| Wednesday, September 3, 2025 |
| Newest William L. Giles Distinguished Professor, Grisham Master Teachers honored at MSU | |
 | Mississippi State celebrated three faculty members Thursday with two of the university's most prestigious teaching honors. Christopher Snyder has been named a William L. Giles Distinguished Professor, and Kelly Moser and Holli H. Seitz are the university's newest Grisham Master Teachers. "We recognize, truly, the best of the best. We have world class faculty members here at Mississippi State," MSU President Mark E. Keenum said. "We could not be more blessed with our faculty and their passion and commitment to instruction of their students, but they also truly care for our students." Snyder is a professor of history and director of British studies in the Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College, where he served as the college's founding dean. Moser is an associate professor of Spanish and world language teaching in the Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures within MSU's College of Arts and Sciences. In addition to teaching undergraduate and graduate courses, she serves as her department's graduate coordinator and a mentor for students and aspiring educators in her field. Seitz is an associate professor in the Department of Communication, Media and Theatre also in the College of Arts and Sciences. She additionally serves as a mentor for students in the Shackouls Honors College. She is director of the Message Laboratory at MSU's Social Science Research Center. |
| Starkville aldermen approve tax increase, FY 26 budget | |
| Despite citizens' concerns, the board of aldermen narrowly passed a tax increase and new budget for Fiscal Year 2026 during its regular monthly meeting Tuesday at City Hall. The board voted 4-3 in approval of a 2-mill increase to generate about $665,400 for the city. This increase will raise the city's tax rate 6.25% to 34 mills. A mill is a unit used to measure property taxes. The 2-mill increase will raise a homeowner's taxes $20 per every $100,000 of value and the taxes for a commercial property by $30 per every $100,000 of value. A major share of the new spending goes to employee pay. The budget includes about $299,000 for targeted employee raises, focusing on employees earning below 95% of market averages, as well as hard-to-fill roles like police, fire and engineering positions. The city's minimum wage will also rise from $16.75 an hour to $17.50, which will affect about 20 employees in City Hall, Ward 2 Alderwoman and budget chair Sandra Sistrunk said. Mayor Lynn Spruill said the increase was unavoidable. "There is not a soul up here that wants to raise taxes," Spruill said. "I guarantee that is not a desire of ours. ... The budget is what the board prioritizes. It's what's important to your community. ... We're not out here padding the budget just for the fun of it. We're trying to provide you the services that we think are important." |
| CINCO debt payment could mean 4.6% tax increase for Lowndes County | |
| A "cash poor" upcoming fiscal year means county property tax rates could increase 4.6%. That's the recommendation County Administrator Jay Fisher plans to bring to the board of supervisors during its budget hearing Sept. 15. "We've talked to every department, whittled as much as we can whittle, and now I've got to go to the supervisors and say, 'Hey, if you want this budget to work, this is what it's going to take,'" Fisher told The Dispatch. The recommendation will include a total increase of 2 mills -- one for the general fund and one for roads. A mill is a unit used to measure property taxes. A 2-mill increase will mean a homeowner's taxes would increase $20 per every $100,000 of value. For commercial property owners, the increase would be $30 per $100,000 of value. The increase should generate an additional nearly $1.8 million for the county in Fiscal Year 2026, which begins Oct. 1. With the proposed increase, the total county tax rate would rise to 45 mills. Board of Supervisors President Trip Hairston said the general outlook is "very good" for county finances but added, "We've got a tight two years when it comes to the budget." The county will see older outstanding debt begin to retire in 2028, which he said should free up that money to help service newer debt like the sportsplex and CINCO. |
| Colom announces Senate run for Hyde-Smith's seat | |
| Hinged on a commitment to champion state needs over "D.C. politics," 16th Circuit Court District Attorney Scott Colom officially announced today his bid for a seat in the U.S. Senate. Colom, a Democrat, said he will run on a "common sense" platform focused on issues that affect Mississippians rather than advance a political agenda -- a direct challenge to what he sees as Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith's party-first voting record. "We have this problem, across the country really, where people are so partisan that they're not looking out for their state," Colom told The Dispatch on the Between the Headlines podcast on Tuesday. "They're looking out for whatever the (party) leaders in D.C. tell them to do, and that's just not the type of person I am. I know in my heart that Mississippi deserves a senator that's going to put us first, and that's why I'm running." Colom has served for the last decade as district attorney for Lowndes, Oktibbeha, Clay and Noxubee counties after beating 27-year incumbent Forrest Allgood for the seat in 2015. He ran unopposed when he was reelected in 2019, and he beat Republican challenger Jase Dalrymple for the seat in 2023. In October 2022, then-President Joe Biden nominated Colom to serve as the U.S. District Court judge for the Northern District of Mississippi, a move that received support from U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, District 1 U.S. Rep. Trent Kelly and former governors Phil Bryant and Haley Barbour. Hyde-Smith's support, however, was nowhere to be found. |
| Scott Colom joins 2026 US Senate race, facing Cindy Hyde-Smith | |
