| Friday, April 11, 2025 |
| Annual International Fiesta brings array of music, food, activities to MSU April 12 | |
 | The 33rd International Fiesta, sponsored by Mississippi State's Holmes Center for Student Success and the World Neighbors Association, hosts its annual event on the university's Drill Field on Saturday [April 12]. MSU celebrates a variety of vibrant cultures 11 a.m.-3 p.m., featuring the Parade of Flags, global performances, games and activities from around the world. Campus organizations, clubs and departments will have informational displays, international cuisine and an array of entertainment including dancing, live instrumental music and singing. |
| SIU's Paul Simon Institute hosts lecture on school safety, crime perception | |
 | Nicole Rader, a nationally recognized expert in criminology and criminal justice, will present a lecture on areas including school safety and the role that gender plays in a fear of crime at Southern Illinois University Carbondale on Thursday, April 17. Rader's lecture is at 6 p.m. in the Student Center's Old Main Lounge. A reception begins at 5 p.m. The event is hosted by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute. Registration is encouraged but not required. Before the lecture, Rader will meet with students on campus. Rader is a professor and associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences at Mississippi State University. She joined the MSU faculty after earning her doctorate in sociology at SIU Carbondale. "Professor Rader is one of our country's most esteemed experts in criminology and criminal justice," said John Shaw, institute director. "We expect a remarkable lecture about school safety, crime perception and the fear of crime. We are very eager to learn more about her much-praised book, 'Teaching Fear: How We Learn to Fear Crime and Why It Matters.' And of course, we want to hear about her time at SIU." |
| FOX Weather at Mississippi State University's Severe Storms Symposium | |
| Amidst an active severe weather season, meteorologists, students and weather enthusiasts united under a shared passion for weather news. The East Mississippi Chapter of the National Weather Association and the American Meteorology Society hosted its 23rd Annual Southeast Severe Storms Symposium on March 29 at Mississippi State University. With over 140 attendees, four keynote speakers and a myriad of networking opportunities, the generosity of sponsors like FOX Weather was instrumental in making this enriching event come to life. FOX Weather meteorologists Steve Bender and Haley Meier were an integral part of this year's symposium, providing professional insight into the diverse aspects of severe weather coverage. "There's a lot of pressure and stress on students, but it's all about passion and sharing that passion with people," Bender said. "My time at FOX Weather has proven to go beyond just the forecast by allowing me to meet people where they are." Meier, who is an MSU alumna, said she believes the event is an excellent opportunity for both aspiring and professional meteorologists to learn from each other's successes and failures. |
| Oktibbeha cracks down on illegal racing hotspot | |
 | Flipped cars. Broken bones. Lawns torn and bushes annihilated. Horseshoe Circle has in recent years become a popular destination for illegal racers, and county government has had enough. Residents of Horseshoe Circle came before the board of supervisors on Monday to plead their case, spelling out how consistent reckless driving has cost them thousands of dollars and endangered their families. Located just outside of Starkville's borders, the roughly mile-long street has already been the focus of increased signage and enhanced patrols from the sheriff's office. Those measures, however, haven't stopped the flow of new accidents, and residents are now asking that the county put in physical speedbumps. The board unanimously approved ordering a set of two-inch-tall rubber rumble strips to be installed along Horseshoe Circle. The strips aim to dissuade speeding with less risk of damage to cars or uncontrolled movement than conventional speed bumps. Road Manager Victor Collins said this kind of rumble strip typically takes three weeks to arrive, with some already installed on New Hope Church Road. Carver told The Dispatch on Thursday that those noticeably decreased the amount of speeding complaints he got from residents there. |
| Judge Sharion Aycock takes senior status | |
 | After almost 18 years on the federal bench hearing cases big and small, U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock has decided to slow down a bit by taking senior status. By taking senior status, her caseload will be reduced once a new district judge has been named. Until then, she will continue to preside over all the civil and criminal cases assigned to her in the Northern District of Mississippi. The lifelong Mississippian sent a letter to the White House two weeks ago giving notice of the status change, which will become effective April 15. In the letter, she thanked President George W. Bush and the United States Senate for allowing her the opportunity to serve. Aycock had just been elected to her second term as a Mississippi circuit court judge in March 2007 when President Bush nominated her to be the first female federal judge in Mississippi. She was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate in October 2007. Throughout her career in law, Aycock has been a trailblazer for women. She was one of just a handful of women to graduate in her law school class at Mississippi College in 1980. She broke ground for the female practitioner, setting up shop in Fulton, taking on individual, corporate and governmental clients. She was the first female president of the Mississippi Bar Foundation and was honored as Mississippi State University's 2008 Woman of the Year. Aycock graduated from Tremont High School in 1973. Four years later, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics with a minor in political science from Mississippi State University. |
