| Monday, April 28, 2025 |
| MSU Formula SAE team revs up for international competition | |
 | Driver Kinsly Burleson is behind the wheel of a formula-style race car, ready to give the crowd gathered around him a show. He revs the car's engine. And then, it revs again without moving. Burleson calls back over his shoulder to the waiting Mississippi State Bulldog Motorsports SAE team. Almost immediately, a group of four members in maroon shirts run to his side, going over the components of the car engine that they spent the past 48 hours rebuilding. "This is half of what you do, just sit here with the car broken," Burleson joked from his place behind the wheel. But after a minute, Burleson and others realize it's a simple issue with the car's shifter. Someone accidentally installed the wrong bolt. The part is swapped out, and Burleson hops back behind the wheel, this time roaring off in the student-built car. Jacob Bosarge, team captain for the Bulldog Motorsports Formula SAE team, said he was glad the issue popped up during Saturday's showcase, held in a parking lot behind the IDEELab, which is in the Patterson Engineering Laboratories on the Mississippi State University campus. In fact, he hopes to see "a whole lot more of this" to identify any issues the car may have before the team takes it to competition from May 14-17 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. |
| Future Bulldogs | |
 | Photo: Twenty nine Jackson Academy seniors received scholarship recognition in April during an event honoring students who will attend Mississippi State University in the fall. MSU President Dr. Mark Keenum spoke to the student body and recognized the recipients. Scholarship recognition included the full-ride MSU Presidential Scholarships awarded to Brooke Dennis and Law Stanley. Ella Boykin was honored with a full-ride scholarship for earning the METP Mississippi Excellence in Teaching Scholarship. Pictured (from left, back) Thomas Blanks, Stanton Cole, Richard Sumrall, Graves Haraway, Alex Davis, Sherrod Cauthen, James Chapman, McNeil Haraway, Jacob Scarbrough, Parker Halford, Ben Jones, Davis Meeks, Law Stanley, Mason Brantley, John Travelstead, Ben Holmes, Adonis Terry; (front) Dr. Keenum, Sarah Breyden Moulder, Ellie Hogue, Emma Ray, Olyvia Thornton, Aubrey Edmonson, Logan Rohman, Dennis, Boykin, Ellen Morgan, Abbie Cliburn, Henley Nance, Caroline Bush, and MSU Admissions Counselor Brooks Hill. |
| Summer Scholars camp at MSU opens theater world to young creatives | |
| Young creatives in grades 7-12 can dive into the world of theater and music this summer at Mississippi State. The university's Summer Scholars "On Stage" Writers' and Production Camp is accepting applications for this immersive, artistic experience that now has added a technical theater component. The deadline to apply is May 20 for the three-week writing, production and technical track running June 8-28, and a two-week production track June 14-28. Entry into technical theater is limited to the first six qualified applicants. "Summer Scholars is more than just a theater program -- it's a transformative event for students. Through acting, writing and collaboration, they develop confidence, creativity and essential life skills that extend far beyond the stage," said program director Stephen Cunetto, who recently retired after an almost 40-year career at MSU. "It's inspiring to see young people find their voices and discover the power of storytelling in such a supportive environment." Summer Scholars is sponsored by the Office of Pre-College and Opportunity Programs in the MSU Division of Access, Opportunity and Success. |
| Mississippi State alum Ed Smylie, Apollo 13 hero, dies | |
 | Robert Edwin "Ed" Smylie, a Mississippi State alumnus who played a pivotal role in the Apollo 13 mission's success, died on Monday, April 21. Smylie is best known for his role in solving the CO2 scrubbers issue during the Apollo 13 mission. In his role with NASA's Johnson Space Center, Smylie was responsible for the development of the environmental control systems for the Apollo program, including the spacecraft and spacesuits used on all Apollo Lunar Missions. Smylie earned bachelor's and master's degrees from MSU in mechanical engineering in 1952 and 1954. Once the U.S. Lunar Missions started to come to fruition in the early 1960s, he switched careers from aviation to the space program. In 1973, he worked at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and later served as the Goddard Space Flight Center deputy director in Maryland. Smylie continued his contributions and involvement in the space program until his final retirement in 2010. |
| Should the South scout for tar spot? Farmers urged to stay vigilant | |
| In 2024, Mississippi State University plant pathologist Tom Allen received a text from a friend shopping in a big box hardware store in Greenville. It was a photo of stalks of corn sold as decorations with what looked like a foliar disease not yet native to Mississippi -- tar spot. After zooming in on the photo and tentatively confirming for his friend that the proudly labelled "Made in USA" décor was in fact infested with a highly pathogenic disease, Allen drove to the store to do his own research. "Sure enough, there they had a nice big cardboard four foot by four-foot bin of decorative corn that they were selling in clumps of five plants, and it was covered in tar spot," Allen said. "The fascinating thing was, a lot of that was a product of the United States, and some was a product of Canada." Curious about how widespread the distribution of infected corn spanned, Allen called in pathologists in other states, prompting them to check out their own big box stores as well as local retailers to see if the corn had made its way across the areas of the country that have not yet had tar spot sightings. "We just did a quick survey in the Midsouth and some other states, so I think we got pathologists to look as far as North Carolina in the East and as far as Texas in the West," Allen said. "Sure enough, in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee -- all had decorative corn sold with the disease." |
| With a camera or a paint brush, Payne captures images that speak to you | |
| When Glenn Payne witnesses a moment he wants to capture, the only question he has to ask is whether he should grab his camera or his paintbrush and a canvas. The fine artist and award-winning filmmaker brought both with him to the city this week, as the latest artist-in-residence for the MacGown Art Retreat and Studio. Whether he picks up one or the other, he said, depends on which process will bring him more joy. "It's funny how similar they are, but not all the way," Payne said. "The same image that can make you feel something or speak to you can be in both." Payne is originally from Blue Springs, a village near Tupelo. He grew up drawing and was passionate about art, but he never took any formal art classes until he came to Mississippi State University, hoping to get a degree in computer animation. But when Payne arrived at the university, the computer animation program ended abruptly, pushing him toward a degree in fine art. While that was jarring at the time, the new path he was on strengthened his drawing and painting skills. It also brought him toward film, as he made a short film for the final exam of his introduction to film history class. |