 | A man Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi blocked from rising to the federal judiciary in 2022, is now seeking to unseat her in the 2026 Midterms. Lowndes County District Attorney Scott Colom has officially thrown his hat into the ring for next year's U.S. Senate race. Colom, who told the Clarion Ledger last week of his intention to run, had been talked up since May by state and national Democratic leadership, as well as a few politicos, as being a good fit to match incumbent Hyde-Smith. According to those close to Colom, he had been mulling a run since spring. "I'm proud of my record as DA, but I think there's time that Mississippi had a senator that's going to put her first, and I know that I'm that leader that's going to put Mississippi over D.C. politics," Colom said. Colom specifically said he would part with practices made by Hyde-Smith, who is a huge supporter of President Donald Trump and typically votes on the party line. Trump also endorsed the two-time winning incumbent earlier this year. That said, Colom will first have to win next year's primary against at least one other candidate, Albert Littel of Long Beach, who filed campaign paperwork with the Federal Election Commission in June. |
| Democrats get their man: Colom's entry in Mississippi U.S. Senate race has been years in the making | |
 | After months of speculation, Mississippi Democrats now have their preferred candidate in the race for U.S. Senate in the 2026 midterms – Lowndes County District Attorney Scott Colom. Colom's entry in the race against sitting Republican U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith comes as no surprise. It has been years in the making after Hyde-Smith did not return a "blue slip" for Colom in 2023 when President Joe Biden (D) nominated him for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi. The "blue slip" process is a sign-off Senators have on district court nominees in their home states. Return the slip and the process moves forward. Choose not to return it and it's essentially a veto of the nominee by the Senator. Hyde-Smith's opposition to Colom's federal judicial appointment was rooted in her want to protect women's sports and oppose the furtherance of left-leaning causes supported by Democrat financier George Soros. Magnolia Tribune previously reported that Soros was the sole funder of the "Mississippi Safety & Justice PAC," donating nearly $1 million to support Colom's bid for DA in the 16th Judicial District as well as Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith's re-election campaign. Colom received over $700,000 in "independent expenditures" from the PAC. |
| Inside the Democratic plan to recapture the House majority in 2026 | |
 | House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is engaged in a major effort to redefine what his unpopular party stands for, readying a new Democratic agenda intended to turbocharge efforts to recapture the House in 2026 and make him speaker. Jeffries (D-New York) has heard the many complaints from Democratic lawmakers clamoring for a proactive agenda following the party's devastating losses in the 2024 election --- one that doesn't revolve entirely around fighting President Donald Trump. He's racing to release a plan to revive a depressed base and sell voters on a Democratic Party that hears their concerns on affordability, safety and helping the working class. But the effort is running up against the harsh political realities of the moment, from Trump's aggressive efforts to revamp the congressional map through redistricting in Republican-led states to a tarnished Democratic brand with abysmal approval ratings, according to polls. Jeffries has launched listening sessions around the country and commissioned his own polling to map a way back from the wilderness. Interviews with over a dozen House Democratic lawmakers, aides and strategists suggest that Jeffries has his work cut out for him. "Our brand is really toxic right now," Rep. Tom Suozzi (D), who represents a New York swing district, said. "Everybody's registering as independents because they're fed up with this whole thing." |
| Republicans dismayed by Trump's decision to use pocket rescission | |
 | Senate Republicans are signaling their dismay over President Trump's provocative decision to advance a $5 billion "pocket rescission," which is becoming a major obstacle to establishing a bipartisan spending deal to avoid a government shutdown at the end of this month. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) expressed his concern that the pocket rescission will give Democrats a reason to oppose funding legislation, putting Washington in danger of blundering into a government shutdown after Sept. 30. "Anything that gives our Democrat colleagues a reason not to do the bipartisan appropriations process is not a good thing. If they can use that as an excuse, that causes us a problem," he warned. "I do not think this is a good idea and I think it's going to give our Democratic colleagues a reason not to work with us on an appropriations process," he said. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), another senior member of the Appropriations Committee, said she doesn't know whether Trump's pocket rescission is lawful or not but urged the White House to let Congress handle funding clawbacks, something it does routinely. "I think we need to appropriate and the appropriations process needs to be adhered to and strengthened, which we're trying to do," she said. |
| Trump moves Space Command HQ to Alabama, citing Colorado's mail-in voting | |
 | President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he would reverse a decision by his predecessor Joe Biden by moving U.S. Space Command's headquarters to Alabama from Colorado. Trump first ordered the headquarters be moved from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Ala., late in his first term. But Biden, in 2023, directed the facility remain in the Centennial State, as the Democratic and Republican presidents played politics with blue-leaning Colorado and deep-red Alabama. Lawmakers and officials from both states long have fought over the headquarters, which has a large personnel footprint that would provide a long-term economic boost to Huntsville or Colorado Springs. During an afternoon announcement event in the Oval Office, Trump called his decision a "big deal." "This will result in more than 30,000 Alabama jobs, and probably much more than that, and hundreds of billions of dollars of investment," he said after mentioning that he won the Yellowhammer State in all of his three presidential bids. "And that's billions, because it can't be millions, it's billions and billions of dollars. Most importantly, this decision will help America defend and dominate the high frontier, as they call it." Trump addressed Biden's reversal, saying: "We initially selected Huntsville for the SPACECOM headquarters, yet those plans were wrongfully obstructed by the Biden administration." |