| Consumer sentiment tumbles in April as inflation fears spike, U. of Michigan survey shows | |
| Consumer sentiment grew even worse than expected in April as the expected inflation level hit its highest since 1981, a closely watched University of Michigan survey showed Friday. The survey's mid-month reading on consumer sentiment fell to 50.8, down from 57.0 in March and below the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 54.6. The move represented a 10.9% monthly change and was 34.2% lower than a year ago. It was lowest reading since June 2022 and the second-lowest in the survey's history going back to 1952. As sentiment moved lower, inflation worries surged. Respondents' expectation for inflation a year from now leaped to 6.7%, the highest level since November 1981 and up from 5% in March. At the five-year horizon, the expectation climbed to 4.4%, a 0.3 percentage point increase from March and the highest since June 1991. "Consumers have spiraled from anxious to petrified," wrote Samuel Tombs, chief U.S. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. Sentiment declines came across all demographics, including age, income and political affiliation, according to Joanne Hsu, the survey director. |
| Wall Street Sounds an Alarm: The Economy Is at Risk Thanks to Tariffs | |
 | Wall Street executives Friday warned President Trump's tariffs were sending the U.S. economy into the unknown and that the uncertainty was already hurting consumers and companies alike. Financiers came into the year excited for President Trump's tenure, expecting corporate tax cuts and lower regulation to lift stocks, dealmaking and corporate confidence. One quarter in, the tone is entirely different and executives are worried about tariffs and their impact, especially after the market gyrations of this month. Some economists are predicting a recession by the second half of 2025. JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon and BlackRock's Larry Fink, two of the industry's leading voices, both said the turbulence wasn't like prior financial crises. "This is different," Dimon, chief executive of the country's biggest bank, said when asked how he compared this moment to past downturns. "It's a significant change we've never seen in our lives." Fink, the head of the world's biggest asset manager, said: "In the short run, we have an economy that is at risk." The April tariff announcements also surprised executives across the country, sent stock markets reeling and pushed down the price of supersafe Treasury bonds. Bankers said Friday that they are expecting businesses to pull back from big moves like deals and investments and worries are spreading about how much companies will earn this year. |
| Mississippi lawmakers have chance in special session to ease concerns caused by DOGE cuts | |
| As Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency -- better known as DOGE -- continue to have their sights set on Mississippi to trim what they believe to be "government waste," nearly $400 million in federal funding has already or is in the process of being frozen across the state. From $137 million intended for various projects and programs within the Mississippi Department of Education to the Mississippi State Department of Health on pace to lose out on over $220 million being used for virus research and community health center upgrades, the worry among agency heads can be felt. Mississippi lawmakers will soon have a chance to ease some of the concerns. Rewind to last week when the state House and Senate left the capitol in Jackson without finalizing a plan to fund the state government after June 30, 2025. While the budget collapse was mostly the result of an intraparty spat amongst GOP lawmakers over procedure rather than content, Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said this week that it "may be fortuitous" that lawmakers are having to wait to pass a budget with the DOGE cuts coming in hot and no end in sight. Hosemann mentioned other funds recently slashed by DOGE intended for research at Mississippi State University, addiction treatment at the Mississippi Department of Mental Health, and Vicksburg National Military Park losing seven full-time employees as part of the cuts. |
| 'Last dollar' community college program will be back before lawmakers next session, Lt. Gov. Hosemann says | |
| Bills that sought to drive students into Mississippi's community colleges through the promise of "free" tuition died after making their way across the Capitol this session. The House of Representatives passed HB 1556, called the Mississippi Connecting Career and Technical Education Employability Program. It sought to assist students seeking a degree or certificate in a high-demand, skilled career path. Those applicable career paths were dependent on the workforce ecosystem needs in each region of the state. On the other side of the Capitol, the Senate passed SB 2527, called the Mississippi Resident Promise Grant Program. This less restrictive program did not require students to seek any particular degree path. Students could have sought an academic degree, career or technical trade certificate, or participate in an allied health program. Both plans were promoted as "Last Dollar" programs, meaning students would be required to apply for all currently established forms of financial aid before the state funding would become accessible. As noted by State Senator Nicole Boyd (R), 35 states have similar programs in place. The measures were being considered as a means to better train the state's workforce and prepare students for higher paying careers. |