| Starkville says it has fixed 1,480 address errors on voter rolls | |
| As votes rolled in for the municipal Democratic primary election on April 1, city officials started seeing an inordinate amount of confusion for citizens looking for where they should go to cast their ballots. But while there is always some confusion around finding polling places, during this election, the issue was exacerbated by more than 1,400 address errors in voter rolls. Mayor Lynn Spruill told The Dispatch on Friday that it became evident there was a problem as the day went on as it was not just "one or two people" who came to the wrong location. "It's not a sporadic thing. It's more widespread," Spruill said. "And so when we had whole pieces of roads -- we had an apartment complex, for example, that was left out (of voter rolls) -- those kinds of things were the things that clued us in that there was a bigger problem." After the election, the city, the county and the Golden Triangle Planning and Development District started looking into the errors. City Clerk Lesa Hardin told the board of aldermen April 15 that this follow-up investigation discovered 1,480 errors in addresses used to create the primary voter rolls. Toby Sanford, the geographic information system director for GTPDD, said the issue arose from idiosyncrasies in Starkville's addresses -- an issue that was exacerbated by redistricting in 2022. |
| Historian captures state's past, one marker at a time | |
| Every Saturday for two years, William "Brother" Rogers hopped in the car, often with one or both of his sons, and set out across Mississippi, searching for history cast in metal. By 2016, Rogers had photographed every historic marker he knew of in all of Mississippi's 82 counties. "I always know that I'm missing something," Rogers said Friday. "Sometimes people will be out at a cemetery or a church or a neighborhood, and they will order their own marker for their own place ... I would never know about it. So there are other markers out there, so I never feel like I've got all of them, but I've got most of them." Rogers, a historian with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, delved into local history Friday at a Columbus Lowndes Friends of the Library program. Rogers showed attendees photos of historical markers that he has catalogued over the years, exploring the history behind each one. Rogers said the project began after he photographed the Mississippi State College for Women marker, posted in 1950. "It just looked so nice, the way it had been refurbished and the fresh paint, so I took a picture of it," Rogers said. "I thought, 'I'm going to take a picture of every marker in Columbus,' and then I thought, 'Well, I live in Starkville. I'm going to take a picture of every historic marker in Starkville.'" Rogers has catalogued more than 1,300 historical markers into a digital archive, which has become an essential resource for researchers and community members. |
| Threefoot Landmark relishing its new chapter | |
 | Thomas Burton recalls a time more than a decade ago when he and other members of the Threefoot Preservation Society cleaned up interior spaces in the 16-story, long-vacant Threefoot office tower at the heart of downtown Meridian. They were pushing back against those who saw the landmark as a giant eyesore that needed razing. "We were just wanting to make sure people knew that this place matters," said Burton, a photographer and social media specialist. "We were trying to keep everything intact." He is among observers today who couldn't be more pleased about repercussions from the Threefoot, meticulously restored and repurposed as a boutique hotel that had its soft opening in late 2021. Housed in a distinctive Art Deco structure long called the tallest building in east Mississippi, the Tribute Portfolio Marriott hotel attracts a steady stream of visitors, many from far away, as well as corporate and private gatherings. And the activity has helped to propel the growth of cultural tourism locally. The Threefoot's sales director, Kayla Cabaniss, declined to release numbers but said the 131-room hotel has seen business growth every year. |
| Why Mississippi's solar industry is growing rapidly despite a lack of state incentives | |
 | Despite practically no financial incentives offered by the state for solar companies to build new power plants, the renewable energy sector has been exploding in Mississippi in recent years. The growth is due to several factors, including an existing infrastructure in place to connect new power to the grid and a competitive market for developers to sell new power to customers, such as Entergy, the Tennessee Valley Authority and Mississippi Power. Several industry leaders also pointed to a growing need for new power production in Mississippi as more energy-dependent companies locate in the state, a fact not lost on state government leaders and the Public Service Commission, which has been actively working with companies to approve work on new solar energy production projects. "What has been very important here, and I think has led to much of the numbers that you've seen, has been constructive relationships, where there can be honest brokering between utilities, developers and regulators," said Brandon Presley, a former Public Service Commissioner for the Northern District and a former candidate for governor. "That's been the secret sauce." |
| Retirement board seeks special session OK of recurring funds | |
| After a recent volley of requests from local leaders across the state to establish annual state funding for the Public Employment Retirement System of Mississippi, the PERS Board of Trustees is reiterating that concern to Republican Gov. Tate Reeves. On Wednesday, April 23, the board voted to direct PERS Executive Director Ray Higgins to send Reeves a letter pleading with him to in the upcoming special session include a proposal to establish recurring funding for the state retirement system, which currently had $26.5 billion in unfunded liabilities. The letter was supposed to be written and mailed by end of business on Friday. PERS funding and reforms became one of several political sticking points during the 2025 Legislative Session between House and Senate leadership. At the midpoint of the session, it seemed PERS was, as a negotiation tactic by Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, wedged into another debate over whether to establish a path toward full income tax elimination or phase it down. |
| Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves: We need federal disaster relief | |