| Judge rules Trump can't act as national police chief | |
 | A federal judge has declared President Donald Trump's use of military troops in Los Angeles illegal, barring the Pentagon from using National Guard members and Marines from performing police functions, like arrests and crowd control. In a 52-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer warned that Trump appears intent on "creating a national police force with the President as its chief." Trump billed his deployment of troops to Los Angeles, starting in early June, as a way of bolstering immigration enforcement efforts amid protests in the city against the president's deportation agenda. Though Trump has now withdrawn all but 300 of those troops, he is mulling sending troops to other major cities, such as Chicago. He has also deployed the National Guard in Washington, D.C., under a separate legal authority from the one he used in Los Angeles. Breyer, a Clinton appointee based in San Francisco, concluded that Trump's LA deployment -- an operation overseen by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth -- violated a longstanding law meant to prevent domestic law enforcement by the military: the Posse Comitatus Act. His decision followed a four-day trial last month that included testimony from the Pentagon officials overseeing the troop deployment in Los Angeles. |
| Judge Apologizes to Conservative Justices in Case Over N.I.H. Cuts | |
 | Nearly two weeks after two Supreme Court justices delivered a stinging rebuke warning lower-court judges not to "defy" their rulings, the judge at whom the directive was aimed issued an apology from the bench, pledging to adjust to meet the highest court's demands. The acknowledgment on Tuesday by Judge William G. Young in Federal District Court in Massachusetts highlighted the precarious position that lower courts have landed in this year as they struggle to make sense of a growing number of unsigned orders the Supreme Court has produced through the court's emergency docket. Judge Young's apology came at a hearing on Tuesday to discuss how to move forward after the Supreme Court in August overruled his decision to block the Trump administration from slashing hundreds of millions of dollars in grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health. Writing as part of that emergency order, Justices Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh had suggested that Judge Young subverted the court's will by failing to apply an earlier emergency order focused on canceled Education Department grants to his N.I.H. case. Judge Young said on Tuesday that he had not realized he was expected to rely on a slim three-page order issued with minimal legal reasoning in April to his case dealing with a different agency. |
| China Is Using the Private Sector to Advance Military AI | |
 | In a study published in January last year, researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University showed how artificial intelligence could be used to deploy weapons systems in automated "kill webs" that would adjust in real time to battlefield changes during combat at sea. Six days later, China's military announced that the university had won a defense contract to make the idea a reality. It was the seventh public defense contract to develop or maintain AI-related systems that Shanghai Jiao Tong had signed since the start of 2023. The university would go on to land seven more before 2024 was out. Aside from the maritime kill-web project, the school was also tasked with helping the military track fast-moving targets using layered AI models, rapidly generate underwater drone designs and make drone swarms more sensitive to changes in radio frequencies. China's military has gone outside its typical network of state-owned defense contractors and military-linked research institutes in recent years, tapping hundreds of suppliers including private companies and civilian universities in a push to incorporate AI into its operations and weapons systems, according to new data published Wednesday by researchers at Georgetown University. While the U.S. and Chinese militaries have both sought to tap the knowledge and innovative energy of universities and the private sector, the data indicates the PLA has been able to do it more systematically. That gives China a potential leg up in the challenging task of weaving AI into national defense, security analysts say. |
| China soon to outspend US on R&D initiatives, including in seafood | |
| New research shows that China will soon spend much more money on scientific research and development (R&D) initiatives compared to the U.S. and that the gap is likely to continue growing. James Goodrich, a senior technology analysis advisor for the RAND Corporation and a fellow at the University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, recently published research showing China is now projected to spend USD 42 billion (EUR 36 billion) on basic research in 2026, which would represent 10 percent annual growth. "With proposed 34 percent U.S. funding cuts based on [American Association for the Advancement of Science] analysis, America will fall behind China for the first time since World War II and the Cold War -- a shocking reversal after nearly eight decades of global leadership," Goodrich said. Kevin Fitzsimmons, an aquaculture specialist and an environmental science professor at the University of Arizona, said that this gap has effects on both countries' seafood industries. "In fisheries and aquaculture, these trends are even more obvious. In the last six months in the U.S., the Aquaculture Innovation Lab consortium, led by Mississippi State University, was eliminated. NOAA's National Marine Fisheries programs and scientists have been cut or fired. Grant programs are being cut. These programs conducted a mix of basic and applied research that documented very positive returns on invested dollars. At the same time we are trying to increase domestic supply of seafood, we are eliminating the paths to do so sustainably," Fitzsimmons said. |
| Student Activity Fee Funding Status In Limbo As Legal Battles Linger | |