| Mississippi would lose billions if Congress cuts Medicaid, report says | |
| Mississippi will lose out on billions of dollars if Congress continues to advance legislation that would make deep cuts to Medicaid and other agencies to pay for a tax cut championed by President Donald Trump. Tens of thousands of Mississippians could lose their health insurance as a result of what could be the largest cut in the history of Medicare and Medicaid. While the budget resolution passed by Congress this week doesn't specifically call for cuts to Medicaid, experts have said there is no way to achieve the proposed magnitude of cuts to a group of federal agencies -- $880 billion -- without slashing Medicaid. Mississippi could see a potential reduction of up to $5.4 billion in federal funding for Medicaid under one proposal over the 10-year period, and $16 billion under another, according to a brief by the Center for Mississippi Health Policy based on a report conducted by the Hilltop Institute at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Mississippi, one of the poorest states in the nation with a large Medicaid population, would be significantly impacted by such a blow to the program. In particular, low-income people in vulnerable groups such as pregnant women, disabled adults, children and the elderly would face losing coverage, and hospitals and providers that rely on the program to reimburse for services could face massive losses. One state lawmaker in recent weeks said it would bring Mississippi, one of the most federally dependent states in the nation, "to its knees" -- particularly on the heels of the state Legislature passing an income tax cut that will result in an estimated loss of about $2.2 billion of the state's $7 billion in operating revenue. |
| Congress now faces an $880 billion Medicaid question | |
 | The House cleared a hurdle Thursday in adopting a budget resolution needed for filibuster-proof legislation on President Donald Trump's policy priorities. But now, another obstacle stands in the way: how to find $1.5 trillion in spending cuts without cutting Medicaid benefits, as Trump and House leadership have promised. The budget resolution directs the House Energy and Commerce Committee to find $880 billion in savings -- a feat that would prove extremely difficult without making deep cuts to Medicaid, the massive health program covering 72 million Americans, including low-income adults, children and people with disabilities. Some Republicans say they won't support legislation that would cut the program. "If they're going to cut qualified, legal people, whether they're disabled, whether they're senior citizens, whether they're working poor ... we're not supporting that. Period," said Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., who along with a dozen other Republicans met with Speaker Mike Johnson earlier this week to emphasize their objections to Medicaid benefit cuts. House health leaders met Thursday morning to discuss proposals that could gather enough support. But after that meeting, they did not appear to have agreed to any firm solutions other than instituting work requirements, which would not generate anywhere near the $880 billion in cuts the Energy and Commerce Committee is being assigned. |
| Senate GOP divided over House demands for spending cuts | |
 | Senate Republicans are deeply divided over demands by House conservatives to cut at least $1.5 trillion, and possibly more, from the federal budget over the next decade, putting Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) in a tough position. Thune acknowledged to reporters Thursday that his Senate GOP colleagues are divided over how much to cut from the federal budget to offset the cost of extending President Trump's 2017 tax cuts and other Trump priorities. "We got folks on both sides of that issue. We'll have to sort it out," Thune said when asked about GOP senators who are worried that Republican leaders have set too ambitious a goal by pledging to cut $1.5 trillion from the federal budget over the next decade. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), appearing at a Thursday morning press conference with Thune, told reporters that GOP leaders are "committed to finding at least $1.5 trillion in savings for the American people" and promised to "aim much higher" in finding government programs to cut. That's going to be a tough promise for Thune to deliver on in the Senate, where a handful of Republican senators have warned they will oppose steep cuts to Medicaid. |
| State tells employees to report on one another for 'anti-Christian bias' | |