| Federal support for disaster relief is critical for the people of Mississippi, the state's governor, Tate Reeves, said Friday at the World Economy Summit in Washington, DC. His remarks come after the federal government declined to provide disaster aid to the neighboring state of Arkansas following a recent series of deadly storms, prompting complaints from Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. "We actually have a request before the administration, because we received many of the same storms that Arkansas and Tennessee and others received," Reeves, a Republican, told Semafor's David Weigel. Mississippi is still waiting for a response from Washington on its request, which was submitted in early April. The denial of federal assistance to Arkansas has raised questions over whether the Trump administration plans to require states to bear more of the financial burden for relief and reconstruction following disasters. "That's what we've got to figure out: if the rules of the game are going to change," said Reeves, referring to the longstanding practice of the federal government providing 75% of the funding for disaster relief, with state and local governments paying 25%. |
| Residents of the Mississippi Delta voice deep concerns during congressional town hall | |
 | The New Hope First Baptist Church in Greenville was filled to capacity Thursday. More than 200 Mississippians from throughout the Delta were gathered for a town hall hosted by Congressman Bennie Thompson. "A lot of people who are in Congress are afraid to have meetings like this," Thompson told the assembled crowd. Thompson represents the state's second congressional district. He started the event discussing fear that democracy has come under threat due to policies stemming from the Trump administration, including the idea of cuts to programs like Social Security. "It's been here for 90 years," he said. "We've never had a check bounce. So what is there to fix?" Thompson was open about his opposition to the federal changes spearheaded by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, including the dismantling of USAID. "Guess who's the largest purchaser of rice here in Mississippi?" he asked. "USAID. Wow. You understand? So, they think the rice is bad because people overseas eating it. But folks in Mississippi and Louisiana raising it, and the government paying them." Thompson noted that Washington County was also home to federal workers, who he believes are being treated unfairly, in the wake of a reduction in the federal workforce. "Normally when you eliminate jobs, you come up with a plan," he said, referencing DOGE's involvement with the elimination of certain federal positions. "We've had no plan. I think it's that uncertainty with eliminating the job that says, in a democracy, we ought to do better." |
| Congressman Mike Ezell backing tariffs despite mixed reactions across globe | |
 | Following a week where Wall Street rallied to recover after investments sharply fell on worries about the ongoing trade war, it was another up-and-down week for the stock market. With tariffs bringing mixed reactions across the globe, Hugh Keeton had the chance to talk to Congressman Mike Ezell about the impacts. Despite the investor uncertainty, Ezell says he supports tariffs. "One of the things I have learned over my short time in Washington is these tariffs have been in place for a long time, and that America basically rebuilt Europe after World War II with this tariff money. So there has not been a change in these tariffs in, I don't know how many years, but many years," Ezell said. "So now it's time, let's make it an even, level playing field so Americans can get some relief. You know, we can have some even trade here. I think that what the President's doing, he has a plan. He's sticking with it. I say we stay the course. I just got to believe this is the right track." |
| White House wariness tempers GOP plans to share food-aid spending with states | |
 | America's largest anti-hunger program could be transformed under proposals now being debated by congressional Republicans, with some of the costs for the safety-net program potentially pushed onto states for the first time. But White House officials are urging caution as GOP lawmakers move to finalize their massive domestic policy bill, with concerns mounting about benefit cuts hitting President Donald Trump's own voters. Lawmakers are discussing more than a dozen iterations of the still-tentative plan to scale back federal spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by forcing states to split at least some of the cost, according to five people granted anonymity to describe the private deliberations. Governors would have to decide whether to foot the bill or put new limits on who would be eligible for food aid in their states. Given the changes to Medicaid that Republicans are also pursuing, White House economic and political advisers are sensitive to piling more strain on deep-red states and Trump voters -- and further imperiling passage of the megabill. Those advisers have generally urged a careful approach to overhauling food aid, and already Republicans on Capitol Hill have stepped back from the most drastic alternatives. One of the people with knowledge of the plans noted that deep-red states such as West Virginia are "going to be hit pretty hard by this," and Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Alabama, Florida and other states that voted overwhelmingly for Trump would also incur a significant financial burden. |
| Trump Upended the Country in His First 100 Days. What's Next? | |
 | After a 100-day sprint through domestic priorities, President Trump's focus is shifting abroad, driven by a mountain of trade negotiations with other countries, including China, and unfulfilled promises of attaining peace in Ukraine. By no means is Trump finished at home, where he is consolidating executive power, targeting perceived political enemies, upending the federal bureaucracy, rolling back regulations and imposing strict immigration controls. Advisers said the breakneck start of Trump's second term had made room for other aspects of his packed agenda. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had made progress on his twin goals of securing the border and steadying the economy. "The next 100 days will consist of trade deals, peace deals and tax cuts," she said. "More American greatness is on the way." That confidence will be tested. Trump's far-reaching tariffs have strained relations with allies. He is growing impatient with the pace of talks to end the war in Ukraine. His plans to rebuild Gaza have stalled as fighting between Israel and Hamas continues. He has launched a trade war with China. And he is threatening military action against Iran if talks to limit the country's nuclear program collapse. Trump enters the new phase with growing consumer and business concern over tariffs and sagging polling numbers, though his standing among core Republicans remains firm. |
| Only about half of Republicans say Trump has focused on the right priorities, AP-NORC poll finds | |