 | Registered student organizations at Ole Miss will not have access to Student Activity Fee funding to put on certain programming until further notice, University of Mississippi Provost Noel Wilkin said in an email sent Friday to all RSO leaders and advisers listed on the ForUM directory. The university will tap the Office of Student Affairs, the Gertrude Ford Student Union and other UM departments, such as the Department of Campus Recreation, to create a series of events in the interest of RSOs and other students. The email said this is common practice at other universities. "After studying how this model has worked at other universities and carefully considering what is of interest, we look forward to hosting many successful events and reaching all members of our student body," the email said. The funding shift is triggered by Mississippi House Bill 1193, which prohibits diversity, equity and inclusion practices in public schools, passed by the Legislature in April. U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the bill on Aug. 19. Wilkins said the ongoing discussion about whether the law is constitutional is a cause for the change. Any institutions found to violate Mississippi House Bill 1193 can be withheld from state funding. |
| Meeting to present strategic plan, new identity for EDF | |
| The Lafayette County community will soon get its first detailed look at a wide-ranging plan designed to guide economic development in the years ahead. The State of the Lafayette County Economy Annual Meeting is set for 6 p.m. on Sept. 16 at The Lyric Oxford. In addition to a meal and networking, attendees will witness the unveiling of the organization's new name, logo and colors, signaling what leaders describe as a "fresh start" in both identity and direction. In October 2024, Lafayette County Economic Development CEO Ryan Miller announced the firm's commissioning to conduct an economic impact evaluation, a workforce strategy assessment, and a feasibility study for the area. Miller previewed the four key target markets that will be highlighted at the meeting: Business and Financial Services – Building on Oxford's history of innovation in financial technology, including companies such as FNC, CoreLogic and Intrade, the plan calls for positioning Lafayette County as a financial hub for Mississippi. Entrepreneurship and Innovation – Recognizing Oxford's reputation as a "creative city," the plan emphasizes supporting startups and innovators across industries, cultivating what Miller described as a "creative and content economy." Healthcare and Related Industries – With resources such as Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi and the University of Mississippi, Miller believes the region can become an "oasis of health and well-being." Research and Development – Leveraging Oxford's university presence and the Insight Park research facility, the plan envisions stronger partnerships to transform academic research into market-ready products and services. |
| $2.5M donation boosts UMMC Cancer Center expansion | |
 | A Meridian-based philanthropy pledged $2.5 million to the University of Mississippi Medical Center's (UMMC) Cancer Center and Research Institute. The pledge made by the Phil Hardin Foundation will go towards a new building for the UMMC Cancer Center and Research Institute over the next 10 years. The Phil Hardin Foundation has supported UMMC on other projects over the last 30 years, including the Children's Hospital Capital Campaign, Base Pair program and other academic areas. "It's a once-in-a-generation type of project that will do so much good for health care in Mississippi on so many levels," said Lloyd Gray, executive director of the foundation. "The fact it's also a top-tier educational project makes it particularly attractive to us." The 250,000-square-foot facility will be designed to provide a welcoming, interdisciplinary space that enhances patient care, improves access and offers a seamless health care experience for patients and caregivers. The facility will also promote research and enhance patient access to life-saving care while educating the next generation of scientists and health care professionals. According to UMMC officials, Mississippi has the highest cancer mortality rate in the nation. |
| State auditor launches fellowship for law graduates waiting for military service | |
| Mississippi State Auditor Shad White announced Tuesday the creation of the "Defend the 'Sip Fellowship," a program designed for law graduates awaiting training to join the Judge Advocate General's (JAG) corporation in the military. The fellowship will allow graduates to gain hands-on legal experience with the Office of the State Auditor (OSA) in the time between completing law school and beginning their military service. The program is open to all Mississippi law graduates or upcoming graduates who have been accepted into the JAG Corps. It also joins the OSA's existing "Stay in the 'Sip Fellowship," which pays for the final years of accounting school for students who commit to working at least two years with the office after graduation. The OSA is partnering for the program with Mississippi College School of Law, which has the highest percentage of graduates joining the JAG Corps among law schools in the state. |
| From Mississippi roots to Alabama fields: The David Russell story | |
| In the heart of the Mississippi pine belt, about an hour south of Jackson, stood a small cattle farm, where working hard and making do with what you had was a fact of life. For a young David Russell, this rural scene of pine trees, cattle pastures and hayfields was home. Today, his Mississippi roots -- experiences working on the farm, learning lessons from his family and living a rural Mississippi lifestyle -- inspire Russell's work in Alabama fields. Through his roles with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and Auburn University, he holds the memories of his family's farm close as he strives to make a difference in the lives of Alabama farmers. "Even though they didn't have the experience of navigating the collegiate world, they did what they had to do to get me there," Russell said. "One thing that nobody can ever take away from you is an education. I think that has proven true and taken me a lot of places and given me a lot of opportunities." Even though Mississippi has an active service, Extension was a foreign concept to Russell and his family's farming operation. Thanks to his Mississippi State mentors, John Byrd and Gary Jackson, Russell learned all about Extension's far-reaching impacts. During his doctoral studies, Russell worked full time for more than six years as an Extension associate in Byrd's forage and noncrop weed management program. |