 | The Trump administration has ordered State Department employees to report on any instances of coworkers displaying "anti-Christian bias" as part of its effort to implement a sweeping new executive order on supporting employees of Christian faith working in the federal government. The department, according to a copy of an internal cable obtained by POLITICO, will work with an administration-wide task force to collect information "involving anti-religious bias during the last presidential administration" and will collect examples of anti-Christian bias through anonymous employee report forms. The cable was sent out to embassies around the world under Secretary of State Marco Rubio's name. The instructions also were released in a department-wide notice. Some State Department officials reacted to the cable with shock and alarm, saying that even if well-intentioned, it is based on the flawed premise that the department harbors anti-Christian bias to begin with, and warning it could create a culture of fear as the administration pushes employees to report on one another. "It's very 'Handmaid's Tale'-esque," said one State Department official, who was granted anonymity because the individual was not allowed to speak openly about internal department affairs. |
| Elon Musk lowers DOGE's projected savings from $1 trillion to $150 billion | |
 | Elon Musk said he anticipates the Department of Government Efficiency's efforts to slash "waste and fraud" from the federal government will cut $150 billion in spending over the next fiscal year, appearing to dramatically lower much-loftier projections he previously touted. Musk, the billionaire tech entrepreneur who oversees DOGE, provided the update during an April 10 Cabinet meeting convened by President Donald Trump. "I'm excited to announce that we anticipate savings in FY 26 from reduction of waste and fraud by $150 billion," Musk, seated at a table with Cabinet secretaries, told Trump. "And I mean, some of it is just absurd -- like people getting unemployment insurance who haven't been born yet." The 2026 fiscal year runs from Oct. 1, 2025 to Sept. 30, 2026. While campaigning for Trump during the 2024 presidential race, Musk talked about cutting $2 trillion from the government. He lowered the goal to $1 trillion after Trump assumed office. And as recently as a March 27 interview on Fox News, Musk said he was on pace to eliminate $1 trillion in federal spending by the end of May. It was unclear whether Musk misspoke at the Cabinet meeting and intended to highlight DOGE's projected savings to date. On the group's website, DOGE currently projects estimated savings of $150 billion identified so far. |
| Massive cuts to NASA science proposed in early White House budget plan | |
 | NASA's science budget could be cut nearly in half under an early version of President Donald Trump's budget proposal to Congress, a move that would terminate billions of dollars' worth of ongoing and future missions, according to two individuals with direct knowledge of the administration's plan. The budget plan, sent to NASA by the Office of Management and Budget, would give NASA's Science Mission Directorate $3.9 billion, down from its current budget of about $7.3 billion, according to the individuals who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the details. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. NASA press secretary Bethany Stevens issued a brief statement: "NASA has received the fiscal year 2026 budget passback from the Office of Management and Budget, and has begun the deliberative process." The budget proposal, though not yet formally submitted to Congress, would eviscerate a long list of planetary and astronomical missions, including the next major NASA space telescope and the agency's goal of bringing samples of Mars back to Earth to search for signs of ancient life. "This is an extinction-level event for NASA science," said Casey Dreier, chief of space policy for the Planetary Society, a space advocacy group. "It needlessly terminates functional, productive science missions and cancels new missions currently being built, wasting billions of taxpayer dollars in the process. This is neither efficient nor smart budgeting." |
| 'Callous' and 'Inhumane': DOGE Cuts Federal Funding for Mississippi Humanities Council | |
| The Mississippi Humanities Council, an organization behind events and programs across the state focused on history and culture, is facing steep cuts after the Trump administration eliminated federal funding for its current and future grants. The U.S. Department of Government Efficiency notified the council of the termination in a late-night email on April 2, MHC Executive Director Dr. Stuart Rockoff told the Mississippi Free Press on April 4. "It's really callous. It's really inhumane, and it is not following proper government rules on grant termination," he told the Mississippi Free Press on April 4. "The root word of 'humanities' is 'humanity,' and it just struck me of how inhumane this is," Rockoff said. "What really bothers me is these people with DOGE who are making these cuts, they've never been to Mississippi," Rockoff said. "They don't understand where Shannon is. They don't know how Starkville is different from Oxford. They don't understand what the Delta is or how the Gulf Coast has its own unique culture. They're making decisions that affect the cultural life of our state in complete ignorance and without any serious study or any serious thought." |
| William Faulkner Memorial Garden set for summer 2025 completion | |
