekend prior to joining the conference. |
| House v. NCAA Settlement Objections Rebuked by Class Counsel | |
| Attorneys for the athletes in the pending settlement of the House, Carter and Hubbard antitrust litigations argue in a new brief that objections over roster limits, Title IX and other topics "suffer fatal defects" and ought not to dissuade U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken from granting final approval. The objections, submitted by athletes and attorneys following the March 3 motion for final approval, "are mostly a rehash" of earlier ones, attorneys Jeffrey Kessler and Steve Berman contend in a document filed on Monday. Since last year, the settlement has attracted a wide range of objections and other adverse court filings, including one by the U.S. Department of Justice at the end of President Joe Biden's term. Wilken will review the Kessler and Berman brief before holding a fairness hearing on April 7. Her decision on whether to grant or deny final approval is expected within weeks of the hearing. Kessler and Berman also stress that approval of the settlement hinges on whether it is fair, reasonable and adequate. Stated differently, the settlement does not have to be ideal or great for all class members; the bar for approval is much lower. Wilken will consider whether the settlement shows overall fairness in the context of the antitrust claims the players raised in the lawsuits. To that point, Kessler and Berman maintain that a "holistic assessment" shows the settlement represents "an extraordinary transformation of college sports and opens the markets for athletic services to substantially more competition." |
| Deion Sanders' push for NFL-style intersquad scrimmages at college level gains momentum with coaches | |
| With Football Bowl Subdivision programs planning for a 105-man roster limit this fall, American Football Coaches Association executive director Craig Bohl said he sees the day coming when the NCAA allows NFL-style intersquad practices and scrimmages. "If a couple programs choose to explore this, I think it's going to be something that could have some real legs to it," Bohl told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Colorado coach Deion Sanders recently suggested a school be allowed to host a team from another school for a few days of joint practices before they play an exhibition game, possibly as a replacement for the traditional intrasquad spring game. Syracuse coach Fran Brown, in response to Sanders, said in a social media post he would be willing to take his team to Colorado for a three-day visit. Asked if Colorado had requested a waiver that would allow for it, CU athletics spokesman Steve Hulbert texted to the AP, "We are working with the NCAA and the Big 12 Conference. There are currently no updates." Bohl said "there is quite a bit of appetite" among coaches to hold intersquad practices and scrimmages, even still this spring. The impetus is the 105-man roster limit, which likely will become official next month with the expected final approval of the House vs. NCAA antitrust lawsuit settlement. |
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