| College students report being drugged at places on and off campus, Auburn University says | |
 | After receiving reports from students believing they were drugged at various on-campus and off campus locations around Auburn, Auburn University has issued a safety alert that includes guidelines for students to follow. Auburn University said it received reports where victims said they experienced loss of feeling in limbs, vomiting, dizziness and/or loss of memory after consuming alcoholic beverages at various locations. AU Campus Safety and Security also highlighted additional warnings, including that giving someone a drug without their permission is considered aggravated assault, a felony. "This type of crime can occur anywhere. Watch your drink be opened or open it yourself, keep it with you at all times, and avoid common, open containers," AU said. If anyone sees any suspicious activity or a person behaving suspiciously, notify police at 911 for emergencies or crimes in progress, 334-501-3100 for non-emergencies or 334-246-1391, which is a tip line that can be called or texted. |
| Auburn University cited after alpaca dies trapped under gate | |
 | Auburn University has been cited by federal officials for a recent incident where an alpaca died after being trapped under a gate. On Feb. 27, an alpaca named Anna at a biological research facility died after being trapped underneath a gate panel that had been removed for cleaning purposes. The incident is Auburn's first critical incident for alleged animal mistreatment since 2014, according to federal officials. Five Alabama universities have been cited for animal treatment by the U.S. Department of Agriculture 75 times since 2014, according to government data. Auburn University had the most total incidents with 32. The database doesn't provide current enforcement actions for Auburn. The University of Alabama at Birmingham had six critical incidents, the most out of all of the schools investigated, according to the data. A June report indicated a critical incident in 2024 where inadequate training led to the death of piglets. UAB was issued an official federal warning on June 4. |
| U. of Tennessee used sophisticated networks in response to active shooter hoax | |
 | By the time officers swarmed Hodges Library on Aug. 25 within seconds after a call came in warning about an active shooter at the building, the University of Tennessee Police Department already knew the call was a hoax. A sophisticated network of more than 3,100 surveillance cameras and officers on foot patrol nearby provided unquestionable visual evidence from every possible vantage that no threat existed. There was no commotion, no students fleeing the building or its grounds, no person carrying a gun on campus. Nonetheless, UTPD and Knoxville Police Department officers responded as if the threat was real, arriving at the building in force less than a minute after the call was made around 1 p.m. A few UTPD officers were inside within seconds, rushing from helping direct pedestrian and vehicle traffic outside on the Pedestrian Walkway. As officers rapidly searched the building to clear it, several quick decisions were being made simultaneously, including one to not send out an emergency alert to the entire campus calling people to action or shutting down nearby buildings. "We were receiving real intelligence pointing away from it being an actual threat in real time. That contributed a lot to our response that day," UTPD Chief Sean Patterson told Knox News. |
| Texas A&M regents OK start of citizenship initiative for students | |
 | Texas A&M President Mark A. Welsh III announced the launch of a new citizenship and service initiative in his newsletter a year ago. Around the same time, Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Kim Field, director of strategic initiatives, was named to lead the citizenship initiative. After a year of work, including a presentation to the A&M System Board of Regents in February for more input from the regents, Field and Welsh presented an update to the plan at the board's meeting of the Committee on Academic and Student Affairs. The updated plan is made up of four pillars: character, knowledge, skills and service. These four pillars were decided on after feedback from students, faculty and staff. "A&M has been producing great citizens for a long, long time," Welsh told The Eagle after the regents' regular meeting Thursday. "We have so many great young men and women growing up and a lot of them don't know what's expected of them when they show up in their communities. This program is designed to make sure everybody has the opportunity to learn that." students recognition, awards and credit." The presentation to the board also provided regents with examples of some of the different departments that could support each pillar. The character pillar would be led by Hollingsworth Center for Ethical Leadership and the Mays Business School. The knowledge pillar would be led by the Bush School of Government and Public Service which is beginning to explore the creation of a civics minor. Skills would be led by the College of Arts and Sciences as well as the College of Education and Human Development. Service would be led by the Office of the Provost and the Division of Student Affairs. |
| Division of Access and Opportunity memo advises instructors to avoid DEI related content | |
| The Division of Access and Opportunity sent a memo on the first day of classes to University of Oklahoma deans, directors and department chairs via the Office of the Provost advising instructors to avoid course content that could fall under diversity, equity and inclusion. Vice President for Access and Opportunity Belinda Higgs Hyppolite wrote in the email, which was independently obtained by OU Daily, that as federal and state interventions shape the approach to course content in higher education, faculty members should be cautious in how they teach material related to race and gender. "While some areas remain unclear, recent executive orders, state legislation, and agency letters provide evaluation tools for faculty and colleges to consider when reviewing courses," the email reads. The email lists three considerations for faculty, including risk of scrutiny, course requirements and content presentation, and advises instructors to be prepared to explain the relevancy of course content that could "risk being challenged as discriminatory or 'illegal DEI.'" The memo's suggestions diverge from the university's previous stance on academic freedom. In 2022, OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. announced the university would adopt the Chicago Statement, a set of principles that emphasize the importance of freedom of expression on college campuses. At the time, Harroz wrote the statement was "fully consistent" with OU's policies on free expression and academic freedom. |