 | Many Americans do not agree with President Trump's aggressive efforts to quickly enact his agenda, a new poll finds, and even Republicans are not overwhelmingly convinced that his attention has been in the right place. Americans are nearly twice as likely to say Trump has been mostly focusing on the wrong priorities as to say he has been focusing on the right ones, according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Further, about 4 in 10 Americans say Trump has been a "terrible" president in his second term, and about 1 in 10 say he has been "poor." In contrast, about 3 in 10 say he has been "great or "good," while just under 2 in 10 say he has been "average." Most haven't been shocked by the drama of Trump's first 100 days. About 7 in 10 U.S. adults say the first few months of Trump's second term have been mostly what they expected, and only about 3 in 10 say the Republican president's actions have been mostly unexpected. But that does not mean they are pleased with how those opening months have gone. Republicans are largely standing behind the president, but are ambivalent about what he has chosen to emphasize. |
| Trump promised to improve the economy on Day 1. Americans are still waiting. | |
 | From near the bottom rung of the economic ladder, certified nursing assistant Traci Dixon looks a long way up to the White House, occupied by billionaire President Donald Trump. For more than 20 years, the Independence, Missouri, woman has struggled to pay her bills, feed her family and make sure the kids get to school. She's seen Democratic and Republican presidents come and go, celebrated and suffered from the ups-and-downs of the nation's economy, and kept her wife by her side as they've raised kids and grandkids. But despite Trump's promises of a rapid economic turnaround, life has never felt tougher than right now, she said. "I felt this year was going to be a dramatic change for all the better," said Dixon, 37, who was working a long shift on Election Day and didn't vote in last year's presidential election. "But there's all this darkness that's already here and it's only April." Nearly 100 days after Trump took the oath of office for a second time, consumer and business sentiment is spasming from widespread federal job cuts, a ping-ponging stock market and president's on-again, off-again tariffs. Leading economists are predicting the U.S. could enter a recession, and millions of Americans are struggling with the continuing high cost of gas and groceries while getting buried beneath a growing mountain of credit card bills and car payments. |
| Suicide Reverberates Among Young Doctors | |
| Dr. Nakita Mortimer was always a leader. The first of four children to move to the U.S. from Haiti for college in 2012, she was a guiding light for each sibling as they followed her. In her medical residency in anesthesiology at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, she helped organize a union for residents. She wanted relief from the punishing hours and pressure that challenge even the high achievers who become young doctors. "The fact that the medical profession has one of the highest rates of burnout and suicide, compared to other professions, speaks to the urgent need for change," Mortimer told The City, a local news site, in November 2022. Months later, she died by suicide. Her death was a reckoning for her peers as many young doctors are pushing for more mental-health support and improvements to their working conditions. The end of a young life with so much promise amplifies suicide's universal tragedy. Any individual suicide's cause is, finally, unknowable. But a number of suicides among medical residents have fueled calls for hospitals and regulators to better support young doctors who say their well-being is at risk. Older doctors and hospital administrators consider residency's trials a vocational rite of passage. After medical school, doctors are expected to work 80-hour weeks and shifts of up to 28 hours for several years to earn board certification. |
| Teaching with heart: Ole Miss honors Arabic professor | |
 | From using artificial intelligence programs that bring the streets of Syria to Oxford, to near-daily lunches with students on campus, Allen Clark does everything in his power to make learning Arabic not only accessible, but fun, for his students. Clark, director of the Arabic Language Flagship Program at the University of Mississippi, is the 2025 winner of the Elsie Hood Outstanding Teacher Award. The honor is the highest teaching recognition the university bestows on faculty members. "Allen Clark epitomizes the ideals of higher education," Chancellor Glenn Boyce said. "His attentive and engaging presence in the classroom has made him a fixture within one of the most unique academic programs on our campus. "Whether in the classroom or around a lunch table, he provides his students with opportunities to practice their Arabic skills. His extraordinary commitment to teaching, paired with his ability to instruct excellently across all academic levels, makes him truly deserving of this honor." When Clark arrived on campus in 2008, he dreamed of building an Arabic program that would prepare students to use their language skills not only for work, but for life. |
| Blue Star Memorial marker honors local veterans at USM | |
| A new marker has been installed on the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) campus to honor local veterans. A Blue Star Memorial marker was placed outside of USM's Center for Military Veterans, Service Members and Families. The dedication ceremony was hosted by the Hub City Garden Club and the Garden Clubs of Mississippi. For more than 80 years, the Blue Star Memorial program has been a part of the National Garden Club's efforts to honor veterans of the armed forces. "There are many Blue Star markers, and I would see him as a child. But now, we just drive down the highway, and we don't notice them. And by selecting parks, selecting the major universities, they're in a place where people will see them," said Jutta White, president of the Hub City Garden Club. USM is the second Mississippi university to receive a Blue Star Memorial marker, following Mississippi State University. |
| ATO raises over $23k for The DuBard School at USM | |
 | One fraternity raised money Saturday to help a school that's dedicated to helping children with language disorders. At the University of Southern Mississippi's Spirit Park, the Epsilon Upsilon chapter of Alpha Tau Omega held its 40th annual crawfish boil. The boil is held every year to support a local organization, and for the second year in a row, the proceeds from the boil are going to The DuBard School for Language Disorders. It was a no-brainer for the brothers of the fraternity. "We had two guys in our chapter that were in the Speech, Language, and Pathology Department, and they noticed that the kids in The DuBard School have a really special story," said Jackson Kennedy, ATO's Board of Trustees chapter advisor. Last year, ATO raised $17,000 for The DuBard School. This year, the fraternity raised over $23,000. "Being able to tour and see the direct work that The DuBard School has on all of the children they serve, it was a huge eye-opener," said Nate Kennedy, Epsilon Upsilon chapter ATO president. "It made me realize how truly important and special this school is." The staff at The DuBard School said they were grateful for ATO's help and contribution. |