 | Construction of a memorial garden to honor writer William Faulkner is underway on the site of the former power plant between the Duff Center and Carrier Hall on All American Drive. The $5.1 million project is set to be completed in summer 2025, according to Chad Hunter, university architect and director of the Department of Facilities Planning. Hunter said the site was chosen because of its connection to the Nobel Prize-winning author. "William Faulkner worked for the university in the power plant," Hunter said. "During low peak times, Faulkner would find time to write and would do so on the backside of a wheelbarrow inside the plant." Hunter said the memorial was designed in tandem with the Jim and Thomas Duff Center for Science and Technology, which opened in fall 2024. "The university determined the best use of this site is to commemorate William Faulkner and provide a green space for reflection for students and the community," Hunter said. The Department of Facilities Planning is managing the project, McCarthy Architects is designing the garden and an Andropogon Associates architect is focusing on the landscape design. The contractor is Abbey Bridges Construction. |
| 'I wouldn't have found them otherwise': Program helps students with disabilities forge paths to careers | |
| Matthew Devers, 18, describes his current job as "very brute force." He's in a welding program, working part time while completing his associates degree at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. He says it wouldn't have been possible without the pre-employment training and services program he joined after high school. Pre-ETS is a program that provides students with disabilities education and experience to help them enter post-secondary education and/or the workforce. Devers, who is autistic, says "I wouldn't have found them otherwise." People with disabilities make up 13% of the country's population as of 2024. The employment rate for people with disabilities is lower than for people without. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 2024 employment-population ratio for disabled people between 16 to 24 years old is 37.4%. By comparison, the employment rate for non-disabled people is 65.8%. Pre-ETS provides job exploration and counseling, work-based learning experiences, counseling opportunities for enrollment in comprehensive transition or postsecondary education programs, workplace readiness training, and instruction in self-advocacy. Jennifer Jackson, the executive director of the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, said she is optimistic about the direction of pre-ETS in Mississippi. "I feel like our state is constantly improving and constantly seeking out ways to help these individuals be successful," she said. |
| Bill named for Caleb Wilson would require anti-hazing course for student organization members | |
 | A bill introduced in the Louisiana House of Representatives, dubbed the Caleb Wilson Act, would require members of collegiate student organizations to take a semester-long course on anti-hazing. Rep. Delisha Boyd, D-New Orleans, sponsor of House Bill 279, said the idea for the legislation came after conversations with the family of Wilson, the 20-year-old Southern junior who died in February after a fraternity hazing ritual. Wilson collapsed after being punched in the chest multiple times by members of Southern's chapter of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity. Wilson, alongside other pledges, had been lined up in a Baton Rouge warehouse late at night before being struck as part of their initiation into the fraternity. "I've been talking with them almost every day after the incident happened," Boyd said, who is friends with Wilson's aunt. The conversations eventually turned to legislative solutions that might be able to keep "another family from going through this." Boyd also looked to past interviews with the parents of Max Gruver, the 18-year-old LSU freshman who died of alcohol poisoning in 2017 during another fraternity hazing ritual. "It's already a felony (when) causing harm or death, but we really felt like the kids need to be educated, and not only the ones that are being hazed, but the ones that are doing the hazing," she said. "They clearly are not aware of the consequences if things go left." |
| UGA student's passion about sustainability makes impact on campus | |
 | Sadie Eubanks grew up in Athens and around the University of Georgia, with both of her parents serving on the faculty. Now, the Clarke Central High School graduate has made her own mark on the university. As a first-year student, Eubanks dove into campus life and community service, joining a sustainability program, teaching at Canopy -- an Athens nonprofit focused on flying dance trapeze -- and working as a hostess at Chuck's Fish downtown. She's remained close to many of her friends from Clarke Central who are now UGA students. Her Athenian background also has helped her connect new friends to the city's culture: introducing them to downtown dining spots and sustainable shopping locations while keeping their dollars local. "I was hesitant about attending UGA at first. However, I believe growing up in Athens gave me an advantage. I feel like it better prepared me for my undergraduate experience, which thus far has exceeded my expectations," Eubanks said. One of the most significant parts of Eubanks' freshman year has been her membership in the EcoReps -- a small student organization that is application-only. |
| SGA, Division of Student Life brings sustainable confetti to U. of Tennessee | |