| Ohio State Bans Land Acknowledgments | |
 | As of last week, faculty at Ohio State University can no longer make land acknowledgments -- verbal or written statements that recognize the Indigenous people who originally lived on the university's land -- unless it is directly relevant to class subject matter. The new policy from the university's Office of University Compliance and Integrity is one of many created in response to Ohio's SB 1, a sweeping higher education law passed in March that seeks to eliminate DEI offices and scrub all mentions of diversity, equity and inclusion from university scholarships, job descriptions and more. The university has also limited student housing decorations in public spaces to "Ohio State spirit themes" and prohibited schools and departments from commenting on a wide array of topics, including the original inhabitants of the land on which the university is built. No other public university in Ohio has interpreted SB 1 to include land acknowledgments, said Richard Finlay Fletcher, an associate professor in the Department of Arts Administration, Education and Policy at Ohio State who is affiliated with the American Indian Studies program. |
| How Are Instructors Talking About AI in Their Syllabi? | |
 | Every new article or study seems to contain the same warning for higher education: Artificial intelligence is everywhere. It's in the discussion posts your students turn in minutes before they're due, the weekly problem sets, the take-home midterm. It's even in your learning-management system. As a result, for many courses these days, AI is also in the syllabus. The Chronicle asked a dozen instructors and experts to describe their AI-use policies for this fall and how the guidelines appear in course syllabi -- a key opportunity to set a tone for the term. Their approaches ran the gamut, from brief directives about producing only original work to detailed charts of hypothetical scenarios indicating when AI use is acceptable and when it isn't. Most colleges don't have campuswide policies about AI in the classroom. While some institutions are embracing AI, arguing that college graduates are entering a work force that increasingly expects competency, many are still grappling with how the technology can or should be used. Much of the time, it's up to individual instructors to decide what to do about AI. The task can feel overwhelming, faculty members say. |
| Students without legal status are dropping out or delaying college as states revoke tuition breaks | |
 | Carlie was hoping to spend her senior year savoring her final moments on the palm tree-lined campus of the University of Central Florida. Instead, she sits at home alone, logging on to online courses, afraid to leave her apartment and run the risk of being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A few months ago, Carlie was studying public relations in Orlando, envisioning one day working for nonprofits that help students like her. Thanks to in-state tuition and private scholarships, Carlie had been living a life she had only dreamed of in Haiti, a country she left behind at 13 years old. Now, she's one of thousands of Florida students whose education is being delayed or derailed after state lawmakers revoked a 2014 law that let residents who are in the country illegally qualify for in-state tuition at public colleges and universities. Across the country, tens of thousands of college students without legal status are losing access to in-state tuition as part of an immigration crackdown carried out by President Donald Trump and his allies. "It feels like all my hard work means nothing. Like, one day I can just lose it," said Carlie, who spoke on condition of being identified by only her first name because she fears being deported. |
| State and Federal GOP Team Up to Change Policies Through Lawsuits | |
| Thanks to a slew of federal lawsuits filed by Republicans against Republicans, two states have now ended their policies that allowed undocumented students to receive in-state tuition and a grant program for Hispanic-serving institutions appears to be in jeopardy. The lawsuits, all introduced over the last three months, have left advocates alarmed and scrambling to intervene in the litigation. They also outline a new maneuver in the playbook for GOP attorneys general and the Trump administration -- suing each other to force policy changes that otherwise would require Congress or state legislatures to act. Typically, lawsuits are designed to resolve a disagreement between two parties. But when the Justice Department sued Texas and Oklahoma and argued that their state policies were unlawful, the state attorneys general quickly agreed to scrap the law. District judges signed off as well, quashing undocumented students' ability to attend college at a lower cost. Higher education and legal experts say this tactic is rather novel. But it's one they expect the Trump administration will use more as a way to bypass lengthy legislative and rule-making processes and advance key agenda items. "It's consistent with the playbook that was outlined" by conservative think tanks, said Lynn Pasquerella, president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities. "They have said that we need to select and target initiatives like DEI across higher education, file lawsuits in favorable courts, pair with the government ... and push for quick resolutions through injunctions, settlements and payouts that can then be leveraged." |
| Agriculture Secretary Rollins praised MSU's ag tech, research during campus visit | |