| Auburn University student visas revoked: What you should know | |
| Approximately 15 Auburn University international students and scholars have had their visas revoked because of "past criminal infractions." Part of a national crackdown, Auburn University is one of numerous colleges and universities facing waves of visa revocations and record terminations led by the Department of State and Homeland Security. The revocations are not connected to any recent protests or social media activity, instead, the criminal infractions listed were DUIs, public intoxication, shoplifting, driving without a license, failure to appear in court and even dismissed charges. Students affected or concerned about their student status are encouraged to speak with Obrad Budic, the director of international students and scholars. Affected students who work for the university must cease immediately, as Auburn University can't issue new I-20s. Students currently have two options -- hire an immigration lawyer or depart the United States and apply for a new visa if they wish to continue at Auburn. |
| LSU President Tate touts 'jaw-dropping' research growth, but federal cuts loom | |
 | Since taking the reins of Louisiana's flagship university four years ago, LSU President William Tate IV has celebrated some big wins. The public university shattered enrollment records last fall, with nearly 42,000 students across its eight campuses and online and its highest-achieving class of incoming freshmen ever. This week, LSU announced another milestone: The university spent a record $543 million on research during the 2023-24 academic year, with most of the funds coming from federal grants and contracts. The research has improved Louisiana's agricultural yields, led to advances in cancer treatment, protected the state's coasts and fisheries, enhanced cybersecurity and promoted the energy industry, the university said. "The momentum is jaw dropping," Tate said in an interview Wednesday at the state Capitol, where he'd come to tout the school's accomplishments during its annual "LSU Day" celebration. Yet LSU also faces headwinds that could disrupt its progress and derail its research. |
| U. of Florida Calls Off Dean Search After Gov. Ron DeSantis Intervenes | |
 | This past week, the University of Florida was on the brink of hiring a new dean of its College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Then officials suddenly called off the search under pressure from Gov. Ron DeSantis's administration, which alleged that the candidates were not in alignment with the state's policies opposing diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Bryan Griffin, a spokesperson for DeSantis, confirmed to The Chronicle that the governor's office was involved in the decision to terminate the search and that it had to do with the candidates' statements on DEI. Griffin cited a video posted on X by a right-wing group calling the four finalists for the dean's position "radical progressives with disdain for Florida's DEI laws." The video included clips of the candidates in presentations for the job indirectly mentioning state and national higher-education policies. In a Thursday email to university deans, the interim president, Kent Fuchs, said the search was canceled until the university's next president could participate in the decision. (The university has been searching for a new president since July, when Ben Sasse stepped down from the position. It has not yet named finalists for the role.) Fuchs did not cite DEI as a reason the search was canceled. |
| UF Therapy Night program offers free statewide mental health counseling services | |
 | A possible economic recession, depression, PTSD and suicidal thoughts are just some of the reasons patients are seeking out mental health counseling from an unexpected source: UF student volunteers. UF Therapy Night offers free mental health counseling to Floridians who can't afford mental health services. Run by student volunteers in the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions' Clinical and Health Psychology Ph.D. program, its weekly counseling sessions are held Monday evenings. Dakota Leget and Shar Aghabeigi, both co-directors of UF Therapy Night, are also graduate research assistants and clinical psychology doctoral candidates. They believe UF Therapy Night is the first and only collegiate program in the country to provide mental health counseling. Leget said the program was originally run in conjunction with a Gainesville Christian ministries organization around 2009. Supervised by clinical psychologists and working as an official practicum site, the program was initially focused on Alachua County residents who made up most of its patients. Leget shared that a recent influx of trainees has allowed the program to expand to other Florida counties. |
| International students' SEVIS status restored by federal government | |
| The Student Exchange and Visitor Information System status of four international students at the University of Tennessee has been restored, according to Kerry Gardner, UT's director of Media and Internal Relations. The Justice Department announced that it was reversing its position in an April 25 filing in a United States District Court in Massachusetts. Following this, some students were notified suddenly that their SEVIS status had been restored. "International Student and Scholar Services is working with those students on the next steps and continuing to monitor this developing situation," Gardner told the Beacon. Still, five other international students and community members at UT have not had their SEVIS statuses restored. This move comes a few weeks after the Trump administration began revoking the visas of thousands of international students across the country, seemingly targeting those who've participated in political activism or have a criminal record. |
| How a U. of Tennessee professor helped save the iconic Southern flowering dogwood | |