| Graduation season at the University of Tennessee, or any SEC school, usually means finding confetti everywhere you go on campus from the aftermath of senior photos. At the end of it all, the confetti does not get cleaned up on its own. UT employees are left cleaning it up, or worse, it ends up in our rivers, ultimately creating pollution and harm to our wildlife here in East Tennessee. The Student Government Association at UT brought the idea of bringing sustainable confetti to campus to the Division of Student Life as a replacement for store-bought, non-biodegradable confetti. Hope Adkins, the special projects coordinator at the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Life, explained that their department was more than excited to see students involved in campus sustainability practices. "The Division of Student Life was eager to support a student-driven effort that combined school spirit with environmental responsibility," Adkins said. "We saw it as a fantastic opportunity to make campus celebrations more eco-friendly while highlighting student creativity and leadership." |
| Longtime U. of Florida staffer Sarah Carey's 'The Grief Committee Minutes' explores many faces of grief | |
 | Writer and poet Sarah Carey's "The Grief Committee Minutes" took three years, multiple editors and persistence to find a publisher. Despite finalist nods from prestigious poetry prizes, she struggled to secure a deal. A title change suggested by an editor helped refine her manuscript, boosting her confidence. At the 2023 Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) conference, she met Ron Starbuck of Saint Julian Press, leading to a contract in May 2024. Inspired by her mother's battle with Alzheimer's, the book explores grief, loss and memory. Initially a distraction from caregiving stress, it evolved into a deeply personal yet universal poetic reflection on loss and remembrance. "I think the driving force that kept me committed was my determination not to give up on this work because it meant that much to me," Carey said. With a master's degree in English from Florida State University and decades of writing experience, Carey approached this project with greater editorial insight and publishing knowledge. Carey is preparing for her retirement from the University of Florida, where she has worked since 1990, marking nearly 35 years of service. |
| U. of Florida Signs Agreement With ICE | |
 | The University of Florida has signed an agreement to partner with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help crack down on undocumented students, according to The Independent Florida Alligator, a student publication. The Florida Phoenix confirmed the report with a UF spokesperson, who said the university had agreed to deputize campus police as immigration officers but did not provide more details. The news broke the day after UF students held a rally on campus to protest the arrest and self-deportation of a Colombian student whom ICE agents stopped in late March for driving with an expired registration. UF is not the first institution in the state to commit to working with ICE; Florida Atlantic University signed a similar agreement earlier this month. |
| More than 100 international students' immigration statuses revoked across Texas universities | |
| At least 122 international students at Texas universities have had their legal status changed in a wave of removals from a federal database that have swept across the state and the nation, according to university officials and media reports. The students learned in recent days their visas were revoked or their immigration status was marked as terminated in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, or SEVIS database. Visa revocations prevent re-entering the U.S. but do not immediately end an individual's status. SEVIS removals do, limiting students' options and causing a much more immediate effect. The University of Texas at Austin, where police arrested dozens for protesting the Israel-Hamas war, and the University of Houston told the Houston Chronicle on Wednesday that some of their international students had a change in their immigration status. Both declined to say how many. Robert Hoffman, an immigration lawyer with offices in Houston and Bryan, said SEVIS removal also can affect employment eligibility and the status of dependents like spouses and children, whose ability to stay in the U.S. depends on the primary status holder. "Unfortunately, these kinds of terminations kind of short-circuit due process by not allowing the student the opportunity to hear the specifics of their charges or defend themselves," Hoffman said. |
| WashU professor suggests better ways to disagree amid political polarization | |
 | As political polarization increases, a Washington University law professor aims to give people the tools to have disagreements but still progress. John Inazu, Sally D. Danforth Distinguished Professor of Law and Religion, gave a public lecture April 3 at the University of Missouri's Memorial Union on civil discourse and how to build connections with a person across the political divide. Inazu's book "Learning to Disagree: The Surprising Path to Navigating Differences with Empathy and Respect" was published last year by Zondervan. His presentation last week was a collaboration of the MU colleges of Arts and Sciences, Journalism and Law. He said he was grateful for the opportunity when speaking with the Tribune by phone April 4. "I am conveying the ideas from my latest book. A lot of the dialogue I had at MU was around figuring out better ways to disagree. Knowing that we have fundamental differences over vastly important and deep questions like the purpose of our country or the meaning of human flourishing," Inazu said. There will not be unilateral agreement on those big questions, so common ground needs to be found even when there a disagreements about the common good, he added. He based the chapters on a typical academic year starting with August and asking "How do we learn empathy?" and ending in May with "Can we be friends?" It mixes topics of law, religion and other hot-button issues and uses composite characters to show how people evolve over time on various topics. |