| Columnist Sid Salter writes: The Washington headquarters of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture is named in honor of a Mississippian born in the rural Tallahatchie County hamlet of Cascilla, Mississippi, in 1910. In 1995, Congress voted to name the USDA headquarters the "Jamie L. Whitten Building" in recognition of Whitten's long tenure as chairman of the Agriculture Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee from 1949 to 1992. Yet from that post (except for 1953–1954, when the Republicans constituted the majority in the House), Whitten was dubbed "the permanent secretary of agriculture" because of his dominance over agriculture policies and the USDA bureaucracy. "Cousin Jamie" used his seniority to perpetuate the "New Deal" policies he favored, including crop subsidies, soil conservation programs, agricultural research, and rural infrastructure development. The current Secretary of Agriculture, Glen Rose, Texas-native Brooke Rollins, is like Whitten an attorney with a command of both public policy and retail politics. But that's where the similarities end. At USDA, Rollins' offices remain in the Whitten Building. ... Rollins and U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith traveled to MSU's campus along with Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation President Mike McCormick this week. At MSU, they received extensive briefings on the College of Veterinary Medicine and shortages in the number of large-animal vets nationwide. |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State eager to get better | |
 | After a season-opening win on the road, Mississippi State is focused on improvement ahead of its home opener. Such was the prevailing sentiment at the team's press conference on Monday. Coach Jeff Lebby preached that the message to the team is that everyone, from the best players to those further down the depth chart, needs to improve. "It's not just those guys that are nine, 10, 11 and 12 on the unit. Our best players have got to continue to play better," Lebby said. "Our guys are taken to that. We need great growth from Week 1 to Week 2. We understand that, and we're looking forward to the challenge." The Bulldogs committed 14 penalties, which cost 119 yards in the 34-17 win over Southern Miss. It was a mix of flags that flew as a result of what happened before and after the whistle. Lebby pointed out the "non-playing penalties" as things that need to be snuffed out. "The non-playing penalties are truly just a matter of attention to detail, pre-snap," Lebby said. "And we're going to continue to stress that in a great way, and make sure all of our guys know how important that is." |
| Scouting No. 12 Arizona State | |
| Mississippi State (1-0) welcomes No. 12 Arizona State (1-0) to Starkville for its home opener this Saturday. It's a blackout night game at Davis Wade Stadium featuring a special all-black uniform, and fans are encouraged by MSU to follow suit with their own decor. The Bulldogs have a big game on their hands, and the opponent presents an early-season challenge for head coach Jeff Lebby and his team as they look to add another nonconference win. It would be quite the upset to build on for the rest of the season, and it likely won't come easy. The Sun Devils are the defending Big 12 champions and are aiming for a return to the College Football Playoff. Head coach Kenny Dillingham may be missing his star running back from a year ago, but he has a team full of experience with the ability to strike from anywhere on offense. |
| Inside Kyle Ferrie's Mississippi State football record field goal, why he believes he can top it | |
| Kyle Ferrie lined up on the hash marks, took a few steps straight back, then a couple more to his right on to the Southern Miss logo at midfield of M. M. Roberts Stadium. The Mississippi State football kicker then took a few steps forward, swung his left leg and booted a 55-yard field goal down the middle with room to spare. His celebration was ecstatic with two massive fist pumps, then a chest bump with a teammate. It was a career long for Ferrie in his third season as MSU's starting kicker. He wasn't aware yet, until coach Jeff Lebby announced in the locker room after MSU's 34-17 Week 1 win at Southern Miss, that he had broken the program record, too. No Bulldog had kicked a field goal longer than Artie Cosby's 54-yarder in 1985. Ferrie was once a star at Harding Academy in Arkansas, where he holds the state's all-time high school scoring record, and earned the nickname "The Weapon." Lebby said he can be just that for the Bulldogs (1-0) as they enter a big Week 2 game against No. 10 Arizona State (1-0) at Davis Wade Stadium on Sept. 6 (6:30 p.m., ESPN2). "I was excited to see him go do exactly what he's done in practice," Lebby said. "That was good. That can create a weapon for us, and he's going to be big for us." |
| Bulldogs complete three sweeps to open season | |
| Mississippi State Volleyball got off to a hot start this weekend, sweeping all three opponents -- Southeast Missouri, Grambling State and North Alabama -- at home. McKenna Yates had a big start to the season, recording her 300th career dig against Grambling as the Bulldogs won 3-0, earning 46 kills as a team on 83 attempts with a .446 hitting percentage. At present, Lindsey Mangelson leads the team with 40 kills on the season while Yates sits at 39 total digs. Mangelson joined teammate Cayley Hanson with Southeastern Conference weekly honors, honored as Freshman of the Week and Setter of the Week, respectively. "I am so proud of the weekend we had, and Cayley and Lindsey were a huge part of our success," MSU head coach Julie Darty Dennis said in a media release. "It's been fun watching Cayley develop from the spring to now and how she confidently ran a solid offense this weekend. She has improved so much and worked so hard to get to the place that she is in right now." The Bulldogs will hit the road this weekend for the Blue Raider Bash in Murfreesboro, Tenn., playing hosts Middle Tennessee as well as UT Martin and Marist. Their first test will be against UT Martin on Friday at 1:30 p.m. |
| Jackson State golf returns today after 8-year absence. How Tigers revived their program | |