 | Mark Windham wasn't sure what he'd find when he drove from Knoxville to Maryland on a hunch around 35 years ago. His discovery ensured one of Knoxville's favorite blooms would be around for generations to come. Dogwoods were dying, and in vast quantities. First in the Eastern and Western U.S., and by the time Windham traveled to Maryland, in Tennessee, too. The cause was dogwood anthracnose, a fungus that kills the flowering beauties. Windham, now retired, was a professor for the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture's Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology. He'd just spoken with Keith Langdon, a park ranger at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park who'd recently visited his old stomping grounds at Catoctin Mountain Park in Maryland where he'd previously worked, Windham told Knox News recently. Catoctin Mountain, home to the presidential retreat Camp David, was hard hit by dogwood anthracnose. A 1988 survey found 89% of the area's dogwoods were dead, and the rest infected. They were once abundant. There's a story that the site of Camp David was chosen in part because it was full of dogwoods, Windham said. But Langdon's words changed everything. He told Windham he thought there might be one or two trees in the park that were still alive. |
| U. of South Carolina's $75M benefactor once snubbed $5B -- and it paid off handsomely | |
 | The retired energy CEO who gave $75 million to the University of South Carolina last week once turned heads for walking away from $5 billion. It would pay off -- but not without first testing his resolve. Peter McCausland didn't study business or finance at USC. He's a liberal arts history major, a product of the class of '71. The Philadelphia native left Columbia for law school in Boston before finding his niche -- and fortune -- in the arcane industrial-gas distribution business. McCausland didn't set out to create the fifth-largest company of its kind in the world. But that he did after spotting a timely crack in a fragmented market in the early 1980s, when the then-corporate-merger lawyer with a penchant for bow-ties pulled together $5 million to buy a small gas distributor as a family investment. Recognizing that almost half the highly localized industry was made up of mom-and-pops, he launched Airgas Inc. Over the next three decades, McCausland would stitch together hundreds of acquisitions to build his startup into a publicly traded 800-pound gorilla based in Radnor, Pa. Along the way, he earned a footnote in history, at least among the Wall Street M&A crowd. |
| A&M releases Quick Look assessment on Corps of Cadets | |
 | On Saturday the Corps of Cadets had one final chance for comradery at the annual spring showcase --- part of the story of Texas A&M. Every spring a class of senior cadets graduates and each fall a new class of freshmen cadets comes to A&M to be keepers of the spirit of Aggieland. For the last three years the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M have been working under a plan called "March to 3,000" with the stated goal of increasing the total number of members in the Corps to 3,000. The Corps has since seen its numbers increase each year, going from 2,143 members in the fall of 2021 to 2,400 in the fall of 2024. The freshmen class that entered in 2024 numbered 830. Last year the Corps had 165 cadets commissioned into the United States Armed Forces upon graduation from Texas A&M, the largest class of commissioned officers from the corps in nearly 40 years. Most years around 40 percent of the corps graduates join the military, the remaining 60 percent go on to careers in civilian industries. In July 2024 Texas A&M President Mark Welsh created a committee to study the Corps of Cadets and find ways to improve recruitment as well as retention of members in the Corps. The committee was co-led by Vice President for Planning, Assessment and Strategy Joseph Pettibon and Corps of Cadets Board of Visitors Representative Matt Segrest. On April 8, the committee released its Quick Look Assessment on the Corps of Cadets. |
| Texas universities say Trump administration restored immigration status of some international students | |
| The Trump administration announced Friday it will restore the immigration status of thousands of international students for now -- including more than 250 in Texas -- weeks after many found out the federal government had revoked their ability to stay legally in the country. It is unclear how many of the affected international students in Texas had their status restored. Four universities told The Texas Tribune some of their students' legal statuses had changed back to active on Friday. This included 12 of the 23 students at Texas A&M University who had their status terminated earlier this month. "We have not received communication on why the records have been changed. We continue to do everything in our power to support our international community at the university," Texas A&M spokesperson Megan Lacy said. A&M did not say whether any of the 12 students whose immigration status was restored Friday had left the country in the weeks since it was revoked. In the last few weeks, many international students in Texas universities found out, often without notification from the federal government, that their status had been marked as terminated in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System. |
| International Students Who Lost Their Immigration Status Will Have It Restored, Government Says | |
| Thousands of international students studying in the United States whose immigration status was revoked by the Department of Homeland Security this month may now see that status restored. On Friday, lawyers for the Trump administration said at a hearing that the Department of Justice planned to reactivate the immigration status of students whose status had been recently revoked, several media outlets reported. Many of those students have already left the country. The unprecedented scale and lack of clear explanation for these changes left other students fearful that they might be next. But signs that the Trump administration was backing down appeared on Thursday when college administrators doing a regular check of the government database known as SEVIS to see if any new students had lost their status noticed something new, according to one who asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized by their college to speak to the media. Several students' immigration status had been restored. When administrators checked a few hours later, several more students' status had been restored. Hundreds of students sued the government, saying their offenses, if they had any, did not warrant the government pulling their ability to continue their studies in the United States. |
| Higher Ed Wins a SEVIS Battle, Not the Visa War | |
 | International students, colleges and advocates caught a break Friday after weeks of confusion and disruptions. After thousands of students learned their Student Exchange and Visitor Information System status was revoked, they were relieved to hear that Immigration and Customs Enforcement was restoring students' statuses nationwide. "I was in class when the news broke, and there was a sense of relief," said Chris. R Glass, a professor at Boston University's Center for International Higher Education. "But it's not the kind of relief that things are getting better, just that they're not getting worse." The Trump administration's reversal was a key win in dozens of lawsuits across the country that argued that eliminating thousands of students' SEVIS records without notice was unconstitutional. But threats against international students still loom large, experts say. The most pressing question: Will this happen again? Reactivating students' records doesn't erase questions about the genesis of "this unlawful policy," said Miriam Feldblum, co-founder, president and CEO of the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration. "We need to understand why it happened and what is the policy structure." |