| Meet 'the loud majority.' College conservatives are silent no longer. | |
 | "It is cool to be a conservative nowadays." That's the message Brilyn Hollyhand, an 18-year-old Republican activist, had for a group of students gathered at Pennsylvania State University for a College Republicans conference. Inside the student life center, speakers like Mr. Hollyhand – who is also a bestselling author and podcast host – encouraged attendees to share their political convictions in person and on social media. "The silent majority is no longer," he told the group. "Thankfully, we're the loud majority." Conservative activists, who have long viewed college campuses as progressive training grounds, are spreading a message that colleges, and the younger generation, aren't just the domain of liberals anymore. In the run-up to last November's election, right-wing podcaster Charlie Kirk swept through campuses on his You're Being Brainwashed Tour, attracting thousands of students at swing-state colleges. Polls showed President Donald Trump made significant gains at the ballot box with voters under 30 years old -- particularly men. Of course, liberal student activism is still dominant: College students were among those joining protests across the United States on April 5 against President Trump and Elon Musk. But the rising interest in conservative politics on college campuses hints at unexpected dynamics among the wider Generation Z that emerged in the last presidential election, some analysts say. |
| GAO Calls for Federal Agencies to Do More to Close the SNAP Gap | |
| A new Government Accountability Office report concludes that the Education and Agriculture Departments should be doing more to ensure college students receive federal food assistance. Despite reforms, too few students are notified they could be eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. For instance, the GAO found that the Education Department's plan to notify students about food assistance programs misses about 40 percent of those eligible for the aid. The report, released Thursday, partly blames faulty communication and data sharing between the Education Department, the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service, colleges, and state agencies. "It's crucial that ED and USDA collaborate effectively, so that all eligible students can access the resources they need to thrive," Rep. Bobby Scott, a Virginia Democrat and ranking member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said in a statement. (He also emphasized that for the Education Department to help students, it has to remain intact.) |
| Accreditor Urges Academe to 'Rage' Against Challenges to Higher Ed. It's Also Revising Its DEI Standards. | |
 | Last weekend, Barbara Gellman-Danley urged a ballroom full of academics to resist despair and not to abandon their jobs or the mission of higher education. "I ask you now to rage, rage against the dying of the light," said Gellman-Danley, the longtime president of the Higher Learning Commission, an accrediting organization that oversees some 950 colleges in 19 states. Quoting Dylan Thomas's famous villanelle about confronting death might seem out of place for a meeting about accreditation, which is typically focused on more mundane matters like assessing student learning, developing a culture of compliance on campus, and writing the hundreds of pages of narrative to describe how an institution meets particular standards. But the Trump administration's efforts to penalize colleges and even individual students have pushed the entire sector into a fearful crouch, and accreditors expect to be among the next targets of the president's agenda to reshape higher education. A big question for accreditors -- which act as the gatekeepers of federal financial aid and must maintain government recognition -- is how far the administration will go to force them to eliminate the standards that seek to hold colleges accountable for creating diverse and welcoming campuses. |
SPORTS
| Baseball: MSU Travels To Tuscaloosa To Take On No. 12 Tide | |
| Mississippi State has certainly not been a stranger to the road of late. The Diamond Dawgs are closing out a stretch of the schedule that has seen them play 11 of 15 contests in a visiting venue. MSU is once again away this weekend with the silver lining of its shortest trip of the season. The Bulldogs are bound for 12th-ranked Alabama for a three-game set starting Friday at 6 p.m. The series continues Saturday at 2 p.m. from Sewell-Thomas Stadium and will wrap up Sunday at 1 p.m. All three games will be streamed on SEC Network+. Pico Kohn will once again get the start on the mound for State in Friday's opener. The junior left-hander has made eight starts already this season with a 4-1 record and a 2.96 earned run average. Kohn leads the Diamond Dawgs with 67 strikeouts and has only walked 10 in 45 2/3 innings with opponents hitting just .180 against him, the fourth-best mark in the conference. The Crimson Tide counter with sophomore southpaw Zane Adams on Friday. Adams is also 4-1 with a 5.09 ERA, 36 strikeouts and 14 walks in 35 1/3 innings and eight starts. Alabama is 28-6 overall on the spring and features a 7-5 mark in SEC play. Rob Vaughn's roster rebounded from a road series loss at now 11th-ranked Auburn last weekend with a 10-6 win over No. 23 Southern Miss in Tuscaloosa on Tuesday. |