| Dressed in gray shorts and a gray quarter-zip and standing well above 6 feet, Rob Ford II looks like a basketball or football coach just out for a casual round of golf at the Refuge. That is until he swings a golf club. Ford, a former member of Jackson State's golf team, is now the men's and women's golf coach. He's been tasked with reviving one of JSU's most successful athletic programs. The golf teams were suspended in 2017 due to the university's budget reduction. The suspension was only supposed to last for two years. Eight years later, the program's return was announced on Feb. 6. Now, the start of the 2025 season is around the corner, with the men competing at the Bridgestone HBCU Invitational starting Sept. 3 in Duluth, Georgia. "The history that Jackson State has as far as the golf program and everything, is very important," Ford told the Clarion Ledger on Aug. 28. "It's very important for our kids to be able to get the exposure, to be able to get that experience, to be able to have access. Bringing it back at this time is very vital, and we're happy that it's back." Re-establishing JSU golf had been one of JSU vice president and director of athletics Ashley Robinson's goals since his hire in 2018. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed the process, but eventually, Robinson was able to see it through. |
| 10 College Athletes Sue NCAA Over Redshirt Rule, Claim Antitrust Foul | |
| In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday in a Tennessee federal district court, 10 current and former Division I athletes sued the NCAA and challenged the association's redshirt rule limiting time on the field to five seasons. Vanderbilt senior linebacker Langston Patterson and senior defensive lineman Yilanan "Issa" Ouattara, along with former Commodores safety CJ Taylor and wide receiver Quincy Skinner Jr. are among the 10 athletes who object to the current framework that permits five years of DI eligibility based on the date an athlete first enrolls in college. Although players can participate in practices, workouts and other team activities for those five years, they are limited to four seasons of play. Football players can play up to four regular season games plus postseason games in a redshirt year without the season counting against the four seasons cap, while athletes in other sports can't play games during their redshirt season without running afoul of the cap. The players argue this arrangement is a violation of federal antitrust law. When the NCAA and its member schools and conferences agree to restrict how they compete for athletes, it presents a potential antitrust problem. Here, NCAA members are depicted as buyers of athletes' services to play a sport. Those services are unlawfully harmed, the complaint asserts, when NCAA rules "have the unjustifiable effect of suppressing athletic careers [and] limiting college athletes' institutional mobility." |
| Handful of college athletes sue NCAA over redshirt rule in case that could cover thousands | |
| Vanderbilt linebacker Langston Patterson and former Hawaii quarterback Brayden Schager are among 10 plaintiffs suing the NCAA over its redshirt rule that puts restrictions on the five years the athletes have to practice, play and graduate from college. The class action lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee alleges the NCAA violates U.S. antitrust laws with how its redshirt rule covers playing time for athletes during five seasons of eligibility. The lawsuit includes seven other named plaintiffs and potentially thousands of current and former NCAA football, baseball and tennis players. "We are not challenging the NCAA's rule limiting players to five years of eligibility to play college sports or the concept of a defined eligibility period generally," co-lead attorney Ryan Downton of the Texas Trial Group said in a statement. "But the NCAA has no basis to prohibit a player who is working just as hard as all of his teammates in practice, in the weight room, and in the classroom, from stepping on the field (or court) to compete against another school in one of those seasons." The NCAA said in a statement that it stands by its eligibility rules. "The NCAA is making changes to modernize college sports but attempts to dismantle widely supported academic requirements can only be addressed by partnering with Congress," the organization said in a statement. |
| College athletes suing NCAA to extend eligibility to 5 seasons | |
| A pair of Vanderbilt football players are among 10 athletes suing the NCAA in an effort to force the association to allow college athletes to compete for five seasons rather than four. Attorney Ryan Downton said in a news release that the players were not aiming to completely remove any eligibility restrictions but believe they should be able to compete in games for all five years that they are allowed to be on the team. "We're not challenging the five-year [limit]," Downton told ESPN Tuesday night. "The question is why do players have to spend one of those five years sitting on the bench? How does that further any of the NCAA's goal of moving players toward graduation?" The association has faced more than two dozen lawsuits challenging their eligibility rules in the past two years. In their initial rulings in those cases, judges have largely sided with the NCAA, which argues that the limited time athletes are allowed to play is an important distinction that separates college sports from the pro leagues. However, especially in cases that involve athletes who previously used some of their eligibility while playing at the junior college level, some judges have issued injunctions that allow the athlete to keep playing. |
| Mizzou students express problems with new ticket claims process | |
 | As Memorial Stadium undergoes a historic $250 million renovation of its north end, University of Missouri students are facing various issues claiming tickets through a new process for Mizzou football this year. Student section ticket sales have been limited due to the construction and the stadium's hill no longer being available to provide overflow student seating. For the first time, students who have already purchased the Zou Pass, which is designed to grant students the opportunity to claim a ticket to all Mizzou sporting events, are not guaranteed admission into its football games. Instead, students are now forced to enter a queue for the chance to claim a ticket, which is supposed to start at 10 a.m. on Mondays of game weeks. According to the Mizzou 2024 financial report, over 13,000 football tickets were sold last football season, including students who claimed a ticket with their Zou Pass. Members of faculty have expressed concerns that students were trying to claim their tickets during class time. |
The Office of Public Affairs provides the Daily News Digest as a general information resource for Mississippi State University stakeholders.
Web links are subject to change. Submit news, questions or comments to Jim Laird.