| Emerging From a Collective Silence, Universities Organize to Fight Trump | |
 | The Trump administration's swift initial rollout of orders seeking more control over universities left schools thunderstruck. Fearing retribution from a president known to retaliate against his enemies, most leaders in higher education responded in February with silence. But after weeks of witnessing the administration freeze billions in federal funding, demand changes to policies and begin investigations, a broad coalition of university leaders publicly opposing those moves is taking root. The most visible evidence yet was a statement last week signed by more than 400 campus leaders opposing what they saw as the administration's assault on academia. Although organizations of colleges and administrators regularly conduct meetings on a wide range of issues, the statement by the American Association of Colleges and Universities was an unusual show of unity considering the wide cross-section of interests it included: Ivy League institutions and community colleges, public flagship schools and Jesuit universities, regional schools and historically Black colleges. Although it contained no concrete action, and what's next was unclear, the collective stance reflected a group more galvanized than ever to resist. While most of the signers are from blue states, some represent red state colleges, such as Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss., the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., and Talladega College in Alabama. |
| Elite Universities Form Private Collective to Resist Trump Administration | |
| Leaders of some of the nation's most prestigious universities have assembled a private collective to counter the Trump administration's attacks on research funding and academic independence across higher education, according to people familiar with the effort. The informal group currently includes about 10 schools, including Ivies and leading private research universities, mostly in blue states. Strategy discussions gained momentum after the administration's recent list of demands for sweeping cultural change at Harvard, viewed by many universities as an assault on independence. The collective, as some are calling it, represents a separate, quiet and potentially more potent effort than recent public resolutions from university-aligned groups. The group comprises figures at the highest levels, including individual trustees and presidents. Maintaining close contact, they have discussed red lines they won't cross in negotiations and have gamed out how to respond to different demands presented by the Trump administration, which has frozen or canceled billions in research funding at schools it says haven't effectively combated antisemitism on their campuses. The group's aim is to avoid the fate of some top law firms, where one deal led to others following suit. The Trump administration has been worried schools would team up in resistance, because it is harder to negotiate with a united front, according to a source familiar with the government task force. Within the past two months the task force warned leadership at at least one school not to cooperate with other schools to defend against the task force demands, said one person familiar with the warning. |
| Model Utah program considered by legislature unfairly denigrated | |
| Columnist Bill Crawford writes: In a rare show of near unanimity, the Mississippi House and Senate agreed to establish a task force to study implementation of "one-door access for state resources and services." The bill explains: "An integrated system of workforce and social services may more effectively serve Mississippians in escaping poverty through targeted supports and work to achieve dignity and self-sufficiency and strengthen Mississippi's economy." That means moving more non-working people into jobs. The "one-door" approach was instituted in Utah in 1997 as "a true work-first approach" where "human services are treated as services supporting the attainment of work." A strong supporter of President Donald Trump, conservative Republican Congressman Burgess Owens of Utah favors this approach. Not so fast, says Jonathan Bain in an article highlighted in the Magnolia Tribune. "Proponents of the 'one-door' policy aren't forthcoming about the negative side effects a policy like this can have," he wrote. Bain is a Senior Research Fellow at the Foundation for Government Accountability which has a reputation for denigrating social programs. |
| Jim Hood's opinion provides a roadmap if lawmakers do the unthinkable and can't pass a budget | |
| Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison writes: On June 30, 2009, Sam Cameron, the then-executive director of the Mississippi Hospital Association, held a news conference in the Capitol rotunda to publicly take his whipping and accept his defeat. Cameron urged House Democrats, who had sided with the Hospital Association, to accept the demands of Republican Gov. Haley Barbour to place an additional $90 million tax on the state's hospitals to help fund Medicaid and prevent the very real possibility of the program and indeed much of state government being shut down when the new budget year began in a few hours. The impasse over Medicaid and the hospital tax had stopped all budget negotiations. Barbour watched from a floor above as Cameron publicly admitted defeat. Cameron's decision to swallow his pride was based on a simple equation. He told news reporters, scores of lobbyists and health care advocates who had set up camp in the Capitol as midnight on July 1 approached that, while he believed the tax would hurt Mississippi hospitals, not having a Medicaid budget would be much more harmful. Just as in 2009, the Legislature ended the 2025 regular session earlier this month without a budget agreement and will have to come back in special session to adopt a budget before the new fiscal year begins on July 1. |
| Inside Mississippi's workforce reset: Reduce waste, cut overhead, create results | |