| Mississippi State heads back on the road for series at No. 12 Alabama | |
| Following a series win at home over South Carolina, then a midweek victory Tuesday at UAB, Mississippi State is back to playing ranked opponents this weekend, starting a three-game series Friday evening at No. 12 Alabama. The Bulldogs have had their way with the Crimson Tide under head coach Chris Lemonis, who is 12-3 against Alabama with five series wins in as many tries. That includes a 5-1 record at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa. But with MSU sitting at 3-9 in Southeastern Conference play and the Crimson Tide at an impressive 7-5, keeping that series win streak alive will be no easy task this time around. Alabama (28-6, 7-5 SEC) is on an upward trajectory under second-year head coach Rob Vaughn, who won back-to-back Big Ten titles at Maryland before taking the Crimson Tide job. Vaughn's team has three ranked non-conference wins against North Carolina State, Troy and Southern Miss, and in SEC play Alabama took a game from then-No. 1 Tennessee. The Crimson Tide also won a series against Oklahoma. "They just play really good baseball," Lemonis said. "They have a couple of really good starters on the mound. The star of college baseball playing shortstop for them. And a really good group around them. They play really good. I respect that group a lot." |
| The emergence of MSU's Noah Sullivan | |
| Noah Sullivan grew up playing baseball in his backyard. Literally. Behind Sullivan's childhood home lies the baseball complex that he grew up playing in. There was no easy escape from baseball in a household that would raise three college baseball players. At one point, for convenience, Sullivan's grandfather installed a gate in the backyard fence so that the Sullivan kids could go to and from the fields whenever they wanted. "If the Little League fields were open, they would just open the gate, walk over into the Little League fields and use the batting cages if they were available," said Phillip Sullivan, Noah's father. "That's one of those things where they took the initiative. They were willing to take a bucket of balls, a batting tee and a bat and go over there and do work without a coach, without the father, without somebody yelling and screaming at them." The Orlando native is the youngest of four brothers, all of whom went on to play college sports. Brothers Matthew and Jason went on to play baseball at West Florida and lacrosse at Cleveland State, respectively. Sullivan's third brother, William, played baseball at Troy and was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2023. Sullivan grew up following in his brothers' footsteps. Having three older brothers meant being dragged along to go watch their games, which turned into wanting to do what they were doing. |
| Softball: No. 16 Bulldogs Return Home To Host Missouri | |
| No. 16 Mississippi State will host Missouri at Nusz Park this weekend for a three-game series beginning on Friday, April 11. Friday night's first pitch is set for 6 p.m. CT and students are invited to a party on the outfield deck with grills and food provided. Fans in attendance will receive a pair of MSU sunglasses. Saturday's game is State's annual Think Pink game, and the first 250 fans through the gates can pick up a pink State softball hat. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. Sunday's series finale will be MSU's fourth annual First Responder's Day, and the Starkville Fire Department will look to defend their title in the postgame First Responder Home Run Derby, having won each of the first three events. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m. The Bulldogs are coming off of a weekend that saw them claim their 13th run-rule victory at No. 7 Tennessee on Saturday. That total is just two shy of the school record for run-rule wins in a season. It also stood as Samantha Ricketts' 43rd win over a ranked opponent as head coach, which is just one shy of the MSU record. The Bulldogs will hit the road for the next two weeks, first traveling to No. 2 Oklahoma on April 18-20 before heading north to meet Kentucky on April 25-27. |
| Mississippi State to host desperate Missouri team in SEC series at Nusz Park | |
| Missouri may not be in last place in the Southeastern Conference standings, leading Auburn by three games in the loss column, but no team in the SEC is more desperate for wins than head coach Larissa Anderson's Tigers. Teams have to be .500 or better overall in order to get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Missouri's RPI of 36 would put it in good shape, but the Tigers (20-22, 2-10 SEC) would be ineligible if the season ended today. They dropped Wednesday's midweek game at home against Southern Illinois, missing out on a chance to get back to that all-important .500 mark. Trying to avoid missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006, Missouri heads to Nusz Park this weekend for a three-game series against No. 16 Mississippi State, which is itself coming off back-to-back SEC series losses. After avoiding a sweep with a Monday night win at Ole Miss, Missouri gave top-ranked Texas a battle in both ends of a Sunday doubleheader in Columbia but could not pull out either game. And the remaining schedule is not favorable for the Tigers, who still have to play No. 3 Texas A&M at home, travel to No. 23 Alabama and then host No. 18 Georgia. They have just one midweek left, next Tuesday against SIU Edwardsville. |
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