| AccelerateMS Executive Director Dr. Courtney Taylor writes: Mississippi is on the rise in every way. We've experienced record-breaking economic development wins, creating more quality jobs in all corners of the state. We've eliminated income taxes, surged in national workforce rankings -- now at #3 in Site Selection Magazine, ahead of states that traditionally lead -- and posted the nation's second-highest GDP growth. Fourth-grade students here lead the country in gains in reading and math. Across tourism, business, and education, the momentum is real. The results reflect hard choices and disciplined leadership. Mississippi is prioritizing the return on investment over tradition or convenience. We've shown that transformative change is possible when we stop playing defense and take ownership of our future. But we can't afford to rest. There are real challenges facing our people, our industries, and our public systems -- especially the workforce system. Maintaining momentum requires urgency, tough decisions, and a willingness to break from the past. We don't need a rescue plan from Washington. There's not enough of other people's money to keep funding outdated approaches. If we want better outcomes, we need to keep doing what's working: leading with courage, acting with clarity, and staying focused on results. |
SPORTS
| Softball: Chaffin Twirls Gem To Pick Up 20th Win; State Takes Series At Kentucky | |
| Behind a complete-game, 11-strikeout shutout performance from Raelin Chaffin, No. 17 Mississippi State cruised to a series-clinching 5-0 victory at Kentucky on Sunday. Chaffin is just the eighth pitcher in program history to win 20 games in a season and the first to do so since 2015. It was her second complete game of the series, and she finished with 19 strikeouts across 14.0 innings. Jessie Blaine opened the scoring with a two-run single in the first. From there, the Bulldogs (35-15, 11-10 SEC) used their outs productively to add three more runs. Ella Wesolowski's ground out in the first scored a third run. Nadia Barbary hit a sacrifice fly in the second, and Morgan Stiles plated another on a fielder's choice after beating out a potential double play in the fourth. Barbary extended her hitting streak to a career-long nine games, and she now leads the team with 21 RBIs in conference play. Sierra Sacco and Kiarra Sells both added doubles, and State is now 62-12 when Sacco scores a run. The Bulldogs will close the regular season at home next week as part of Super Bulldog Weekend, hosting No. 16 Ole Miss for a Thursday-Saturday series. The weekend will feature Senior Day and graduation ceremonies on the field. |
| Baseball: State Drops Series Finale At No. 11 Auburn | |
| Mississippi State fell to No. 11 Auburn 14-8 on Sunday at Plainsman Park. The Tigers used a six-run second inning to take control and they built an 11-3 lead by the end of the fourth. While State fought back to within four runs in the middle innings, the Bulldogs' comeback attempt came up short. MSU totaled nine hits on the day. Two of those were home runs by Ace Reese, who now sits with a team-leading 16 long balls this season. Hunter Hines also homered, bringing his career total to 64. He now needs just three more to tie Rafael Palmeiro's MSU program record. Bryce Chance added a pair of hits and three RBIs on Sunday for the Diamond Dawgs. On the mound, Karson Ligon suffered the loss for State, dropping his record to 4-5 for the year. Mississippi State faces off with Memphis on Tuesday at Dudy Noble Field. The midweek matchup is slated for 6 p.m. and will be streamed on SEC Network+. |
| Time is running out on Mississippi State baseball; what else we learned from Auburn series loss | |
| Mississippi State baseball was a win from what would have been one of its most impressive series of the season, but couldn't get it done. The Bulldogs (25-19, 7-14 SEC) lost two of three games at No. 11 Auburn (30-14, 11-10) over the weekend. They lost 6-5 on April 25, won 12-7 and lost 14-8 in the final game. The Bulldogs had a horrid 1-9 start to SEC play, began to play better with series wins against Alabama and South Carolina, but have stumbled again. The Auburn series is their second straight loss, and they are 2-5 in their past seven games. They are in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament for a third time in the past four seasons since winning the 2021 national championship. Mississippi State's No. 46 RPI is not good enough, and it squandered too many RPI-boosting wins early in the season. Only two midweek games remain -- against Memphis and North Alabama -- so winning SEC games is essentially the only path into the NCAA Tournament. Sweeping Missouri in the final series of the season is a must. But it probably won't matter much unless MSU wins the Kentucky and Ole Miss series. Both of those are at home, where Mississippi State is 3-6 in conference play. |
| The making of a dynamic duo: Jovanovic, Sanchez Martinez are dominant in doubles | |
| Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez are both similar and different. On the court, the two Mississippi State juniors, who currently form the No. 1 ranked doubles pairing in men's college tennis, have largely the same skill set. Both are strong, powerful servers who are also excellent on returns, and both are at their best on the baseline rather than up at the net. Pairing two players who play the game in a similar way may seem unorthodox, but it is the mental side of tennis where Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez differ. Jovanovic plays mostly on feel and does not always put a lot of thought into his shots, while Sanchez Martinez is much more analytical and thinks a lot about his game. "Both of us have a good serve, so it's hard for opponents to break us," Sanchez Martinez said. "My game on net might not be the best, but I can trust my doubles partner in the back, that I know he's going to take care of the ball that's coming to him, which makes it harder for the opponents to hit a hard ball at me. So I can have it easier there. Same with the returns. Both of us return well, which (makes it) hard for the opponents to hold their serves, too." |
| High school carpentry students give disabled hunters easier access to the outdoors | |
| When Starkville High School junior Michael Sullivan learned his carpentry class would be building a mobile hunting shelter to help special needs and disabled people enjoy the outdoors, he thought of his sister and how often she encounters places that aren't made for her. "My sister is disabled, so I really thought it was doing a lot of good because when we go out to parks and other stuff, a lot of places aren't handicap accessible," he said. "I think it's important because they already have enough struggles going on as it is, and a lot of places and communities don't really offer a lot of things for them." Sullivan and other students taking carpentry classes at the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District's Millsaps Career and Technology Center this semester are converting an old camper trailer into a mobile hunting stand for Hope Outdoors, a nonprofit that helps people with special needs experience the outdoors. The structure will include a wheelchair accessible ramp, a small back porch with double doors as well as heating and electricity. The idea is to make the hunting stand both accessible and comfortable, construction and carpentry teacher Benjamin Carr told The Dispatch. |
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